7
Ceteris Paribus
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
A. N. Whitehead
Abstract
All the scientific theories, laws and concepts are valid only within the a priori
given conditions and circumstances: the ceteris paribus principle. Here I argue
how from this principle it follows that we cannot talk about the natural laws but
rather about the laws of particular sciences.
Keywords
Natural laws Á Scientific laws Á Ceteris paribus principle Á Air as a model Á Gas
as a model Á Element Á Elementary stuff Á Method of correlation
Henry Cavendish (1731–1810), an English chemist, who was student in Cambridge, the University that he abandoned before finishing his study, has performed
experiments in his private laboratory. In the work Experiments on factitious airs
(1766), Cavendish is discussing about the air that could be fixed in other bodies: the
fixed air. Cavendish has argued that there are various sorts of airs which could be
fixed, for instance the flammable air (hydrogen), or fixed (bound) air (carbon
dioxide). Thus, all the airs could be free or fixed in other bodies. Flammable air is
fixed in metals (zinc or iron) from which Cavendish can release it by the reaction
with sulphuric acid. It is considered in the history of chemistry, that Cavendish
work is the most important contribution in the discovery of hydrogen.
Fixed air was a point of interest also in the studies of other chemists, especially
of Joseph Black (1728–1799): the air that is releasing from the carbonate salts in
the reaction with, for instance, sulphuric acid. Similar sort of air has observed
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. Vančik, Philosophy of Chemistry, Integrated Science 2,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69224-7_7
59
Ceteris Paribus
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
A. N. Whitehead
Abstract
All the scientific theories, laws and concepts are valid only within the a priori
given conditions and circumstances: the ceteris paribus principle. Here I argue
how from this principle it follows that we cannot talk about the natural laws but
rather about the laws of particular sciences.
Keywords
Natural laws Á Scientific laws Á Ceteris paribus principle Á Air as a model Á Gas
as a model Á Element Á Elementary stuff Á Method of correlation
Henry Cavendish (1731–1810), an English chemist, who was student in Cambridge, the University that he abandoned before finishing his study, has performed
experiments in his private laboratory. In the work Experiments on factitious airs
(1766), Cavendish is discussing about the air that could be fixed in other bodies: the
fixed air. Cavendish has argued that there are various sorts of airs which could be
fixed, for instance the flammable air (hydrogen), or fixed (bound) air (carbon
dioxide). Thus, all the airs could be free or fixed in other bodies. Flammable air is
fixed in metals (zinc or iron) from which Cavendish can release it by the reaction
with sulphuric acid. It is considered in the history of chemistry, that Cavendish
work is the most important contribution in the discovery of hydrogen.
Fixed air was a point of interest also in the studies of other chemists, especially
of Joseph Black (1728–1799): the air that is releasing from the carbonate salts in
the reaction with, for instance, sulphuric acid. Similar sort of air has observed
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. Vančik, Philosophy of Chemistry, Integrated Science 2,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69224-7_7
59