forces-at-a-distance:

refers to gravity, magnetism & electrostatic forces which create fields of energy effecting objects from a distance; these are non-contact forces as opposed to contact forces (friction, tension force, spring force, applied force & normal force)

and see above page 413

 

centrifugal force:

in Newtonian mechanics, inertial forces that appear to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference; it is directed away from an axis which is parallel to the axis of rotation and passing through the coordinate system's origin.

 

tangentially:

adverb, in a way that relates only slightly to a matter; peripherally

 

Hertz:

see above pages 391 & 414

 

dynamics:

see above page 412

 

Faraday (potential theory):

This is a reference to electromagnetic induction which Faraday discovered in 1831.  He wrapped 2 wires around opposite sides of an iron ring or "torus" & then plugged 1 into a galvanometer & the other into a battery.  He observed a transient current, a wave of electricity when he connected the wire to the battery & another wave he disconnected it.  This “induction” was due to the change in magnetic flux that occurred when the battery was connected and disconnected.  It is the production of an electromotive force across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.  This energy is measured in volts, the difference in electric potential between 2 points, defined as the work needed per unit of charge to move a test charge between the two points.

 

aether:

a medium or a space-filling substance or field, thought to be necessary as a transmission medium for the propagation of electromagnetic or gravitational forces; the assorted theories embody the various conceptions of this medium and substance.   This early modern idea has little in common with the Apollonian aether, the element from which the name was borrowed. 

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Faraday (non-mathematician):

son of an English blacksmith, he had only the most basic school education & had to school himself; age 14 he was apprenticed to a book seller & binder; he read every book on science in the bookshop & attended lectures given at the Royal Institution by various natural philosophers, including Sir Humphrey Davey.  He was an excellent experimentalist who conveyed ideas in clear & simple language; his mathematical abilities, however, did not extend as far as trigonometry and were limited to the simplest algebra.  His law of induction (1831) was mathematically described by Maxwell (1861–62) 30 years after the fact!

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Faraday (“forces and the lines in which they are exercised“ 1846 quote):

Faraday is best known for his work regarding electricity & magnetism.  He discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831.  .  In Sept 1845 Faraday wrote in his notebook, "I have at last succeeded in illuminating a magnetic curve or line of force and in magnetising a ray of light".  His research into electromagnetism led him to develop the “line of Force theory.  This theory posited that all of reality is made up of force itself & predicts that electricity, light & gravity have finite propagation delays.  The theories and experimental data of later scientific figures such as Maxwell, Hertz, Einstein & others are in agreement with Faraday.

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energy concept (as a quantum or amount):

In 1807 Young first used the term "energy" instead of the “vis viva” of Leibniz.  In 1829  Coriolis described "kinetic energy".  Joule studied the nature of heat & discovered its relationship to mechanical work in 1845, which led to the law of conservation of energy, which led to the the first law of thermodynamics.  He worked with Lord Kelvin to develop an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale (the Kelvin scale) published in 1858.  In 1853, Rankine coined the term "potential energy" & by 1855 he had formulated a science of energetics giving an account of dynamics in terms of energy & its transformations (rather than force & motion).  In 1859 he proposed the Rankine scale of temperature, an absolute or thermodynamic scale.

 

Leibniz (living force):

see above pages 413, 414 and 415

 

mass concept (and energy):

a reference to the mass–energy equivalence, the relationship between mass & energy in a system’s rest frame, where the two values differ only by a constant & the units of measurement.  It arose from special relativity as a paradox described by the French polymath Henri Poincaré who (like others before him), discovered a relation between mass & electromagnetic energy (1900).  The theory was developed as a general principle and a consequence of the symmetries of space and time by Einstein in 1905, his famous E=mc2

 

atomic structure of energy:

a quantum mechanical system or particle that is bound (confined spatially) can only take on certain discrete values of energy (energy levels); commonly refers to the energy levels of the electrons in atoms, ions or molecules, which are bound by the electric field of the nucleus; it can also refer to energy levels of nuclei or vibrational or rotational energy levels in molecules.  The energy spectrum of a system with such discrete energy levels is said to be quantized.  This idea was first proposed in 1913 by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr in the Bohr theory of the atom.

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motion problem:

the unresolved philosophical debate regarding motion is between absolute and relational conceptions of motion: absolutist space & motion school versus the relationist space & motion school

 

Newton:

(1642–1727) he was a man of the summer, according to Spengler, which saw the formation of a new mathematic conception of number as copy and content of world-form

 

Faraday:

(1791–1867) he was a  contemporary of Comte (1798–1857) as well as fellow Englishmen Darwin (1809–82) & Spencer (1820–1903), all of whom Spengler relegates to the Winter, the age of  the materialistic world-outlook, cult of science, utility & prosperity.

 

Berkeley:

(1685- 1753) aka Bishop Berkeley; a contemporary of Newton, a man of the Summer age; .Anglo-Irish philosopher, his main work was A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) which he  rewrote in 1713 & published as Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous.  These present his subjective idealism in which reality consists of only 2 things: spirits & ideas; spirits (or mind ) are simple, active beings which produce & perceive ideas; ideas (or state of mind) are passive beings which are produced and perceived.  His philosophy attacked materialism, both Cartesian & Lockean dualism (spirit & materials exist) and Hobbes (only material exists).  Berkeley felt materialism promotes scepticism & atheism because materialism implies that our senses mislead us as to the natures of material things (which in fact do not exist) and atheism because a material world can run without God.  

 

Mill:

(1806-1873) aka JS Mill; a contemporary of Faraday, a man of the Winter age; English philosopher, political economist, MP & civil servant; classical liberal thinker, contributed to social, political & economic theory, believed liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state & social control; a proponent of utilitarianism (an ethical theory developed by Bentham) & contributed to the investigation of scientific methodology