Overview
- Rehabilitate certain ideas of Niels Bohr, by discussing how Bohr’s principle of complementarity has implications well beyond quantum theory
- Investigates how Niels Bohr's notion of complementarity can illuminate traditional Chinese philosophy as well as shed light on some notions and problems of Buddhist epistemology
- Uses a defense of Niels Bohr's parallels to outline a new approach to comparative science studies
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Arun Bala offers a detailed defence of Bohr’s claim that complementarity has far-reaching implications for the biological and social sciences, as well as for comparative philosophies of science, by explaining Bohr’s parallels as responses to the omnipresence of grown properties in nature.
Reviews
“Taking as a jumping-off point the attempts Niels Bohr made to extend his ideas about complementarity to fields unrelated to physics, the author asks whether the parallels between Bohr’s thinking and some of the central themes of traditional Indian and Chinese philosophy are as fanciful as many have claimed. In the course of answering ‘no,’ he takes us on a delightful tour of some basic questions in biology, psychology, anthropology, and economics, and pleads for a deeper appreciation of the relation between humans and the natural world. You don’t have to be a professional physicist or historian of science to enjoy this book.” (Sir Anthony J. Leggett, Nobel Laureate in Physics)
“In the 1920s physicists in Europe made the startling discovery that light could behave like particles, and electrons like waves. The East-West angle in this discovery was quickly recognized by Bohr, who propounded an epistemology of ‘complementarity’ that the observed wave-particle duality implied, anddrew parallels with classical Eastern thought in epistemology. Arun Bala takes us through the lively and intense debates this discovery triggered right down to the recent ‘science wars’ between the natural and social scientists. His story is told in lucid, readable prose which makes epistemology cease to be a dry philosophical concern and become a live, absorbing subject.” (Roddam Narasimha, Fellow of the Royal Society and Padma Vibhushan honoree)
“This book offers a fantastically broad scope and a pair of unifying hypotheses that are intended to provide an architecture of knowledge for a wide range of disciplines.” (Andrew Brennan, Pro-Vice Chancellor—Research, La Trobe University)
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About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Complementarity Beyond Physics
Book Subtitle: Niels Bohr's Parallels
Authors: Arun Bala
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39784-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-39783-2Published: 15 December 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-81966-2Published: 28 April 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-39784-9Published: 01 December 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 269
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations
Topics: Philosophy of Science, Quantum Field Theories, String Theory, Gender Studies