What was Mechanical about Mechanics?, The Concept of Force between Metaphysics and Mechanics from Newton to Lagrange
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The great debates of the 18th century about the true measure of living force and the principle of least action, etc., can only be understood in depth if we realize that, at that time, mechanics was more than just mechanics. From Newton and Leibniz to Euler, Maupertuis, d'Alembert, and Lagrange, there was a metaphysical dimension to the pertinent issues, albeit partly at an implicit level. This gave the debates their typical flavor and texture, and influenced their outcomes deeply. On an explicit level, there was a progressive rejection of the traditional metaphysical approach to the foundations of mechanics. This was accompanied by profound conceptual changes in mechanics, away from force conceived as a substance, like water, and toward force conceived as a relationship between the elements in a structure of space and time. Thus these controversies helped to turn mechanics into the discipline we recognize today. Booknews This represents the published form of Boudri's dissertation work, conducted at the Department of the History of Science and Technology at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. The author focuses on "the low opinion of metaphysics in physics by showing that the metaphysical dimension played a significant, indeed a guiding role in the development of eighteenth century mechanics." He explores the concept of force as it was applied to many different phenomena and the unity underlying the various meanings, and examines how the concept of mechanical force changed in several ways during the eighteenth century. Translated by Sen McGlinn. No subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsCh. 1Introduction1.1The Invisible Truth of Classical Physics11.2Historiographic Orientation51.3The Place of Philosophy in this Book21Ch. 2Force like Water2.1A Brief Archeology of the Concept of Force in the Seventeenth Century322.2Quantity and Quality352.3The Point of Departure: Dead and Living Force412.4Impetus: The Goal Attained512.5A Related Distinction: Inertia and Resistance522.6The Unity of Newton's Concept of Force592.7Conclusion68Ch. 3Leibniz: Force as the Essence of Substance3.1Introduction703.2Leibniz's Early Concept of Force753.3Leibniz's Differentiation of the Concept of Force813.4Leibniz's Concept of Mechanical Force913.5Conclusion: Similarities between Newton's and Leibniz's Concepts of Mechanical Force99Ch. 4From Cause to Phenomenon4.1Introduction1044.2Between Leibniz and d'Alembert: A Change in the Definition of the Problem1054.3Causality in Mechanics1114.4D'Alembert's Foundation of Mechanics1184.5D'Alembert's Conception of Force1264.6Conclusion: Structuralization and Instrumentalization132Ch. 5From Efficient to Final Causes: The Origin of the Principle of Least Action5.1Introduction1345.2Maupertuis's Newtonian Background1405.3The Birth of the Principle of Least Action, in Maupertuis and Euler1455.4The First Steps of the Principle of Least Action1595.5Conclusion: Teleology and Structure Metaphysics170Ch. 6The Concept of Force in the 1779 Berlin Essay Competition6.1Introduction1746.2The Berlin Academy's Philosophical Competitions1746.3The Significance of the Competition on the Foundation of Force1806.4The Competition Essays1896.5Overview of the Selected Essays1926.6Conclusion: Divergence of Metaphysics and Mechanics203Annex to Ch. 6The Original Formulation of the Berlin Academy's Competition Question for 1779206Ch. 7Lagrange's Concept of Force7.1Introduction2077.2Lagrange's Mathematical Reduction of Mechanics2087.3Lagrange's 'True Metaphysics'2167.4Lagrange's Analytic Foundation of Mechanics2187.5Conclusion: Force and Structure in Lagrange's Thought224Ch. 8Metaphysics Concealed8.1Exposition: A Paradox in the History of Science2298.2Development: The Significance of Metaphysical Premises2308.3Climax: The Concept of Mechanical Force between Substance and Structure2328.4Resolution: Separation and Transformation around 17802358.5Epilogue: History and Metaphysics in Modern Natural Science236Bibliography241Index263
