''Fields of Force: The Development of a world view from Faraday to Einstein'' is a book by William Berkson, published in 1974 by Routledge in the U.K. and John Wiley & Sons in the U.S.. It is an extension of his doctoral thesis, which was supervised by

Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...

and examined by A.I. Sabra. Berkson credits the book with an influence from

Joseph Agassi Joseph Agassi (; ; born Joseph Birnbaum; 7 May 1927 – 22 January 2023) was an Israeli academic with contributions in logic, scientific method, and philosophy. He studied under Karl Popper and taught at the London School of Economics. Agassi ...

. It was republished in 2014 by Routledge, as part of their Library Editions: 20th Century Science. A Spanish Translation, Las teorías de los campos de fuerza was published in 1981 by Alianza Editorial.

Summary

''Fields of Force'' has a preface, an introduction, ten chapters, a

historiographical Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

appendix on field theory, and name and subject indexes. The introduction and the ten chapters all consist of 6 or more sections.

Berkson on Field Theory

The book reconstructs theoretical frameworks originally used in building up the concept of a field. It shows that the field of

Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

's electricity and the field of

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

's relativity are distinct; although both make different assumptions about physical reality, Berkson suggests that the assumptions of either conception of the field still remain as plausible today as when first conceived. These separate field theories share at least one significant and testable difference in comparison with Newtonian physics: whereas Newton's action-at-a-distance occurs instantaneously, the field theories predict a propagation delay. Berkson explains that Faraday's prediction of a physically measurable propagation delay (finite velocity) from his own conception of a physical field permeating space is one important difference separating this idea from that of

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

's (infinite velocity). :All these field theories (Eintstein's, Faraday's, and

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

's) remain inconsistent with

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

. For they assume nature to be continuous, while quantum theory assumes it to be discrete.

References

External links

Br. J. Philos. Sci. Vol.29. 1978 p.243-
author's reply to

L. Pearce Williams Leslie Pearce Williams (September 8, 1927 – February 8, 2015) was a chaired professor at Cornell University's Department of History who also chaired the department for many years. He was the founder, in the mid-1980s, of Cornell's program in t ...

' review 1974 non-fiction books Books about the history of science Philosophy of science books {{science-philo-stub