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Birth and Death
Named Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem, he was born in Paris, France on June 9, 1861. His family was a socially well-off family and very devout Catholics. Duhem was made sure to have a solid education. He went to the Catholic School, College Stanislas for 10 years. Then to the Ecole Normale Superieure for higher eductaion, where he was the 1st in his class in the Science Section. Here he eventually earned his Doctorate after earning Licenses in Math and Physics. Duhem died on Sept 14, 1916. -
Summary of Contributions
While a professor, Duhem published 6 books; 2 volumes on hydrodynamics, elasticity, & acoustics,3 vol on electricity/magnetism, & 1 on physical chemistry. Overall he wrote 350 pieces in his lifetime, 50 being books. The "most influential being in Methodology and philosophy of science" (Ariew, 2018) were the books 'The Aim & Structure of Physical Theory' & 'To Save the Phenomena'. In thermodynamics, he believed it foundational for physical theory,by Duhem-Margules/Gibbs-Duhem equations. -
Date of Discovery
Pierre Duhem was a French Theoretical Physicist who focused on chemistry, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, electromagnetism. He was also a Historian of Science, which he believed the Medieval Ages was when Modern Science began. As a Philosopher of Science, he believed "No scientific hypothesis itself is capable of making predictions, it requires background assumptions"(Roger, 2018). This Duhem-Quine Thesis actually became well-known in the 1950's after his death & is used today. -
MLA Citations
Ariew, Roger, "Pierre Duhem", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/duhem/.
Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie, et al. To Save the Phenomena: an Essay on the Idea of Physical Theory from Plato to Galileo. The University of Chicago Press, 2015. -
MLA Citations
“Pierre Duhem, French Physicist - Stock Image - C038/5556.” Science Photo Library, https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/913005/view/pierre-duhem-french-physicist. YouTube, https://youtu.be/YO_NfzLNymk. Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie. The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory. Atheneum, 1954. -
Video of Pierre Duhem
