Imagery in Scientific Thought Creating 20th-Century Physics: CREATING 20TH-CENTURY Physics

Throughout my research in the history of science I have been struck by the interest of many key scientists in the origins of scientific concepts and the process of creative thinking, particularly its intui- tive dimension. These scientists saw apparently disparate subjects as being related because the depth of their research had led them to consider the process of thinking itself. This book explores the con- nection of creative scientific thinking with the origins of scientific concepts and the ways in which this connection may provide a better understanding of scientific progress. Thus my concern here is with individuals, with the detailed structure of scientific change, and not with its macrostructure.
I have chosen to study Niels Bohr, Ludwig Boltzmann, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, and Henri Poincare. Through their work, the period 1900-1950 was one in which our customary notions of space, time, causality, and substance were transformed as never before. These philosopher-scientists were chiefly responsible for set- ting the intellectual milieu of the twentieth century.
I have developed the history, philosophy, psychology, and science contained herein with the goal of reaching the widest possible audi- ence. Every effort has been made to render this book self-contained. Parts I and II contain historical case studies of Bohr, Boltzmann, Einstein, Heisenberg, and Poincare from which emerge the philo- sophical-scientific currents of their times. The analyses strive to elucidate their styles of thinking, particularly their modes of mental imagery. These results are input for the cognitive psychological anal- yses in Part III that explore creative scientific thinking. Thus, in Part III, the history of science is used as a laboratory for cognitive psy- chology.
My recent book, Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity: Emer- gence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905-1911), probed the problem of creativity for a particular case, with emphasis on scientific and philosophical aspects. I concluded that book by suggesting the need for further investigation into the imagery in Albert Einstein's thought experiments. This is among the topics developed here. Like that book, this one concludes with problems for further work. That is the manner in which my essays often end, and that is the way it should be when the history of science is defined broadly enough to be considered part of the history of ideas
It is my hope that this book will serve as a catalyst for increasing interaction between cognitive psychologists and historians of sci- ence, so that we may amplify each other's intellectual strengths for a multidisciplinary approach to a fascinating problem in the history of ideas: creative scientific thinking.