Forces and Fields: A Study of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics is a philosophy of physics book by Mary B. Hesse, originally published in 1961 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. It was subsequently published by Greenwood Press in 1962 and by Littlefield Adams & Co in 1965. The most recent edition is the reprint by Dover Publications in 2005 under the name Forces and Fields: The Concept of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics.
The book examines the science of ancient Greece, as well as the influence of antique philosophy on seventeenth-century thought. It also embraces many elements of modern physics, such as the action at a distance theory, wave-particle duality, and the uncertainty principle.
Summary Forces and Fields has eleven chapters; the first ten chapters consist of five or more sections, while the eleventh has two. The chapters are as follows: +No.Chapter TitleIThe Logical Status of TheoriesIIThe Primitive AnalogiesIIIMechanism in Greek ScienceIVThe Greek InheritanceVThe Corpuscular PhilosophyVIThe Theory of GravitationVIIAction at a DistanceVIIIThe Field TheoriesIXThe Theory of RelativityXModern PhysicsXIThe Metaphysical Framework of Physics
See also Action at a distance
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