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More Heat than Light

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  • Mirowski,Philip

Abstract

More Heat Than Light is a history of how physics has drawn some inspiration from economics and also how economics has sought to emulate physics, especially with regard to the theory of value. It traces the development of the energy concept in Western physics and its subsequent effect upon the invention and promulgation of neoclassical economics. Any discussion of the standing of economics as a science must include the historical symbiosis between the two disciplines. Starting with the philosopher Emile Meyerson's discussion of the relationship between notions of invariance and causality in the history of science, the book surveys the history of conservation principles in the Western discussion of motion. Recourse to the metaphors of the economy are frequent in physics, and the concepts of value, motion, and body reinforced each other throughout the development of both disciplines, especially with regard to practices of mathematical formalisation. However, in economics subsequent misuse of conservation principles led to serious blunders in the mathematical formalisation of economic theory. The book attempts to provide the reader with sufficient background in the history of physics in order to appreciate its theses. The discussion is technically detailed and complex, and familiarity with calculus is required.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirowski,Philip, 1992. "More Heat than Light," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521426893, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:cbooks:9780521426893
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    Cited by:

    1. Asad Zaman, 2020. "New Directions in Macroeconomics," International Econometric Review (IER), Econometric Research Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Fix, Blair, 2019. "The Aggregation Problem: Implications for Ecological and Biophysical Economics," SocArXiv tfwju, Center for Open Science.
    3. Fix, Blair, 2019. "The Aggregation Problem: Implications for Ecological and Biophysical Economics," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15.
    4. Nightingale, Paul, 2004. "Technological capabilities, invisible infrastructure and the un-social construction of predictability: the overlooked fixed costs of useful research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1259-1284, November.
    5. Thomas P. Seager, 2008. "The sustainability spectrum and the sciences of sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(7), pages 444-453, November.

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