When, after the agreeable fatigues of solicitation, Mrs Millamant set out a long bill of conditions subject to which she might by degrees dwindle into a wife, Mirabell offered in return the condition that he might not thereby be beyond measure enlarged into a husband. With age and experience in research come the twin dangers of dwindling into a philosopher of science while being enlarged into a dotard. The philosophy of science, I believe, should not be the preserve of senile scientists and of teachers of philosophy who have themselves never so much as understood the contents of a textbook of theoretical physics, let alone done a bit of mathematical research or even enjoyed the confidence of a creating scientist. On the latter count I run no risk: Any reader will see that I am untrained (though not altogether unread) in classroom philosophy. Of no ignorance of mine do I boast, indeed I regret it, but neither do I find this one ignorance fatal here, for few indeed of the great philosophers to explicate whose works hodiernal professors of phil osophy destroy forests of pulp were themselves so broadly and specially trained as are their scholiasts. In attempt to palliate the former count I have chosen to collect works written over the past thirty years, some of them not published before, and I include only a few very recent essays.

An introductory engineering textbook by an award-winning MIT professor that covers the history of dynamics and the dynamical analyses of mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical systems. This introductory textbook offers a distinctive blend of the modern and the historical, seeking to encourage an appreciation for the history of dynamics while also presenting a framework for future learning. The text presents engineering mechanics as a unified field, emphasizing dynamics but integrating topics from other disciplines, including design and the humanities. The book begins with a history of mechanics, suitable for an undergraduate overview. Subsequent chapters cover such topics as three-dimensional kinematics; the direct approach, also known as vectorial mechanics or the momentum approach; the indirect approach, also called lagrangian dynamics or variational dynamics; an expansion of the momentum and lagrangian formulations to extended bodies; lumped-parameter electrical and electromagnetic devices; and equations of motion for one-dimensional continuum models. The book is noteworthy in covering both lagrangian dynamics and vibration analysis. The principles covered are relatively few and easy to articulate; the examples are rich and broad. Summary tables, often in the form of flowcharts, appear throughout. End-of-chapter problems begin at an elementary level and become increasingly difficult. Appendixes provide theoretical and mathematical support for the main text.

Since its inception, the discussion surrounding Open Theism has been dominated by polemics. On crucial philosophical issues, Openness proponents have largely been devoted to explicating the underlying framework and logical arguments supporting their perspective against competing theological and philosophical perspectives. As a result, very little constructive work has been done on the interconnections between Open Theism and the natural sciences. Given the central place of sciences in today's world, any perspective that hopes to have a broad impact must necessarily address such disciplines in a sustained and constructive manner. To date such engagements from the Openness perspective have been rare. God in an Open Universe addresses this deficiency. This book demonstrates that Open Theism makes a distinctive and highly fruitful contribution to the conversation and constructive work occurring between philosophy, theology, and the sciences. The various essays explore subjects ranging from physics to prayer, from special relativity to divine providence, from metaphysics to evolution, and from space-time to God. All who work at the intersection of theology and the sciences will benefit greatly from these essays that break new ground in this important conversation.

Over the past three decades, the philosophy of biology has emerged from the shadow of the philosophy of physics to become a respectable and thriving philosophical subdiscipline. The authors take a fresh look at the life sciences and the philosophy of biology from a strictly realist and emergentist-naturalist perspective. They outline a unified and science-oriented philosophical framework that enables the clarification of many foundational and philosophical issues in biology. This book will be of interest both to life scientists and philosophers.

This volume, a collection of seven essays by individuals prominent in the water resources field, commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Water Science and Technology Board. The essays cover a variety of current issues in the field, including intergenerational fairness and water resources, the relationship between policy and science for American rivers, changing values and perceptions in the hydrologic sciences, challenges to water resources decision making, and changing concepts of systems management. An overview of institutions in the field is also given.

Through his voluminous and in?uential writings, editorial activities, organi- tional leadership, intellectual acumen, and strong sense of history, Clifford - brose Truesdell III (1919–2000) was the main architect for the renaissance of - tional continuum mechanics since the middle of the twentieth century. The present collection of 42 essays and research papers pays tribute to this man of mathematics, science, and natural philosophy as well as to his legacy. The ?rst ?ve essays by B. D. Coleman, E. Giusti, W. Noll, J. Serrin, and D. Speiser were texts of addresses given by their authors at the Meeting in memory of Clifford Truesdell, which was held in Pisa in November 2000. In these essays the reader will ?nd personal reminiscences of Clifford Truesdell the man and of some of his activities as scientist, author, editor, historian of exact sciences, and principal founding member of the Society for Natural Philosophy. The bulk of the collection comprises 37 research papers which bear witness to the Truesdellian legacy. These papers cover a wide range of topics; what ties them together is the rational spirit. Clifford Truesdell, in his address upon receipt of a Birkhoff Prize in 1978, put the essence of modern continuum mechanics succinctly as “conceptual analysis, analysis not in the sense of the technical term but in the root meaning: logical criticism, dissection, and creative scrutiny.