Letters of Euler to a German Princess
On Different Subjects in Physics and Philosophy
Leonard Euler(Author)
Thoemmes Continuum (Publisher)
Published on 15. February 1997
Book
Hardback
1138 pages
978-1-85506-507-9 (ISBN)
Description
At the start of their correspondence, Euler's royal pupil - the German princess - had little or no knowledge of natural philosophy and mathematics. The letters in this text show how Euler takes his pupil back to the basic notions of distance, time and velocity. Euler then progresses onto the more difficult topics of physics: light and colour; sound; gravity; electricity; and magnetism. From physics, he leads on to natural philosophy: the nature of matter; the origin of forces; and the rival worldviews of Newtonians and Cartesians. Here Euler seeks to separate the mathematical achievement of Newton, about which he had doubts and reservations, from the physical interpretation put on his work by others. The letters go beyond natural philosophy into metaphysics, dealing with the mind-body problem, free will and determinism, the nature of spirits, and the operation of providence in the world of nature. Here, Euler thinks, unaided human reason does not take us very far - some questions may be left unanswered awaiting divine illumination. In particular, he is very suspicious of the metaphysical system of Leibniz and Wolff.
More details
Edition
Facsimile of 1795 ed
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Facsimile edition
Illustrations
20 diagrams, notes, glossary
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85506-507-9 (9781855065079)
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Schweitzer Classification