Edward B. Davis

Bio: Edward B. Davis is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 11 citations.

The Scientific Way of Warfare: Order and Chaos on the Battlefields of Modernity

Abstract: Beginning with the Scientific Revolution and concluding with today's terrorist networks, Antoine J. Bousquet advances a novel history of scientific methodology in the context of the battlefield. For centuries, scientific conceptual frameworks have been applied to theories of war, particularly with the invention of such influential technologies as the clock, the engine, and the computer. Conversely, many scientific developments have been stimulated or conditioned by the experience of war, especially in the wake of the unprecedented technological and industrial effort of World War II. Marked by an increasingly tight symbiosis between technology, science, and conflict, the constitution and perpetuation of this scientific way of warfare are best understood as an attempt by the state to turn violent aggression into a rational instrument of policy. In his study, Bousquet explores the relative benefits (such as a unique chain of command to safeguard the use of nuclear weapons) and decentralizing (such as the flexible networks that connect insurgents) military affairs. He then follows with specific scientific approaches to war: mechanistic, thermodynamic, cybernetic, and "chaoplexic," a network-centric theory allied with the non-linear sciences.

Against Teleology in the Study of Race: Toward the Abolition of the Progress Paradigm:

Abstract: We argue that claims of racial progress rest upon untenable teleological assumptions founded in Enlightenment discourse. We examine the theoretical and methodological focus on progress and its hist...

Time and the Internet at the Turn of the Millennium

Abstract: Recent reflections on the possible changes which the Internet may have on our concept of time have focused on notions of `timeless time' (from Castells), `absolute time for everybody' (from Negroponte), and `virtual time'. A more considered view of temporality, drawn from sociology and anthropology, as well as the history of the establishment of consensus on time keeping, can provide more insight. We take a view informed by research on six dimensions of temporality which govern organizational practices to show how the Internet can be understood in terms of temporal behaviour.

Time and information technology: temporal impacts on individuals, organizations, and society

Abstract: and society. In so doing, we draw on Bolter’s (1984) concept of “dee ning technology” and compare modern information technology with the mechanical clocks of the 17th and 18th centuries. Then, we present temporal impacts of information technology at three levels (individual, organizational,and social), as well as broader, theoretical issues. These four areas will be used as a framework onto which the e ve papers included in this special issue will be positioned. Finally we suggest areas for future research in the study of time and information technology.

Time and time again: parallels in the development of the watch and the wearable computer

Abstract: The watch long ago encountered many of the major issues confronting wearable computing today. This paper examines the parallels in the development of the watch and the wearable computer. It discusses how the locations where the watch was worn on the body have changed over time, examines a variety of user interfaces for watches, and looks at how the watch affected cultural concepts of time and time discipline. The lessons for wearable computing are that the physical wearability will be determined as much by fashion as by human anatomy, that the user interface will gradually become simplified as people become more acquainted with computers, and finally that the cultural impact will be a broadening of the definition of information, a rationalization of representing information, and an increasing synchronization of personal events.