How Many Colours?
February 09, 2018
Light is a messenger from the universe. The arts are the messengers of light.
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Everything we know, we know from light – that is the claim by astrophysics at least. One thing is clear: From quantum optics (»The Angular Momentum of Light«) to chronobiology, from nano-optics to photonics, a new frontier of scientific research on the nature of light is emerging. These options, which offer us new theories and practices of light, from biophysical chemistry to the lithosphere, also have an impact on artistic possibilities.
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For this reason, renowned experts and institutions from the sciences and arts of light met at the symposium „The Future of Light Art“ at the ZKM | Karlsruhe from February 8 - 9th, 2018, to open up the new horizon of the light spectrum in an exchange of experiences.
Newton's Epistemic Triad
June 09, 2017
I consider the role of Newton's optical hypotheses within the framework of his three-way epistemic distinction between theories, hypotheses and queries. I call this division Newton’s ‘epistemic triad’. I argue that Newton’s hypotheses and queries have distinctive and vital supporting roles within this epistemic triad. This provides us with a much more consistent picture of Newton’s methodology.
Newton as a Modeller
October 20, 2015
I characterise Newton as a modeller. I argue that Michael Weisberg’s account of modelling provides a useful way of understanding Newton’s strategy in the Principia. Focusing on two features of Weisberg’s account—construal and autonomy—I conclude that this characterisation answers several questions about the role of data and problems of representation in the Principia: Newton’s mathematical principles are not data-driven, and his representation of the phenomenon is indirect.