Abstract.
Based upon a comparison of the viscosity experiments of James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and Oskar Emil Meyer (1834–1909) in the 1860s, I argue that mathematical theory plays a significant role in both aspects of experimental practice, the design and construction of an experimental apparatus and the transformation of the observed experimental data into the value of a physical quantity. I argue further that Maxwell’s and Meyer’s evaluation of each other’s theoretical and experimental work depended significantly on the mathematical tools they employed in their theories.
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Sichau, C. Storming a Citadel: Mathematical Theory and Experimental Practice. Phys. perspect. 8, 236–254 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-006-0272-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-006-0272-8
Keywords.
- James Clerk Maxwell
- Oskar Emil Meyer
- Franz Ernst Neumann
- William Thomson
- George Gabriel Stokes
- experimental practice
- experimental errors
- mathematical theory
- viscosity
- kinetic theory
- transdisciplinarity
- King’s College London
- University of Königsberg