Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Reductionism
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
=== In science === Reductionist thinking and methods form the basis for many of the well-developed topics of modern [[science]], including much of [[physics]], [[chemistry]] and [[molecular biology]]. [[Classical mechanics]] in particular is seen as a reductionist framework. For instance, the [[Solar System]] is understood in terms of its components (the Sun and the planets) and their interactions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McCauley|first=Joseph L.|title=Dynamics of Markets: The New Financial Economics, Second Edition|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0521429627|location=Cambridge|pages=241}}</ref> [[Statistical mechanics]] can be considered as a reconciliation of [[macroscopic]] [[thermodynamic laws]] with the reductionist method of explaining macroscopic properties in terms of [[microscopic]] components, although it has been argued that reduction in physics 'never goes all the way in practice'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=William M. R. |last2=Horsley |first2=Simon A.H. |series=Synthese Library |date=29 March 2022 |volume=451 |editor1-last=Austin |editor1-first=Christopher J.|editor2-last=Marmodoro |editor2-first=Anna |editor3-last=Roselli |editor3-first=Andrea |title=Powers, Time and Free Will |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-92486-7_2 |publisher=Synthese Library |via=Springer |pages=17β50 |chapter=Toppling the Pyramids: Physics Without Physical State Monism |isbn=9781003125860 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-92486-7_2}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)