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I'm currently planning a research project which tracks the development of atomic theory in the physical sciences (though mainly physics since that's my subject). In the last section I want to discuss some of the key problems in philosophy of science with specific reference to atomic theory, briefly discussing epistemological debates within philosophy of science and discussing how science can relate to metaphysics.

Does anyone know of any sources that discuss philosophy of science in 'atomic theory' terms? Beyond classical antiquity, that is. This includes what physicists have had to say about the topic as well as philosophers of science. As far as I know, Ernst Mach had an instrumentalist's view of atomic theory rather than a realist one. It would be good to be able to discuss the realist/instrumentalist traditions within the field of physics.

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    I'm not sure how relevant these will be but Ulrich Morhoff in his book on QM makes a strong link with metaphysics in one chapter, and Michael Redhead has an interesting book 'Incompleteness, Nonlocality and Realism - A Prolegomenon to the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics'. I'd recommend the former but could not understand the latter. The problem for physicists is that metaphysics as they usually know it from the work of the philosophy department is in too much of a muddle for any meaningful connections to be made. Perhaps your research will help improve the situation.
    – user20253
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 15:06
  • "'What is Life?' with 'Mind and Matter'" by Erwin Schroedinger. also "Quantum Physics and Ultimate Reality: Mystical Writings of Great Physicists" editor Michael Green.
    – Swami Vishwananda
    Commented Aug 18, 2018 at 9:15

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See

Macroscopic Metaphysics Middle-Sized Objects and Longish Processes, Synthese Library Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science 390 (Springer, 2017)

by Paul Needham, expert in the works of the famous anti-atomicist Pierre Duhem.

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