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Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues
Drawing from literary studies, philosophy, and the history of
science, in this interdisciplinary study Hanna Roman argues that
the language of Buffon's Histoire naturelle (1749-1788) could not
be separated from the science it conveyed; the language
communicated nature's vital order, form and movement. In the
Histoire naturelle, the ability of language to embody and
communicate the living essence of nature grew increasingly poignant
as Buffon established his hypothesis that the Earth, initially a
molten ball of fire, was dying as it slowly became colder. The
author highlights Buffon's Epoques de la nature (1778) in which he
implied that to save nature from cold death, people must learn to
create actual heat according to the model provided by his lyrical,
dynamic language, the energy of which would transform into
re-warming a cooling globe. In this way, Roman argues that Buffon's
literary simulacrum of nature taught his readers not only about the
history of nature and its laws, but also how to interact with
nature differently, transferring to them the skills necessary to
modify the surrounding world in order to better fit the desires and
dreams of humanity. A new world could be more than imagined-it
could be engineered through language.
Threat and Violence Interventions: The Effective Application of
Influence evaluates threat and violence risk for various levels of
mental health practitioners, law enforcement officers, security
professionals, human resource professionals, attorneys, and
academics in forensic psychology, sociology, criminology and law.
Currently, both empirical and practical literature has focused, to
an almost exclusive extent, on the assessment of human behavior and
propensity for violence. However, most cases of high concern for
potential physical violence arise from individuals who have yet to
act in ways the criminal justice system can address. This book
broaches the topic, exploring tactics and providing practical,
concrete suggestions.
Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics,
plastics, pandemics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what
is most pressing, and what should we do first? Do we all need to
become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? How can we
take control of technology? And, given the global nature of the
challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do, as
individuals? Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted
a course of action that is full of hope, practical, and enjoyable.
This is the big-picture perspective on the environmental and
economic challenges of our day, laid out in one place, and traced
through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and
think. This updated edition has new material on protests,
pandemics, wildfires, investments, carbon targets and of course, on
the key question: given all this, what can I do?
Strategic Leadership in Digital Evidence: What Executives Need to
Know provides leaders with broad knowledge and understanding of
practical concepts in digital evidence, along with its impact on
investigations. The book's chapters cover the differentiation of
related fields, new market technologies, operating systems, social
networking, and much more. This guide is written at the layperson
level, although the audience is expected to have reached a level of
achievement and seniority in their profession, principally law
enforcement, security and intelligence. Additionally, this book
will appeal to legal professionals and others in the broader
justice system.
Professor Michael Edgeworth McIntyre is an eminent scientist who
has also had a part-time career as a musician. From a lifetime's
thinking, he offers this extraordinary synthesis exposing the
deepest connections between science, music, and mathematics, while
avoiding equations and technical jargon. He begins with perception
psychology and the dichotomization instinct and then takes us
through biological evolution, human language, and acausality
illusions all the way to the climate crisis and the weaponization
of the social media, and beyond that into the deepest parts of
theoretical physics - demonstrating our unconscious mathematical
abilities.He also has an important message of hope for the future.
Contrary to popular belief, biological evolution has given us not
only the nastiest, but also the most compassionate and cooperative
parts of human nature. This insight comes from recognizing that
biological evolution is more than a simple competition between
selfish genes. Rather, he suggests, in some ways it is more like
turbulent fluid flow, a complex process spanning a vast range of
timescales.Professor McIntyre is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
London (FRS) and has worked on problems as diverse as the Sun's
magnetic interior, the Antarctic ozone hole, jet streams in the
atmosphere, and the psychophysics of violin sound. He has long been
interested in how different branches of science can better
communicate with each other and with the public, harnessing aspects
of neuroscience and psychology that point toward the deep 'lucidity
principles' that underlie skilful communication.
Jesuit engagement with natural philosophy during the late 16th and
early 17th centuries transformed the status of the mathematical
disciplines and propelled members of the Order into key areas of
controversy in relation to Aristotelianism. Through close
investigation of the activities of the Jesuit 'school' of
mathematics founded by Christoph Clavius, The Scientific
Counter-Revolution examines the Jesuit connections to the rise of
experimental natural philosophy and the emergence of the early
scientific societies. Arguing for a re-evaluation of the role of
Jesuits in shaping early modern science, this book traces the
evolution of the Collegio Romano as a hub of knowledge. Starting
with an examination of Clavius's Counter-Reformation agenda for
mathematics, Michael John Gorman traces the development of a
collective Jesuit approach to experimentation and observation under
Christopher Grienberger and analyses the Jesuit role in the Galileo
Affair and the vacuum debate. Ending with a discussion of the
transformation of the Collegio Romano under Athanasius Kircher into
a place of curiosity and wonder and the centre of a global
information gathering network, this book reveals how the
Counter-Reformation goals of the Jesuits contributed to the shaping
of modern experimental science.
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