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Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
From the development of radio to the cloning of Dolly the sheep, science influenced many of the most important events of the twentieth century. Understanding the science is essential to understanding this history--but where to get started? This handy reference source provides students, parents, and teachers with the tools needed to understand how the concepts and principles from biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science affected social, cultural, and political events of the last one hundred years. Ideal for students preparing research papers in either science or social studies classes, this resource will also assist teachers integrate science and social studies topics into the school curriculum.
A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton's insight into the law of gravity-or so the story goes. Is it true? Perhaps not. But the more intriguing question is why such stories endure as explanations of how science happens. Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science brushes away popular misconceptions to provide a clearer picture of great scientific breakthroughs from ancient times to the present. Among the myths refuted in this volume is the idea that no science was done in the Dark Ages, that alchemy and astrology were purely superstitious pursuits, that fear of public reaction alone led Darwin to delay publishing his theory of evolution, and that Gregor Mendel was far ahead of his time as a pioneer of genetics. Several twentieth-century myths about particle physics, Einstein's theory of relativity, and more are discredited here as well. In addition, a number of broad generalizations about science go under the microscope of history: the notion that religion impeded science, that scientists typically adhere to a codified "scientific method," and that a bright line can be drawn between legitimate science and pseudoscience. Edited by Ronald Numbers and Kostas Kampourakis, Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science debunks the widespread belief that science advances when individual geniuses experience "Eureka!" moments and suddenly comprehend what those around them could never imagine. Science has always been a cooperative enterprise of dedicated, fallible human beings, for whom context, collaboration, and sheer good luck are the essential elements of discovery.
In addition to linear perspective, complex numbers and probability were notable discoveries of the Renaissance. While the power of perspective, which transformed Renaissance art, was quickly recognized, the scientific establishment treated both complex numbers and probability with much suspicion. It was only in the twentieth century that quantum theory showed how probability might be molded from complex numbers and defined the notion of "complex probability amplitude". From a theoretical point of view, however, the space opened to painting by linear perspective and that opened to science by complex numbers share significant characteristics. The Art of Science explores this shared field with the purpose of extending Leonardo's vision of painting to issues of mathematics and encouraging the reader to see science as an art. The intention is to restore a visual dimension to mathematical sciences - an element dulled, if not obscured, by historians, philosophers, and scientists themselves.
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.
Focusing on traditions of scientific investigation which began in
Europe in the 16th century and spread rapidly across the globe,
"Companion to the History of Modern Science" is a new reference
source that provides an authoritative and analytical guide to the
development of Western science. The "Companion" covers all relevant
major developments from 1500 right on up to the present day,
examining modern science as a truly interdisciplinary field.
This book proposes that Spanish author Luis Martin-Santos' work focuses on the effects of patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity on men, to actively contribute to freeing both men and women from the yoke of patriarchy. It aims for a new resonance of Luis Martin-Santos. It analyzes the influence of Heidegger, Freud and Sartre in Martin-Santos' psychiatric essays and his fictional works: the novel Tiempo de silencio (Time of Silence), the collection of short stories Apologos, and the posthumous fragment Tiempo de destruccion (Time of Destruction). It demonstrates that alongside the political critique of Franco's dictatorship, Martin-Santos' creative writings are an attempt to destroy the prevalent masculine myths of Western patriarchy, and a proposal to create new myths for the future.
Volumes 21 to 29 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 whose work remains a central subject of study in the history of ideas, the history of science, zoology, botany, geology and evolution.
The receptor concept was one of the most influential ideas in 20th-century medicine because it could account for the highly specific effects of drugs on the body. This book is the first to provide an historical discussion of its origin, development, slow acceptance into pharmacology and subsequent impact on modern medicine. It also considers the social context that influenced the drug receptor's development., making a valuable contribution to the history and understanding of modern medicine.
Describes how the scientific revolution undermined deep-seated beliefs held for millennia, laying the foundations for the modern world The Scientific Revolution and the Foundations of Modern Science explains how the pursuit of natural philosophy - as science was then called - from about 1500 to 1700 created the foundation upon which modern science has been built. The profound changes in the study of the natural world in this period were made possible by social and cultural changes occurring in Western Europe, and the achievements of men like Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, William Harvey, and Isaac Newton. This book details their ideas and practices, as well as those of others, the concepts they overcame, and the nature of the institutions within which they worked. Designed as an introduction to the age of the scientific revolution, this book offers readers and researchers an appealing mix of narrative chapters, biographical sketches of key figures, and annotated primary documents. on Astronomy and the Cosmos; Matter, Motion and the Cosmos; The Nature of Living Things; Methods for the Advancement of Knowledge; Religion and Natural Philosophy; and the Influence of the Scientific Revolution. A glossary of terms is offered, and the work concludes with an annotated bibliography and index. Part of the Greenwood Guides to Historic Events, 1500-1900 series Explains how scientific advances laid the foundations of the modern world Covers well-known figures such as Galileo and Newton
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.
The system of numbering the years A.D. (Anni Domini, Years of the
Lord) originated with Dionysius Exiguus. Dionysius drafted a
95-year table of dates for Easter beginning with the year 532 A.D.
Why Dionysius chose the year that he did to number as '1' has been
a source of controversy and speculation for almost 1500 years.
According to the Gospel of Luke (3.1; 3.23), Jesus was baptized in
the 15th year of the emperor Tiberius and was about 30 years old at
the time. The 15th year of Tiberius was A.D. 29. If Jesus was 30
years old in A.D. 29, then he was born in the year that we call 2
B.C. Most ancient authorities dated the Nativity accordingly.
The increasing globalization of trade, travel and transport since the mid-19th century had unwelcome consequences - one of them was the spread of contagious animal diseases over greater distances in a shorter time than ever before. Borders and national control strategies proved to be insufficient to stop the pathogens. Not surprisingly, the issue of epizootics (epidemics of animals) was among the first topics to be addressed by international meetings from the 1860s onwards. Pathogens Crossing Borders explores the history of international efforts to contain and prevent the spread of animal diseases from the early 1860s to the years after the Second World War. As an innovative contribution to global history and the history of internationalism, the book investigates how disease experts, politicians and state authorities developed concepts, practices and institutional structures at the international level to tackle the spread of animal diseases across borders. By following their activities in dealing with a problem area which was - and is today - of enormous political, social, public health and economic relevance, the book reveals the historical challenges of finding common international responses to complex and pressing global issues for which there are no easy solutions.
This book explores how the writers, poets, thinkers, historians, scientists, dilettantes and frauds of the long-nineteenth century addressed the "limit cases" regarding human existence that medicine continuously uncovered as it stretched the boundaries of knowledge. These cases cast troubling and distorted shadows on the culture, throwing into relief the values, vested interests, and power relations regarding the construction of embodied life and consciousness that underpinned the understanding of what it was to be alive in the long nineteenth century. Ranging over a period from the mid-eighteenth century through to the first decade of the twentieth century-an era that has been called the 'Age of Science'-the essays collected here consider the cultural ripple effects of those previously unimaginable revolutions in science and medicine on humanity's understanding of being.
Volumes 11 to 20 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 whose work remains a central subject of study in the history of ideas, the history of science, zoology, botany, geology and evolution.
This book sheds light on the variety of mathematical cultures in general. To do so, it concentrates on cultures of computation and quantification in the ancient world, mainly in ancient China, South Asia, and the Ancient Near East and offers case studies focused on numbers, quantities, and operations, in particular in relation to mathematics as well as administrative and economic activities. The various chapters focus on the different ways and contexts of shaping numbers and quantities, and on the procedures applied to them. The book places special emphasis on the processes of emergence of place-value number systems, evidenced in the three geographical areas under study All these features yield essential elements that will enable historians of mathematics to further capture the diversity of computation practices in their contexts, whereas previous historical approaches have tended to emphasize elements that displayed uniformity within "civilizational" blocks. The book includes editions and translations of texts, some of them published here for the first time, maps, and conventions for editions of ancient texts. It thereby offers primary sources and methodological tools for teaching and learning. The volume is aimed at historians and philosophers of science and mathematics, historians of the ancient worlds, historians of economics, sinologists, indologists, assyriologists, as well as undergraduate, graduate students and teachers in mathematics, the history and philosophy of science and mathematics, and in the history of ancient worlds.
This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics-despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist-and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer's conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematics can be explained by its "existence" in an independent platonic realm, as Goedel believed. The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics.
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.
Quantum theory is at the foundation of the physical description of our world. One of the people who contributed significantly to our conceptual understanding of this theory was Heinz-Dieter Zeh (1932-2018). He was the pioneer of the process of decoherence, through which the classical appearance of our world can be understood. This volume presents a collection of essays dedicated to his memory, written by distinguished scientists and scholars. They cover all aspects of the interpretation of quantum theory in general and the quantum-to-classical transition in particular. This volume provides illuminating reading to anyone seeking a deep understanding of quantum theory and its relevance to the foundations of physics.
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".
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
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). |
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