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SUMMARY:How atoms became real - Milena Ivanova (Department of History and 
 Philosophy of Science)
DTSTART:20200123T153000Z
DTEND:20200123T170000Z
UID:TALK130696@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Agnes Bolinska
DESCRIPTION:This paper revisits the debate on the reality of atoms. At the
  turn of the 20th century\, many physicists treated the atomic hypothesis 
 with scepticism\, claiming that atoms were fictional entities. While many\
 , such as Ostwald and Poincare\, changed their minds after the publication
  of Thompson's and Perrin's experiments\, some\, such as Mach and Duhem\, 
 continued to oppose the reality of atoms despite the experimental support.
  I argue that at the heart of this debate are methodological arguments tha
 t influenced physicists' stances both before and after experimental eviden
 ce in favour of the reality of atoms. Ostwald and Poincare were able to ac
 cept the reality of atoms since the atomic hypothesis became scientific on
  their terms in light of being experimentally testable\, with the multiple
  ways of calculating the number of atoms in a volume being particularly co
 nvincing. Conversely\, Duhem and Mach continued to reject the reality of a
 toms since they held that science should offer explanations that do not go
  beyond the observable. I evaluate the arguments on both sides and reflect
  on how philosophical stances impacted on what scientists were willing to 
 accept as genuine scientific evidence.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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