![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
The sense of touch had a deeply uncertain status in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It had long been seen as the most certain and reliable of the senses, and also as biologically necessary: each of the other senses could be relinquished, but to lose touch was to lose life itself. Alternatively, touch was seen as dangerously bodily, and too fully involved in sensual and sexual pleasures, to be of true worth. Feeling Pleasures argues that this tension came to the fore during the English Renaissance, and allowed some of the central debates of this period-surrounding the nature of human experience, of the material world, and of the relationship between the human and the divine-to proceed through discussions of touch. It also argues that the unstable status of touch was of particular import to the poetry of this period. By bringing touch to the fore in a period usually associated with the dominance of vision and optics, Joe Moshenska offers reconsiderations of major English poets, especially Edmund Spenser and John Milton, while exploring a range of spheres in which touch assumed new significance. These include theological debates surrounding relics and the Eucharist in the work of Erasmus, Thomas Cranmer and Lancelot Andrewes; the philosophical history of tickling; the touching of paintings and sculptures in a European context; faith healing and experimental science; and the early reception of Chinese medicine in England.
skilled in geometry, ingenious devices ( lival), music and astronomy. According to Ibn al-Nad m and Ibn Khallikan their weakest subject was astronamy, but this seems to conflict with the opinions of Ibn Yunus and al-BIrun , hoth good judges, who spoke highly of the accuracy of the Banu Musa's astronomical observations. Mul)ammad, who was the most influential of the brothers, specialised in gcomctry and astronomy, and excellcd Al)mad in all the sciences except in the construction of ingenious devices. AI-l: Iasan was a brilliant geometrician with aretenlive memoryand great powers of deduction. A rival onee tried to discredit him in front of al-Ma'mun hy saying that al l: Iasan had read only six of the thirteen books of Euclid's Elements. AI-l: Iasan replied by saying that it was unnecessary for him to read the remainder because he could arrive at the answers to any of Euclid's problem s by deduction. AI-Ma'mun acknowledged al-l: Iasan 's skill, but did not excuse him, saying: "laziness has prevented you from 2 reading the whole ofit-it is to geometry as the Ictters a, b, t, 111 are to speech and writing. " (H. 264). AI-l: Iasan is rarely mentioned by name elsewhere in the sources and may have preferred to devote his time to scholarship, whereas his brothers were involved in a variety of undertakings. At the time of their entry into the House of Wisdom the Banu Musil were paar and needy (H
The late eighteenth century and subsequent Napoleonic Era witnessed a turning point in the establishment of agricultural science as a well-defined discipline in northern Italy. In this book, Martino Lorenzo Fagnani traces these developments by reviewing the correspondence of naturalists and agriculturists as well as the research plans of universities, academies, societies, institutes, and governments. He explores the establishment of a broad knowledge network encompassing all of Europe while also investigating the reasons behind the exchange of seeds, the establishment of spaces for experimentation such as scientific gardens and experimental fields, and the organization of specialized journals and monographs. This work represents an important contribution to the historiography of Italian agricultural science, filling a significant gap in our knowledge of related developments.
Depression has colonized the world. Today, more than 300 million of us have been diagnosed as depressed. But 150 years ago, "depression" referred to a mood, not a sickness. Does that mean people weren't sick before, only sad? Of course not. Mental illness is a complex thing, part biological, part social, its definition dependent on time and place. But in the mid-twentieth century, even as European empires were crumbling, new Western clinical models and treatments for mental health spread across the world. In so doing, "depression" began to displace older ideas like "melancholia," the Japanese "utsusho," or the Punjabi "sinking heart" syndrome. Award-winning historian Jonathan Sadowsky tells this global story, chronicling the path-breaking work of psychiatrists and pharmacists, and the intimate sufferings of patients. Revealing the continuity of human distress across time and place, he shows us how different cultures have experienced intense mental anguish, and how they have tried to alleviate it. He reaches an unflinching conclusion: the devastating effects of depression are real. A number of treatments do reduce suffering, but a permanent cure remains elusive. Throughout the history of depression, there have been overzealous promoters of particular approaches, but history shows us that there is no single way to get better that works for everyone. Like successful psychotherapy, history can liberate us from the negative patterns of the past.
The epistemological synthesis of the various theories of evolution, since the first formulation in 1802 with the transmission of the inherited characters by J.B. Lamarck, shows the need for an alternative synthesis to that of Princeton (1947). This new synthesis integrates the scientific models of self-organization developed during the second half of the 20th century based on the laws of physics, thermodynamics, and mathematics with the emergent evolutionary problematics such as self-organized memory. This book shows, how self-organization is integrated in modern evolutionary biology. It is divided in two parts: The first part pays attention to the modern observations in paleontology and biology, which include major theoreticians of the self-organization (d'Arcy Thompson, Henri Bergson, Rene Thom, Ilya Prigogine). The second part presents different emergent evolutionary models including the sciences of complexity, the non-linear dynamical systems, fractals, attractors, epigenesis, systemics, and mesology with different examples of the sciences of complexity and self-organization as observed in the human lineage, from both internal (embryogenesis-morphogenesis) and external (mesology) viewpoints.
This book offers a comprehensive update on the scientific realism debate, enabling readers to gain a novel appreciation of the role of objectivity and truth in science and to understand fully the various ways in which antirealist conceptions have been subjected to challenge over recent decades. Authoritative representatives of different philosophical traditions explain their perspectives on the meaning and validity of scientific realism and describe the strategies being adopted to counter persisting antirealist positions. The coverage extends beyond the usual discussion of realism within the context of the natural sciences, and especially physics, to encompass also its applicability in mathematics, logic, and the human sciences. The book will appeal to all with an interest in the recent realist epistemologies of science, the nature of current philosophical debate, and the ongoing rehabilitation of truth as the legitimate goal of scientific research.
This volume represents an attempt to link the theories and research of an interdisciplinary group of urbanists with the practical applications that scholars can help institute in the community. The articles in "Neighbourhood Politics", analyze political forces within local communities and their intersection with policy decisions about economic development. Those in "Community and Identity" examine the ways in which individuals are shaped by and respond to changing economic conditions in their communities. In "Perspectives on Community Issues and Policies" the authors explore the specific cases of child development, education reform and rent control policies as outcomes of contested or problematic community relations. The articles in "Information technology and Community Development" discuss models of community development linked to community networks. In "Institutional Support for Community Building" the authors show how the institutions of religion and higher education have the potential to strengthen local community development. Several of these papers were presented in an earlier form at meetings of the Urban Affairs Association in Toronto, USA (1997) or Fort Worth, USA (1998).
This book explores the significance of flight to Romantic literature. Although the Romantic movement and the age of ballooning coincided, there has been a curious and long-time tendency to forget that flight was not impossible during this period. This study details the importance of this new technology to Romantic authors, primarily English Romantic poets. It combines accounts of the exploits and experiences of early balloonists with references to Romantic texts, using ballooning lore to illuminate a range of Romantic writings. The balloonists are seen as not just supplying these writers with a new code of metaphors, but as colleagues engaged in similarly imaginative enterprises. The book uncovers an 'aerial imagination' shared by a large number of writers in the Romantic period that has its origins in the balloon adventures of the 1780s and following two decades. It will appeal to scholars and students of Romantic cultural history, as well as those interested in Romantic poetry and the history of early aeronautics.
Charles Darwin's discovery of evolution by natural selection was the greatest scientific discovery of all time. The publication of his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, is normally taken as the point at which evolution erupted as an idea, radically altering how the Victorians saw themselves and others. This book tells a very different story. Darwin's discovery was part of a long process of negotiation between imagination, faith and knowledge which began long before 1859 and which continues to this day. Evolution and the Victorians provides historians with a survey of the thinkers and debates implicated in this process, from the late 18th century to the First World War. It sets the history of science in its social and cultural context. Incorporating text-boxes, illustrations and a glossary of specialist terms, it provides students with the background narrative and core concepts necessary to engage with specialist historians such as Adrian Desmond, Bernard Lightman and James Secord. Conlin skilfully synthesises material from a range of sources to show the ways in which the discovery of evolution was a collaborative enterprise pursued in all areas of Victorian society, including many that do not at first appear "scientific".
Lazare Carnot was the unique example in the history of science of someone who inadvertently owed the scientific recognition he eventually achieved to earlier political prominence. He and his son Sadi producedwork that derived from their training as engineering and went largely unnoticed by physicists for a generation or more, even though their respective work introduced concepts that proved fundamental when taken up later by other hands. There was, moreover, a filial as well as substantive relation between the work of father and son. Sadi applied to the functioning of heat engines the analysis that his father had developed in his study of the operation of ordinary machines. Specifically, Sadi's idea of a reversible process originated in the use his father made of geometric motions in the analysis of machines in general. This unique book shows how the two Carnots influenced each other in their work in the fields of mechanics and thermodynamicsand how future generations of scientists have further benefited from their work."
The New York Times bestselling author of Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen Meyer, presents groundbreaking scientific evidence of the existence of God, based on breakthroughs in physics, cosmology, and biology. Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief—that science and belief in God are “at war.” Philosopher of science Stephen Meyer challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries with decidedly theistic implications. Building on the case for the intelligent design of life that he developed in Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, Meyer demonstrates how discoveries in cosmology and physics coupled with those in biology help to establish the identity of the designing intelligence behind life and the universe. Meyer argues that theism—with its affirmation of a transcendent, intelligent and active creator—best explains the evidence we have concerning biological and cosmological origins. Previously Meyer refrained from attempting to answer questions about “who” might have designed life. Now he provides an evidence-based answer to perhaps the ultimate mystery of the universe. In so doing, he reveals a stunning conclusion: the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a personal God.
The philosophical study of technology has acquired only recently a voice in academic conversation. This situation is due, in part, to the fact that technology obviously impacts on "the real world," whereas the favored stereotype of philosophy allegedly does not. Furthermore, in some circles it was assumed that philosophy ought not impinge on the world. This bias continues today in the form of a general dismissal of the growing area now referred to as "applied philosophy." By contrast, the academic scrutiny of science has for the most part been accepted as legitimate for some 30 years, primarily because it has been conducted in a somewhat ethereal manner. This is, in part, because it was believed that, science being pure, one could think (even philosophically) about science without jeopardizing one's intellectual purity. Since World War II, however, practitioners of the metascientific arts have come to ac knowledge that science also shows signs of having touched down on numerous occasions in what can only be identified as the real world. No longer able to keep this banal truth a secret, purists have sought to defuse its import by stressing the difference between pure and applied science; and, lest science be tainted by contact with the world through its applications, they have devoted additional energy to separating applied science somehow from technology."
This volume is a collection of scholarly articles on the Mach Principle, the impact that this theory has had since the end of the 19th century, and its role in helping Einstein formulate the doctrine of general relativity. 20th-century physics is concerned with the concepts of time,space, motion, inertia and gravity. The documentation on all of these makes this book a reference for those who are interested in the history of science and the theory of general relativity.
Behavioral neuroendocrinologists are interested in the interactions between hormones and behaviors. This unique book tracks the development of behavioral neuroendocrinology from the first recognized paper in the field by Arnold Berthold in 1849 to the major contributors of the past century. It traces the history and development of the field by exploring the women and men who conducted the studies that revealed these hormone-behavioral relationships. Most chapters are written by the individuals who knew these pioneers best, and describe their stories and discuss the ways in which their work has shaped the field. Now is the perfect time for this book. The field is burgeoning and interest in the development of theoretical perspectives is thriving. Moreover, although this field was dominated by men early on, it has become a field with near sexual parity among its faculty, society membership, and leadership, and thus serves as an example of equitable science, training, and advocacy.
The biggest challenges in public health today are often related to attitudes, diet and exercise. In many ways, this marks a return to the state of medicine in the eighteenth century, when ideals of healthy living were a much more central part of the European consciousness than they have become since the advent of modern clinical medicine. Enlightenment advice on healthy lifestyle was often still discussed in terms of the six non-naturals - airs and places, food and drink, exercise, excretion and retention, and sleep and emotions. This volume examines what it meant to live healthily in the Enlightenment in the context of those non-naturals, showing both the profound continuities from Antiquity and the impact of newer conceptions of the body. Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429465642
This book is a comprehensive treatment of the professionalization and institutionalization of the academic discipline of geography in Europe and North America, with emphasis on the 20th century and the last quarter of the 19th. No other book has ever attempted coverage of this sort. It is relevant to geographers, practitioners of the social and earth sciences, and historians of science and education.
This book explores the relevance of naturalism and theories of nature to Classical German Philosophy. It presents new readings on Kant, Jacobi, Goethe, the Romantic tradition, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, and Marx, which highlight the relevance of Classical German Philosophy's considerations of nature and naturalism for contemporary concerns.
In this book (a translation of his well-known work L'esprit de la philosophie medievale), Etienne Gilson undertakes the task of defining the spirit of mediaeval philosophy. Gilson asks whether we can form the concept of a Christian philosophy and whether mediaeval philosophy is not its most adequate historical expression. He maintains that the spirit of mediaeval philosophy is the spirit of Christianity penetrating the Greek tradition, working within it, and drawing out of it a certain view of the world that is specifically Christian. To support his hypothesis, Gilson examines mediaeval thought in its nascent state, at that precise point where the Judeo-Christian graft was inserted into the Hellenic tradition. Gilson's demonstration is primarily historical and occasionally theoretical in suggesting how doctrines that satisfied our predecessors for so many centuries may still be found conceivable today.
This book examines the life and works of Santorio Santori and his impact on the history of medicine and natural philosophy. Reputed as the father of experimental medicine and procedures, he is also known for his invention of numerous scientific instruments, including early precision medical devices (pulsimeters, hygrometers, thermometers, anemometers), as well as clinical and surgical tools. The chapters in this volume explore Santorio's legacy through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They highlight the role played by medical practitioners such as Santorio in the development of corpuscularian ideas, central to the 'new science' of the period, and place new emphasis on the role of the life sciences, chemistry and medicine in encouraging new forms of experimentation and instrument-making. Chapters 1 and 2 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
In this erudite book, Ian Adamson provides a comprehensive history of Gresham College in the seventeenth century, particularly its contribution to the intellectual, educational, and administrative life of London and England. He analyses its relationship with the Tudor and Stuart courts, the Corporation of London, the universities, and the Royal Society, and assesses the quality and effectiveness of all the professors elected during this period. Finally, he explains the presence in the College of Ben Jonson and Sir Kenelm Digby, why it is likely that Shakespeare was often in attendance, and the enduring impact of John Ward’s collective biography of the professors.
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.
The Medicine Cabinet is a beautifully curated and expertly written compendium of over 100 astonishing objects related to the story of medicine. Each object is cared for by London's Science Museum, which houses one of the largest and most significant collections of medical artefacts in the world - including a Bronze Age trepanned skull, healing water from an Ancient Greek well, a seventeenth-century barber's pole, a pharmacist's ceramic leech jar, a gold memento mori ring, First World War blood transfusion apparatus and a prototype MRI scanner. Each object is a profound reminder of the fragility of human existence, but also of the extraordinary lengths gone to by scientists, medical professionals and ordinary people in the attempt to conquer mortality. Published in association with the Science Museum, The Medicine Cabinet is a rich visual exploration of life, death and everything in between.
|
You may like...
|