Dear colleagues: As below! Best, Jeremy B ------ Jeremy Butterfield: Trinity College, Cambridge CB2 1TQ **** Bryan Roberts (LSE)
will speak at the History and Philosophy of Science Departmental Seminar Thursday, 19 November at 4:30pm Electricity and crystallography: the history and philosophy of Curie's Principle Many consider symmetry principles to be even more fundamental than the laws of nature, and Curie's Principle is often upheld as an example. In this talk I will argue that, on the contrary, Curie's principle arose out of a heuristic rule of thumb, which Pierre Curie and his brother used to show how crystals generate electricity when twisted and compressed. The principle they applied was strictly false, but still managed to play a fruitful role in the discovery of new physics. Tea and biscuits will be available from 4pm in Seminar Room 1 Seminar Location: Seminar Room 2 Department of the History and Philosophy of Science Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RH Following the talk we will go to the pub and dinner. All are welcome! _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
