4 papers
Projection and Invariance in Scientific Explanation
Harry Sticker
Any representational enterprise must omit variation in order to function. NASA still uses Newtonian mechanics, though Einstein superseded Newton, and the standard picture of scient…
The Architecture of Inter-Level Representation
Harry Sticker
Inter-level connections in science routinely require constructs that neither of the connected theories contains. Statistical mechanics requires assumptions such as the Stosszahlans…
Activation and Alignment: A Causal Account of the Scientific Revolution
Harry Sticker
Standard historiographical approaches to the Scientific Revolution illuminate background conditions but leave three puzzles unresolved: what triggered the initial escalation of inh…
The Fine-Structure Constant as a Scaled Quantity
Harry Sticker
The fine-structure constant alpha approximately 1/137 is traditionally regarded as a fundamental dimensionless parameter. I argue instead that alpha is a scaled quantity that arise…