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SUMMARY:Imagined experiments: molecular modelling and make-believe - Adam 
 Toon (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
DTSTART:20081127T163000Z
DTEND:20081127T180000Z
UID:TALK14115@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lauren Kassell
DESCRIPTION:Recent philosophy of science has seen a growing interest in sc
 ientific models and\, in particular\, in the question of how models repres
 ent the world. And yet three-dimensional physical models\, like wax anatom
 ical models or Crick and Watson's famous model of DNA\, have been largely 
 ignored by philosophers of science\, despite recent historical studies dem
 onstrating the importance of physical models in many sciences.\n\nIn this 
 talk\, I will offer an analysis of physical models based on Kendall Walton
 's 'make-believe' theory of art. To do so\, I will also draw on an empiric
 al study of the use of a well-known type of physical model: the 'ball-and-
 stick' molecular models familiar to many from school science classes. Acco
 rding to Walton\, works of art function as props in games of make-believe\
 , like children's dolls or toy trucks. I will analyse physical models in t
 he same way. Just as a child imagines a plastic doll to be a baby so\, I s
 hall argue\, scientists imagine the balls and sticks of a molecular model 
 to be atoms and bonds.\n\nChildren participate in their games of make-beli
 eve: a child playing with a doll not only imagines it to be a baby\; she a
 lso imagines looking at a baby\, picking the baby up and feeding it. Simil
 arly\, I will argue\, scientists participate in the games they play with m
 olecular models\, imagining themselves looking at molecules\, twisting the
 m around and pulling them apart. By manipulating molecular models\, I sugg
 est\, scientists perform imagined experiments on molecules.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, History and Philosophy of Science\, Department o
 f
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