Maxwell’s contrived analogy: An early version of the methodology of modeling |
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| Authors: | Giora Hon Bernard R Goldstein |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Philosophy, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel;2. Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 2604 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;1. Department of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel;2. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK;1. The State Key Laboratory for Structural Analysis of Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, PR China;2. Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padua, Italy;1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada;2. Univ. Grenoble Alpes, 3SR, F-38000 Grenoble, France;3. CNRS, 3SR, F-38000 Grenoble, France |
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| Abstract: | The term “analogy” stands for a variety of methodological practices all related in one way or another to the idea of proportionality. We claim that in his first substantial contribution to electromagnetism James Clerk Maxwell developed a methodology of analogy which was completely new at the time or, to borrow John North’s expression, Maxwell’s methodology was a “newly contrived analogue”. In his initial response to Michael Faraday’s experimental researches in electromagnetism, Maxwell did not seek an analogy with some physical system in a domain different from electromagnetism as advocated by William Thomson; rather, he constructed an entirely artificial one to suit his needs. Following North, we claim that the modification which Maxwell introduced to the methodology of analogy has not been properly appreciated. In view of our examination of the evidence, we argue that Maxwell gave a new meaning to analogy; in fact, it comes close to modeling in current usage. |
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