THE FOUNDATIONS OF DYNAMICAL PHYSICS, BY WHITEHEAD (TRANSLATION TO PORTUGUESE)

Abstract

This paper presents a pioneering first translation into Portuguese of chapter 2 “The Foundations of Dynamic Physics”, including its two appendices ('Newton's Laws of Motion' and 'Maxwell's Equations'), from part 1 “The Traditions of Science”, which integrates the book “An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge” - book written by the mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861 to 1947) in the second decade of the 20th century and published by the Cambridge University Publisher in 1919 (currently in public domain). The justification for this translation is given by the relevance of the original work, the book that inaugurated the broad philosophical phase of Whitehead's career, until then dedicated to the foundation of mathematical logic. In the specifically translated chapter, Whitehead exposes: reflections on the theoretical basis of classical mechanics, relations between classical mechanics and the theory of material ether, implications of the metaphysical assumption of material ether in Maxwell's equations (and vice versa), explanations about Maxwell's equations, critical to the concept of material ether and, finally, proposes the concept of ‘event ether’ to replace the traditional ether. The source for the original text, used during this translation work, was the version available online, for free use, by the University of California Library.