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AKPhil: Arbeitskreis Philosophie der Physik

AKPhil 8: History and Philosophy of Physics 1

AKPhil 8.3: Talk

Friday, March 9, 2007, 10:00–10:30, KIP SR 3.401

Euler’s mechanics as a unified theory of matter and motion — •Dieter Suisky — Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, 12489 Berlin

Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783) is famous as the leading mathematician of the 18th century. Though his pioneering work on mechanics had an essential influence in 18th century, its impact on the 19th century has been obscured by the overwhelming success of his mathematical writings.

The following features make the difference to the theories of Euler’s predecessors Descartes, Newton and Leibniz: (i) a unified approach to mechanics based upon a universal model of the body and the introduction of algorithms for the modelling and solution of mechanical problems, called Auflösungskunst, (ii) the rigorous statement on the priority of relative motion, based upon the introduction of observers, called Zuschauer (Mechanica, 1736). This is comprehensively elaborated in the Anleitung zur Naturlehre (published 1862, but not mentioned by Mach) and maintained in the Theoria (1765), completed with the relative motion of two observers who are comparing their observations. The results confirm (iii) the invariance of the equation of motion in inertial systems (maintained by Einstein) and, (iv) the explanation of the origin of forces. Finally, (v) the reliability of mechanics is based both upon experience and mathematical foundation of the algorithms which are turned out to be in harmony with the physical foundation of measuring procedures. Einstein added the invariance of light velocity preserving all basic essentials of Euler’s theory.