Correlations

• Published in: Inorganic Polymeric and Composite Membranes, Volume 14 - Structure, Function and Other Correlations Vol. 14; pp. 1 - 24
• Main Author: Oyama, S. Ted
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Approximations; Aristotle; Bacon; Causality; Cause and effect; Chemistry & Chemical Engineering; Composites; Correlations; Criteria; Curves; Dimensionless numbers; Effects; Equations; Explicit function; Extensive property; Factors; Herschel; Implicit function; Intensive property; Laws; Material Properties; Natural laws; Newton; Occam; Ockham; Plastics & Rubber; Polymer Based Composites; Polymer Chemistry; Principles; Properties; Theories; Theory of nature; Extensive property; Factors; Ockham; Effects; Criteria; Bacon; Properties; Natural laws; Theory of nature; Laws; Occam; Intensive property; Aristotle; Herschel; Cause and effect; Approximations; Dimensionless numbers; Implicit function; Equations; Newton; Correlations; Principles; Theories; Causality; Explicit function; Curves
• ISBN: 9780444537287; 0444537287
• ISSN: 0927-5193
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53728-7.00001-X

The subject of correlations is related to cause-and-effect relations and is a fundamental aspect of research in many fields. Causality has roots in logic and philosophy, and its exploration has resulted in the development of many concepts by diverse thinkers across millennia. These include the universality of cause (Aristotle), the desirability of simplicity (William of Ockham), the methods of generalization (Bacon), the requirement of minimality (Newton), and the determination of true cause (Herschel). In the natural sciences, causality is linked to the understanding of physical phenomena, and this occurs at many levels ranging from the broad and axiomatic to the minutely detailed. Thus, there is a rough hierarchy of categories that may be ranked as Principles, Theories, Laws, Properties, Effects, Equations, Dimensionless Numbers, Criteria, Approximations, Factors, and Curves. Many of these are mathematical descriptions of physical reality and their place in the hierarchy is determined by the level to which they depend on fundamental assumptions. This is a structural feature of science. Correlations are relationships between variables that have some basis on physical processes, but that are not yet developed into a succinct description. The proof of a correlation consists in the uncovering of the physical basis of the phenomenon and its mathematical description.