The Niels Bohr Archive
History of Science Seminar Wed 27 October 2010, 14.15
Aud. A, Niels Bohr Institute
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen
Gregory A. Good
Director, Center for History of Physics,
American Institute of Physics, College Park, U.S.A.
Inaccessible Earth:
Geomagnetism, In Situ Measurements,
Remote Sensing, and Proxy Data
ABSTRACT: The usual problems of measurement and its meaning are complicated and magnified when the object of study is in principle and in fact inaccessible. When a phenomenon occurs in a place where our instruments cannot reach, what can the relation between the instrument, its reading, and the phenomenon be? This essay asks how researchers have addressed questions about inaccessible processes of the Earth's magnetic field on and under its surface and at the edge of space. This case takes us beyond simple contrasts of inductive and deductive methods, or field sciences versus basic sciences, to a messier, more nuanced view of inherently complex sciences. The talk focuses on investigations of the Earth's magnetism and electricity, but its perspectives are applicable to many areas of recent science.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
www.nba.nbi.dk
Opslag
