Legend has it that Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion between 1905 and 1913 'put a definite end to the long struggle regarding the real existence of molecules.' Close examination of these experiments, however, shows how little access they gained to the molecular realm. They did succeed in determining mean kinetic energies of particles in Brownian motion, but the values for molecular magnitudes Perrin inferred from them simply presupposed that those energies match the mean kinetic energies of molecules in the surrounding fluid. This monograph explains how Perrin's measurements of the kinetic energies in Brownian motion were nevertheless exemplars of theory-mediated measurement - the practice of inferring values for inaccessible quantities from values of accessible proxies via theoretical relationships between them.
Note
Legend has it that Jean Perrin's experiments on Brownian motion between 1905 and 1913 'put a definite end to the long struggle regarding the real existence of molecules.' Close examination of these experiments, however, shows how little access they gained to the molecular realm. They did succeed in determining mean kinetic energies of particles in Brownian motion, but the values for molecular magnitudes Perrin inferred from them simply presupposed that those energies match the mean kinetic energies of molecules in the surrounding fluid. This monograph explains how Perrin's measurements of the kinetic energies in Brownian motion were nevertheless exemplars of theory-mediated measurement - the practice of inferring values for inaccessible quantities from values of accessible proxies via theoretical relationships between them.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on September 15, 2020).
