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Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
The present volume, compiled in honor of an outstanding historian
of science, physicist and exceptional human being, Sam Schweber, is
unique in assembling a broad spectrum of positions on the history
of science by some of its leading representatives. Readers will
find it illuminating to learn how prominent authors judge the
current status and the future perspectives of their field. Students
will find this volume helpful as a guide in a fragmented field that
continues to be dominated by idiosyncratic expertise and that still
lacks a methodical canon. The essays were written in response to
our invitation to explicate the views of the authors concerning the
state of the history of science today and the issues we felt are
related to its future.
This book is the first to explore memory, misremembering,
forgetting, and anniversaries in the history of psychiatry and
mental health. It challenges simplistic representations of the
callous nature of mental health care in the past, while at the same
time eschewing a celebratory and uncritical marking of
anniversaries and individuals. Asking critical questions of the
early Whiggish histories of mental health care, the book
problematizes the idea of a shared professional and institutional
history, and the abiding faith placed in the reform of medicine,
administration, and even patients. It contends that much post-1800
legislation drafted to ensure reform, acted to preserve beliefs
about the ‘bad old days’ and a ‘brighter future’ in the
state memories of imperial powers, which in turn exported these
notions around the world. Conversely, the collection demonstrates
the variety of remembering and forgetting, building on recent
interest in the ideological and cultural linkages between past and
present in international psychiatric practice. In this way, it
seeks to trace the pathways of memory, exploring the direction of
travel, and the perpetuation, remodeling, and uprooting of
recollection.Chapter “The New Socialist Citizen and
‘Forgetting’ Authoritarianism: Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and
Revolution in Socialist Yugoslavia” is available open access
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via
link.springer. com.
'A wonderful connecting of two women writers' stories more than a
century apart.' Julia Kuehn, The University of Hong Kong The
first-ever biography of the pioneering female journalist who fought
to bring Japanese cherry trees to Washington, DC Every age has
strong, independent women who defy the gender conventions of their
era to follow their hearts and minds. Eliza Scidmore was one such
maverick. Born on the American frontier just before the Civil War,
she rose from modest beginnings to become a journalist who roamed
far and wide writing about distant places for readers back home. By
her mid-20s she had visited more places than most people would see
in a lifetime. By the end of the nineteenth century, her travels
were so legendary she was introduced at a meeting in London as
"Miss Scidmore, of everywhere." In what has become her best-known
legacy, Scidmore carried home from Japan a big idea that helped
shape the face of modern Washington: she urged the city's park
officials to plant Japanese cherry trees on a reclaimed mud
bank-today's Potomac Park. Though they rebuffed her suggestion
several times, she finally got her way nearly three decades later
thanks to the support of First Lady Helen Taft. Scidmore was a
"Forrest Gump" of her day who bore witness to many important events
and rubbed elbows with famous people, from John Muir and Alexander
Graham Bell to U.S presidents and Japanese leaders. She helped
popularize Alaska tourism during the birth of the cruise industry,
and educated readers about Japan and other places in the Far East
at a time of expanding U.S. interests across the Pacific. At the
early National Geographic, she made a lasting mark as the first
woman to serve on its board and to publish photographs in the
magazine. Around the same time, she also played an activist role in
the burgeoning U.S. conservation movement. Her published work
includes books on Alaska, Japan, Java, China, and India; a novel
based on the Russo-Japanese War; and about 800 articles in U.S.
newspapers and magazines. Deeply researched and briskly written,
this first-ever biography of Scidmore draws heavily on her own
writings to follow major events of a half-century as seen through
the eyes of a remarkable woman who was far ahead of her time.
This book reflects on the various ways in which intelligence can
manifest itself in the wide range of diverse contexts in which
people live. Intelligence is often viewed as being tantamount to a
score or set of scores on a decontextualized standardized
intelligence test. But intelligence always acts within a
sociocultural context. Indeed, early theorists defined intelligence
in terms of adaptation to the environment in which one lives. The
tradition of decontextualization is old, dating back to the very
beginning of the 20th century with the development of the
Binet-Simon Intelligence Scales. This tradition is not only old,
however, but obsolete. Because people live in different
sociocultural as well as physical environments, intelligence can
take somewhat different forms in different places and even at
different times. The chapters in this edited volume show that
intelligence viewed in the abstract is a somewhat vacuous concept -
it needs to be contextualized in terms of people's physical and
sociocultural surroundings.
The human brain is made up of 85 billion neurons, which are
connected by over 100 trillion synapses. For more than a century, a
diverse array of researchers searched for a language that could be
used to capture the essence of what these neurons do and how they
communicate. The language they were looking for was mathematics,
and we would not be able to understand the brain as we do today
without it. In Models of the Mind, author and computational
neuroscientist Grace Lindsay explains how mathematical models have
allowed scientists to understand and describe many of the brain's
processes. She introduces readers to the most important concepts in
modern neuroscience, and highlights the tensions that arise when
the abstract world of mathematical modelling collides with the
messy details of biology. Each chapter of Models of the Mind
focuses on mathematical tools that have been applied in a
particular area of neuroscience, progressing from the simplest
building block of the brain - the individual neuron - through to
circuits of interacting neurons, whole brain areas and even the
behaviours that brains command. Grace examines the history of the
field, starting with experiments done on frog legs in the late
eighteenth century and building to the large models of artificial
neural networks that form the basis of modern artificial
intelligence. Throughout, she reveals the value of using the
elegant language of mathematics to describe the machinery of
neuroscience.
Despite their apparent simplicity, the behaviour of pendulums can
be remarkably complicated. Historically, pendulums for specific
purposes have been developed using a combination of simplified
theory and trial and error. There do not appear to be any
introductory books on pendulums, written at an intermediate level,
and covering a wide range of topics. This book aims to fill the
gap. It is written for readers with some background in elementary
geometry, algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Historical
information, where available and useful for the understanding of
various types of pendulum and their applications, is included.
Perhaps the best known use of pendulums is as the basis of clocks
in which a pendulum controls the rate at which the clock runs.
Interest in theoretical and practical aspects of pendulums, as
applied to clocks, goes back more than four centuries. The concept
of simple pendulums, which are idealised versions of real pendulums
is introduced. The application of pendulums to clocks is described,
with detailed discussion of the effect of inevitable differences
between real pendulums and simple pendulums. In a clock, the
objective is to ensure that the pendulum controls the timekeeping.
However, pendulums are sometimes driven, and how this affects their
behaviour is described. Pendulums are sometimes used for occult
purposes. It is possible to explain some apparently occult results
by using modern pendulum theory. For example, why a ring suspended
inside a wine glass, by a thread from a finger, eventually strikes
the glass. Pendulums have a wide range of uses in scientific
instruments, engineering, and entertainment. Some examples are
given as case studies. Indexed in the Book Citation Index- Science
(BKCI-S)
This biography gives an insider view of 20th century German science
in the making. The discovery by Max von Laue in 1912 of
interference effects demonstrated the wave-like nature of X-rays
and the atomic lattice structure of crystals. This major advance
for research on solids earned him the Nobel Prize two years later,
the ultimate acclaim as an exceptional theoretician. As an early
supporter of Einstein's relativity theory, he published fundamental
papers on light scattering as well as on matter waves and
superconductivity. Laue may be counted among the few persons of
influence in Germany who - as Einstein put it - managed to "stay
morally upright" under Nazism. It is thus surprising that this is
the first extensive biography of this famous scientist. Jost
Lemmerich could hardly have been better equipped to describe German
physics and physicists in the 1920s. His copiously illustrated
historical account is based as much on scientific material as on
private correspondence, creating a fascinating and convincingly
detailed portrait.
Using simple physical examples, this work by Erhard Scheibe
presents an important and powerful approach to the reduction of
physical theories. Novel to the approach is that it is not based,
as usual, on a single reduction concept that is fixed once and for
all, but on a series of recursively constructed reductions, with
which all reductions appear as combinations of very specific
elementary reductions. This leaves the general notion of theory
reduction initially open and is beneficial for the treatment of the
difficult cases of reduction from the fields of special and general
relativity, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics,and quantum
mechanics, which are treated in the second volume. The book is
systematically organized and intended for readers interested in
philosophy of science as well as physicists without deep
philosophical knowledge.
The book retraces the history of the Italian Association of
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (AIMETA) since its establishment
in 1965. AIMETA is the official Italian association of mechanics
adhering to IUTAM (International Union of Theoretical and Applied
Mechanics), which organizes and coordinates a meaningful number of
research activities, the most important of which are the biennial
National Congress and the internationally renowned journal
"Meccanica", published by Springer. Besides collecting and
organizing all related important data and information, as far as
possible, by distinguishing among the five scientific areas -
general mechanics, solids, structures, fluids, machines -
encompassed by AIMETA, the history of the association is assumed as
a proper perspective to overview the evolution of theoretical and
applied mechanics in Italy over about the last fifty years. This is
accomplished in the first part of the book. with also a specific
focus on the mechanics of solids and structures, where the
biographies of a meaningful number of recognized Italian scholars
of mechanics in all areas are also provided, along with
testimonials and memories by a few senior people meaningfully
involved with AIMETA and Italian mechanics. The second part gives
an account, although unavoidably incomplete, of recent developments
of mechanical sciences in Italy, as reflected also in the
activities of AIMETA and with reference to the international
context. Contributions by a number of invited senior scholars,
still very active, consist of overviews on some scientific themes
in the various areas, summaries of achievements of research groups,
expressions of research viewpoints, prospects for future
developments.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant writes in the popular introduction to his philosophy: "There is no single book about metaphysics like we have in mathematics. If you want to know what mathematics is, just look at Euclid's Elements." (Prolegomena Paragraph 4) Even if the material covered by Euclid may be considered elementary for the most part, the way in which he presents essential features of mathematics in a much more general sense, has set the standards for more than 2000 years. He displays the axiomatic foundation of a mathematical theory and its conscious development towards the solution of a specific problem. We see how abstraction works and how it enforces the strictly deductive presentation of a theory. We learn what creative definitions are and how the conceptual grasp leads to the classification of the relevant objects. For each of Euclid's thirteen Books, the author has given a general description of the contents and structure of the Book, plus one or two sample proofs. In an appendix, the reader will find items of general interest for mathematics, such as the question of parallels, squaring the circle, problem and theory, what rigour is, the history of the platonic polyhedra, irrationals, the process of generalization, and more. This is a book for all lovers of mathematics with a solid background in high school geometry, from teachers and students to university professors. It is an attempt to understand the nature of mathematics from its most important early source.
"Bootstrapping" analyzes the genesis of personal computing from
both technological and social perspectives, through a close study
of the pathbreaking work of one researcher, Douglas Engelbart. In
his lab at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s, Engelbart,
along with a small team of researchers, developed some of the
cornerstones of personal computing as we know it, including the
mouse, the windowed user interface, and hypertext. Today, all these
technologies are well known, even taken for granted, but the
assumptions and motivations behind their invention are not.
"Bootstrapping" establishes Douglas Engelbart's contribution
through a detailed history of both the material and the symbolic
constitution of his system's human-computer interface in the
context of the computer research community in the United States in
the 1960s and 1970s.
Engelbart felt that the complexity of many of the world's problems
was becoming overwhelming, and the time for solving these problems
was becoming shorter and shorter. What was needed, he determined,
was a system that would augment human intelligence, co-transforming
or co-evolving both humans and the machines they use. He sought a
systematic way to think and organize this coevolution in an effort
to discover a path on which a radical technological improvement
could lead to a radical improvement in how to make people work
effectively. What was involved in Engelbart's project was not just
the invention of a computerized system that would enable humans,
acting together, to manage complexity, but the invention of a new
kind of human, "the user." What he ultimately envisioned was a
"bootstrapping" process by which those who actually invented the
hardware and software of this new system would simultaneously
reinvent the human in a new form.
The book also offers a careful narrative of the collapse of
Engelbart's laboratory at Stanford Research Institute, and the
further translation of Engelbart's vision. It shows that
Engelbart's ultimate goal of coevolution came to be translated in
terms of technological progress and human adaptation to supposedly
user-friendly technologies. At a time of the massive diffusion of
the World Wide Web, "Bootstrapping" recalls the early experiments
and original ideals that led to today's "information revolution."
This book collects essays published in journals including
Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and elsewhere. It centers on three
profound mysteries: the existence of the human mind; the existence
and diversity of living creatures; and the existence of matter. How
they did they come into being? The author, Dr. David Berlinski, is
a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and formerly a fellow at
the Institut des Hautes tudes Scientifiques in France. His other
books include The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific
Pretensions, Newton's Gift, and A Tour of the Calculus.
The fifth volume in a 29-volume set which contain all Charles
Darwin's published works. Darwin was one of the most influential
figures of the 19th century. His work remains a central subject of
study in the history of ideas, the history of science, zoology,
botany, geology and evolution.
Colouring Textiles is an attempt to provide a new cross-cultural
comparative approach to the art of dyeing and printing with natural
dyestuffs in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Divided into
thematic chapters, it uncovers new data from the vast historical
heritage of natural dyestuffs from a range of European cities, to
present new historiographic insights for the understanding of this
technology. Through a sort of anatomic dissection, the book
explores the study and cultivation of dye-plants in botanical
gardens and plantations, and the tacit values hidden in dyeing
workshops, factories, laboratories, or national and international
exhibitions. It metaphorically submits the natural dyestuffs of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to a series of systematic
historical tests, and traces back the circulation of those sources
of colours through colonial spaces, dye works, cross-cultural
networks, schools of artistic design, and science-based industries
for the making of synthetic colorants. Colouring Textiles
contributes to a better understanding of the role of natural
dyestuffs in the processes of industrialization in Western Europe.
Audience: Historians of science and technology, historians of
chemistry, philosophers, economic historians, professional
chemists, arts and crafts historians, and cultural anthropologists.
What could the ancient Egyptians tell us about 3D printing? How can
we make lithium-ion batteries greener and more sustainable? Which
materials will form the heart of future quantum computers? Plastic
films, glass optical fibers, silicon crystals, and more - this book
is about the history of the materials that have rapidly transformed
our society over the last century and their role in the major
global challenges of the future. From metal alloys ushering in a
new age of industry to advanced materials laying the atomic
brickwork of the Digital Revolution, the book examines the societal
impact of the modern materials revolution through the twin lenses
of stability and sustainability. Why aren't maglev trains
mainstream? Whatever happened to graphene and carbon nanotubes? The
book also looks at the unmet promises of some of the most exciting
- and hyped - technologies in recent decades - superconductivity
and nanotechnology. The final chapter reviews our history of
materials usage, the increasing demand for many critical raw
materials, and addresses the upcoming new challenges for creating a
circular economy based on reusing and recycling materials.
By 1930, no place in the world was less well explored than
Greenland. The native Inuit had occupied the relatively accessible
west coast for centuries. The east coast, however, was another
story. In August 1930, Henry George Watkins (nicknamed Gino), a
23-year-old explorer, led thirteen scientists and explorers on an
ambitious journey to the east coast of Greenland and its vast and
forbidding interior. Their mission: chart and survey the region and
establish a permanent meteorological base 8,000 feet high on the
ice cap. That plan turned into an epic survival ordeal when August
Courtauld, manning the station solo through the winter, became
entombed by drifting snow. David Roberts, "veteran mountain climber
and chronicler of adventures" (Washington Post), draws on firsthand
accounts and rich archival materials to tell the story of this
daring expedition and of the ingenious young explorer at its helm.
Between 1949 and 1955, the State Department pushed for an
international fisheries policy grounded in maximum sustainable
yield (MSY). The concept is based on a confidence that scientists
can predict, theoretically, the largest catch that can be taken
from a species' stock over an indefinite period. And while it was
modified in 1996 with passage of the Sustained Fisheries Act, MSY
is still at the heart of modern American fisheries management. As
fish populations continue to crash, however, it is clear that MSY
is itself not sustainable. Indeed, the concept has been widely
criticized by scientists for ignoring several key factors in
fisheries management and has led to the devastating collapse of
many fisheries. Carmel Finley reveals that the fallibility of MSY
lies at its very inception--as a tool of government rather than
science. The foundational doctrine of MSY emerged at a time when
the US government was using science to promote and transfer Western
knowledge and technology, and to ensure that American ships and
planes would have free passage through the world's seas and skies.
Finley charts the history of US fisheries science using MSY as her
focus, and in particular its application to halibut, tuna, and
salmon fisheries. Fish populations the world over are threatened,
and All the Fish in the Sea helps to sound warnings of the effect
of any management policies divested from science itself.
A 29-volume set which contains all Charles Darwin's published
works. Darwin was one of the most influential figures of the 19th
century. His work remains a central subject of study in the history
of ideas, the history of science, zoology, botany, geology and
evolution.
The volume articles examine exemplarily how some of the Copernicus
myths came about and if they could hold their ground. They
investigate methodological, institutional, textual and visual
transformations of the Copernican doctrine and the topical,
rhetorical and literary transformations of the historical person of
Copernicus respectively.
Music and Science in the Age of Galileo features twelve new essays
by leading specialists in the fields of musicology, history of
science, astronomy, philosophy, and instrument building that
explore the relations between music and the scientific culture of
Galileo's time. The essays take a broad historical approach towards
understanding such topics as the role of music in Galileo's
experiments and in the scientific revolution, the musical formation
of scientists, Galileo's impact on the art and music of his time,
the scientific knowledge of instrument builders, and the scientific
experiments and cultural context of Galileo's father, Vincenzo
Galilei. This volume opens up new areas in both musicology and the
history of science, and twists together various strands of parallel
work by musicians and scientists on Galileo and his time. This book
will be of interest to musicologists, historians of science and
those interested in interdisciplinary perspectives of the late
Renaissance -- early Baroque. For its variety of approaches, it
will be a valuable collection of readings for graduate students,
and those seeking a more integrated approach to historical
problems. The book will be of interest to historians of science,
philosophers, musicologists, astronomers, and mathematicians.
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