History of Science

A New History of Science

Having  completed my own degree in the history and philosophy of physics, I was neither told what area others considered important enough to focus on nor taught in any specific school of thought for studying the history of science. By making my own way through the subject I created a new path, leading to new insights into the origins of physics. These insights I researched further, and elaborated them into an entirely new theory of the grounding of physical theories upon physical optics – laws of motion rest on the generalisation of laws of light motion. I understood from my Masters research that this generalisation of laws of light into laws of nature governing the motion of light and matter in the seventeenth-century actually formed part of a much larger pattern in the development of physical theory. This historically-grounded argument could be extended to include the construction of physical theory before and after Newton, from medieval light metaphysics to special relativity and quantum theory. It could also explain why Newton’s mechanics arose when it did, and how it could not have been created before the late sixteenth/ early seventeenth-century rise of atomism and its application to light.

My papers on the optical foundations of physical theory in the seventeenth century, by Galileo and Newton, have secured journal publication:-

Optical reflection and mechanical rebound: the shift from analogy to axiomatisation in the seventeenth century. Part 1
Optical reflection and mechanical rebound: the shift from analogy to axiomatisation in the seventeenth century. Part 2

Shining a light on Harriot and Galileo: On the mechanics of reflection and projectile motion

Light Path: On the Realist Mathematisation of Motion in the Seventeenth Century (new):-

https://www.zetabooks.com/journals/journal-of-early-modern-studies.html

 

On the other hand, articles which rigorously extend the argument before and beyond Galileo/Newton continue to face unfounded editorial resistance. This is in no small part due to their presentation of a novel and currently unfashionable ‘big picture’ history of science, identifying a developmental pattern in the long history of physics which explains for the first time how physics has evolved over centuries. This ‘big picture’ explanation provides new understanding both about the philosophical nature of natural science and of orthodox quantum theory. Moreover, in explaining the long history of physics via a single evolutionary principle and its four developmental stages, it can be presented to general readers with unmatched simplicity and clarity, yet lead them to genuinely profound insights into the true nature of physical theory and scientific progress. Indeed, students of science can  benefit immensely from the strong single-line narrative it provides to grasp modern scientific theories, from Newtonian mechanics to special relativity and quantum theory.