000			a
999			_c34024 _d34024
008			250812b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780195337389
082			_a536.5 _bCHA
100			_aChang, Hasok
245			_aInventing temperature : measurement and scientific progress
260			_bOxford University Press, _c2004 _aOxford :
300			_axvii, 286 p. ; _bill., _c23 cm.
365			_b55.00 _c$ _d86.80
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_aWhat is temperature, and how can we measure it correctly? These may seem like simple questions, but the most renowned scientists struggled with them throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In Inventing Temperature, Chang examines how scientists first created thermometers; how they measured temperature beyond the reach of standard thermometers; and how they managed to assess the reliability and accuracy of these instruments without a circular reliance on the instruments themselves.. In a discussion that brings together the history of science with the philosophy of science, Chang presents the simple yet challenging epistemic and technical questions about these instruments, and the complex web of abstract philosophical issues surrounding them. Chang's book shows that many items of knowledge that we take for granted now are in fact spectacular achievements, obtained only after a great deal of innovative thinking, painstaking experiments, bold conjectures, and controversy. Lurking behind these achievements are some very important philosophical questions about how and when people accept the authority of science.--BOOK JACKET.
650			_aTemperature measurements
650			_aThermometer
942			_2ddc _cBK