Princeton Catalogue series - http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/series.h tml Philosophy of physics: a short reading list Research Guide - http://www.hps.cam.ac.

uk/research/ Jeremy Butterfield General introductions The best place to start is with Cushing, J. [1998], Philosophical Concepts in Ph ysics, Cambridge: CUP. Sklar, L., [1992], Philosophy of Physics, Oxford: OUP is also good. Both cover the three main areas of research in the foundations and ph ilosophy of physics: quantum mechanics, space and time, and statistical mechanic s. Both contain detailed suggestions for further reading; and Cushing engages in detail with the history of physics. Other introductions include: Lange, M., [2002], An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics, London: Bla ckwell, is less general, emphasising locality, fields, energy and mass. But it a ddresses these issues well, and focusses on general philosophical points. Torretti, R., [1999], The Philosophy of Physics, Cambridge: CUP, takes a his torical approach and is more general in scope. Davies, P., ed., [1989], The New Physics, Cambridge: CUP, has some helpful i ntroductory articles for those needing background on modern physics. The state of the art in philosophy of physics is represented by: Butterfield, J and Earman, J. (eds) [2006], Philosophy of Physics, part of the multi-volume Han dbook of Philosophy of Science, Elsevier. All the Chapters are downloadable from the Pittsburgh or Physics e-arXives. Quantum mechanics Good introductions avoiding all formalism include: Rae, A., [1986], Quantum Phys ics: Illusion or Reality?, Cambridge: CUP; Maudlin, T., [1994], Quantum Non-Loca lity and Relativity, Oxford: Blackwell; and Davies, P. and Brown, J. eds. [1986] , The Ghost in the Atom, Cambridge: CUP (a collection of interviews). R.I.G. Hughes' The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is a go od introductory text. For those with little physics background and those whose u ndergraduate physics did not dwell on the formalism of QM, the first few chapter s go through the basics. Another introduction, focussing mainly on the measurement problem, with almo st no formalism and a very informal prose-style, is Albert, D., [1992], Quantum Mechanics and Experience, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. J.S. Bell's Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics is the collection of Bell's (great) papers on the philosophy of QM. They vary in difficulty; ther e is bound to be something in there for you. Wheeler and Zurek's (eds) Quantum Theory and Measurement is a collection of classic papers on the interpretation of quantum mechanics going back to the Eins tein-Bohr debate. M. Jammer's The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics includes historical material . More recent specialist books include: M. Redhead, Incompleteness, Nonlocalit y and Realism [1987]; B. van Fraassen, Quantum Mechanics [1991], J. Bub, Interpr eting the Quantum World [1997]. Space and time The best overall introduction avoiding all formalism is Sklar, L. [1977] Space, Time, and Spacetime, University of California Press. Much of the philosophical a genda was set by: Reichenbach, H. [1958] Philosophy of Space and Time.

N. Huggett's (ed.) Space from Zeno to Einstein is a collection of readings f rom Plato to Einstein. G. Belot et al's (eds) Spacetime is a collection of recen t articles. J. Earman's World Enough and Space-Time is the main recent philosophical mon ograph on absolute versus relational theories of space and time. J. Barbour's Th e End of Time advocates a Machian perspective. Modern classics include: R. Torretti's Relativity and Geometry, M. Friedman' s Foundations of Space-Time Theories, and J Earman's Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers a nd Shrieks. More recent specialist books, which engage in detail with the history of phy sics, include: H. Brown, Physical Relativity [2005]; T. Ryckman, The Reign of Re lativity [2005]; R. DiSalle, Understanding Space-Time [2006]. Thermal physics The best place to start is Sklar, L. [1993] Physics and Chance: Philosophical Is sues in the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics, Cambridge: CUP. It both introd uces the main topics, and provides detailed bibliographies. Other books include: Reichenbach, H., [1956], The Direction of Time, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press Ehrenfest, P., and Ehrenfest, T., [1959], The Conceptual Foundations of the Statistical Approach in Mechanics, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press Emch, G. and Liu, C. [2002], The Logic of Thermo-statl physics, Berlin: Spri nger.