Unidades físicas de José Muñoz del Castillo, primer libro de análisis dimensional en la historia
ISSN: 1136-4076, 2659-921X
Datum der Publikation: 2017
Ausgabe: 22
Nummer: 1
Seiten: 65-80
Art: Artikel
Andere Publikationen in: Contrastes: revista internacional de filosofía
Zusammenfassung
«No book has been devoted to the dimensional analysis until 1922 –a hundred years after the appearance of Fourier’s Traité – as P.W. Bridgman published the course he taught at Yale University.» This is what Monod-Herzen (1976, p. 25) affi rms. Between both books, Fourier’s 1822 and Bridgman’s 1922, James Clerk Maxwell paved the way for the consolidation of this discipline, and his seed did not fall on barren ground. In Spain, without going any further, the work of Maxwell root from soon. So much history belies the French epistemologist. Yes, there is a book on dimensional analysis between Fourier and Bridgman. It is Physical Units written by the Spanish physicist José Muñoz del Castillo, who published it in 1890, that is thirty-two years before the publication of the book by Bridgman. Physical Units thus becomes the fi rst treatise devoted to dimensional analysis. Naturally I will not question that Bridgman’s Dimensional Analysis has been the fi rst complete treatise on this discipline. But it is not the fi rst book in which the theory of dimensions is presented, as it could be known in the nineteenth century, twenty four years before the proposal by Buckingham of his famous theorem pi. The purpose of this article is to highlight the acceptance and development of dimensional analysis in Spain in the 19th century, a circumstance so far not suffi ciently appreciated by the specialized historiography.
Bibliographische Referenzen
- BRIDGMAN, P. 1922, Dimensional Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- BUCKINGHAM, E. 1914 «On Physically Similar Systems: Illustrations of the use of dimensional equations». Physical Review 4: 345-376
- BUCKINGHAM, E. 1915, «The Principle of Similitude», Nature 96: 396-397
- FOURIER, J. B. 1822, Théorie analytique de la chaleur. Paris: Firmin Didot, Pére et Fils.
- HERRÁN, N. 2008, Aguas, Semillas y Radiaciones. El Laboratorio de Radiactividad de la Universidad de Madrid, 1904-1929. Madrid: CSIC
- GARAGARZA, F. 1892, Programa de la Asignatura de Instrumentos y Aparatos de Física de Aplicación á la Farmacia. Con los principios fundamentales para el conocimiento de la asignatura. Madrid: Librería de la Viuda de Hernando y Cª.
- GONZÁLEZ DE POSADA, F. 2002, «Génesis histórica, enunciado y evolución del análisis dimensional de Julio Palacios». Llull 25: 399-423
- GONZÁLEZ REDONDO, F. 2000, Historia del Análisis Dimensional. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura.
- MARTINS, R. 2008, «A busca da ciência a priori no fi nal do século XVIII e a origem da análise dimensional». En: Martins, R. A. et al. (eds.), Filosofía e História da Ciência no Cone Sul. 3º Encontro. Campinas: AFHIC, 391-402
- MAXWELL, J. C. 1862-1873, Scientifi c Letters and Papers. Edited by P. H. Harman. Volume II. Cambridge: University Press, 1995
- MAXWELL, J. C. 1874-1879, Scientifi c Letters and Papers. Edited by P. H. Harman. Volume III. Cambridge: University Press, 2002
- MAXWELL, J. C. 1871, Theory of Heat. With corrections and additions (1891) by Lord Rayleigh. New impression, London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1908
- MAXWELL, J. C. 1873, A Treatise on Magnetism and Electricity. Oxford: Clarendon Press
- MAXWELL, J. C. 1877, «On Dimensions». En J. C. Maxwell, Scientifi c Letters and Papers, Vol. III, 517-520.
- MONOD-HERZEN, G. 1976, L’analyse dimensionelle et l’épistémologie. Paris: Maloine Éditeur.
- MUÑOZ DEL CASTILLO, J. 1890, Unidades Físicas. Madrid: Celestino Apaolaza
- PALACIOS, J. 1964, Análisis Dimensional. Segunda edición corregida y aumentada. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe. Primera edición 1955
- PORTER, A. 1933, The method of dimensions. London: Methuen
- RAYLEIGH, L. 1915, «The Principle of Similitude», Nature No. 2368, vol. 95, March 18: 66-68
- RIVADULLA, A. 2015, Meta, Método y Mito en Ciencia. Madrid: Ed. Trotta
- SÁNCHEZ RON, J. M. 1992, «Las ciencias físico-matemáticas en la España del siglo XIX». En José M. López Piñero (ed.), La ciencia en la España del Siglo XIX. Madrid: Marcial Pons
- SÁNCHEZ RON, J. M. (2003): «La Física en España (I): el Siglo XIX». Revista Española de Física, Enero-Febrero de 2003: 5-9
- SAN JUAN, R. 1945, Teoría de las Magnitudes Físicas y sus Fundamentos Algebraicos. Revista de la Real Academia de Ciencias de Madrid, 39. Madrid: C. Bermejo