BORN England,  April 4  1950

NATIONALITY UK/USA

MARITAL STATUS Married to Maria Rita Kessler; two children: Frances (b. 1985), Lucas (b. 1987).

WORK ADDRESS Philosophy Centre,  10 Merton St., Oxford OX1 4JJ,  U.K.
 Tel: (0)1865 276930;   Fax: (0)1865 276932.
 e-mail:  harvey.brown@philosophy.oxford.ac.uk

HOME ADDRESS 2 Salisbury Crescent, Oxford  OX2 7TL, U.K.
 Tel/Fax:  (01865) 552074
 
 
 

EDUCATION

1971-1978 Ph.D., Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Chelsea College (now King's College KQC), University  of London.

 Courses subject to examination:

 Mathematical logic, philosophy of science, history of philosophy, foundations of probability theory

 Ph.D. thesis title:  Problems of measurement in quantum theory (1978).  Supervisors: J. Dorling, M.L.G. Redhead
 

1968-1970 B.Sc. (Hons),  Physics, first class honours
 University of Canterbury, New Zealand
 

1963-1967 Secondary schooling, St. Bede's College, Christchurch, New Zealand
 
 
 
 

POSITIONS HELD

1984 - University of Oxford: Reader in Philosophy (from July 1996), University Lecturer in Philosophy of Physics (from Oct. 1984) 

 Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
 Member of Sub-Faculty of Philosophy 
 Unofficial Member of Sub-Faculty of Physics  (since 1987)

1978-1984 Assistant Professor in Department of Philosophy, São Paulo State University at Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.
 Member of Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência, UNICAMP.
 

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS

 Leverhulme Trust Institute Award (Jan. 1990 - Dec. 1992) for research in foundations of quantum physics (Research collaborator  Dr. P. Kaloyerou)

 Radcliffe Research Fellowship in Philosophy, academic year 1995/6.

 Visiting Erskine Fellowship in Physics and Philosophy, University of Canterbury, NZ, July-August 1996.

 Special Lectureship, Oxford University, for the academic year 
 1996-7.

 British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship, for the academic year 1999-2000.
 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO CONFERENCES, SEMINARS
 

(i) Talks at conferences, workshops:

 Annual conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science,  Southampton, 1988.
 International conference: 62 years of Uncertainty; historical, philosophical and  physical inquiries into the foundations of quantum mechanics, Ettore  Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily, 1989.
 International conference: Physical interpretations of relativity theory II,  London, 1990.
 Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, Durham, 1991.
 International conference:  Bell's theorem and the foundations of modern  physics, Cesena, Italy, 1991.
 Beijing International Conference on Philosophy of Science, Realism vs. Anti- Realism, Beijing, 1992.
 Philosophy of Science Association Biennial Meeting, Chicago, 1992 (paper  co-authored by R. Sypel).
 Workshop on Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, S N Bose National Centre for  Basic Sciences, Calcutta, December 1992.
 Seminar:  From J C Bose to Bohr's Complementarity - New light on Light,
  Bose Institute, Calcutta, December 1992 (Inaugural address).
 Workshop: Semantical Aspects of Spacetime Theories, Zentrum für  interdisziplinäre Forschung, Univerity of Bielefeld, March 1993.
 Conference on the Philosophy of Physics (Sigma Club), University of  Cambridge, May 20-1, 1994
 3rd UK Conference on Foundations of Quantum Theory and Relativity,  Cambridge, September 13-15, 1994. 
 International Conference: Conceptual Problems of Relativistic Quantum  Mechanics, London, Ontario, October 7-9, 1994. 
 International Colloquium, Science, philosophie et histoire des sciences en  Europe, Association Diderot of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, 9-10  December, 1994.
 Conference on the Philosophy of Physics (Sigma Club), University of  Cambridge, May 19-20, 1995.
 Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association; University of  Liverpool, July 1995
 International Conference: Quantum Theory without Observers, ZiF  Bielefeld, July  1995
 International Conference: Scientific Thought from the Age of Galileo to the  Present, Lima, Peru 31 July-11 August 1995.
4th UK Conference on Conceptual Problems in Quantum Theory,  Durham, September 1995.
 Workshop on Geometry and Physics, 1900-1930; Open University, 14-19 March  1996.
 One-Day Conference: Relativity Theory: Conventionalism and Problems of Theory  Choice, University of Oxford, 18 May 1996.
 Conference:The Electron. 100 years of Physics and History, British Society for the  History of Science, London, 11-12 April 1997.
 Conference: The Electron and the Birth of Microphysics, Dibner Institute for the  History of Science and Technology, Cambridge, Boston; 9-10 May 1997.
 Conference in Memory of Robert Weingard, University of Oxford, 31 May 1997.
 Conference in Honour of Michael Redhead, Department of History and Philosophy  of Science, University of Cambridge, 20-21 June 1997
 6th UK Conference on Conceptual and Mathematical Foundations of Physics,  University of Durham, September 1997.
 Mini-Meeting on Quantum Theory, Imperial College, University of London, 27  November, 1998.
 One-Day Conference: Philosophy of General Relativity, LSE, 22 May 1999;  participation in panel discussion.
 8th UK Conference on Foundations of Physics, Imperial College London,  September 13-17, 1999.
International Workshop The Conceptual Foundations of Statistical Mechanics, van 
Leer Institute, Jerusalem, May 22-25, 2000.
Conference of the Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy & Social          Studies of Science, University of Sydney, June 2000.
9 UK Conference on Foundations of Physics, University of Birmingham, September 11-15, 2000.
 
 
 
 

(ii) Invited talks given at the following institutions since 1978

 Centre of Logic, Epistemology and History of Science, University of  Campinas, Brazil, 1978, 1987, 1992
 Institute of Physics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 1980
 Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 1980, 1992
 Institute of Physics, University of Brasília, Brazil, 1981
 Department of Philosophy, Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1981
 Brazilian Centre for Research in Physics (CBPF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1982
 Department of Physics, University of Canterbury, NZ, 1982, 1996
 Department of Physics, Victoria University, NZ, 1982
 Institute of Theoretical Physics, São Paulo, Brazil (Inaugural Lecture for  commencement of academic year, 1984)
 Department of History and Philosophy of Science, King's College,  University of London 1985, 1991
 Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1985
 Sigma Club Meeting, University of Cambridge, 1986, 1988, 1992
 Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, 1986
 Centre de Philosophie des Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1988, 1991
 Department of Logic and Metaphysics, University of St. Andrews, 1989
 Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, 1989
 Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, 1989
 Department of Philosophy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 1989
 Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, 1990
 Institute of Mathematics, University of Campinas, Brazil, 1990, 1992
 Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University College,  London, 1991
 Board of Extra-Mural Studies, University of Cambridge, 1991, 1992
 Atominstitut der Österreichischen Universitäten, Vienna, 1991
 Department of History and Foundations of Mathematics and Science,  University of Utrecht, 1992
 Institute of Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil, 1992
 Department of Post-graduate Studies in Philosophy, Catholic University of  Campinas, Brazil, 1992
 Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, 1992,  1993, 1994.
 School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University, 1993
 Société Belge de Logique et de Philosophie des Sciences, 1993
 Department of Philosophy, University of Leeds, 1994
 Interdisciplinary seminar on logic, language and mind: 'Paradoxes'; St  Catherine's College, Oxford 1994 
 Department of History, Philosophy and Communication of Science, University  College, London 1994
 Department of Physics, University of Kent 1994
 Philosophy of Science Research Students Group Seminar, London School of  Economics and King's College London, 1994
 Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, 1994
 Institut d'Histoire et Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, Université  de Paris I, 1994
 British Society for the Philosophy of Science, 1995
 Orkney Science Festival, September 1995.
 Portsmouth and District Physical Sciences Society 1995
 Department of Philosophy, King's College, University of London 1995.
 Oxford University Philosophy Society, 1996
 Sigma Club, University of Cambridge, 1996
 Quantum Computation and Cryptography Seminar, University of Oxford, 1996
 Department of Philosophy,  University of Canterbury, NZ; 1996 
 Royal Society of New Zealand, Canterbury Branch, 1996
 Department of Science and Technology Studies Speakers Series, University  College London, 1996.
 Institut Superieur de Philosophie, Université de Louvain-la-Neuve, 1998, 1999.
 Centre for Philosophical Studies, Kingís College London, 2000.
 Philosophy of Physics Seminar, Oxford University, 2000.
 

MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVITIES
 

Journals

 Secretary for the journal Cadernos de História e Filosofia da Ciência, Brazil. 1980 - 1982.

 Member of Editorial Advisory Board of Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 1995-; International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 1996-.
 

Organisation of Conferences, Colloquia

 Colloquium on Philosophy of Quantum Field Theory, Oxford, May 1986. Co-organiser H.R. Harré.

 Colloquium on Philosophy of Vacuum, Oxford, June 1987. Co-organisers H.R. Harré and S. Saunders.

 Why General Relativity is a Perfectly Machian Theory; Oxford, December 1993.

 Complex Numbers in Quantum Mechanics, Oxford, June 1995. Co-organiser J. Barbour.

 Dispositions in Science, retirement colloquium for H.R. Harré, Oxford, July 1995. Co-organiser B. Müller. 

 Vth UK Conference on Conceptual  and Philosophical Problems in Physics,  Oxford, September 10-13, 1996; co-organiser M. Suarez.

 Colloquium in Memory of Robert Weingard, Oxford, 31 May 1997. Co-organiser H R Harré.
 

Refereeing (since 1984)

 Acted as referee for: American Journal of Physics, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Foundations of Physics, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Journal of Physics A, Philosophy of Science, Physics Letters A, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Transactions of the Royal Society.
 .
 

Examination

 Acted as occasional external examiner for the University of London  and the University of Cambridge (1991-).

 Acted as examiner of graduate theses in: 
(i) philosophy: Universities of Oxford (2 D.Phil.), Cambridge (5 Ph.D.), L.S.E. (1 Ph.D.), Hull (1 M.A.), Campinas (2 M.A.). 
 (ii) mathematics: University of Oxford (1 M.Sc.)
  (iii) physics: University of Oxford (1 D.Phil.)
 (iv) mathematical sciences: University of Durham (1 Ph.D.)
 

Thesis supervision

 M.Sc. (UNICAMP) Sílvio Chibeni (distinction) 1984
 B.Phil. (Oxford)  Roland Sypel (distinction) 1990; Oliver Pooley (distinction)  1998; Christopher Timpson 2000.
 D.Phil. (Oxford)  Roland Sypel  1994; Tim Budden 1997; Jeeva Anandan  1997.

Administration

 Member of Joint Committee for Physics and Philosophy 1985  to present. Chairman of Joint Committee 1987-1989, 1992-1994, 1996-1999.
  (The Joint Committee runs the undergraduate course in Physics and  Philosophy at Oxford.) 

 Curator of the Philosophy Centre, Oxford; 1997-1999. The Curator is  Chairman of the Management Committee, which is responsible for the  administration staff, refurbishment and day-to-day running of the  Philosophy Centre at 10 Merton Street.
 
 
 

PUBLICATIONS
 

(i) Books

1.Albert Einstein. A simple man of vision (in Portuguese), Brasiliense, São Paulo, 1984. 107 pp.

2. H.R. Brown and H.R. Harré  (eds.): Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Field Theory,  Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1988.  Reprinted in paperback, 1990.

3. S. Saunders and H.R. Brown  (eds.): The Philosophy of Vacuum, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991.
 

(ii) Papers, Reviews

1. Review of F.J. Belinfante,  'Measurement and Time Reversal in Objective Quantum Theory' (1975), in British Journal for the  Philosophy of Science  30, 187-191 (1979).

2. H.R.B. and M.L.G. Redhead: 'A critique of the disturbance theory of indeterminacy in quantum mechanics', Foundations of Physics 11, 1-20 (1981).

3. 'O debate Einstein-Bohr na mecânica quântica' (The Einstein-Bohr debate in quantum mechanics) Cadernos de História e Filosofia da Ciência (Brazil)  2, 59-81 (1981).

4. 'The strange nature of quantum reality' (in Portuguese), Ciência Hoje (Brazil) 2,  24-31 (1983).

5. H.R.B. and R. Martins: 'de Broglie's relativistic phase waves and wave groups', American Journal of Physics 52, 1130-1140 (1984).

6, J. Bub and H.R.B., 'Curious properties of quantum ensembles which have been both preselected and post-selected', Physical Review Letters  56, 2337-2340 (1986). 

7. 'The insolubility proof of the quantum measurement problem', Foundations of Physics  16,  857-870 (1986).

8. Review of J. Hendry, 'The creation of quantum mechanics and the Bohr-Pauli debate' (1984), in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science  37,  497-506 (1986).

9. 'The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics: an evaluation of existing insolubility proofs' (in Portuguese),  Cadernos de História e Filosofia da Ciência (Brazil)  9, 5-33 (1986).

10. Review of A. Fine, 'The shaky game. Einstein, realism and the quantum theory', in American Journal of Physics  56, 571-573 (1988).

11. G. Svetlichny, M. Redhead, H.R.B. and J. Butterfield: 'Do the Bell inequalities require the existence of joint probability distributions?',  Philosophy of Science  55, 387-401 (1988). 

12. S. Foster and H.R.B.:  'On a recent attempt to define the interpretation basis in the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics',  International Journal of Theoretical Physics  27,  1507-1531 (1988).

13, 'Discussion: Does the principle of relativity imply Winnie's (1970) equal passage times principle?',  Philosophy of Science  57, 313-324 (1990). 

14. H.R.B. and G. Svetlichny: 'Nonlocality and Gleason's Lemma. Part I Deterministic Theories',  Foundations of Physics  20, 1379-1387 (1990).

15. 'Nonlocality in quantum mechanics', The Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume LXV,  141-159 (1991).

16. S. Saunders and H.R.B.: 'Reflections on Ether', in S. Saunders and H. Brown (eds.) The Philosophy of Vacuum, Clarendon Press 1991, Oxford, pp. 27-63.

17. P. Kaloyerou and H.R.B.: 'On neutron interferometer partial absorption experiments',  Physica B 176, 78-92 (1992).

18. H.R.B., J. Summhammer, R. Callaghan and P. Kaloyerou: 'Neutron interferometry with antiphase modulation', Physics Letters A, 163, 21-25 (1992).

19. R. Sypel and H.R.B.: 'When is a Physical Theory Relativistic?' PSA 1992, Volume 1 (Proceedings of the 1992 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association), D. Hull, M. Forbes and K. Okruhlik (eds.), Philosophy of Science Association, East Lansing, Michigan 1992; pp. 507-514.

20. 'Bell's other theorem and its connection with nonlocality. Part I' in Bell's Theorem and the Foundations of Modern Physics, A. van der Merwe, F. Selleri and G. Tarozzi (eds.),  World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore, 1992; pp. 104-116.

21. 'Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics in the Emergence of Special Relativity', in S. French and H. Kamminga (eds.), Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics; Essays in Honour of Heinz Post, Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 1993;  pp. 227-260.

22. A. Elby, H.R.B. and S. Foster, 'What makes a theory physically "complete"?', Foundations of Physics 23, 971-985 (1993).

23. H.R.B. and A Maia Jr.: 'Light-speed constancy versus light-speed invariance in the derivation of relativistic kinematics', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 43, 381-407 (1993).

24. E. Squires, L. Hardy and H.R.B., 'Non-locality from an analogue of the quantum Zeno effect', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science  25, 97-121 (1994).

25. Review of E.J. Squires, 'Conscious Mind in the Physical World', Adam Hilger UK, 1990, Foundations of Physics 24, 807-810 (1994).

26. H.R.B., C. Dewdney and G. Horton, 'Bohm particles and their detection in the light of neutron interferometry', Foundations of Physics 25, 329-347 (1995).

27. J. Anandan and H.R.B., 'On the reality of space-time geometry and the wavefunction', Foundations of Physics 25, 349-360 (1995).

28. H.R.B. and R. Sypel, 'On the meaning of the relativity principle and other symmetries', International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 9, 233-251 (1995).

29. 'Bovine Metaphysics: Remarks on the significance of the gravitational phase effect in quantum mechanics', in R. Clifton (ed.), Perspectives on Quantum Reality: Non-relativistic, Relativistic and Field-Theoretic. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 1996; pp. 183-193.

30. 'Mindful of quantum possibilities', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47, 189-200 (1996).

31. H.R.B., A. Elby and R. Weingard 'Cause and effect in the pilot-wave interpetation of quantum mechanics', in J.T. Cushing, A. Fine and S. Goldstein (eds.), Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal,  Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands, 1996; pp. 309-319.

32. 1993 paper 'Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics in the Emergence of Special Relativity' (see above) republished in J. Butterfield, M. Hogarth and G. Belot (eds.) Spacetime, International Research Library of Philosophy, Dartmouth Publishing Company, Sept. 1996.

33. J. Andandan and H.R.B. 'Quantum theory of measurement', in Encyclopaedia of Physics, Macmillan 1996.

34. 'On the role of special relativity in general relativity', International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 11, 67-81 (1997).

35. E. Sjöqvist, H.R.B. and H. Carlsen, 'Galilean non-invariance of geometric phase',  Physics Letters A, 229, 273-278 (1997); quant-ph/9610006..

36. 'Obituary: Robert Weingard 1942-1996', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 28, 145-146 (1997).

37. H.R.B., M. Suárez and G. Bacciagaluppi, 'Are "sharp values" for observables always objective elements of reality?', in D. Dieks and P. Vermaas (eds.) The Modal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998; pp. 289-306.

38. H.R.B., E. Sjöqvist and G. Bacciagaluppi, 'Remarks on identical particles in de Broglie-Bohm theory', Physics Letters A 251, 229-235 (1999); quant-ph/9811054.

39. H.R.B. and P.R. Holland, 'The Galilean covariance of quantum mechanics in the case of external fields', American Journal of Physics  67, 204-215 (1999).

40. 'Aspects of objectivity in quantum mechanics', in From Physics to Philosophy, J. Butterfield and C. Pagonis (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 1999; 45-70.

41. HRB and O. Pooley, ëThe problem of induction from the perspective of physicsí, Manuscrito (Brazil) 22, 29-35 (1999).
 
 

(iii) Accepted for publication
 

42. H.R.B. and O. Pooley, 'The origin of the spacetime metric: Bell's 'Lorentzian pedagogy' and its significance in general relativity', to appear in Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Length, C. Callender and N. Huggett (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2001; gr-qc/9908048.

43. Essay Review of "Timeís Arrow and Archimedesí Point", by H. Price (1996); to appear 2000 in Contemporary Physics.
 
 

(iv) Work Submitted
 

ëNoetherís theorems and gauge symmetriesí, with K. Brading; hep-th/0009058; submitted to the American Journal of Physics, August 2000.
 
 

 (v) Work in Progress
 

'On the non-relativistic limit of relativistic quantum mechanics', with P. Holland.
 

'The origins of length contraction: the FitzGerald-Lorentz deformation hypothesis'.
 

ëWeyl and the curious origins of the gauge principleí, with K. Brading and O. Pooley