How incoherent measurement succeeds: Coordination and success in the measurement of the earth's polar flattening |
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Authors: | Miguel Ohnesorge |
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Institution: | Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RH, United Kingdom;Logic and Philosophy of Science, School of Social Sciences, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697-5100, USA;Department of Economics, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA, 98416, USA;Department of Philosophy, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, 19081, USA;San Francisco State University, Physics and Astronomy Department, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA |
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Abstract: | The development of nineteenth-century geodetic measurement challenges the dominant coherentist account of metric success. Coherentists argue that measurements of a parameter are successful if their numerical outcomes convergence across varying contextual constraints. Aiming at numerical convergence, in turn, offers an operational aim for scientists to solve problems of coordination. Geodesists faced such a problem of coordination between two indicators of the earth's polar flattening, which were both based on imperfect ellipsoid models. While not achieving numerical convergence, their measurements produced novel data that grounded valuable theoretical hypotheses. Consequently, they ought to be regarded as epistemically successful. This insight warrants a dynamic revision of coherentism, which allows to judge the success of a metric based on both its coherence and fruitfulness. On that view, scientific measurement aims to coordinate theoretical definitions and produce novel data and theoretical insights. |
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Keywords: | Measurement Geodesy Models Coherentism Residual phenomena |
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