In nine new essays, distinguished philosophers of science discuss outstanding issues in scientific methodology --especially that of the physical sciences-and address philosophical questions that arise in the exploration of the foundations of contemporary science.

This book is the first complete and comprehensive description of the modern Physical Theory of Diffraction (PTD) based on the concept of elementary edge waves (EEWs). The theory is demonstrated with the example of the diffraction of acoustic and electromagnetic waves at perfectly reflecting objects. The derived analytic expressions clearly explain the physical structure of the scattered field and describe in detail all of the reflected and diffracted rays and beams, as well as the fields in the vicinity of caustics and foci. Shadow radiation, a new fundamental component of the field, is introduced and proven to contain half of the total scattered power.

Although the current dynamical system approach offers several important insights into the turbulence problem, issues still remain that present challenges to conventional methodologies and concepts. These challenges call for the advancement and application of new physical concepts, mathematical modeling, and analysis techniques. Bringing together ex

In two earlier volumes, entitled The Logico-Algebraic Approach to Quan tum Mechanics (hereafter LAA I, II), I have presented collections of research papers which trace out the historical development and contem porary flowering of a particular approach to physical theory. One might characterise this approach as the extraction of an abstract logico-algebraic skeleton from each physical theory and the reconstruction of the physical theory as construction of mathematical and interpretive 'flesh' (e. g. , measures, operators, mappings etc. ) on this skeleton. The idea is to show how the specific features of a theory that are easily seen in application (e. g. , 'interference' among observables in quantum mechanics) arise out of the character of its core abstract structure. In this fashion both the deeper nature of a theory (e. g. , in what precise sense quantum mechanics is strongly statistical) and the deeper differences between theories (e. g. clas sical mechanics, though also a 'mechanics', is not strongly statistical) are penetratingly illuminated. What I would describe as the 'mainstream' logico-algebraic tradition is captured in these two collections of papers (LAA I, II). The abstract, structural approach to the characterisation of physical theory has been the basis of a striking transformation, in this century, in the understanding of theories in mathematical physics. There has emerged clearly the idea that physical theories are most significantly characterised by their abstract structural components.

This book focuses on the need for and development of a rigorous Nonequilibrium Thermodynamic Theory, as a foundation on which to construct a relativistic particle theory that in turn serves as a self-consistent basis for our reasoning in the quantum, cosmological and life sciences, at the farthest extremes of organized complexity ? and the farthest removes from equilibrium. In Part I, Dr. Hamilton develops general principles and laws, extending those of Classical Thermodynamics, which govern the origin and evolution of systems far from equilibrium. And he shows that these principles act collectively with Heisenberg?s indeterminacy principle, as a Nonequilibrium Thermodynamic Imperative (NTI), a creative driving force in the expansion and evolution of the Universe. In Part II, he proposes fundamental assumptions, alternatives to those in the Standard Model, that lead, seamlessly and self-consistently, to the origin and evolution of the quantum Universe and its transition to the scalar expansion of the Cosmos, in which the force of gravity plays a central role. On this foundation, Part III develops a rational quantum theory in which Gravitational and Symmetry Bound Photons (GSBP) constitute the most fundamental particles in the Universe as dimensional composite fermions (quarks, electrons and positrinos) and bosons, and enabling a GSBP-Schroedinger enhanced description of the dynamics of atomic and molecular systems. And in Part IV, Dr. Hamilton develops a physical, molecular theory of the origin and evolution of life on the early Earth which accounts in natural geophysical terms for the critically important homochirality of all the amino acids in present-day living cells. The Nonequilibrium Thermodynamic Imperative drives and undergirds all creative action, at all levels, from quantum to cosmological, in the expanding Universe, including the Darwinian Natural Selection of species on Earth in which the NTI plays a fundamental physical role.

Advances in the Theory of Chemical and Physical Systems is a collection of 26 selected papers from the scientific presentations made at the 9th European Workshop on Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics (QSCP-IX) held at Les Houches, France, in September 2004. This volume encompasses a spectrum of developing topics in which scientists place special emphasis on theoretical methods in the study of chemical and physical properties of various systems: Quantum Chemical Methods (including CC and DFT for excited states) Relativistic and Heavy-Element Systems (including radiative and nuclear effects)Complexes and Clusters (including metal complexes and clusters) Complex Systems (including quasicrystals, nanotubes and proteins).