Selected Papers of Léon Rosenfeld

968 Pages·1979·18.418 MB·English

by  Robert S. Cohen, John J. Stachel (auth.), Robert S. Cohen, John J. Stachel (eds.)

BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
VOLUME XXI
SELECTED PAPERS OF
LEON ROSENFELD
SYNTHESE LIBRARY
STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY,
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Managing Editor:
JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Academy of Finland and Stanford University
Editors:
ROBER T S. COHEN, Boston University
DONALD DAVIDSON, University of Chicago
GABRIEL NUCHELMANS, University of Leyden
WESLEY C. SALMON, University of Arizona
VOLUME 100
LEON ROSENFELD (1904·1974)
BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
EDITED BY ROBERT S. COHEN AND MARX W. WARTOFSKY
VOLUME XXI
SELECTED PAPERS OF
LEON ROSENFELD
Edited by
ROBERT S. COHEN AND JOHN J. ST ACHEL
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
DORDRECHT: HOLLAND I BOSTON: U.S.A.
LONDON:ENGLAND
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rosenfeld, Leon, 1904--1974.
Selected papers of Leon Rosenfeld.
(Boston studies in the philosophy of science; v. 21)
(Synthese library; v. 1(0)
'Bibliography of the writings of Leon Rosenfeld': p. Includes index.
I. Physics-History-Collected works. 2. Physics-Philosophy
Collected works. 3. Physics-Collected works. 4. Science-History
Collected works. I. Cohen, Robert Sonne. II. Stachel,J.J.
III. Title. IV. Series.
Q174.B67 vol. 21 [QC7] 50lS [5301.09] 77-17620
ISBN-13: 978-90-277-0652-2 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9349-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-9349-5
The translation of Article 1 in Part 11 was prepared by Prof Aage Petersen and edited by
RSC and JJS. The translations of Articles 3. 7. 11. 15. 16. 17. and 20 of Part 1.5. 15 and 18
~l Part II. 1. 2, and 3 ~l Part Ill. and 1 ~l Part IV were prepared by the AAA Linguistic
Service ( Boston). Betty Krikorian and Jean Rel'ol and edited by RSC and JJS.
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company,
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Copyright © 1979 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
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EDITORIAL PREFACE
The decision to undertake this volume was made in 1971 at Lake Como
during the Varenna summer school ofthe Italian Physical Society, where
Professor Leon Rosenfeld was lecturing on the history of quantum theory.
We had long been struck by the unique blend of epistemological, histori
cal and social concerns in his work on the foundations and development
of physics, and decided to approach him there with the idea of publishing
a collection of his papers. He responded enthusiastically, and agreed to
help us select the papers; furthermore, he also agreed to write a lengthy
introduction and to comment separately on those papers that he felt
needed critical re-evaluation in the light of his current views. For he was
still vigorously engaged in both theoretical investigations of, and critical
reflections on the foundations of theoretical physics. We certainly did not
conceive of the volume as a memorial to a 'living saint', but rather more
practically, as a useful tool to place in the hands of fellow workers and
students engaged in wrestling with these difficult problems. All too sadly,
fate has added a memorial aspect to our labors.
We agreed that in order to make this book most useful for the con
temporary community of physicists and philosophers, we should trans
late all non-English items into English. Selection of the items for inclusion
proceeded by correspondence and at the time of Professor Rosenfeld's
visit to Boston University in 1973 had reached a stage that enabled us to
draw up a nearly final list with him; that list is the basis for this volume.
Unfortunately, he had not set to work on the introduction and critical
notes at the time of his death. Professor Stefan Rozental, his close friend
and co-worker, has kindly supplied us with an introductory tribute; but
he joins us in the sense of loss to the volume due to the absence of Rosen
feld's own editorial contributions.
VIII EDITORIAL PREFACE
II
Naturally, we cannot dream of filling that gap in these prefatory com
ments. We should just like to include a few words on some unique
features of Professor Rosenfeld's work, which we feel will be of significance
to physicists and philosophers, and especially to students.
At the time when Professor Rosenfeld started his scientific career, the
number of physicists who concerned themselves with social issues, let
alone those who saw any organic relationship between their creative acti
vity and their social concerns, was small. Today, of course, under the
impact of the great leap forward in the industrialization of science, and
of so many scientific and technological developments upon all aspects
of social life - and indeed of possible social death - this number has
grown considerably. But often this concern, even among some scientists,
takes the form of a rejection of science, or at any rate a rejection of
any claim that science gives us a truthful picture of the world. How to
reconcile an understanding of the social role of science, and likewise of
the role of social forces in the development of science, with a concept of
objective scientific truth has become an issue of concern to a growing
number of scientists, young and old. Rosenfeld's lifelong example of just
such an attempt can serve as an inspiration and example.
III
Professor Rosenfeld was a Marxist. He made no bones about this, as may
be seen from the many references to Marx and Engels in this volume, as
well as the integral spirit in which he approached such problems as the
origins of thermodynamics or the history of electromagnetic theory, to
give but two examples. His Marxism was of an undogmatic variety, how
ever, at a time when dogmatism reigned supreme in the dominant currents
of several 'official' Marxisms. His work thus provides a valuable example
of the attempt by a critical intellect to utilize the categories of Marxist
thought in discussing not only the social and historical aspects of the
development of physics, but also conceptual evolution within various
branches of physics themselves. Indeed, it is precisely in his early refusal
to see a sharp separation between these 'external' and 'internal' moments
in the evolution of the sciences that we may see a distinctive feature of
EDITORIAL PREFACE IX
Rosenfeld's approach, which he owes to the Marxist tradition, a tradition
which his own specific, detailed studies have materially developed and
enriched.
This by no means implies that only the committed Marxist can benefit
from the reading of those papers most directly concerned with social and
historical matters. For while he approaches the issues in each case from
his own viewpoint, Rosenfeld does not come armed with a bag of pre
conceived answers: rather, he displays a fine sense for the uniqueness of
the historical event, the role of individual traits and how they blend with,
or rub against. the grain of the historical development. We believe readers
will time and again find themselves charmed by the concise characteriza
tions of persons and situations, as well as informed about the way they fit
into a larger picture of scientific and social development through the clash
of individual viewpoints. The Marxist scholar will in addition find num
erous models for the tactful and sympathetic application of his method
to concrete situations. He will also find some tart comments on what
Rosenfeld found to be dogmatic or vulgar Marxist misapplications,
notably in the review of Bernal.
IV
Rosenfeld is probably best known to the public of physics for his work on
the foundations of quantum theory, especially for his critical development
and defense of Bohr's viewpoint. Without going into any discussion ofthe
issues (on which Rosenfeld speaks for himself eloquently enough through
out this volume), it may be helpful to recall that this viewpoint has been,
and to some extent still is, under attack by some orthodox Marxists and
others as an idealist, or positivist distortion; while at the same time it
has been 'defended', under the umbrella labelled the 'Copenhagen' inter
pretation, by a wide variety of champions who clearly were in fact philo
sophical idealists. Rosenfeld engaged in a running battle on both fronts.
First, he tries to show that Bohr's viewpoint was basically materialist, and
that these attacks from the 'left' were being launched from the standpoint
of a dogmatically simple or mechanical 'materialism' - which is no true
materialism. Second, he argued that views expressed by such 'defenders'
of Copenhagen as Heisenberg were really attempts to saddle quantum
mechanics with a Platonic ideology. Obviously the debates about the
x EDITORIAL PREFACE
philosophical significance of quantum theory are not over; but those
who want to understand some of the genuine issues in these debates must
reckon with Rosenfeld's views.
v
Rosenfeld was not, and did not claim to be a philosopher, nor was he a
historian. However, he undertook investigations into the philosophical
and historical aspects of physics because of two deep motivations. First,
he was convinced that a rigorous understanding of the development of
ideas would profoundly clarify his own understanding of physics, and
that of his contemporaries. He never went so far as to claim that such
historical and philosophical studies would solve current problems - only
clarify, which was precious enough in view of the perplexing obscurity
of the crises in 20th-century physics.
Second, Rosenfeld's appreciation of the wider social position of scien
tists, and of their labors, was a component of his general outlook upon
society and its history. Hence it was the most natural thing for him to seek
understanding of the relationship between scientific ideas and social
forces, social problems, social opportunities. It was equally natural for
him to apply his mind to contemporary social questions (especially where
physics was relevant) as well as to the historical interactions of society
and science in classical and post-renaissance times. These interests in the
social or 'external' history of physics did not occupy him more than
episodically, in no way as extensive a pre-occupation as for some other
creative scientists of this century who had similar social sympathies, such
as Haldane, Bernal, Needham, and others. Nevertheless, while his research
and writing on these social factors of physics was modest, his public
efforts to stimulate such interests and concerns among several generations
of students and colleagues were far-reaching indeed.
Rosenfeld's work in the history of physics was akin to that combina
tion of historical investigation and logical-conceptual analysis known to
us from such giants of the history and logic of physics as Mach and
Duhem. Unhappily he produced no treatise in the history of modern
physics, and he did not follow through after his dozen superb pioneering
papers in the history of physics. Among these we may particularly note:
EDITORIAL PREFACE Xl
(1) The Genesis of the Laws of Thermodynamics (1941)
(2) The Velocity of Light and the Evolution of Electro
dynamics (1956)
(3) The Evolution of Oersted's Scientific Concepts (1970)
(4) The First Phase in the Evolution of the Quantum Theory
(1936)
(5) Max Planck and the Statistical Definition of Entropy
(1959)
In addition Rosenfeld continued throughout his scientific life to record
and interpret his own historical ambiance, which meant, of course, the
history of Niels Bohr, in paper after paper of sometimes repetitive but
always thoughtful and provocative writing.
So much for history. As a philosopher of science, Rosenfeld especially
was concerned with the classical issues of epistemology. Of first impor
tance perhaps were his joint papers with Bohr on measurement, including
the classic paper of 1933. But he went on to explore the central notions,
particularly those in quantum physics, and here we would select a note
worthy group:
(1) The Evolution of the Idea of Causality (1942)
(2) Strife about Complementarity (1953)
(3) The Measuring Process in Quantum Mechanics (1965)
(4) On the Foundations of Statistical Thermodynamics
(1955)
(5) Questions of Irreversibility and Ergodicity (1960)
(6) Some Reflections on Knowledge (1971)
His last research, in collaboration with IIya Prigogine and his group,
was devoted to elucidating the significance of quantum mechanics for
understanding some epistemological features of quantum theory.
At no point was Rosenfeld singled out for intensive study by profes
sional philosophers, nor even by philosophers of science; and the same
can be said for his reception by the historians of science. He was seen by
both groups mainly as a profound physicist rather than a colleague in
their own fields, and to some extent as a profound dilettante. We are not
sure he would have minded this description, but we feel sure that his work
in the history and philosophy of physics, incomplete though it was, was