This book contains the proceedings of HMM2012, the 4th International Symposium on Historical Developments in the field of Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS). These proceedings cover recent research concerning all aspects of the development of MMS from antiquity until the present and its historiography: machines, mechanisms, kinematics, dynamics, concepts and theories, design methods, collections of methods, collections of models, institutions and biographies.

This volume is written as a reaction to the worldwide decreasing interest in the natural sciences. It addresses many intriguing questions. How is the changing image of the distinct sciences experienced by the general public, by the scientists themselves, or in disciplines in which natural sciences are applied? How can it be connected to the phenomenon of the low number of women in science? It is of interest to researchers, teachers, and students of natural sciences, the history of science, and philosophy.

This book contains the proceedings of HMM2012, the 4th International Symposium on Historical Developments in the field of Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS). These proceedings cover recent research concerning all aspects of the development of MMS from antiquity until the present and its historiography: machines, mechanisms, kinematics, dynamics, concepts and theories, design methods, collections of methods, collections of models, institutions and biographies.

This volume is written as a reaction to the worldwide decreasing interest in the natural sciences. It addresses many intriguing questions. How is the changing image of the distinct sciences experienced by the general public, by the scientists themselves, or in disciplines in which natural sciences are applied? How can it be connected to the phenomenon of the low number of women in science? It is of interest to researchers, teachers, and students of natural sciences, the history of science, and philosophy.

In the concluding chapters of this book the author introduces GIM, the Global Intelligent Machine. GIM is a huge global hybrid machine, a combination of production machinery, information machinery and mechanized networks. In the future it may very well encompass all machinery on the globe. The author discusses the development of machines from the Stone Age until the present and pays particular attention to the rise of the science of machines and the development of the relationship between science and technology. The first production and information tools were invented in the Stone Age. In the Agricultural empires tools and machinery became more complex. During and after the Industrial Revolution the pace of innovation accelerated. In the 20th century the mechanization of production, information processing and networks became increasingly sophisticated. GIM is the culmination of this development. GIM is no science fiction. GIM exists and is growing and getting smarter and smarter. Individuals and institutions are trying to control parts of this giant global robot. By looking at its history and by putting GIM in the context of the current developments, this book seeks to reach a fuller understanding of this phenomenon.

Mathematics and the Divine seem to correspond to diametrically opposed tendencies of the human mind. Does the mathematician not seek what is precisely defined, and do the objects intended by the mystic and the theologian not lie beyond definition? Is mathematics not Man's search for a measure, and isn't the Divine that which is immeasurable ?
The present book shows that the domains of mathematics and the Divine, which may seem so radically separated, have throughout history and across cultures, proved to be intimately related. Religious activities such as the building of temples, the telling of ritual stories or the drawing of enigmatic figures all display distinct mathematical features. Major philosophical systems dealing with the Absolute and theological speculations focussing on our knowledge of the Ultimate have been based on or inspired by mathematics. A series of chapters by an international team of experts highlighting key figures, schools and trains of thought is presented here. Chinese number mysticism, the views of Pythagoras and Plato and their followers, Nicholas of Cusa's theological geometry, Spinozism and intuitionism as a philosophy of mathematics are treated side by side among many other themes in an attempt at creating a global view on the relation of mathematics and Man's quest for the Absolute in the course of history.
-Mathematics and man's quest for the Absolute
-A selective history highlighting key figures, schools and trains of thought
-An international team of historians presenting specific new findings as well as general overviews
-Confronting and uniting otherwise compartmentalized information