The book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th to 20th century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and philosophical ideas and placing them in the context of the second half of the 19th century. The fact that Boltzmann (...) was the man who did most to establish that there is a microscopic, atomic structure underlying macroscopic bodies is documented, as is Boltzmann's influence on modern physics, especially through the work of Planck on light quanta and of Einstein on Brownian motion. Boltzmann was the centre of a scientific revolution, and he has been proved right on many crucial issues. He anticipated Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and proposed a theory of knowledge based on Darwin. His basic results, when properly understood, can also be stated as mathematical theorems. Some of these have been proved; others are still at the level of likely but unproven conjectures. The main text of this biography is written almost entirely without equations. Mathematical appendices deepen knowledge of some technical aspects of the subject. (shrink)

This book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th- to 20th-Century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and philosophical ideas and placing them in the context of the second half of the 19th century. The fact that Boltzmann was (...) the man who did most to establish that there is a microscopic, atomic structure underlying macroscopic bodies is documented, as is Boltzmann's influence on modern physics, especially through the work of Planck on light quanta and of Einstein on Brownian motion. Boltzmann was the centre of a scientific upheaval, and he has been proved right on many crucial issues. He anticipated Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and proposed a theory of knowledge based on Darwin. His basic results, when properly understood, can also be stated as mathematical theorems. Some of these have been proved: others are still at the level of likely but unproven conjectures. The main text of this biography is written almost entirely without equations. Mathematical appendices deepen knowledge of some technical aspects of the subject. (shrink)

Boltzmann’s Bildtheorie, which asserts that scientific theories are ‘mental pictures’ having at best a partial similarity to reality, was a core element of his philosophy of science. The aim of this article is to draw attention to a neglected aspect of it, namely its significance for the issue of scientific explanation and understanding, regarded by Boltzmann as central goals of science. I argue that, in addition to being an epistemological view of the interpretation of scientific theories Boltzmann’s Bildtheorie has implications (...) for the nature of scientific understanding. This aspect has as yet been ignored because discussion of the Bildtheorie has been restricted to the realism-instrumentalism debate. To elucidate my analysis of Boltzmann’s Bildtheorie concrete examples are presented, and the pragmatist and Darwinist roots of Boltzmann’s view are discussed.Moreover, I propose to use Boltzmann’s ideas as a starting-point for developing a novel analysis of the notion of scientific understanding, of which a brief impression is given. It shows that the study of Boltzmann’s philosophy is not only of historical interest but can be relevant also to modern philosophy of science and to the methodology of theoretical physics. (shrink)

The contributions of the great physicist Ludwig Boltzmann to philosophy and biology are not known sufficiently. In philosophy, he was a realist, and much opposed to his colleague's, Mach's, positivism, but also to Berkeley's, Kant's, Hegel's and Schopenhauer's idealisms. In biology, Boltzmann was a passionate Darwinist and tried to explain on the basis of evolution the meaning of photosynthesis as well as the origin of life and of the mind. Boltzmann argued for evolutionary epistemology. Opposing Kant, he derived the (...) fundamental ideas of space, time and causality from the experience of mankind and its ancestors. The laws of thought were acquired in evolution. While they must be broadly true they need not be faultless. Antinomies arise when thought overshoots the mark, i. e. exceeds the limits of the area for which it evolved. As for Boltzmann the experience of the organism in the course of evolution is the only and exclusive source of knowledge, he may be called an absolute Darwinist. A short account of Boltzmann's Darwinian ideas on the origin of morality, on the sense of beauty and on happiness is also given. (shrink)

Boltzmann's principle is part of classical physics, and one of the corner-stones of Planck's quantum theory. It is shown, why Planck's theory of radiation can be derived from this principle without abandoning classical physics, if due regard is taken of atomism. Finally, there is given an outline of a quantum theory completely based on statistical axioms without any appeal to nonclassical physical principles.

In recent years, the philosophy of Ludwig Boltzmann has become a point of interest within the field of history of philosophy of science. Attention has centred around Boltzmann’s philosophical considerations connected to his defense of atomism in physics. In analysing these considerations, several scholars have attributed a pragmatist stance to Boltzmann. In this paper, I want to argue that, whatever pragmatist traits may be found in Boltzmann’s diverse writings, his defense of atomism in physics can not be analysed this (...) way. In other words, I wish to show that he did not defend atomism as “preferable for its practical virtues”, as has been alleged.1 On the contrary, Boltzmann considered the atomist picture to be indispensable — more precisely, an indispensable prerequisite for making the application of continuous differential equations an understandable enterprise. (shrink)

Esta introdução descreve os mais importantes dados biográficos da vida e da obra do físico teórico austríaco Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). As principais contribuições científicas de Boltzmann situam-se nos domínios da teoria cinética dos gases e mecânica estatística, da qual ele foi um dos fundadores. A tese de que as teorias científicas são representações dos fenômenos naturais é encontrada em todos os artigos de Boltzmann. No verbete "modelo", ela é apresentada de modo mais organizado, o que o torna uma peça (...) fundamental para a compreensão do pensamento filosófico do físico austríaco. O verbete, publicado na famosa enciclopédia Britannica, foi escrito para o público em geral. Ainda assim, Boltzmann não se eximiu de tomar partido em favor do uso de modelos. Estes últimos não apenas seriam inevitáveis, mas necessários, uma vez que tornavam possível o aperfeiçoamento contínuo da ciência. This introduction describes the most important biographical details of the life and work of the Austrian theoretical physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). The main scientific contributions of Boltzmann can be found in areas such as the kinetic theory of gases and statistical mechanics, of which he was one of the co-founders. The thesis that scientific theories are representations of natural phenomena is found in all philosophical articles by Boltzmann. In the entry "model", published in the celebrated Encyclopedia Britannica, the thesis is presented in a more organized way, making it the keystone to understand the philosophical thought of the Austrian physicist. Although the entry was written for the general public, in it Boltzmann did not refrain from taking sides as far as the use of models is concerned. According to him, the latter would not only be inevitable, but in fact necessary, since they would made possible the continuous improvement of science. (shrink)

Summary Boltzmann's principle is part of classical physics, and one of the corner-stones of Planck's quantum theory. It is shown, why Planck's theory of radiation can be derived from this principle without abandoning classical physics, if due regard is taken of atomism. Finally, there is given an outline of a quantum theory completely based on statistical axioms without any appeal to nonclassical physical principles.

The atomic hypothesis according to Ludwig Boltzmann. The scientific and philosophical importance of a controversial position at the close of the 19th century. This paper examines Boltzmann’s standpoint in the controversy over the existence of atoms between himself on the one hand and Mach, Ostwald, Helm and to some extent Duhem on the other hand. The latter wanted to develop a physics only constructed with perceptible phenomena. Because of the lack of empirical evidence of the atoms at that time (...) they did not accept them for the construction of physics. In contrast, Boltzmann found the acceptance of atoms to be a fruitful assumption, since for him the construction of physics required going beyond perceptible phenomena. Two different conceptions of nature and of the ways to know nature clashed in this disagreement between Boltzmann and his opponents. Op-posing one-sided positions, Boltzmann supported the hypothetical character of science, in which more than one basic hypothesis can be advanced: he was open to the possibility of fundamental revolutions in science. (shrink)

Ludwig Boltzmann’s work in theoretical physics exhibits an approach to the construction of theory that he transmitted to the succeeding generation by example. It involved the construction of clear models, allowed more than one, and was not based solely on the existing facts, with the intent of examining and criticizing the assumptions that made each model work. This tacit program influenced physicists like Ehrenfest and Einstein and the philosopher Wittgenstein, suggesting ways that they used to make further advances.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Ludwig Boltzmann explained how irreversible macroscopic laws, in particular the second law of thermodynamics, originate in the time-reversible laws of microscopic physics. Boltzmann’s analysis, the essence of which I shall review here, is basically correct. The most famous criticisms of Boltzmann’s later work on the subject have little merit. Most twentieth century innovations – such as the identification of the state of a physical system with a probability distribution on its phase (...) space, of its thermodynamic entropy with the Gibbs entropy of , and the invocation of the notions of ergodicity and mixing for the justification of the foundations of statistical mechanics – are thoroughly misguided. (shrink)

Emphasis in historiography of science is naturally placed on the discoveries and inventions which scientists make and generally less on new methods of doing science, but sometimes the latter can he an important clue to help us understand the former. For example, while we all acknowledge how great the contributions of Maxwell, Boltzmann, Planck, and Einstein were to physics from roughly 1870 to 1920, we often overlook the significance of a methodological phrase which was popular during that same period, namely, (...) what in German was called “Bildtheorie” or in English “picture theory”. But even before we can properly study its significance we have to know what the theory was, but even this presents problems, since the meaning changed. In fact, this paper is an attempt not only to describe the history of that change from Maxwell to Wittgenstein but to study in particular how Boltzmann’s conception of Bildtheorie seems to have been at least partly incorporated into the approach of Ludwig Wittgenstein. (shrink)

This paper is an attempt to clarify why Ludwig Boltzmann from about 1895 to 1905 seemed to adopt a series of extreme epistemological positions, ranging from phenomenalism to pragmatism, while emphatically rejecting what he called ‘metaphysics’ (by which he meant all traditional philosophy). He concluded that all philosophical differences were merely linguistic and most were ultimately meaningless. But at about the time that young Ludwig Wittgenstein began absorbing these desperate ideas (1905), Boltzmann himself under the influence of Franz (...) Brentano seemed to assume a type of representationalism about the external physical world, while in his own mind adopting it for pragmatic reasons. Why? Because “it worked”. He seems to have defended his non-representationalist Bildtheorie on similar grounds, but his suicide followed shortly (1906). (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo consiste em expor as idéias, que o físico austríaco Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) sobre o papel que a mecânica clássica desempenha na física. Ele as concebeu numa época em que a mecânica clássica começava a ser considerada como ultrapassada como fundamento para a física. Boltzmann jamais aceitou essa conclusão. Ele a rejeitou ao mesmo tempo em que desenvolvia um pensamento epistemológico sobre a natureza das teorias físicas. Segundo ele, as teorias científicas são apenas representações dos fenômenos (...) naturais. DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2011v15n2p361. (shrink)

O objectivo do presente artigo é apresentar as ideias que o físico teórico austríaco Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) desenvolveu acerca da natureza e do papel das leis do pensamento. Muito influenciado por Charles Darwin, Boltzmann recusou-se a compreender as leis do pensamento segundo a filosofia de Kant. Em particular, Boltzmann defendeu uma concepção evolutiva das leis do pensamento. O artigo mostra de que forma a concepção das leis do pensamento aceite por Boltzmann impôs uma transformação da sua ideia sobre aquilo (...) que seria o próprio da filosofia. /// Aim of this article is to show some of the epistemological ideas developed by Ludwig Bolzmann (1844-1906). The author of the article considers in particular Bolzmann's view on the nature and role of the laws of reason in the construction of scientific theories. Moreover, he also analyses the influence of Charles Darwin on the Austrian theoretical physicist and how this influence can be viewed as the turning point for the definition of Boltzmann's conception of philosophy. (shrink)

The purpose of the article is to present the ideas that the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann developed on the role of classical mechanics in physics. He had elaborated them at a time when classical mechanics began to be considered as not being any more the ground for all other physical theories. Boltzmann never accepted this conclusion. He rejected it, developing at the same time some ideas on the epistemological nature of scientific theories. According to him, scientific theories are representations (...) of natural phenomena. (shrink)

Many commentators agree that Wittgenstein took the idea that propositions are Bilder, or at least the terminology of Bilder, from Heinrich Hertz, or from Hertz and Ludwig Boltzmann. Boltzmann, the great Viennese theoretical physicist, was the founder of statistical thermodynamics, the modern theory of heat. The context within which Hertz and Boltzmann worked was one in which many prominent theoretical physicists accepted the Kantian restriction that our thought cannot access 'things in themselves', but works only with representations. Wittgenstein may (...) have found what Hertz said attractive, but even if he did develop a theory of representation or a picture theory of meaning, neither was something that he just took over from Hertz, fully formed, and his main concerns were puzzles about intentionality, not science. Hertz and Boltzmann did influence various aspects of the Tractatus. Their greatest and most lasting influence on Wittgenstein, though, was on his conception of philosophy itself: its aim, and its method. (shrink)