Repository | Book

Leaving aside for once all utilitarian considerations, this book attempts to demonstrate the role and influence of the natural sciences in the development of human thought and in shaping the way in which we perceive the world. This seems to be particularly necessary in the present day and age, in view of the fact that a large section of the public is scarcely aware of the great cultural contribution that the natural sciences make towards moulding our conception of theworld and scarcely acknowledges their function in helping us to find our bearings in a world that is becoming increasingly complex.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-78685-3

Full citation:

Historical and philosophical aspects of the unity of physics

Schmutzer E.

1-11

The emergence of theoretical physics in the second half of the nineteenth century

Bevilacqua Fabio

13-36

Physics and human thought

Neubauer Z.

37-44

Physics as a cultural science

Dosch Hans Günter

45-53

Time flow

Süssmann G.

55-70

Time's arrow

Holland C. H.

71-83

Between pure and applied mathematics

Pelczar A.

85-92

Concepts of causality in pre-socratic philosophy

Andriopoulos D. Z.

93-99

The rationality of reductionism

Scheibe Erhard

101-109

The risk of heuristics

Wagenaar W. A.

111-123

Irreversibility and self-organization

Haken Hermann

125-137

Structural basis of serine protease action

Gráf L.

139-148

Can the concept of evolution tell us who we are?

Zwilling Robert

149-159

Changes of paradigms in biology and medicine

Koj A.

161-169

The relationship between medicine and natural sciences during the twentieth century

Zwiener U.

171-176

The artificial intelligence approach to modelling medical reasoning

Stefanelli M.; Ramoni M.

177-186

The role of prediction in modern science

Höschl C.

187-191

From Brunelleschi to Leonardo

Galluzzi P.

193-202

Antonio Scarpa, Luigi Porta, Camillo Golgi

Armocida G.; Calligaro A.

203-215

The social uses of past science

Pancaldi G.

217-224