Full Description
During his lifetime, Henri Poincare published three major philosophical books which achieved great success: "La science et l'hypothese" (1902), "La valeur de la science" (1905) and "Science et methode" (1908). After his death in 1913, a fourth volume of his philosophical works was published by his heirs as "Dernieres pensees" (1913). The four books constitute the core of Poincare's philosophic works and were given an ovation by scientific and general public. Around 1919, Gustave Le Bon wrote to Poincare's widow. As the director of the "Bibliotheque de Philosophie Scientifique at Flammarion", he asked her permission to publish a second posthumous volume. "L'Opportunisme scientifique" was intended to be the fifth and final volume of Poincare's philosophical writings. Louis Rougier had elaborated the project, with the collaboration of Gustave Le Bon, and the approval of the philosopher Emile Boutroux and his son Pierre. Because of the reservations of the mathematician's heirs, this book was never published and Dernieres pensees remained his last philosophical book.
Nevertheless Poincare's correspondence - which is kept in the Poincare Archives at University Nancy 2 - contains a large amount of documents concerning the project, its justification and the discussions between Louis Rougier and the mathematician's heirs. The aim of this book is to restore this episode, which gives some crucial informations about editorial practices of Poincare and about the posterity of his philosophic thinking.
Contents
Scientific Opportunism/L'Opportunisme scientifique.- Livre I Les Conventions Géométriques.- Chapitre I Des Fondements de la Géométrie (1898).- Chapitre II Les Fondements de la Géométrie (1902).- Chapitre III Note sur la Géométrie Non Euclidienne (1900).- Livre II Les Approximations de la Mécanique Céleste.- Chapitre IV Sur les Hypothèses Cosmogoniques (1911).- Chapitre V Sur la Stabilité du Système Solaire (1898).- Chapitre VI Le Problème des Trois Corps (1891).- Chapitre VII Conférence sur les Comètes (1910).- Chapitre VIII Le Démon d'Arrhenius (1911).- Livre III Problèmes Scientifiques Actuels.- Chapitre IX Cournot et les Principes du Calcul Infinitésimal (1905).- Chapitre X La Lumière et l'Électricité d'après Maxwell et Hertz (1894).- Chapitre XI La Télégraphie Sans Fil (1909).- Chapitre XII Le Libre Examen en Matière Scientifique (1909).- Postface: About Henri Poincaré and Gustave Le Bon.- The creation of the Bibliothèque de Philosophie Scientifique.- Poincaré at the Bibliothèque de Philosophie Scientifique.- To conclude.- Annexes.- Translations of Poincaré's Writings.- Sources of Poincaré's Philosophical Books.- Bibliography of Poincaré's Writings.- Index Nominum.
