Christopher Smeenk
Professor
History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Physics
BA Yale; MA, MS, PhD Pittsburgh
Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 85770
Office: Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB) 7180
E-mail: csmeenk2@uwo.ca
Website: publish.uwo.ca/~csmeenk2
My research focuses on scientific method and the nature of our knowledge of physics. What is the structure and content of physical theories, how are theories evaluated, and how are they extended? I have pursued these questions through philosophical and historical analysis of specific episodes, ranging from Newton’s introduction of the theory of gravity to contemporary cosmology.
I can supervise research in foundations of physics (especially spacetime physics and cosmology), general topics in philosophy of science, and seventeenth-century natural philosophy.
Recent Publications
Book
Oxford Handbook of Isaac Newton (co-editor, with E. Schliesser). Oxford University Press. (Several entries published online, expected publication in fall 2021.)
Articles
“Determinism and General Relativity,” with Christian Wüthrich. Accepted in Philosophy of Science, preprint https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.07555.
"Validating the Universe in a Box," with Sarah C. Gallagher. Philosophy of Science 87 (5):1221-1233 (2020).
"Q.e.D., Qed" (with A. Koberinski). In Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 71:1-13 (2020).
"Some reflections on the structure of cosmological knowledge". In Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 71:220-231 (2020).
"The Cosmos As Involving Local Laws and Inconceivable without Them" (with Y. Benétreau-Dupin). In The Monist 100 (3):357-372 (2017).
Chapter
“Gaining Access to the Early Universe,” in R. Dawid, K. ‘Thebault, and R. Darshati (eds.), Why Trust ŒTheory? Epistemology of Fundamental Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2019), pp. 315-338.
"Philosophical Geometers and Geometrical Philosophers". In B. Hill, G. Gorham, E. Slowik & C. Kenneth Waters (eds.), The Language of Nature: Reassessing the Mathematization of Natural Philosophy in the Seventeenth Century. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 308-338 (2016).
