Papers by Massimiliano Badino
Oxford Handbook of the History of Interpretations and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2021
A. (eds.), Oxford Handbook of the History of Interpretations and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics... more A. (eds.), Oxford Handbook of the History of Interpretations and Foundations of Quantum Mechanics . Oxford: Oxford University Press (expected publication: late 2021).
Note. This paper has been written on invitation to contribute to a Viewpoint session in Isis and ... more Note. This paper has been written on invitation to contribute to a Viewpoint session in Isis and will be published at the end of 2017.
Once one of the main protagonists of history of science, the historiography on quantum theory has... more Once one of the main protagonists of history of science, the historiography on quantum theory has recently gone through a process of reconfiguration of methods, research questions and epistemological framework. In this paper, I review the recent developments and propose some reflections on its future evolution.
Ludwig Boltzmann e l'alba della probabilità in fisica
Physics in Perspective
The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst’s ... more The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst’s theorem, statistical mechanics, and the problem of chemical equilibrium, and, on the other, his goal to shed light on classical mechanics from the quantum vantage point. Inspired by the interplay between classical physics and quantum theory, Sackur chanced to expound his personal take on the role of the quantum in the changing landscape of physics in the turbulent 1910s. In this paper, we tell the story of this enthusiastic practitioner of the old quantum theory and early contributor to quantum statistical mechanics, whose scientific ontogenesis provides a telling clue about the phylogeny of his contemporaries.
Max Planck : Revolutionär wider Willen ; eine kleine Geschichte der Quantentheorie und ihres Begründers ; [eine Ausstellung der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutschen Technikmuseum Berlin anläßlich des 150. Geburtstages von Max Planck , 26.4.-5.10.2008]
Review of “Albert Einstein. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 12: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January—December 1921; Volume 13: The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, January 1922—March 1923”
M. Badino, J. Navarro (eds.), Research and Pedagogy: A History of Quantum Physics through its Textbooks, Edition Open Access, Berlin, 103-127., 2013
Pedagogy and Research. Notes for a Historical Epistemology of Science Education
M. Badino, J. Navarro (eds.), Research and Pedagogy: A History of Quantum Physics through its Textbooks, Edition Open Access, Berlin, 7-30, 2013
Putting the Quantum to Work: Otto Sackur’s Pioneering Exploits in the Quantum Theory of Gases
in S. Katzir, C. Lehner, J. Renn (eds.), Traditions and Transformations in the History of Quantum Physics, Edition Open Access, Berlin, 61-85., 2013
The Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy is a fairly exotic mathematical concept which has recently aroused s... more The Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy is a fairly exotic mathematical concept which has recently aroused some interest on the philosophers' part. The most salient trait of this concept is its working as a junction between such diverse ambits as statistical mechanics, information theory and algorithm theory. In this paper I argue that, in order to understand this very special feature of the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, is essential to reconstruct its genealogy. Somewhat surprisingly, this story takes us as far back as the beginning of celestial mechanics and through some of the most exciting developments of mathematical physics of the 19th century.
This paper deals with the construction of theories. It is argued that the conventional wisdom, ac... more This paper deals with the construction of theories. It is argued that the conventional wisdom, according to which theories stem from the progressive enlargement of a central core of assumptions and methods, does not do justice to the complexity of the historical process. It turns out to be more useful to think about theories as a less stable and less hierarchized network of conceptual resources historically situated in particular traditions. To show how this view works, the case of the development of Planck's theory of radiation is analyzed. In particular, it is pointed out how the final theory emerges from the tension between Planck's intuitive account of irreversibility and the formal tools used to encapsulate it at various stages of the process of theory construction.
Physics in Perspectives
The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst’s... more The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst’s theorem, statistical mechanics, and the problem of chemical equilibrium, and, on the other, his goal to shed light on classical mechanics from the quantum vantage point. Inspired by the interplay between classical physics and quantum theory, Sackur chanced to expound his personal take on the role of the quantum in the changing landscape of physics in the turbulent 1910s. In this paper, we tell the story of this enthusiastic practitioner of the old quantum theory and early contributor to quantum statistical mechanics, whose scientific ontogenesis provides a telling clue about the phylogeny of his contemporaries.
Annalen der Physik, 524 (2) A29-A31, 2012
Il rapporto fra filosofia e storia della scienza e il caso di Max Planck
Epistemologia, Jan 1, 2001
Lo scopo di questo lavoro è essenzialmente critico: infatti si intende soprattutto esaminare le p... more Lo scopo di questo lavoro è essenzialmente critico: infatti si intende soprattutto esaminare le principali posizioni intorno al rapporto fra filosofia e storia della scienza e argomentare contro la maggior parte di esse. La ragione principale di questo proget-to è che, abbastanza ...
Pensare l'incerto: la concezione suppesiana della probabilita fra invarianza e pluralismo
Epistemologia, Jan 1, 2006
Fra le analisi del concetto di probabilità quella di Patrick Suppes emerge per una caratteristica... more Fra le analisi del concetto di probabilità quella di Patrick Suppes emerge per una caratteristica peculiare: essa tende a mettere al centro dell'attenzione tanto il tema dell'invarianza che quello del plurali-smo. Ad un primo esame sembrerebbe che queste due nozioni siano in ...
L'Epistemologia di Planck nel suo contesto storico
quantum-history.mpiwg-berlin.mpg. …
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Erwin Planck was to remember that distant afterno... more Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Erwin Planck was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover the quantum. It was indeed in a day at the beginning of the last century, during a walk in the Grunewald Forest, that Max Planck informed his youngest son that his recent discovery was the greatest since the time of Newton. After that day, physics was never the same again. From the mysterious realm of the interaction between matter and radiation, the quantum spread out both in the theory of radiation and in the theory of matter and eventually changed our picture of the physical world. Planck played a foremost role in this revolution till the mid-1920 and especially his work on the application of quantum hypothesis to the ideal gas was instrumental in setting the stage for quantum mechanics.
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Papers by Massimiliano Badino