Jemes Robert Brow - THE LABORATORY OF THE MIND Thought Experiments in the Natural Sciences

  THE LABORATORYOF THE MIND Thought Experiments in theNatural Sciences  James Robert Brown London and New York  First published 1991This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’scollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”Paperback edition first published in 1993 by Routledge11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EESimultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001© 1991 James Robert BrownAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproducedor utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,or other means, now known or hereafter invented, includingphotocopying and recording, or in any information storageor retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Brown, James RobertThe laboratory of the mind.1. Science. Philosophical perspectivesI. Title II. Series 501 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Brown, James Robert.The laboratory of the mind: thought experiments in the naturalsciences/James Robert Brown.p. cm.—(Philosophical issues in science)Includes bibliographical references and index.1. Physics—Philosophy. 2. Quantum theory. 3. Science—Methodology.4. Rationalism. 5. Knowledge, Theory of. I. Title. II. Series.Q175.B7965 1991 530 ′ .01–dc20 90–47820ISBN 0-203-97915-X Master e-book ISBNISBN 0-415-05470-2 (Print Edition)0-415-09579-4 pbk  ForKathleenwho doesn’t believe a word of it     CONTENTS   Preface and Acknowledgements  viii1 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE LABORATORY OFTHE MIND 12 THE STRUCTURE OF THOUGHTEXPERIMENTS 333 MATHEMATICAL THINKING 494 SEEING THE LAWS OF NATURE 755 EINSTEIN’S BRAND OF VERIFICATIONISM 996 QUANTUM MECHANICS: A PLATONICINTERPRETATION 127  Afterword   155  Notes  159  Bibliography  165  Index  175