Written by well-known expert Donald Saari, this book is directed toward readers who want to learn about the Newtonian \(N\)-body problem. It is also intended for students and experts who are interested in new expositions of past results in this area, previously unpublished research conclusions, and new research problems.
Professor Saari has written the book for a broad audience, including readers with no previous knowledge about this fascinating area. He begins each chapter with introductory material motivated by unanswered research questions. He then includes some history, discussions intended to develop intuition, descriptions of open problems, and examples taken from real problems in astronomy.
The first chapter starts with simple explanations of the apparent "looping" orbit of Mars and the unexpected "Sunrise, Sunset" behavior as viewed from Mercury and then leads up to the unexplained and weird dynamics exhibited by Saturn's F-ring. The second chapter, which introduces a way to decompose the velocity of the system, is motivated by a seemingly easy but unanswered conjecture involving the dynamics of the system when the system's diameter is a constant. The third chapter, which describes questions about the structure of the rings of Saturn, introduces new and surprisingly simple ways to find configurations of the particles that are "central" to any discussion of the \(N\)-body problem. The fourth chapter analyzes collisions, and the last chapter discusses the likelihood of collisions and other events.
The book can be useful for readers who are interested in learning celestial mechanics and particularly the Newtonian N-body problem as well as for students, postgraduate students and experts in this area who are interested in new expositions of past results, previously unpublished research conclusions, and new research problems.
This book evaluates the widespread preference in philosophy of mind for varieties of property dualism over other alternatives to physicalism. It takes the standard motivations for property dualism as a starting point and argues that these lead directly to nonphysical substances resembling the soul of traditional metaphysics.
In the first half of the book, the author clarifies what is at issue in the choice between theories that posit nonphysical properties only and those that posit nonphysical substances. The crucial question, he argues, is whether one posits nonphysical things that satisfy an Aristotelian-Cartesian independence definition of substance: nonphysical things that could exist in the absence of anything else. In the second half, the author argues that standard and Russellian monist forms of property dualism are far less plausible than we usually suppose. Most significantly, the presuppositions of one of the leading arguments for property dualism, the conceivability argument, lead by parity of reasoning to the view that conscious subjects are nonphysical substances. He concludes that if you posit nonphysical properties in response to the mind-body problem, then you should be prepared to posit nonphysical substances as well. Mainstream philosophy of mind must take nonphysical substances far more seriously than it has done for the best part of a century.
Ralph Stefan Weir is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Lincoln and Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford. His recent publications include "Bring Back Substances!" (Review of Metaphysics, 2021), "Can a Post-Galilean Science of Consciousness Avoid Substance Dualism?" (Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2021), and "Does Idealism Solve the Problem of Consciousness?" (Routledge Handbook of Idealism and Immaterialism, 2021).
"Richard Swinburne is famous for arguing from the conceivability of my disembodiment to my having an immaterial part. Weir's argument is not open to the criticisms levelled against Swinburne's, and the engine driving the argument is entirely different and entirely original. I was very impressed."
"If you thought substance dualism was confined to history, then think again. Ralph Weir has developed one of the most compelling arguments for mental substance in contemporary philosophy. Essential reading for anybody working on the problem of consciousness."
"An extremely important defence of substance dualism. Weir aims his critique at the growing trend toward property dualism. He rigorously works through the analytical literature to show that property dualism, while headed in the right direction, embarrassingly has no advantage over substance dualism."
"Weir has produced a compelling challenge to the current dogma that property dualism should be preferred to substance dualism. His book is one that no party to the contemporary mind-body debate can afford to ignore."
Philosophers from Descartes to Kripke have struggled with the glittering prize of modern and contemporary philosophy: the mind-body problem. The brain is physical. If the mind is physical, we cannot see how. If we cannot see how the mind is physical, we cannot see how it can interact with the body. And if the mind is not physical, it cannot interact with the body. Or so it seems.
In this book the philosopher Jonathan Westphal examines the mind-body problem in detail, laying out the reasoning behind the solutions that have been offered in the past and presenting his own proposal. The sharp focus on the mind-body problem, a problem that is not about the self, or consciousness, or the soul, or anything other than the mind and the body, helps clarify both problem and solutions.
Westphal outlines the history of the mind-body problem, beginning with Descartes. He describes mind-body dualism, which claims that the mind and the body are two different and separate things, nonphysical and physical, and he also examines physicalist theories of mind; antimaterialism, which proposes limits to physicalism and introduces the idea of qualia; and scientific theories of consciousness.
Finally, Westphal examines the largely forgotten neutral monist theories of mind and body, held by Ernst Mach, William James, and Bertrand Russell, which attempt neither to extract mind from matter nor to dissolve matter into mind. Westphal proposes his own version of neutral monism. This version is unique among neutral monist theories in offering an account of mind-body interaction.
This is the clearest and most straightforward biomechanics textbook currently available. By breaking down the challenging subject of sport and exercise biomechanics into short thematic sections, it enables students to grasp each topic quickly and easily, and provides lecturers with a flexible resource that they can use to support any introductory course on biomechanics. The book contains a wealth of useful features for teaching and learning, including clear definitions of key terms, lots of applied examples, guides to further reading, and revision questions with worked solutions. It has been significantly expanded to encompass rapidly developing areas, such as sports equipment design and modern optoelectronic motion analysis systems, and it includes a number of new sections that further develop the application of biomechanics in sports performance and injury prevention. A new companion website includes a test bank, downloadable illustrations and, where appropriate, suggestions for learning outcomes and/or lab-based sessions for lecturers. Instant Notes in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics has been an invaluable course companion for thousands of students and lecturers over the last decade. Engaging, direct, and now fully refreshed, it is the only biomechanics textbook you'll ever need.
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