I am interested in the history and philosophy of physics, the history and philosophy of the earth sciences, and the foundations of quantitative measurement (in the the natural and human sciences). I am particularly interested in how we come to have quantitative knowledge about formerly qualitative phenomena (which include such things as gravity, temperature, or earthquakes) and strong evidence for theoretical propositions (such as the laws of physics).
I am currently writing a book (under contract at Oxford University Press), which is tentatively titled “Newton’s Open Problem: Earth’s Figure and Universal Gravitation.” In it, I reconstruct how we tested the ‘universal’ applicability of the law of gravitation to all massive bodies – the most daring claim in Newton’s Principia. Perhaps surprisingly, it took more than 200 years for us to prove Newton right. I want to understand how we did that, which has many interesting implications for how measurement, theoretical generalizations and statistical inference contribute to scientific progress
For a more details please visit my personal website at mohnesorgehps.com.
