|
|
Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
Number 10 Sound: The Musical Way 10 the Scientific Revolution is a
collection of twelve essays by writers from the fields of
musicology and the history of science. The essays show the idea of
music held by Euro th pean intellectuals who lived from the second
half of the 15 century to the th early 17: physicians (e. g.
Marsilio Ficino), scholars of musical theory (e. g. Gioseffo
Zarlino, Vincenzo Galilei), natural philosophers (e. g. Fran cis
Bacon, Isaac Beeckman, Marin Mersenne), astronomers and mathema
ticians (e. g. Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei ). Together with
other people of the time, whom the Reader will meet in the course
of the book, these intellectuals share an idea of music that is far
removed from the way it is commonly conceived nowadays: it is the
idea of music as a science whose object-musical sound--can be
quantified and demonstrated, or enquired into experimentally with
the methods and instruments of modem scientific enquiry. In this
conception, music to be heard is a complex, variable structure
based on few simple elements--e. g. musical intervals-, com bined
according to rules and criteria which vary along with the different
ages. However, the varieties of music created by men would not
exist if they were not based on certain musical models--e. g. the
consonances-, which exist in the mind of God or are hidden in the
womb of Nature, which man discovers and demonstrates, and finally
translates into the lan guage of sounds."
It has been upon the shoulders of giants that the modern world has
been forged. This accessible compendium presents an insight into
the great minds responsible for the technology which has
transformed our lives. Each pioneer is introduced with a brief
biography, followed by a concise account of their key contributions
to their discipline. The selection covers a broad spread of
historical and contemporary figures from theoreticians to
entrepreneurs, highlighting the richness of the field of computing.
Suitable for the general reader, this concise and easy-to-read
reference will be of interest to anyone curious about the inspiring
men and women who have shaped the field of computer science.
In the 1680s Isaac Newton wrote the Philosophiae Naturalis
Principia Mathematica. At the same time he was also working on a
recreation of the plan of Solomon s Temple. In an unpublished
manuscript entitled Introduction to the Lexicon of the Prophets,
Part two: About the appearance of the Jewish Temple, or more
commonly known by its call name Babson MS 0424, he described the
architecture of the Temple. His main source for his recreation was
the Book of Ezekiel, but he also used and compared it with a wide
selection of Jewish, Classical, and contemporary sources, and he
demonstrated a good knowledge and understanding of Vitruvius in his
search for the truth of Solomon s Temple. The aim of this book is
three-fold. First it contains a translation of Babson MS; this is
the first translation of this manuscript into English. This
manuscript contains two reconstructions of the Temple. Both are
working documents that attempt to reconstruct the plan of the
Temple using the text of Ezekiel which is supported with a mixture
of classical and contemporary sources. The first reconstruction is
illustrated. One particular image is of the Temple precinct and it
is annotated with letters to match the description in the first
reconstruction. This is a well known image and is often reproduced
as the plan of Newton s Temple. Although the first description lays
out the ground plan it only gives a few details of the uprights and
cannot be fully reconstructed. However the second reconstruction is
a great deal more detailed in its description and it reveals
changes to the first reconstruction in its ground plan it also
gives enough description to be full reconstruction. Second, the
book provides a commentary to accompany the translation which puts
Babson Ms 0434 into context with Newton s other works on science,
chronology, prophecy and theology. Although Babson Ms 0434 is a
architecture work, Newton also discusses the Temple and its rituals
in many of his unpublished papers in its religious context. He
conceived the Principia as the exoteric knowledge of nature while
the prophets held the esoteric knowledge of nature. The prophets
could only be interpreted through hieroglyphs understood through
the framework of the architecture and rituals of Solomon s Temple.
The Temple was also important to his works on chronology After his
death Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended was published in 1728;
this contains a small description of Solomon s Temple of barely
3000 words with detailed three drawings, this detail is not
reflected in his description. These topics are discussed in detail.
Third, the book contains a reconstruction of Newton s plan of the
Temple. The three reconstructions, the two in Babson Ms 0434 and
the one in Chronology are discussed and compared. The first
reconstruction in Babson Ms 0434 and in Chronology are only ground
plans and cannot be reconstructed in a three-dimensional model.
However, the second reconstruction is a full description of the
ground plan and the uprights. The book creates a reconstruct of
Newton s verbal description of the Temple using ArchiCad. This
reconstruction brings Newton s plan of the Temple alive. This
reconstruction is contained within the sample chapter at the end of
this proposal.
This monograph investigates the development of hydrostatics as a
science. In the process, it sheds new light on the nature of
science and its origins in the Scientific Revolution. Readers will
come to see that the history of hydrostatics reveals subtle ways in
which the science of the seventeenth century differed from previous
periods. The key, the author argues, is the new insights into the
concept of pressure that emerged during the Scientific Revolution.
This came about due to contributions from such figures as Simon
Stevin, Pascal, Boyle and Newton. The author compares their work
with Galileo and Descartes, neither of whom grasped the need for a
new conception of pressure. As a result, their contributions to
hydrostatics were unproductive. The story ends with Newton insofar
as his version of hydrostatics set the subject on its modern
course. He articulated a technical notion of pressure that was up
to the task. Newton compared the mathematical way in hydrostatics
and the experimental way, and sided with the former. The subtleties
that lie behind Newton's position throws light on the way in which
developments in seventeenth-century science simultaneously involved
mathematization and experimentation. This book serves as an example
of the degree of conceptual change that new sciences often require.
It will be of interest to those involved in the study of history
and philosophy of science. It will also appeal to physicists as
well as interested general readers.
Written by literary scholars, historians of science, and cultural
historians, the twenty-two original essays in this collection
explore the intriguing and multifaceted interrelationships between
science and culture through the periodical press in
nineteenth-century Britain. Ranging across the spectrum of
periodical titles, the six sections comprise: 'Women, Children, and
Gender', 'Religious Audiences', 'Naturalizing the Supernatural',
'Contesting New Technologies', 'Professionalization and
Journalism', and 'Evolution, Psychology, and Culture'. The essays
offer some of the first 'samplings and soundings' from the emergent
and richly interdisciplinary field of scholarship on the relations
between science and the nineteenth-century media.
The Derby Philosophers focuses upon the activities of a group of
Midland intellectuals that included the evolutionist and physician
Erasmus Darwin, Rev. Thomas Gisborne the evangelical philosopher
and poet, Robert Bage the novelist, Charles Sylvester the chemist
and engineer, William George and his son Herbert Spencer, the
internationally renowned evolutionist philosopher who coined the
phrase ‘survival of the fittest’, and members of the Wedgwood
and Strutt families. The book explores how, inspired by science and
through educational activities, publications and institutions
including the famous Derbyshire General Infirmary (1810) and Derby
Arboretum (1840), the Derby philosophers strove to promote social,
political and urban improvements with national and international
consequences. Much more than a parochial history of one
intellectual group or town, this book examines science, politics
and culture during one of the most turbulent periods of British
history. -- .
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art is a classic text: the most important mathematical source in China during the past 2000 years, and comparable in significance to Euclid's Elements in the West. This volume contains the first complete English translation of the Nine Chapters, together with two commentaries written in the 3rd century (by Liu Hui) and 7th century AD, and a further commentary by the translators.
The history of continued fractions is certainly one of the longest
among those of mathematical concepts, since it begins with Euclid's
algorithm for the great est common divisor at least three centuries
B.C. As it is often the case and like Monsieur Jourdain in
Moliere's "Ie bourgeois gentilhomme" (who was speak ing in prose
though he did not know he was doing so), continued fractions were
used for many centuries before their real discovery. The history of
continued fractions and Pade approximants is also quite im portant,
since they played a leading role in the development of some
branches of mathematics. For example, they were the basis for the
proof of the tran scendence of 11' in 1882, an open problem for
more than two thousand years, and also for our modern spectral
theory of operators. Actually they still are of great interest in
many fields of pure and applied mathematics and in numerical
analysis, where they provide computer approximations to special
functions and are connected to some convergence acceleration
methods. Con tinued fractions are also used in number theory,
computer science, automata, electronics, etc ..."
This book explores the evolving nature of objectivity in the
history of science and its implications for science education. It
is generally considered that objectivity, certainty, truth,
universality, the scientific method and the accumulation of
experimental data characterize both science and science education.
Such universal values associated with science may be challenged
while studying controversies in their original historical context.
The scientific enterprise is not characterized by objectivity or
the scientific method, but rather controversies, alternative
interpretations of data, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Although
objectivity is not synonymous with truth or certainty, it has
eclipsed other epistemic virtues and to be objective is often used
as a synonym for scientific. Recent scholarship in history and
philosophy of science has shown that it is not the experimental
data (Baconian orgy of quantification) but rather the diversity /
plurality in a scientific discipline that contributes toward
understanding objectivity. History of science shows that
objectivity and subjectivity can be considered as the two poles of
a continuum and this dualism leads to a conflict in understanding
the evolving nature of objectivity. The history of objectivity is
nothing less than the history of science itself and the evolving
and varying forms of objectivity does not mean that one replaced
the other in a sequence but rather each form supplements the
others. This book is remarkable for its insistence that the
philosophy of science, and in particular that discipline's analysis
of objectivity as the supposed hallmark of the scientific method,
is of direct value to teachers of science. Meticulously, yet in a
most readable way, Mansoor Niaz looks at the way objectivity has
been dealt with over the years in influential educational journals
and in textbooks; it's fascinating how certain perspectives fade,
while basic questions show no sign of going away. There are few
books that take both philosophy and education seriously - this one
does! Roald Hoffmann, Cornell University, chemist, writer and Nobel
Laureate in Chemistry
Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916), winner of the Nobel Prize in 1907 for
his contributions to immunology, was first a comparative zoologist,
who, working in the wake of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, made
seminal contributions to evolutionary biology. His work in
comparative embryology is best known in regard to the debates with
Ernst Haeckel concerning animal genealogical relationships and the
theoretical origins of metazoans. But independent of those
polemics, Metchnikoff developed his phagocytosis theory' of
immunity as a result of his early comparative embryology research,
and only in examining the full breadth of his work do we appreciate
his signal originality. Metchnikoff's scientific papers have
remained largely untranslated into English. Assembled here,
annotated and edited, are the key evolutionary biology papers
dating from Metchnikoff's earliest writings (1865) to the texts of
his mature period of the 1890s, which will serve as an invaluable
resource for those interested in the historical development of
evolutionary biology.
The church disagreed with Galileo. That set off a controversy that
rages on today. The passion remains but the issues have changed and
the arguments have become more complex. Do miracles conflict with
scientific laws? How did the universe begin? Does the creation
story in Genesis conflict with evolution? Hummel sets these
controversies in historical perspective by telling the fascinating
stories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. Through their
eyes we see how science flourished and floundered under the
influence fo the church, setting the scene for modern conflicts.
Then Hummel turns to the Bible, discussing its relationship to
science, the place of miracles and the biblical account of the
origin of the universe. His treatment of modern controversies is
respected and fair-minded. Yet he does not hesitate to criticize
the views of others and argue for his own.
Have you ever been confused by the fact that the words 'though' and
'bough' are pronounced differently, or frustrated by the
realisation that 'hint' and 'pint' don't rhyme? It is well known
that the spelling system of English is notoriously unhelpful as an
indicator of how to pronounce English words. Spoken and written
representations of English are mutually inconsistent, making it
difficult to interpret the 'logic' of the language. Learning to
transcribe English phonetically, however, provides an accurate
visual interpretation of pronunciation: it helps you to realise
what you actually say, rather than what you think you say. English
Transcription Course is the ideal workbook for anyone wishing to
practice their transcription skills. It provides a series of eight
lessons, each dealing with a particular aspect of pronunciation,
and introduces and explains the most important features of
connected speech in modern British English - such as assimilation,
elision and weak forms, concentrating on achieving a relaxed,
informal style of speech. Each lesson is followed by a set of
exercises which allow for extensive practise of the skills learnt
in both current and previous chapters. Students can check their
progress with the 'model' answers provided in the appendix.
Monte Johnson examines one of the most controversial aspects of
Aristiotle's natural philosophy: his teleology. Is teleology about
causation or explanation? Does it exclude or obviate mechanism,
determinism, or materialism? Is it focused on the good of
individual organisms, or is god or man the ultimate end of all
processes and entities? Is teleology restricted to living things,
or does it apply to the cosmos as a whole? Does it identify
objectively existent causes in the world, or is it merely a
heuristic for our understanding of other causal processes? Johnson
argues that Aristotle's aporetic approach drives a middle course
between these traditional oppositions, and avoids the dilemma,
frequently urged against teleology, between backwards causation and
anthropomorphism. Although these issues have been debated with
extraordinary depth by Aristotle scholars, and touched upon by many
in the wider philosophical and scientific community as well, there
has been no comprehensive historical treatment of the issue.
Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology,
although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But
if teleology means the use of ends and goals in natural science,
then Aristotle was rather a critical innovator of teleological
explanation. Teleological notions were widespread among his
predecessors, but Aristotle rejected their conception of extrinsic
causes such as mind or god as the primary causes for natural
things. Aristotle's radical alternative was to assert nature itself
as an internal principle of change and an end, and his teleological
explanations focus on the intrinsic ends of natural substances -
those ends that benefit the natural thing itself. Aristotle's use
of ends was subsequently conflated with incompatible 'teleological'
notions, including proofs for the existence of a providential or
designer god, vitalism and animism, opposition to mechanism and
non-teleological causation, and anthropocentrism. Johnson addresses
these misconceptions through an elaboration of Aristotle's
methodological statements, as well as an examination of the
explanations actually offered in the scientific works.
This volume offers a reappraisal of the topic of scientific and
technological traveling and takes the viewpoint of the European
peripheries, including case studies of Portugal, Spain, Greece,
Turkey, Russia, Hungary and the Scandinavian countries. It
contributes to the clarification of mechanisms of appropriation of
scientific ideas, instruments, practices and of technological
expertise. It is of interest to scholars and students of history
and philosophy of science and technology, cultural and social
history, science, technology and society studies.
When English naturalist Joseph Banks (1743-1820) accompanied
Captain James Cook (1728-1779) on his historic mission into the
Pacific, the Endeavour voyage of 1768-71, he took with him a team
of collectors and illustrators. Banks and his team returned from
the voyage with unprecedented collections of artefacts and
specimens of stunning birds, fish and other animals as well as
thousands of plants, most seen for the first time in Europe. They
produced, too, remarkable landscape and figure drawings of the
peoples encountered on the voyage along with detailed journals and
descriptions of the places visited, which, with the first detailed
maps of these lands (Tahiti, New Zealand and the East Coast of
Australia), were afterwards used to create lavishly illustrated
accounts of the mission. These caused a storm of interest in Europe
where plays, poems and satirical caricatures were also produced to
celebrate and examine the voyage, its personnel and many 'new'
discoveries. Along with contemporary portraits of key personalities
aboard the ship, scale models and plans of the ship itself,
scientific instruments taken on the voyage, commemorative medals
and sketches, the objects (over 140) featured in this new book will
tell the story of the Endeavour voyage and its impact ahead of the
250th anniversary in 2018 of the launch of this seminal mission.
Artwork made both during and after the voyage will be seen
alongside actual specimens. And by comparing the voyage originals
with the often stylized engravings later produced in London for the
official account, the book will investigate how knowledge gained on
the mission was gathered, revised and later received in Europe.
Items separated in some cases for more than two centuries will be
brought together to reveal their fascinating history not only
during but since that mission. Original voyage specimens will
feature together with illustrations and descriptions of them,
showing a rich diversity of newly discovered species and how Banks
organized this material, planning but ultimately failing to publish
it. In fact, many of the objects in the book have never been
published before. The book will focus on the contribution of
Banks's often neglected artists Sydney Parkinson, Herman Diedrich
Spoering, Alexander Buchan as well as the priest and Pacific
voyager Tupaia, who joined Endeavour in the Society Islands, none
of whom survived the mission. These men illustrated island scenes
of bays, dwellings, canoes as well as the dress, faces and
possessions of Pacific peoples. Burial ceremonies, important
religious sites and historic encounters were all depicted. Of
particular interest, and only recently recognised as by him, are
the original artworks of Tupaia, who produced as part of this
mission the first charts and illustrations on paper by any
Polynesian. The surviving Endeavour voyage illustrations are the
most important body of images produced since Europeans entered this
region, matching the truly historic value of the plant specimens
and artefacts that will be seen alongside them.
The Selected Works of C. H. Waddington reissues seven titles from
Waddington's impressive oeuvre. The titles in question cover a
range of topics, from genetics and embryology to ethics in science
and contemporary biological thought.
The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration
of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western
societies; in particular, it examines religions in their
differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural
systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is
given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a
clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical
data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the
religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or
media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their
construction of identity, and their relation to society and the
wider public are key issues of this series.
This book offers a considered yet entertaining reflection on the
progress of modern scientific research. The winding path of science
can only be understood by revealing the personal, human side of
scientific research, demystifying the actions of the scientist and
exposing the human drama on the stage of science. The book looks at
the true nature of contemporary science and scientists through the
lens of the personal experiences of the author, a renowned and
leading materials scientist, over the last half century. It
examines the positive threads of modern scientific progress in
sober juxtaposition to the manifest negative developments arising
from stiff competition within the current academic landscape. A
collection of stories and real-life anecdotes is presented in
parallel to the career of the author, providing a first-hand
account of important achievements in the field of materials
science. As a result, this book provides fascinating reading for
students, seasoned scientists, and anybody else interested in the
workings and machinations of modern science.
|
|