History of Science.: caliban

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History of Science.

Aug 18, 2008 02:06

A History of Physical Theories of Comets, From Aristotle to Whipple (Archimedes)

Product Description

The book describes the major physical theories of comets in the past two millennia. It demonstrates the evolution of ideas about the nature, position, motion and physical constitution of comets from Aristotle to Whipple. Unlike the available works on the history of comets, which either illustrate relatively short periods in the history of physical cometology or portray a landscape view without adequate details, the present study focuses on details of each theory. It also investigates the interaction between observational and mathematical astronomy, and the physical sciences in defining the properties of comets.

Ideas about the astrological aspects of comets are not considered in this study. Also, topics concerning the motion of comets are explained to the extent that is helpful in illustrating their physical properties. Although the present study is mainly focused on the physical theories of comets, its results will be relevant to studies in the history of geology, planetary science, and astrology. On the other hand, those results may initiate new studies about educational practices for physics and astronomy in post-Newtonian Europe, the ways that different parts of Newton's physical, astronomical and cosmological ideas evolved after him. Also, the debates about the constitution and chemical properties of comets in the post-Laplacian era may trigger new researches about possible influence of cometary studies on the foundation of astrophysics.

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Missing the Revolution: Darwinism for Social Scientists

Product Description
In The Adapted Mind, Jerome Barkow, along with Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, set out to redefine evolutionary psychology for the social sciences and to create a new agenda for the next generation of social scientists. While biologically oriented psychologists quickly accepted the work, social scientists in psychology and researchers in anthropology and sociology, who deal with the same questions of human behavior, were more resistant. Missing the Revolution is an invitation to researchers from these disciplines who, in Barkow's view, have been missing the great evolution-revolution of our time to engage with Darwinian thought, which is now so large a part of the non-sociological study of human nature and society. Barkow asks the reader to put aside the preconceptions and stereotypes social scientists often have of the "biological" and to take into account a powerful paradigm that is far away from those past generations who would invoke a vocabulary of "genes" and "Darwin" as justification for genocide. The evolutionary perspective, Barkow maintains, provides no particular support for the status quo, no rationalizations for racism or any other form of social inequality. "Cultural" cannot possibly be opposed to "biological" because culture and society are the only means we have of expressing our evolved psychology; social-cultural constructionism is not only compatible with an evolutionary approach but demanded by it. To marshal evidence for his argument, Barkow has gathered together eminent scholars from a variety of disciplines to present applications of evolutionary psychology in a manner intended to illustrate their relevance to current concerns for social scientists. The contributors include, among others, evolutionary psychologist Anne Campbell, a Darwinian feminist who reaches out to feminist social cosntructionists; sociologist Ulica Segarstrale, who analyzes the opposition of the "cultural left" to Darwinism; sociologist Bernd Baldus, who criticizes evolutionists for ignoring agency; criminologist Anthony Walsh, who presents a biosocial criminology; and primatologists Lars Rodseth and Shannon A. Novak, who reveal an unexpected uniqueness to human social organization. Missing the Revolution is a challenge to scholars to think critically about a powerful social and intellectual movement which insists that the theoretical perspective that has been so successful when applied to the behavior of other animal species can be applied to our own.

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Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution: From Copernicus to Newton

From Library Journal
Filling a hole in reference collections on the history of science, this tome brings together a great collection of articles on the progress of scientific discovery in the 16th and 17th centuries. The text, which considers the social and philosophical climate of the period as well as the science itself, is equally good at covering the concrete (such as institutions, people, and instrumentation) and the abstract (such as theories, schools of thought, and controversies). The 437 entries vary in length from just half a page to five pages, and each has a short bibliography directing the reader to recent articles and monographs as well as primary sources. Access to the entries is aided by a 60-page index, a detailed chronology, a topical/taxonomic outline of entries, and cross references. Just under 40 percent of the articles cite a work by the contributor, demonstrating that Applebaum (emeritus, history of science, Illinois Univ. of Technology) was skilled at selecting accomplished scholars from around the globe (though primarily from Europe and North America). Written at a level accessible to the educated lay reader, this work will find a welcome home in academic libraries and public libraries with larger science collections.

From Booklist
Imagine a spherical, finite, geocentric, and matter-filled universe where the teachings of Aristotle and the church are supreme. Now, imagine a universe that is infinite, heliocentric, and that possesses large and small vacuous spaces and where "experiment, precise observation, and mathematics were employed to challenge ancient, long-held scientific principles and to create new ones." What would cause such a change in worldviews? This new resource chronicles the extraordinary changes in "natural philosophy" from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century, the phenomenon known as the scientific revolution. Coverage is broader than in a traditional science encyclopedia, encompassing the political, religious, social, and technological factors bearing on developments in science. Scholarly without being obtuse, the 441 entries by a broad representation of international experts are signed and include short bibliographies. The choice of topics reflects recent studies in the history of science. Examples include both the positive and negative impact of the Jesuits on the scientific revolution, biographical pieces on individuals such as Jakob Bernoulli and Isaac Newton, and discussions on topics like Agriculture and Aristotelianism . A broad topical outline, chronology, and index are included. Some of the information contained in this source would be available in Gale's World of Scientific Discovery (1994) or Scribner's Dictionary of Scientific Biography (1990) and Encyclopedia of the Renaissance [RBB Ja 1 & 15 00]. Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution is specific to one time period and may provide an insight into the developments and discoveries that form the basis for modern science. Recommended for larger public and academic science reference collections.

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Isaac Newton: And the Scientific Revolution (Oxford Portraits in Science)

From Scientific American
Born early on Christmas morning of 1642, his illiterate father recently dead, Isaac Newton was raised by his grandmother. His life was fed by his vigorous mind and hands; the lonely boy read widely and filled his days with skywatching, kites, sundials, carving and model making. He attended boarding school near his home, ranking second to last among 80 students, but he graduated at 18 the star of the school and went on to the University of Cambridge. A new college graduate, his genius yet unrecognized, he returned home at age 22, after the university was closed by the coming of plague. For almost two years, he worked alone, establishing the modern methods and much of the matter of theoretical physics for two centuries: the ideas of the calculus, its application to motion for apple and moon alike, gravitation made semiquantitative and perhaps universal, and the nature of white light and color. The resemblance to the young Einstein at the Patent Office in Bern is evident; the human differences between Newton, without wife or nearby friends, and Einstein's happier world are manifest. Less a scientific biography than a personal one, it does not try to popularize Newton's physics. Of course, it includes his entire career, his litigious rivalries, his work style, so secretive and shy, and his voluminous accomplishments, until a complex emotional breakdown took him away to official London at age 52. Newton died wealthy and celebrated, even rather less lonely through his niece, a famous beauty, and her slightly scandalous high-society circle.

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A History of Medicine, Second Edition

Product Description
Stressing major themes in the history of medicine, this Second Edition explores the events, methodologies, and theories that shaped medical practices in decades past and in modern clinical practice. It highlights practices of civilizations around the world and research of pioneering scientists and physicians who contributed to our current understanding of health and disease. New sections cover preventive and alternative medicine, medical education for women, miasma and contagion theories, the threat of epidemic disease, changing patterns of morbidity and mortality, public health and sanitary reforms, the high cost of medical care, diseases of affluence and aging, and the emergence of new diseases.

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Negotiating Darwin: The Vatican Confronts Evolution, 1877--1902 (Medicine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context)

Review

"Negotiating Darwin provides an assessment of the Vatican's policy toward evolutionism during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Within the context of six case studies, the book displays painstaking knowledge of documents from the Vatican's archives and a thorough awareness of the interpretive issues involved. This is a major, scholarly contribution to the field." -- Giuliano Pancaldi, University of Bologna

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Quakers, Jews, and Science: Religious Responses to Modernity and the Sciences in Britain, 1650-1900

Product Description
How do science and religion interact? This study examines the ways in which two minorities in Britain - the Quaker and Anglo-Jewish communities - engaged with science. Drawing on a wealth of documentary material, much of which has not been analysed by previous historians, Geoffrey Cantor charts the participation of Quakers and Jews in many different aspects of science: scientific research, science education, science-related careers, and scientific institutions. The responses of both communities to the challenge of modernity posed by innovative scientific theories, such as the Newtonian worldview and Darwin's theory of evolution, are of central interest.

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The Scientific Revolution: The Essential Readings (Blackwell Essential Readings in History)

Review
“A well-selected and thoughtful collection of some of the most important recent articles on the Scientific Revolution. This volume will provide a welcome and much-needed tool for introducing readers to this important period.” Alix Cooper, SUNY-Stony Brook

“Rumors that the Scientific Revolution is ‘dead’ belie its staggering resilience. Hellyer's volume insists that something significant happened in early modern Europe, something - by whatever name - that speaks to global change as well as ‘Modern’ and ‘Western.’ Concise and accessible, the volume draws together excellent secondary sources framed by useful introductions.” Robert A. Hatch, University of Florida

Hellyer's choice of material is well conceived, coherent and admirably presented: a reader can ask for no more." International Journal of the Classical Tradition

Product Description
This book introduces students to the best recent writings on the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Introduces students to the best recent writings on the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Covers a wide range of topics including astronomy, science and religion, natural philosophy, technology, medicine and alchemy.
Represents a broad range of approaches from the seminal to the innovative.
Presents work by scholars who have been at the forefront of reinterpreting the Scientific Revolution.

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