26 ideas
| 14919 | Empiricists deny what is unobservable, and reject objective modality [Fraassen] |
| 6783 | To 'accept' a theory is not to believe it, but to believe it empirically adequate [Fraassen, by Bird] |
| 14917 | To accept a scientific theory, we only need to believe that it is empirically adequate [Fraassen] |
| 6784 | Why should the true explanation be one of the few we have actually thought of? [Fraassen, by Bird] |
| 13066 | An explanation is just descriptive information answering a particular question [Fraassen, by Salmon] |
| 1743 | The greatest deterrence for injustice is if uninjured parties feel as much indignation as those who are injured [Solon, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 21181 | Relativity and Quantum theory give very different accounts of forces [Hesketh] |
| 21183 | Thermodynamics introduced work and entropy, to understand steam engine efficiency [Hesketh] |
| 21199 | Spinning electric charge produces magnetism, so all fermions are magnets [Hesketh] |
| 21191 | Photons are B and W° bosons, linked by the Higgs mechanism [Hesketh] |
| 21189 | Electrons may have smaller components, bound by a new force [Hesketh] |
| 21180 | Electrons are fundamental and are not made of anything; they are properties without size [Hesketh] |
| 21182 | Quantum mechanics is our only theory, and is very precise, and repeatedly confirmed [Hesketh] |
| 21184 | Physics was rewritten to explain stable electron orbits [Hesketh] |
| 21187 | Virtual particles can't be measured, and can ignore the laws of physics [Hesketh] |
| 21185 | Colour charge is positive or negative, and also has red, green or blue direction [Hesketh] |
| 21194 | The Standard Model omits gravity, because there are no particles involved [Hesketh] |
| 21195 | In Supersymmetry the Standard Model simplifies at high energies [Hesketh] |
| 21197 | Standard Model forces are one- two- and three-dimensional [Hesketh] |
| 21188 | Quarks and leptons have a weak charge, for the weak force [Hesketh] |
| 21186 | Quarks rush wildly around in protons, restrained by the gluons [Hesketh] |
| 21192 | Neutrinos only interact with the weak force, but decays produce them in huge numbers [Hesketh] |
| 21196 | To combine the forces, they must all be the same strength at some point [Hesketh] |
| 21190 | 'Space' in physics just means location [Hesketh] |
| 21193 | The universe is 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, 5% regular matter [Hesketh] |
| 21198 | If a cosmic theory relies a great deal on fine-tuning basic values, it is probably wrong [Hesketh] |