Pauli's exclusion principle : the origin and validation of a scientific principle /

Massimi (Univ. of Cambridge) offers a book based on her doctoral research in the history and philosophy of science, epistemology, scientific methods, and the history of quantum mechanics. For a brief period during the last half of the last century, historians and philosophers of science eagerly learned each other's topics in order to enhance their understanding of their own discipline. That trend was short-lived, but this book is written very much in that spirit. The five chapters alternate in content between philosophical discussions of the nature of science and the progress of scientific knowledge, and the history of the development and application of the exclusion principle starting with the Bohr model of the atom and proceeding through the development of the new quantum mechanics, quantum statistics, particle physics, and high energy physics. Full appreciation of the philosophical chapters requires some acquaintance with the ideas of Aristotle, Porphyry, Descartes, Kant, Poincare, Popper, Kuhn, and their disciples. The historical chapters put into perspective the false steps, partial successes, and brilliant insights of the scientists--not Pauli and his exclusion principle alone--responsible for our current understanding of matter. Extensive references; excellent index. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students through professionals. M. Coplan Institute for Physical Science and Technology