Hermann von Helmholtz and the foundations of nineteenth-century science. (English) Zbl 0868.01019

California Studies in the History of Science. 12. Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California Press. xxix, 666 p. (1993).

The articles of this volume will not be indexed individually.
List of contents:
Chronological Listing of the Principal Events and Publications of Helmholtz’s Life and Career (xxi–xxix); Introduction: Helmholtz at the Borders of Science, Davied Cahan (1-13).
Part one: Physiologist: 1) Helmholtz and the German Medical Community, Arleen Tuchman (17-49); 2) Experiment, Quantification, and Discovery: Helmholtz’s Early Physiological Researches, 1843-50, Kathryn M. Olesko and Frederic L. Holmes (50-108); 3) The Eye as Mathematician: Clinical Practice, Instrumentation, and Helmholtz’s Construction of an Empiricist Theory of Vision, Timothy Lenoir (109-153); 4) Consensus and Controversy: Helmholtz on the Visual Perception of Space, R. Steven Turner (154-204); 5) Innovation through Synthesis: Helmholtz and Color Research, Richard L. Kremer (205-258); 6) Sensation of Tone, Perception of Sound, and Empiricism: Helmholtz’s Physiological Acoustics, Stephan Vogel (259-287).
Part Two: Physicist: 7) Helmholtz’s Ueber die Erhaltung der Kraft: The Emergence of a Theoretical Physicist, Fabio Bevilaqua (291-333); 8) Electrodynamics in Context: Object States, Laboratory Practice, and Anti-Romanticism, Jed Z. Buchwald (334-373); 9) Helmholtz’s Instrumental Role in the Formation of Classical Electrodynamics, Walter Kaiser (374-402); 10) Between Physics and Chemistry: Helmholtz’s Route to a Theory of Chemical Thermodynamics, Helge Kragh (403-431); 11) Helmholtz’s Mechanical Foundation of Thermodynamics, Günter Bierhalter (432-458).
Part Three: Philosopher: 12) Force, Law, and Experiment: The Evolution of Helmholtz’s Philosophy of Science, Michael Heidelberger (461-497); 13) Helmholtz’s Empiricist Philosophy of Mathematics: Between Laws of Perception and Laws of Nature, Robert DiSalle (498-521); (14) Helmholtz and Classicism: The Science of Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Science, Gary Hatfield (522-558); 15) Helmholtz and the Civilizing Power of Science, David Cahan (559-601).
Bibliography (603-636); Index (637-666).

MSC:

01A70	Biographies, obituaries, personalia, bibliographies
01A55	History of mathematics in the 19th century

Keywords:

Nineteenth-century science; physiology; acoustics; electro-dynamics; thermodynamics; laws of nature; aesthetics