Grünbaum, Adolf. Modern Science and Zeno's Paradoxes. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1967.

Abstract

Adolf Grünbaum stands virtually alone among scholars of today for his mastery of classical philosophical thought combined with his thorough understanding of contemporary mathematics and physics. In this new book, he brings the full armory of his mind to bear on Zeno's paradoxes of extension and motion (the "Dichotomy," the "Achilles and the Tortoise," and so on) and on certain modern counterparts associated with "infinity machines" (the Thomson lamp, the π-machine, etc.). Dr. Grünbaum has divided his study into three chapters. The first, a necessary groundwork, is concerned with the status of temporal becoming, the relation between the perceptual time of everyday experience and the time-concept of physical science. The second deals with the various paradoxes of motion. The final chapter discusses the metrical paradox of extension, setting forth a clear, straightforward solution to the problem. Throughout, one theme is implicit: that Zeno's arguments leading to paradoxical solutions can and should be met, and that meeting them is no trivial exercise but one demanding the most careful analysis. Closely reasoned and closely written, this is a work that will fully reward the thoughtful attention it demands of the scientists and philosophers who are its intended readers.