Eric R Scerri
Biographic Data
| ID | 1081430 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eric R Scerri |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eric R |
| FAMILY NAME | Scerri |
| SIGNATURE | SCERRI E R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9775-5829 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 26 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
A brief response to Seifert on laws and the periodic table
In this brief article I respond to Seifert’s recent views on the periodic law and the periodic table in connection with the views of philosophers regarding laws of nature. I argue that the author makes some factual as well as conceptual errors which are in conflict with some generally held views regarding the periodic law and the periodic table
The Born-Oppenheimer Approximation and its role in the reduction of chemistry
The article sets out to clarify a number of confusions that exist in connection with the Born–Oppenheimer approximation (BOA) (Born-Oppenheimer, 1927). It is generally claimed that chemistry cannot be reduced to quantum mechanics because of the nature of this commonly used approximation in quantum chemistry, that is popularly believed to require a ‘clamping’ of the nuclei. It is also claimed that the notion of molecular structure, which is so cen…
Laws of nature according to some philosophers of science and according to chemists
The article contrasts the way that laws are regarded by some philosophers of science with the way that they are regarded by scientists and science educators. After a brief review of the Humean and necessitarian views of scienfic laws, I highlight difference between scientists who regard laws as being merely descriptive and philosophers who generally regard them as being explanatory and, in some cases, as being necessary. I also discuss the views …
Interview with Olimpia Lombardi
A commentary on Weisberg’s critique of the ‘structural conception’ of chemical bonding
Robin Hendry has presented an account of two equally valid ways of understanding the nature of chemical bonding, consisting of what the terms the structural and the energetic views respectively. In response, Weisberg has issued a “challenge to the structural view”, thus implying that the energetic view is the more correct of the two conceptions. In doing so Weisberg identifies the delocalization of electrons as the one robust feature that underli…
Hasok Chang on the nature of acids
For a period of several years the philosopher of science Hasok Chang has promoted various inter-related views including pluralism, pragmatism, and an associated view of natural kinds. He has also argued for what he calls the persistence of everyday terms in the scientific view. Chang claims that terms like phlogiston were never truly abandoned but became transformed into different concepts that remain useful. On the other hand, Chang argues that …
In praise of triads
The article begins with a response to a recent contribution by Jensen, in which he has criticized several aspects of the use of triads of elements, including Döbereiner’s original introduction of the concept and the modern use of atomic number triads by some authors including myself. Such triads are groups of three elements, one of which has approximately the average atomic weight of the other two elements, as well as having intermediate chemical…
Geoff Rayner-Canham
Charles S. McCaw
Response to Geoffrey Neuss on how to teach the 4s and 3d orbital conundrum
Causation, electronic configurations and the periodic table
On Chemical Natural Kinds
The periodic table and the turn to practice
Collected papers on philosophy of chemistry
This book represents a collection of papers from one of the founders of the new Philosophy of Chemistry. It is only the second single-author collection of papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry." "The author is the editor-in-chief of Foundations of Chemistry, the leading journal in the field. He has recently gained worldwide success with his book on the periodic table of the elements titled The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance. This …
Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry—Two Recent Approaches
Two articles on the reduction of chemistry are examined. The first, by McLaughlin (1992), claims that chemistry is reduced to physics and that there is no evidence for emergence or for downward causation between the chemical and the physical level. In a more recent article, Le Poidevin (2005) maintains that his combinatorial approach provides grounding for the ontological reduction of chemistry, which also circumvents some limitations in the phys…
On the continuity of reference of the elements
Response to Barnes’s critique of Scerri and Worrall
Principles and Parameters in Physics and Chemistry
The paper examines critically some recently published views by Ramsey on the contrast between ab initio and parametrized theories. I argue that, all things being equal, ab initio calculations are indeed regarded more highly in the physics and chemistry communities. A case study on density functional approaches in theoretical chemistry is presented in order to re-examine the question of ab initio and parametrized approaches in a contemporary conte…
Response to Vollmer's Review of Minds and Molecules
I present a response to Vollmer's review of the book Of Minds and Molecules, and especially her comments on my own article therein. This provides an opportunity to discuss two central ideas in the philosophy of chemistry. These are the distinction between elements as simple substances (element-1) and elements as basic substances (element-2) and Paneth's proposed intermediate position for philosophy of chemistry. The response also discusses the qu…
Prediction and the periodic table
The Recently Claimed Observation of Atomic Orbitals and Some Related Philosophical Issues
The main thrust of the paper involves a theoretical and philosophical analysis of the claim made in September 1999 that atomic orbitals have been directly imaged for the first time. After a brief account of the recent claims the paper reviews the development of the orbit and later orbital concepts and analyzes the theoretical status of atomic orbitals. The conclusion is that contrary to these claims, atomic orbitals have not in fact been observed…
Interdisciplinary research at the Beckman institutes
A bold attempt to institutionalise interdisciplinary research is being made at the Beckman institutes in the USA. These institutes, located at the universities of Illinois, Stanford, and Irvine, and at Caltech, are striving to break down traditional disciplinary boundaries in an effort to achieve new scientific breakthroughs. This article examines the historical origins of this project as well as a sample of the research being conducted in the la…
Bibliography on Philosophy of Chemistry
The Case for the Philosophy of Chemistry
The exclusion principle, chemistry and hidden variables
Prediction and the periodic table
The Electronic Configuration Model, Quantum Mechanics and Reduction
The historical development of the electronic configuration model is traced and the status of the model with respect to quantum mechanics is examined. The successes and problems raised by the model are explored, particularly in chemical ab initio calculations. The relevance of these issues to whether chemistry has been reduced to quantum mechanics is discussed, as are some general notions on reduction.
The Case for the Philosophy of Chemistry
Response to Barnes’s critique of Scerri and Worrall
The exclusion principle, chemistry and hidden variables
Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry—Two Recent Approaches
Two articles on the reduction of chemistry are examined. The first, by McLaughlin (1992), claims that chemistry is reduced to physics and that there is no evidence for emergence or for downward causation between the chemical and the physical level. In a more recent article, Le Poidevin (2005) maintains that his combinatorial approach provides grounding for the ontological reduction of chemistry, which also circumvents some limitations in the phys…
On the continuity of reference of the elements
The Electronic Configuration Model, Quantum Mechanics and Reduction
The historical development of the electronic configuration model is traced and the status of the model with respect to quantum mechanics is examined. The successes and problems raised by the model are explored, particularly in chemical ab initio calculations. The relevance of these issues to whether chemistry has been reduced to quantum mechanics is discussed, as are some general notions on reduction.
The exclusion principle, chemistry and hidden variables
Interdisciplinary research at the Beckman institutes
A bold attempt to institutionalise interdisciplinary research is being made at the Beckman institutes in the USA. These institutes, located at the universities of Illinois, Stanford, and Irvine, and at Caltech, are striving to break down traditional disciplinary boundaries in an effort to achieve new scientific breakthroughs. This article examines the historical origins of this project as well as a sample of the research being conducted in the la…
Bibliography on Philosophy of Chemistry
The Case for the Philosophy of Chemistry
Prediction and the periodic table
The Recently Claimed Observation of Atomic Orbitals and Some Related Philosophical Issues
The main thrust of the paper involves a theoretical and philosophical analysis of the claim made in September 1999 that atomic orbitals have been directly imaged for the first time. After a brief account of the recent claims the paper reviews the development of the orbit and later orbital concepts and analyzes the theoretical status of atomic orbitals. The conclusion is that contrary to these claims, atomic orbitals have not in fact been observed…
Response to Vollmer's Review of Minds and Molecules
I present a response to Vollmer's review of the book Of Minds and Molecules, and especially her comments on my own article therein. This provides an opportunity to discuss two central ideas in the philosophy of chemistry. These are the distinction between elements as simple substances (element-1) and elements as basic substances (element-2) and Paneth's proposed intermediate position for philosophy of chemistry. The response also discusses the qu…
Principles and Parameters in Physics and Chemistry
The paper examines critically some recently published views by Ramsey on the contrast between ab initio and parametrized theories. I argue that, all things being equal, ab initio calculations are indeed regarded more highly in the physics and chemistry communities. A case study on density functional approaches in theoretical chemistry is presented in order to re-examine the question of ab initio and parametrized approaches in a contemporary conte…
Response to Barnes’s critique of Scerri and Worrall
On the continuity of reference of the elements
Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry—Two Recent Approaches
Two articles on the reduction of chemistry are examined. The first, by McLaughlin (1992), claims that chemistry is reduced to physics and that there is no evidence for emergence or for downward causation between the chemical and the physical level. In a more recent article, Le Poidevin (2005) maintains that his combinatorial approach provides grounding for the ontological reduction of chemistry, which also circumvents some limitations in the phys…
Collected papers on philosophy of chemistry
This book represents a collection of papers from one of the founders of the new Philosophy of Chemistry. It is only the second single-author collection of papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry." "The author is the editor-in-chief of Foundations of Chemistry, the leading journal in the field. He has recently gained worldwide success with his book on the periodic table of the elements titled The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance. This …
On Chemical Natural Kinds
The periodic table and the turn to practice
Geoff Rayner-Canham
Charles S. McCaw
Response to Geoffrey Neuss on how to teach the 4s and 3d orbital conundrum
Causation, electronic configurations and the periodic table
Hasok Chang on the nature of acids
For a period of several years the philosopher of science Hasok Chang has promoted various inter-related views including pluralism, pragmatism, and an associated view of natural kinds. He has also argued for what he calls the persistence of everyday terms in the scientific view. Chang claims that terms like phlogiston were never truly abandoned but became transformed into different concepts that remain useful. On the other hand, Chang argues that …
In praise of triads
The article begins with a response to a recent contribution by Jensen, in which he has criticized several aspects of the use of triads of elements, including Döbereiner’s original introduction of the concept and the modern use of atomic number triads by some authors including myself. Such triads are groups of three elements, one of which has approximately the average atomic weight of the other two elements, as well as having intermediate chemical…
Interview with Olimpia Lombardi
A commentary on Weisberg’s critique of the ‘structural conception’ of chemical bonding
Robin Hendry has presented an account of two equally valid ways of understanding the nature of chemical bonding, consisting of what the terms the structural and the energetic views respectively. In response, Weisberg has issued a “challenge to the structural view”, thus implying that the energetic view is the more correct of the two conceptions. In doing so Weisberg identifies the delocalization of electrons as the one robust feature that underli…
Laws of nature according to some philosophers of science and according to chemists
The article contrasts the way that laws are regarded by some philosophers of science with the way that they are regarded by scientists and science educators. After a brief review of the Humean and necessitarian views of scienfic laws, I highlight difference between scientists who regard laws as being merely descriptive and philosophers who generally regard them as being explanatory and, in some cases, as being necessary. I also discuss the views …
A brief response to Seifert on laws and the periodic table
In this brief article I respond to Seifert’s recent views on the periodic law and the periodic table in connection with the views of philosophers regarding laws of nature. I argue that the author makes some factual as well as conceptual errors which are in conflict with some generally held views regarding the periodic law and the periodic table
Epistemology (22 works) · Philosophy (22 works) · History and advancements in chemistry (21 works) · Philosophy of science (14 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (13 works) · Physics (12 works) · Chemistry (11 works) · Mathematics (10 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Theoretical physics (9 works)