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Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
This book presents a multidisciplinary perspective on chance, with
contributions from distinguished researchers in the areas of
biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, genetics, general
history, law, linguistics, logic, mathematical physics, statistics,
theology and philosophy. The individual chapters are bound together
by a general introduction followed by an opening chapter that
surveys 2500 years of linguistic, philosophical, and scientific
reflections on chance, coincidence, fortune, randomness, luck and
related concepts. A main conclusion that can be drawn is that, even
after all this time, we still cannot be sure whether chance is a
truly fundamental and irreducible phenomenon, in that certain
events are simply uncaused and could have been otherwise, or
whether it is always simply a reflection of our ignorance. Other
challenges that emerge from this book include a better
understanding of the contextuality and perspectival character of
chance (including its scale-dependence), and the curious fact that,
throughout history (including contemporary science), chance has
been used both as an explanation and as a hallmark of the absence
of explanation. As such, this book challenges the reader to think
about chance in a new way and to come to grips with this endlessly
fascinating phenomenon.
This unique two-part discussion of foxglove--the herb from which
digitalis is derived--features a facsimile of William Withering's
classic "An Account of Foxglove and Some of its Medical Uses,"
complete with explanatory notes interpreting this eighteenth
century text for the modern reader. The second part of the book,
written by J.K. Aronson, co-author of the Oxford Textbook of
Clinical Pharmacology, includes an introduction to the botany and
pharmacology of foxgloves, their therapeutic uses before Withering,
a short biography of Withering, an account of 18th century medical
practices, and finally a review of the uses of digitalis in modern
medicine.
Galileo's groundbreaking dialogues are a summation of three decades
of scientific work he had undertaken in the fledgling field of
physics. This edition includes the diagrams crucial for
understanding the text. Writing these dialogues in 1638, the
elderly Galileo had a life of achievements behind him. Despite
attempts at suppression of his writings by the Roman Inquisition,
his ideas were successfully communicated across Europe. The motion
of objects and resistance to such motion, the concept of velocity,
and the laws of gravity are merely a few of the topics covered in
these detailed dialogues. At the outset, we are introduced to the
three conversation partners: Salviati, Sagredo and Simplicio. These
three Venetians embark on a scientific discussion, hoping to
explain the curiosities of things such as speed and movement. Over
the course of four days, their meetings grow in complexity and
scope as they strive to explain physical phenomena.
A contemporary of Galileo and a forerunner of Isaac Newton,
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a pioneering German scientist and a
pivotal figure in the history of astronomy. This colorful,
well-researched biography brings the man and his scientific
discoveries to life, showing how his contributions were every bit
as important as those of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.It was
Kepler who first advocated the completely new concept of a physical
force emanating from the sun that controls the motion of the
planets--today we call this gravity and take it for granted. He
also established that the orbits of the planets were elliptical in
shape and not circular. And his three laws of planetary motion are
still used by contemporary astronomers and space scientists.The
author focuses not just on these and other momentous breakthroughs
but also on Kepler's arduous life, punctuated by frequent tragedy
and hardships. His first wife died young, and eight of the twelve
children he fathered succumbed to disease in infancy or childhood.
He was frequently caught up in the religious persecutions of the
day. His mother narrowly escaped death when she was accused of
being a witch.Intermingling historical and personal details of
Kepler's life with lucid explanations of his scientific research,
this book presents a sympathetic portrait of the man and
underscores the critical importance of Kepler's discoveries in the
history of astronomy.
Jung’s lectures on the psychology of Jesuit spiritual practice―unabridged in English for the first time.
Between 1933 and 1941, C. G. Jung delivered a series of public lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Intended for a general audience, these lectures addressed a broad range of topics, from yoga and meditation to dream analysis and the psychology of alchemy. Here for the first time are Jung’s complete lectures on Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, delivered in the winter of 1939–1940.
These illuminating lectures are the culmination of Jung’s investigation into traditional forms of meditation and their parallels to his psychotherapeutic method of active imagination. Jung presents Loyola’s exercises as the prime example of a Christian practice comparable to yoga and Eastern meditation, and gives a psychological interpretation of the visions depicted in the saint’s autobiographical writings. Offering a unique opportunity to encounter the brilliant psychologist as he shares his ideas with the general public, the lectures reflect Jung’s increasingly positive engagement with Roman Catholicism, a development that would lead to his fruitful collaborations after the war with eminent Catholic theologians such as Victor White, Bruno de Jésus-Marie, and Hugo Rahner.
Featuring an authoritative introduction by Martin Liebscher along with explanations of Jungian concepts and psychological terminology, this splendid book provides an invaluable window on the evolution of Jung’s thought and a vital key to understanding his later work.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is the story of a journey
across the Universe as it was known in the Middle Ages, a work of
science fiction ante litteram. Dante had an encyclopedic mind, no
doubt, and his poem is the most widely read book after the Bible.
He was a master of the astronomical knowledge of his time, and used
astronomy in his work to indicate places, to measure time, and to
exemplify beauty. Indeed, in the Convivio, he wrote that science is
'the ultimate perfection of our soul' and 'astronomy - more than
any other science - is noble and high for a noble and high
subject.'We propose a reading of the Divine Comedy through
astronomy with a journey starting from the Earth, proceeding to the
Moon, the planets, and to the outermost edges of the Universe. The
way in which Dante connects ancient astronomy with modern
conceptions of the cosmos will astonish readers more than 700 years
later.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is the story of a journey
across the Universe as it was known in the Middle Ages, a work of
science fiction ante litteram. Dante had an encyclopedic mind, no
doubt, and his poem is the most widely read book after the Bible.
He was a master of the astronomical knowledge of his time, and used
astronomy in his work to indicate places, to measure time, and to
exemplify beauty. Indeed, in the Convivio, he wrote that science is
'the ultimate perfection of our soul' and 'astronomy - more than
any other science - is noble and high for a noble and high
subject.'We propose a reading of the Divine Comedy through
astronomy with a journey starting from the Earth, proceeding to the
Moon, the planets, and to the outermost edges of the Universe. The
way in which Dante connects ancient astronomy with modern
conceptions of the cosmos will astonish readers more than 700 years
later.
This book argues that while the historiography of the development
of scientific ideas has for some time acknowledged the important
influences of socio-cultural and material contexts, the significant
impact of traumatic events, life threatening illnesses and other
psychotropic stimuli on the development of scientific thought may
not have been fully recognised. Howard Carlton examines the
available primary sources which provide insight into the lives of a
number of nineteenth-century astronomers, theologians and
physicists to study the complex interactions within their
'biocultural' brain-body systems which drove parallel changes of
perspective in theology, metaphysics, and cosmology. In doing so,
he also explores three topics of great scientific interest during
this period: the question of the possible existence of life on
other planets; the deployment of the nebular hypothesis as a theory
of cosmogony; and the religiously charged debates about the ages of
the earth and sun. From this body of evidence we gain a greater
understanding of the underlying phenomena which actuated
intellectual developments in the past and which are still relevant
to today's knowledge-making processes.
Few artworks have been the subject of more extensive modern
interpretation than Melencolia I by renowned artist, mathematician,
and scientist Albrecht Durer (1514). And yet, did each of these art
experts and historians miss a secret manifesto that Durer included
within the engraving? This is the first work to decrypt secrets
within Melencolia I based not on guesswork, but Durer's own
writings, other subliminal artists that inspired him (i.e.,
Leonardo da Vinci), the Jewish and Christian Bibles, and books that
inspired Durer (De Occulta Philosophia and the Hieorglyphica). To
read the covert message of Melencolia I is to understand that Durer
was a humanist in his interests in mathematics, science, poetry,
and antiquity. This book recognizes his unparalleled power with the
burin, his mathematical skill in perspective, his dedication to
precise language, and his acute observation of nature. Melencolia I
may also be one of the most controversial (and at the time most
criminal) pieces of art as it hid Durer's disdain for the hierarchy
of the Catholic Church, the Kaiser, and the Holy Roman Empire from
the general public for centuries. This book closely ties the
origins of philosophy (science) and the work of a Renaissance
master together, and will be of interest for anyone who loves
scientific history, art interpretation, and secret manifestos.
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What's with Free Will?
(Hardcover)
Philip Clayton, James W. Walters; Foreword by John Martin Fischer
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Discovery Miles 10 040
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