Moscow, Russian Federation
The author assumes that philosophical understanding of the physical cognition development includes unity of ontological and epistemological aspects, where the ontological aspect is set by the very subject matter of the research focus on natural phenomena (light radiation, magnetization and bodies electrification). The main emphasis is on epistemological peculiarities of physicists’ cognitive activity in the formative years of New European classical science — as regards of evolution of views on electromagnetic processes. It is argued that individual results from the research on magnetism, electrified bodies, and light phenomena — as independent objects to be studied — over the first three centuries have formed the theoretical basis sufficient to elucidate the unified essence of these phenomena by means of classical Maxwell electrodynamics. It has been concluded that Maxwell’s outstanding service to 19th-century physical science has influenced the development of 20th-century quantum and relativistic physics.
physics epistemology, classical physics formation, physical knowledge, electromagnetism, Maxwell electrodynamics
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