Jed Buchwald: Isaac Newton and the Philosophy of Science | Lex Fridman Podcast #214

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

August 27, 2021

Duration

1h 52m

Channel

Lex Fridman Podcast

Watch on YouTube

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📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Jed Buchwald is a historian and philosopher of science at Caltech. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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EPISODE LINKS: Jed's Caltech page: https://bit.ly/38eLLRF Jed's Books: https://amzn.to/2WoxGPi PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 0:31 - How does science progress? 16:44 - Theory of Everything 28:37 - Consciousness 32:12 - Most Beautiful Moments in Science 39:57 - Isaac Newton 1:06:10 - Competition in Science 1:16:44 - Newton's Career 1:29:55 - Importance of Data 1:36:13 - Alchemy 1:40:28 - Newton and Religion 1:43:41 - Showing Newton the future 1:48:25 - Newton and Einstein SOCIAL:

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🎤 SPEAKERS

• Lex Fridman

  host

• Jed Buchwald

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Lex Fridman and Jed Buchwald, Jed Buchwald: Isaac Newton and the Philosophy of Science | Lex Fridman Podcast #214 explores jed Buchwald Reexamines Newton, Paradigms, and Limits of Scientific Knowledge Jed Buchwald discusses how science actually develops, challenging Thomas Kuhn’s neat notion of paradigm shifts by emphasizing messy, practice-based progress driven by new tools and techniques. Using historical cases—especially optics, Newton’s mechanics, and 19th‑century physics—he shows that theories often win not because rivals ‘fail’ but because they enable more novel experiments and devices. He explores Newton’s life, personality, religion, alchemy, and extraordinary productivity, contrasting him with later figures like Einstein and reflecting on whether science can ever fully ‘know’ reality. Throughout, Buchwald stresses the mediated, instrument-driven nature of scientific knowledge and the complex role of data, measurement, and human perception in building theories.

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