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Comment on Eisenthal's 'mechanics without mechanisms'
1Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Campo Grande, C4.3.22, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
|August 24, 2022
Abstract:
In a recent paper on Hertz's Mechanics, Eisenthal claims that this mechanics is without mechanisms. He argues that the absence of mechanisms is a consequence of Hertz's philosophy of physics, presented in the introduction to this book. In the present paper, I will show that Hertz created four mechanisms. These mechanisms play a fundamental role in the deduction of the equations of motion. Some physicists used these mechanisms to create Hertzian mechanical models or to apply Hertz's mechanics to phenomena.