Abstract
Over many years a procedure for determining the position and velocity of particles was formulated, a procedure we now call classical mechanics. According to this theory, the future of any particle could be determined from its present position and velocity, once the forces acting on it were known. Classical systems behaved in a regular organized way, and their future could be predicted through use of the appropriate mathematical equations. The world, it seemed, was deterministic. In this chapter we will look at the rise of this determinism.
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© 1996 Barry Parker
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Parker, B. (1996). The Clockwork Universe. In: Chaos in the Cosmos. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3370-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3370-6_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-45261-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3370-6
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