Talk by E. H. Linfoot , D.Phil., SC.D. John Couch Adams Astronomer in the University of Cambridge
The speaker describes how experimental physics during the last century, besides greatly increasing our information about the external world, has brought , forward certain questions of a more philosophical character. Experimental results, grafted on to a commonsense or realist view of the external world, have led to a point where the ' common external world' of the physicist bears no recognisable similarity to the external world of the plain man, and where the explanation of a phenomenon no longer claims to tell us anything about its inner nature. Dr. Linfoot argues that it would seem that as the physical exploration of this world progresses, the case for an idealist interpretation of the external world is becoming stronger, and the case for a realist interpretation weaker.