Eisenthal, Joshua (2018) Mechanics without mechanisms. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 62. pp. 45-55. ISSN 1355-2198

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Abstract

At the time of Heinrich Hertz's premature death in 1894, he was regarded as one of the leading scientists of his generation. However, the posthumous publication of his treatise in the foundations of physics, Principles of Mechanics, presents a curious historical situation. Although Hertz's book was widely praised and admired, it was also met with a general sense of dissatisfaction. Almost all of Hertz's contemporaries criticized Principles for the lack of any plausible way to construct a mechanism from the “hidden masses” that are particularly characteristic of Hertz's framework. This issue seemed especially glaring given the expectation that Hertz's work might lead to a model of the underlying workings of the ether.

In this paper I seek an explanation for why Hertz seemed so unperturbed by the difficulties of constructing such a mechanism. In arriving at this explanation, I explore how the development of Hertz's image-theory of representation framed the project of Principles. The image-theory brings with it an austere view of the “essential content” of mechanics, only requiring a kind of structural isomorphism between symbolic representations and target phenomena. I argue that bringing this into view makes clear why Hertz felt no need to work out the kinds of mechanisms that many of his readers looked for. Furthermore, I argue that a crucial role of Hertz's hypothesis of hidden masses has been widely overlooked. Far from acting as a proposal for the underlying structure of the ether, I show that Hertz's hypothesis ruled out knowledge of such underlying structure.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Eisenthal, Joshua josheisenthal@gmail.com 0000-0002-3918-4623
Keywords:	Heinrich Hertz, mechanics, hidden masses, representation, ether
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Depositing User:	Dr Joshua Eisenthal
Date Deposited:	16 Jun 2025 13:28
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2025 13:28
Item ID:	25715
Journal or Publication Title:	Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
Publisher:	Elsevier
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2017.05.005
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Date:	2018
Page Range:	pp. 45-55
Volume:	62
ISSN:	1355-2198
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/25715

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