Showing papers in "Annals of Science in 2009"
214 citations
TL;DR: A review of the recent and still ongoing controversy concerning the multiverse, emphasizing its foundational nature and relation to philosophical issues is given in this paper, where the authors compare the current controversy to some earlier episodes in the history of twentieth-century cosmology when particular theories and approaches came under attack for betraying the ideals of proper cosmology.
Abstract: Summary Cosmology has always been different from other areas of the natural sciences. Although an observationally supported standard model of the universe emerged in the 1960s, more speculative models and conceptions continued to attract attention. During the last decade, ideas of multiple universes (the ‘multiverse’) based on anthropic reasoning have become very popular among cosmologists and theoretical physicists. This had led to a major debate within the scientific community of the epistemic standards of modern cosmology. Is the multiverse a scientific hypothesis, or is it rather a philosophical speculation disguised as science? This paper offers a review of the recent and still ongoing controversy concerning the multiverse, emphasizing its foundational nature and relation to philosophical issues. It also compares the multiverse controversy to some earlier episodes in the history of twentieth-century cosmology when particular theories and approaches came under attack for betraying the ideals of proper...
55 citations
TL;DR: Costanza, Graumlich and Steffen as discussed by the authors, Sustainability or Collapse? An Integrated History and Future of People on Earth. Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press, 2007.
Abstract: Robert Costanza, Lisa J. Graumlich and Will Steffen, editors, Sustainability or Collapse? An Integrated History and Future of People on Earth. Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press, 2007. xxii + 495 ...
47 citations
TL;DR: Ogborn as discussed by the authors discusses the role of script and print in the making of the English East India Company (EIC) in Indian ink writing and print printing. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Abstract: Miles Ogborn. Indian Ink: Script and Print in the Making of the English East India Company. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2007. xxiii + 318 pp. 22 figs. $40.00. ISBN 0-226-62041-...
37 citations
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TL;DR: Chambers as mentioned in this paper, editor, Scientific Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks, 1765-1820. 6 vols. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2007. £595.00.
Abstract: Neil Chambers, editor, Scientific Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks, 1765–1820. 6 vols. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2007. £595.00. ISBN: 978-185196-766-7. Reviewed by Christopher Lawrence, Wellcom...
29 citations
TL;DR: The Artificial and the Natural: An Evolving Polarity as discussed by the authors is a collection of essays by Bensaude-Vincent and Newman about the evolution of polarity in art.
Abstract: Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and William R. Newman, editors, The Artificial and the Natural: An Evolving Polarity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. vi + 331 pp. $40.00. ISBN 0-262-02620-1. We use art...
26 citations
TL;DR: The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) as mentioned in this paper was created by the Franco regime in 1939 and the General Secretary of the CSIC was a prominent member of Opus Dei.
Abstract: Summary Jose Maria Albareda (1902–1966) was an applied chemist and a prominent member of the Roman Catholic organization, Opus Dei, who played a crucial role in organizing the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the new scientific institution created by the Franco regime in 1939. The paper analyses first the formative years in Albareda's scientific biography and the political and social context in which he became an Opus Dei fellow. Then it discusses the CSIC's innovative features compared with the Junta para Ampliacion de Estudios (JAE), the institution in charge of scientific research and science policy in Spain from 1907 up to the Civil War (1936–1939). Next it goes into Albareda's ideas about science and science policy. Finally, it shows how they shaped the organization of the CSIC, of which Albareda was the General Secretary from 1939 to his untimely death in 1966.
26 citations
TL;DR: Handbook of paediatric investigations by john stroobant, handbook of local anesthesia, neuropsychological assessment a biopsychosocial perspective critical issues in neuropsychology.
Abstract: S. Ravi Rajan, Modernizing Nature. Forestry and Imperial Eco-Development 1800–1950. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006. xi + 286 pp. £74.00. ISBN 0-19-927796-6. Forests loom large in modernity's conscio...
22 citations
TL;DR: In the modest form of a yellow spectral line known as D3, helium was sometimes supposed to exist in the Sun's atmosphere, an idea which is traditionally ascribed to J. Norman Lockyer.
Abstract: Summary Apart from hydrogen, helium is the most abundant chemical element in the universe, and yet it was only discovered on the Earth in 1895. Its early history is unique because it encompasses astronomy as well as chemistry, two sciences which the spectroscope brought into contact during the second half of the nineteenth century. In the modest form of a yellow spectral line known as D3, ‘helium’ was sometimes supposed to exist in the Sun's atmosphere, an idea which is traditionally ascribed to J. Norman Lockyer. Did Lockyer discover helium as a solar element? How was the suggestion received by chemists, physicists and astronomers in the period until the spring of 1895, when William Ramsay serendipitously found the gas in uranium minerals? The hypothetical element helium was fairly well known, yet Ramsay's discovery owed little or nothing to Lockyer's solar element. Indeed, for a brief while it was thought that the two elements might be different. The complex story of how helium became established as bot...
20 citations
TL;DR: Greenberg, D. S. as discussed by the authors, Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2007. vi + 324 pp. $25.00.
Abstract: Daniel S. Greenberg, Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2007. vi + 324 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0-226-30625-9. In th...
14 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that various discourses—including those of the laboratory scientist, the clinician, and the social theorist—employed the term degeneration, and these discourses frequently overlapped demonstrating that degeneration was a ubiquitous fact of Victorian and Edwardian nature.
Abstract: Summary Theories of familial, racial, and national degeneration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have been explored by historians in the context of social and moral pathology. At the same time nerve degeneration was studied in the post mortem room and in the laboratory but links to the broader ideology of degeneration have not been investigated by scholars. This paper joins these domains by examining the concept of Wallerian degeneration. It argues that various discourses—including those of the laboratory scientist, the clinician, and the social theorist—employed the term degeneration, and these discourses frequently overlapped demonstrating that degeneration was a ubiquitous fact of Victorian and Edwardian nature.
TL;DR: The New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine as mentioned in this paper is a very short collection of essays about science, technology, and medicine, and because of its brevity it inevitably fails to cover all of the important aspects of its subject.
Abstract: introduction to the controversies. There is not a great deal in it that will be new to specialists, or indeed to readers of Bowler’s previous and more extended works. He accurately describes it in his Preface as ‘a distillation of my own and other scholars’ work over the past years’ (p. vii). It is hard to quarrel with any of its contents. The book is very short, however (perhaps because it had to conform to limits set for the series, ‘New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine’, of which it is the latest offering), and because of its brevity it inevitably fails to cover all of the important aspects of its subject. It does not make clear, for example, the fact that Huxley, Spencer, and most of the other Victorian ‘scientific naturalists’ held attitudes towards religion very different from those of Dawkins, Dennet, and other atheistic materialists often considered to be their intellectual descendants today. Most considered themselves to be highly ‘religious’, albeit in a very broad sense. The bulldog Huxley famously described himself as having ‘a profound religious tendency capable of fanaticism, but tempered by no less profound theological scepticism’. And in a letter to the liberal clergyman Charles Kingsley, he declared that ‘materialism and spiritualism are opposite poles of the same absurdity’. Spencer noted religion and science alike posit a mysterious ‘Unknowable’ that lies beyond direct human comprehension. Indeed, the entire erawas characterized by innumerable ‘secular religions’*ranging from Spinozan pantheism through Comtean positivism to the ‘agnosticism’ (Huxley’s term) of Huxley, Spencer, and their colleagues. A longer book might have made clear that these attitudes more closely foreshadowed recent developments such as Julian Huxley’s ‘religion without revelation’ (p. 194) or E. O. Wilson’s attempt to imbue environmentalism with ‘religious’ enthusiasm (p. 197), than they did the strident materialism of Dawkins, Dennet, et al. Still, this is a relatively minor cavil, and it is much more satisfying to complain that a good and insightful book might be longer, than that a bad one should have been shorter.
TL;DR: In this article, the relevance of animals to knowledge and visual representations of the natural world is discussed, and the authors suggest that Portugal did not make the most of its unique position in bringing news and animals from Asia.
Abstract: During the first decades of the sixteenth century, several animals described and viewed as exotic by the Europeans were regularly shipped from India to Lisbon. This paper addresses the relevance of these 'new' animals to knowledge and visual representations of the natural world. It discusses their cultural and scientific meaning in Portuguese travel literature of the period as well as printed illustrations, charts and tapestries. This paper suggests that Portugal did not make the most of its unique position in bringing news and animals from Asia. This was either because secrecy associated with trade and military interests hindered the diffusion of illustrations presented in Portuguese travel literature or because the illustrations commissioned by the nobility were represented on expensive media such as parchments and tapestries and remained treasured possessions. However, the essay also proposes that the Portuguese contributed to a new sense of the experience and meaning of nature and that they were crucial mediators in access to new knowledge and new ways of representing the natural world during this period.
TL;DR: For example, Eastwood as discussed by the authors presents a major contribution to the history of astronomy by demonstrating the development of astronomical thinking and the rediscovery of Roman astronomy with its overview of Greek planetary theory during the European Middle Ages.
Abstract: another is particularly important for these diagrams often tell us more about the level of understanding of an idea than the accompanying text. By demonstrating the development of astronomical thinking and the rediscovery of Roman astronomy with its overviews of Greek planetary theory during the European Middle Ages, this book makes us reconsider the context within which Greek astronomy was reintroduced into Europe from the Islamic world in later centuries. It is clear from Eastwood’s work that this reintroduction did not take place in a scientific vacuum, but into a Europe that already had a basic, albeit often flawed and generally only qualitative, understanding of the main principals of Greek astronomy. Eastwood writes very clearly and with an elegance and lightness of style that makes the book a pleasure to read. He has benefited from very fine typesetting and production by Brill. In particular the figures, mainly photographs of diagrams in manuscripts, have been printed at a very high quality. Given the importance of the diagrams for Eastwood’s arguments, this is especially helpful. The index is clear and useful, and the bibliography comprehensive and well set out. This book is a major contribution to the history of astronomy. Eastwood has opened up a previously neglected area of astronomical history and convincingly demonstrated its importance for our understanding of the development of astronomy in Europe. The book will without doubt become the standard work on its subject.
TL;DR: Bowler, Peter J. as mentioned in this paper, Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons: Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2007. vii +256 pp.
Abstract: Peter J. Bowler, Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons: Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2007. vii +256 pp. $24.95/_23.1...
TL;DR: Greenberg as discussed by the authors pointed out that the British journal Nature had been deeply involved in a major debate on the ethics of state funding of science as long ago as the nineteenth century, and that scientists and institutions everywhere should be sure that their own houses are fully in order.
Abstract: have been as innovative as American industry today. So, is the current approach the only or even the best way of handling research? The second query relates to funding. Greenberg includes at one point a comment from the UK. ‘The British journal Nature, which routinely counsels scientists in the former colonies on proper behaviour, editorialized that ‘‘scientists and institutions everywhere should be sure that their own houses are fully in order’’’ (p. 123). Greenberg cannot have been aware that Nature had been deeply involved in a major debate on the ethics of state funding of science as long ago as the nineteenth century. The reason for opposing such funding was laid down by Gladstone (and others, including some scientists). The money, it was said, would come with strings attached, and this might ultimately limit the freedom of researchers to choose their own research topics and methods. The argument was dismissed by most scientists at the time, and central funding for science has increased steadily since. As an ethical, if not a practical, stance, it might be received with more sympathy today.
TL;DR: The authors examined the extent of overseas migration by British chemists over the period 1887-1971 and found that the pattern of chemists' migration was broadly similar to that of British migration trends more generally.
Abstract: Summary This paper investigates the extent of overseas migration by British chemists over the period 1887–1971. Notwithstanding the ‘brain drain’ alarms of the 1960s, overseas employment was characteristic of some 19% of British chemists’ careers throughout our period, though its nature changed considerably. Our study examines the overseas employment histories of four cohorts of members of the [Royal] Institute of Chemistry in the ‘Chemists’ Database’ at the Open University. Those employed abroad were not only highly qualified but also both geographically mobile and occupationally versatile. Over the period, the pattern of chemists’ migration was broadly similar to that of British migration trends more generally. Except in the interwar years, chemists’ rate of migration was relatively constant. However, the length of time they spent abroad declined markedly over the period: long-term migration became less characteristic than short-term overseas employment for purposes of career development. From the late ...
TL;DR: In the Progymnasmata of Tycho Brahe and his assistant Christian Longomontanus, published in 1602, the authors introduced equant motion for the first inequality in order to separate the determination of direction and distance, and a more accurate limit for the second inequality although requiring a more complex calculation.
Abstract: Tycho Brahe’s lunar theory, mostly the work of his assistant Christian Longomontanus, published in the Progymnasmata (1602), was the most advanced and accurate lunar theory yet developed. Its principal innovations are: the introduction of equant motion for the first inequality in order to separate the determination of direction and distance; a more accurate limit for the second inequality although requiring a more complex calculation; additional inequalities of the variation and, in place of the annual inequality in Tycho’s earlier theory, a reduction in the equation of time; in the latitude theory a variation of the inclination of the orbital plane and an inequality of the motion of the nodes; a reduction in the range of variation of distance,
parallax, and apparent diameter. Some of these were already present in Tycho’s earlier lunar theory (1599), but all were changed in notable ways. Twenty years later Longomontanus published a modified version of the lunar theory in Astronomia Danica (1622), for the purpose of facilitating the calculation through new correction tables, and also explained his reasons for parts of the theory in the Progymnasmata. This paper is a technical study of both lunar theories.
TL;DR: The reception process of the Mechanical Questions during the early modern period began with the publication of the corpus Aristotelicum between 1495 and 1498 as mentioned in this paper, and the commentaries of Bernardino Baldi (1581-1582), Giovanni de Benedetti (1585), Giuseppe Biancani (1615) and Giovanni di Guevara (1627) gradually approached the doctrine of proportions of Renaissance architects, some aspects of which dealt with the strength of materials according to the Vitruvian conception of scalar building.
Abstract: Summary The reception process of Aristotle's Mechanical Questions during the early modern period began with the publication of the corpus aristotelicum between 1495 and 1498. Between 1581 and 1627, two of the thirty-five arguments discussed in the text, namely Question XIV concerning the resistance to fracture and Question XVI concerning the deformation of objects such as timbers, became central to the work of the commentators. The commentaries of Bernardino Baldi (1581–1582), Giovanni de Benedetti (1585), Giuseppe Biancani (1615) and Giovanni di Guevara (1627) gradually approached the doctrine of proportions of the Renaissance architects, some aspects of which deal with the strength of materials according to the Vitruvian conception of scalar building. These aspects of the doctrine of proportions were integrated into the Aristotelian arguments so that a theory of linear proportionality concerned with the strength of materials could be formulated. This very first theory of strength of materials is the the...
TL;DR: A good introduction to the world of geology as it developed can be found in this article, which is a good introduction for a wide readership, and would be a good, perhaps ‘off-beat’ introduction to geology.
Abstract: good reading, at various levels. All the characters written about in the book contributed to the growth and understanding of geology to differing extents. Some were merely fact recording ‘machines’, while others were concerned with understanding and developing concepts, aspects of which have been developed by many of the authors. There are a few errors of fact, e.g. the Archaeocyatha are not corals, although their relation to this group was certainly discussed. These fossils were also known from South Australia in the 1870s. There are some typographical errors and occasional infelicities, mainly in the texts of those authors for whom English is a second language. This is noticed in the inappropriate use or non-use, as the case requires, of the indefinite ‘a’ and definite ‘the’ articles. As an after-thought it is a pity that the remarkable mining geologist New Zealander, Malcolm McLaren, does not get a mention. Not too many have gone by foot, horse, elephant, mule, camel, tonga (!), sledge, canoe, and bicycle, to mention just a few. This book will be of interest to a wide readership, and would be a good, perhaps ‘off-beat’ introduction to the world of geology as it developed. Geological Society members will benefit by a reduced price; others might want it through their local libraries.
TL;DR: The Sociedad Astronomica de Barcelona (SAB) was a scientific society that was founded in 1910 and lasted until 1921 as mentioned in this paper, inspired by Camille Flammarion (1842-1925).
Abstract: Summary Scrutinizing the main activities of the Sociedad Astronomica de Barcelona (SAB), a scientific society that was founded in 1910 and lasted until 1921, this paper analyses how and why its members disseminated astronomy to society at large. Inspired by Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), and with a strong amateur character, the programme of the SAB raised interest among academic scientists, politicians, priests, navy officers, educated audiences, and positivist anticlerical writers. It rapidly conquered the public sphere through well-attended lectures, exhibitions, observations, and publications. In the context of an industrial city, which at that time was suffering serious social tensions, the popularization of astronomy transcended social and cultural boundaries. It created common ground between expert and lay knowledge, science and art, the ‘natural’ and the ‘social’, and between science and religion. In addition, it was considered as one of the only possible ways to raise the scientific level of a co...
TL;DR: The process at work in Krantz's failed attempt to legitimize Bigfoot research is shown by removing it from the amateur sphere and repositioning it in the professional world of anthropology.
Abstract: Physical anthropologist Grover Krantz (1931-2002) spent his career arguing that the anomalous North American primate called Sasquatch was a living animal. He attempted to prove the creature's existence by applying to the problem the techniques of physical anthropology: methodologies and theoretical models that were outside the experience of the amateur enthusiasts who dominated the field of anomalous primate studies. For his efforts, he was dismissed or ignored by academics who viewed the Sasquatch, also commonly called Bigfoot, as at best a relic of folklore and at worst a hoax, and Krantz's project as having dubious value. Krantz also received a negative reaction from amateur Sasquatch researchers, some of whom threatened and abused him. His career is best situated therefore as part of the discussion about the historical relationship between amateur naturalists and professional scientists. The literature on this relationship articulates a combining/displacement process: when a knowledge domain that has potential for contributions to science is created by amateurs, it will eventually combine with and then be taken over by professionals, with the result that amateur leadership is displaced. This paper contributes to that discussion by showing the process at work in Krantz's failed attempt to legitimize Bigfoot research by removing it from the amateur sphere and repositioning it in the professional world of anthropology.
TL;DR: The technology used in the nineteenth gaslight industry follows the pattern that Klein describes: gaslight technology was derived from the academic studies of eighteenth-century pneumatic chemists.
Abstract: Summary The interaction between science and technology in the Industrial Revolution has been debated by various authors over the years. Most recently, Ursula Klein has described eighteenth-century chemistry as an interconnected system of science and technology because of the inherently productive nature of chemical experimentation. The technology used in the nineteenth gaslight industry follows the pattern that Klein describes: gaslight technology was derived from the academic studies of eighteenth-century pneumatic chemists. The foundation of the technology in science included first, a knowledge about inflammable gases and their properties, and second, various instruments and processes developed for the study of gases. Although inflammable exhalations had been known long before the eighteenth-century, it was only with the work of Priestley, Volta, Berthollet, and other chemists that their properties and characteristics, including the multiplicity of species of inflammable gases, became known. The instrum...
TL;DR: Morrison-Low, D.A. as mentioned in this paper, Making Scientific Instruments in the Industrial Revolution. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. xiii + 408 pp. $99.95/£55.00.
Abstract: A. D. Morrison-Low, Making Scientific Instruments in the Industrial Revolution. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. xiii + 408 pp. $99.95/£55.00. ISBN-13 978-0-754-65758-3. Few topics in the histo...
TL;DR: Taub and Willmoth as discussed by the authors celebrated the 60th anniversary of R. S. Whipple's gift to the University of Chicago's Whipple Museum of the History of Science.
Abstract: Liba Taub and Frances Willmoth, editors, The Whipple Museum of the History of Science: Instruments and Interpretations, to Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of R. S. Whipple's Gift to the University o...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined Sydney Chapman's contribution to ionospheric physics and particularly its link to his theory of ozone formation, and examined the traits which characterized Chapman's personality, as a way of explaining and justifying his quest for the integration and synthesis of geophysical knowledge.
Abstract: Summary Sydney Chapman is unanimously considered to have played a founding role in modern geomagnetism and to have opened up new lines of research in geophysics generally. Nevertheless, Chapman's conviction regarding the synthesis of the explanatory mechanisms of the atmosphere has gone practically unnoticed in the historiography of geophysics. This paper examines Chapman's contribution to ionospheric physics. It aims to understand Chapman's theory of ionospheric layer formation, and particularly its link to his theory of ozone formation. It deals first with the traits which characterized Chapman's personality, as a way of explaining—and even perhaps justifying— his quest for the integration and synthesis of geophysical knowledge. It then analyses Chapman's model of ionospheric layers and his suggestions regarding its use as an operational tool (without ontological connotations), before continuing with his account of the formation of the ozone layer, which seemed to constitute the missing link for underst...
TL;DR: Chamberlain this article, From Witchcraft to Wisdom: A History of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the British Isles. London: The Royal College of Obstetricians and gynaecologists Press, 2007.
Abstract: G. Chamberlain, From Witchcraft to Wisdom: A History of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the British Isles. London: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Press, 2007. x + 342 pp. £75.0...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a two-volume set of correspondence between William Hunter and his son, William Cullen, with the purpose of providing a fine contribution to Hunter scholarship.
Abstract: in discoveries. Brock highlights and provides background for their disagreement over the circulation of blood between mother and foetus. She published Dr. Hunter’s letter to the Royal Society of 1780 where he disputes the findings of Mr. Hunter, his brother, and claims as his own the discovery that there is no circulation between the maternal and foetal blood systems (letter 429). Other highlights include Hunter’s lengthy correspondence with William Cullen and his many transactions related to the founding of his collections and ultimately the Hunterian Museum, now in Glasgow. All in all, this two-volume set provides a fine contribution to Hunter scholarship. I would encourage the publishers to make it available in a searchable digital format. The letters are chock full of details and insights of great import; having a searchable format would allow scholars to get in and out quickly with the nuggets they seek. The biographical register of correspondents provided as an appendix is a wonderful guide to the reader, but the volume, sadly, lacks a fulsome index (we do not see Brock’s careful hand in its preparation). One might also have wished for a full bibliography of works on William Hunter. Notice, for example, of the Memoir prepared by Samuel Foart Simmons and John Hunter and edited by Brock in 1983 nicely complements the correspondence. But one can always ask for more. What we have here is an excellent compilation of Hunter’s correspondence that will serve Hunter scholars for many years to come.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the standard deviation of a sextant reading is about 20 arcseconds when used in a vertical position to find altitudes of the Sun and stars, and about 40 arcseconds for finding lunar distances.
Abstract: Summary The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the sextants and watches employed at the end of the eighteenth century in surveying Rupert's Land, the vast territory of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and to discuss their usage and accuracy. The results provide information on the standards of manufacture at the time, on the reliability of the contemporary latitude and longitude of various fur-trading posts, and on the careers of the surveyors themselves. The sextant readings are shown to have a standard deviation of about 20 arcseconds when used in a vertical position to find altitudes of the Sun and stars, and about 40 arcseconds otherwise, for finding lunar distances. Because of the use of artificial horizons, these conclusions imply that, at a 95% (2σ) confidence level, a single determination of latitude is reliable to ±20 arcseconds (600 m on the Earth's surface), of longitude ±20 arcminutes (approximately 60 km in Rupert's Land), and a single determination of local apparent time is reliable...