Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem was a French theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, and the theory of elasticity. He was also a prolific historian of science, noted especially for his pioneering work on science in the European Middle Ages. As a philosopher of science, Duhem is credited with the Duhem-Quine thesis on the indeterminacy of experimental criteria used to test scientific theories. His opposition to positivism was informed in part by his traditionalist Catholicism, an outlook that put him at odds with the dominant academic currents in France during his lifetime.
Facts
Defining MomentDoctoral thesis rejected by the jury 1 Notable PublicationThe Aim and Structure of Physical Theory (1906) 1 Office HeldProfessor of Theoretical Physics, University of Bordeaux 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: France, originated there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Pierre Duhem
Lead paragraph, birth year
9 June 1861
Lead paragraph, death year
14 September 1916
Infobox, death_date
1916-09-14
Infobox, birth_place
Paris, France
Infobox, death_place
Cabrespine, France
Theoretical physics, second paragraph
Duhem was a supporter of energetics
Philosophy of science, first paragraph
explained in his 1906 work The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory
Early life and education, career-path sentence
finally as a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Bordeaux
Early life and education, thesis sentence
The jury rejected that thesis
Lead section, nationality sentence
Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem (French: [pjɛʁ mɔʁis maʁi dy.ɛm, moʁ-] ; 9 June 1861-14 September 1916) was a French theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, and the theory of elasticity.
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