Beauty and Revolution in Science

Description

How reasonable and rational can science be when its practitioners speak of "revolutions" in their thinking and extol certain theories for their "beauty"? James W. McAllister addresses this question with the first systematic study of the aesthetic evaluations that scientists pass on their theories. P. A. M. Dirac explained why he embraced relativity by saying, "It is the essential beauty of the theory which I feel is the real reason for believing in it." Dirac's claim seems to belie rationalist accounts of science. Using this and a wealth of other historical examples, McAllister explains how scientists' aesthetic preferences are influenced by the empirical track record of theories, describes the origin and development of aesthetic styles of theorizing, and reconsiders whether simplicity is an empirical or an aesthetic virtue of theories. McAllister then advances an innovative model of scientific revolutions, in opposition to that of Thomas S. Kuhn. Three detailed studies demonstrate the interconnection of empirical performance, beauty, and revolution. One examines the impact of new construction materials on the history of architecture. Another reexamines the transition from the Ptolemaic system to Kepler's theory in planetary astronomy, and the third documents the rise of relativity and quantum theory in the twentieth century. Front cover Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Two Challenges to Rationalism 2. Abstract Entities and Aesthetic Evaluations 3. The Aesthetic Properties of Scientific Theories 4. Two Erroneous Views of Scientists' Aesthetic Judgments 5. The Inductive Construction 'of Aesthetic Preference 6. The Relation of Beauty to Truth 7. A Study of Simplicity 8. Revolution as Aesthetic Rupture 9. Induction and Revolution in the Applied Arts 10. Circles and Ellipses in Astronomy 11. Continuity and Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics 12. Rational Reasons for Aesthetic Choices References Index Back cover