Euler as Physicist

In this book the exceptional role of Leonhard Euler in the history of science will be analyzed and emphasized, especially demonstrated for his fundamental cont- butions to physics. Although Euler is famous as the leading mathematician of the 18th century his contributions to physics are as important and rich of new methods and solutions. There are many books devoted to Euler as mathematician, but not as physicist. In the past decade, special attention had been directed at the development of science in the 18th century. In three distinguished tercentenary celebrations in - casion of the births of Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (16981759), Emilie du Chatelet (17061749) and Leonhard Euler (17071783) the merits of these scholars for the development of the post-Newtonian science had been highly acknowledged. These events were not only most welcome to remember an essential period in the past, but are also an opportunity to ask for the long lasting in uence on the further development of science until present days.

Several books are devoted to Euler as mathematician, but none to Euler as physicist, like in this book

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext

"Euler as Physicist" analyzes the exceptional role of Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783) in the history of science and emphasizes especially his fundamental contributions to physics. Although Euler is famous as the leading mathematician of the 18th century, his contributions to physics are as important for their innovative methods and solutions. Several books are devoted to Euler as mathematician, but none to Euler as physicist, like in this book.

Euler's contributions to mechanics are rooted in his life-long plan presented in two volume treatise programmatically entitled "Mechanics or the science of motion analytically demonstrated". Published in 1736, Euler's treatise indicates the turn over from the traditional geometric representation of mechanics to a new approach. In writing Mechanics Euler did the first step to put the plan and his completion into practice through 1760. It is of particular interest to study how Euler made immediate use of his mathematics for mechanics and coordinated his progress in mathematics with his progress in physics. Euler's mechanics is not only a model for a consistently formulated theory, but allows for generalizations of Euler's principles.

It is shown that even problems in contemporary physics may be advantageously reconsidered and reformulated in terms of Euler's early unified approach. The interplay between physics and mathematics which appeared in the 18th century is compared to the development of physics in the 20th century, especially to the development of quantum mechanics between 1900 and 1930. The author aims to show how Euler' work represents a rare example of a simultaneous and harmonic composition of results of different origin and nature which have been joined into a unique and marvellous result.

Inhalt
The Predecessors: Descartes, Newton and Leibniz.- Newton and Leibniz on Time, Space and Forces.- Newton and Leibniz on the Foundation of the Calculus.- Euler's Program for Mechanics.- The Foundation of the Calculus.- Euler's Early Relativistic Theory.- Euler's Wirksamkeit, Helmholtz's Treatment of Energy Law and Beyond.- Euler's Mechanics and Schrödinger's Quantum Mechanics.