Mechanistic Images in Geometric Form: Heinrich Hertz's 'Principles of Mechanics'
This book gives an analysis of Hertz's posthumously published 'Principles of Mechanics' in its philosophical, physical and mathematical context. In a period of heated debates about the true foundation of physical sciences, Hertz's book was conceived and highly regarded as an original and rigorous foundation for a mechanistic research program. Insisting that a law-like account of nature would require hypothetical unobservables, Hertz viewed physical theories as (mental) images of the world...
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Hertz' Die Prinzipien der Mechanik in neuem Zusammanhange dargestellt was published posthumously in 1894, and seems to have been better understood by physicians, mathematicians, and even philosophers at the time than by readers now. Lützen (mathematics, U. of Copenhagen) shows how it fits naturally into the mechanistic world view of the late 19th century, and analyzes its general architecture as well as its elements. He introduces the history and philosophy of mechanics before Hertz and introduces the person and physicist himself, before proceeding to the content. Then he follows the technical deductions, and pauses every time enough of his technical arguments have been seen to analyze some particular subject. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
1Introduction12The principles of mechanics before Hertz83Mechanization of physics304Problematization of the concept of force405A biographical survey506Hertz's road to mechanics637Images of nature838Hertz's earlier ideas about images979Images of mechanics11110Kantianism : a-priori and empirical elements of images11911Time, space and mass12712The line element : the origin of the Massenteilchen14613Hertz's geometry of systems of points15914Vector quantities and their components17315Connections : material systems18716The fundamental law19817Free systems20218Cyclic coordinates20819Unfree systems : forces21920Cyclic and conservative systems22521Integral principles23522A history of non-holonomic constraints24023Hertz on the Hamilton formalism24724Mathematicians on the geometrization of the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism25225Hertz on the domain of applicability of his mechanics26326Force-producing models27427Reception, extension and impact27828List of conclusions290
