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Ah, damn, that's enough, I'm ordering a copy of it now. Thanks! Edit: I've always considered this historical context most important and we do not stress it enough in teaching physics (same in math and chemistry or in just about every subject that has developed and progressed over the years - 19th C. scholars translating ancient Greek texts for instance). As far as far as is possible, we need to get inside the heads of these people and try to picture the obstacles and difficulties they were facing at the time. Moreover, it's my experience that if I try to understand where they are coming from then I find that I get a much deeper appreciation (and better understanding) of the subject. Similarly, old scientific and engineering textbooks of the era are very useful in further illuminating this historical thinking; for example, 19th C. postulations about how the sun got its energy before we knew anything about nuclear fusion. That said, it seems we largely ignore this historical context because it is hard to do well and that most courses are already short of time. Still, if any subject needs it, it's QM and I've said so here on HN and elsewhere on many occasions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31980008. Big warning, here I'm in long-rave mode! Re: other good reads on the subject, at short notice I'm at a bit of a loss. Your best bet are textbooks on HPS - History and Philosophy of Science (which was one of my subjects decades ago). The trouble is comments on this topic soon time out, so in future when I think of them I won't he able to update you. (Much of my knowledge comes from snippets in individual texts, unfortunately, it's not all collected into one volume.) |