Search results for "Rationalisme"

The Development of a new Philosophy of Physics in the 18th Century

2012

The study of books on physics published in the 18th century shows that the evolution since the 17th century is much more than just a furthering of the discoveries of Newton, as we often tend to present it these days. Descartes’s mechanistic physics, severely criticized by Newton, was to develop with help from many scientists, particularly from the Academy of Sciences in Paris. The discussions between Cartesians and Newtonians did not end in the 1740’s. This real scientific duel, which lasted over half a century, was the heart of a broader way of thinking about physics which operated on several levels: Mathématization, Concepts, définitions, laws, the role of experimentation and hypotheses, …