Abstract:
Symmetry inferences in the physical sciences have material warrants; these
warrants can be accounted for in terms of scientific practice and conceptual adaptation.
This study is a historical epistemology that provides such an account. It covers the
emergence and development of symmetry warrants in the crystallographic research
programs of the nineteenth century; it also provides evidence and reasoning undermining
alternative accounts that characterize symmetry in mathematical rather than material
terms. The study suggests that symmetry concepts adapted in order to reduce the number
of arbitrary assumptions and parameters otherwise required by crystallographic research
programs to account for an expanding range of physical properties that were being
measured with ever-greater precision. The use of symmetry reasoning in these programs
lessened the dependence of scientific practice on theory and, by doing so, restrained
speculative theorizing, established common ground for practitioners with diverse
ontological assumptions, and facilitated experimental progress even where theoretical
understanding was weak. Further historical research on the development of symmetry reasoning in crystallography and its spread from that field to others will reveal whether
there are also material warrants for the continued evolution and transfer of symmetry
reasoning. The stakes are high because the use of symmetry inference is pervasive, a
priori reasoning about physical symmetries is common but unwarranted, and errors can
be costly.
