Scientific Realism and Classical Physics

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical development of classical physics through the lens of scientific realism, highlighting how ontological entities evolved from Newton to Einstein and discussing the implications for scientific description.

Contribution

It provides a historical analysis of ontological entities in classical physics and explores their evolving status within scientific realism.

Findings

Ontological entities in physics have changed over time, from particles to fields to space-time.

Einstein's theories replaced absolute space and aether with dynamic space-time.

Classical physics features may be fundamental to scientific description generally.

Abstract

We recount the successful long career of classical physics, from Newton to Einstein, which was based on the philosophy of scientific realism. Special emphasis is given to the changing status and number of ontological entitities and arguments for their necessity at any time. Newton, initially, began with (i) point particles, (ii) aether, (iii) absolute space and (iv) absolute time. The electromagnetic theory of Maxwell and Faraday introduced `fields' as a new ontological entity not reducible to earlier ones. Their work also unified electricity, magnetism and optics. Repeated failure to observe the motion of earth through aether led Einstein to modify the Newtonian absolute space and time concepts to a fused Minkowski space-time and the removal of aether from basic ontological entities in his special theory of relativity. Later Einstein in his attempts to give a local theory of gravitation was led to further modify flat Minkowski space-time to the curved Riemannian space time. This reduced gravitational phenomenon to that of geometry of the space time. Space-time, matter and fields all became dynamical. We also abstract some general features of description of nature in classical physics and enquire whether these could be features of any scientific description?