Diffusion of Information Across the Sciences

Abstract

The flow of information is an essential tool for all scientific research and is here examined within and between sciences. Examples are quoted of diffusion across scientific disciplines and technologies, and how science in new papers and in general scientific journals help scientists. Informal channel of communication are discussed and interdisciplinary contacts during conferences are considered. The change of research field by individual scientists is thought to have inherent limitations.     

Scientific knowledge production in European regions: patterns of growth,diversity and complexity

ABSTRACT

We study regional patterns of scientific knowledge production in Europe using all scientific publications in the period 2000–2014 attributed to 813 scientific subfields. We show that the existing scientific portfolio of regions offers opportunities for related diversification and discourages the creation of knowledge on topics unrelated to the local knowledge base. Many lagging regions show clear growth, but complex knowledge production remains highly concentrated in regions in the North and West of Europe. For lagging regions there are advantages in not specializing too soon and to first diversify before moving into developing more complex knowledge.     

Everyday transcendence? Robert Musil,William James,and mysticism

ABSTRACT

In the early twentieth century, as a reaction against scientific positivism, a widespread interest in mysticism developed, especially among German writers. Mystical experience in the form of ‘epiphanies' was described by the psychologist William James and explored by the novelist Robert Musil. In his novel The Man without Qualities, Musil proposes an approach to mysticism which captures the phenomenology of the experience and makes it available for scientific study without subjecting it to a religious, or any other, interpretation.     

Editorial

Abstract

Global science will benefit from better 'international market places' in which potential participants in international scientific cooperation can gather, trade information, and do business, should they choose. Problems with projects such as particle accelerators and space stations underscore the timeliness of institutional innovation. Changes should occur in both non-governmental infrastructure, which brings together the people with the ideas, and intergovernmental mechanisms, which convene people who control financial resources. A major international commission on international institutions for cooperation in scientific research should be formed to assess needs and to propose and build support for more efficient, capable, and reliable mechanisms.     

Representations of electricity: the development of a visual language for electrical phenomena

Abstract

This paper has two primary objectives. First, it addresses the development of an iconography for electrical phenomena in the eighteenth century, showing how scientific progress influenced artistic images, and how, eventually, Franklin's revolutionary discovery that lightning is an electric discharge made it possible to use a zigzag line (already used at the time as the iconographic symbol for lightning) as a sign for electricity. Second, it investigates the creation and evolution of conventions for scientific illustrations. The following original argument is also introduced: that the stylistic ideals of Classicism influenced scientific illustration in the period around 1800.     

The Administration of the Royal Society

Abstract

After more than 300 years of continuous existence in London, the Royal Society and its 840 Fellows have achieved a worldwide reputation for scientific excellence. This arises not only from their individual prestige and eminence, but also from the superb manner in which the affairs of the Society itself are administered. Here the author is able to reveal some of the reasons for this success, proceeding in an analytical, rather than a critical, approach, describing the Fellowship, the Council, the scientific activities, the publications and the Society's role in international scientific affairs amongst other aspects.     

The art of science at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: The rhetoric of aesthetics and humanism in the national laboratory system in the late 1960s

This paper examines how rhetoric shaped the early history of the National Accelerator Laboratory. In a situation defined by a contentious site search and shrinking budgets for research, Robert Wilson crafted an institutional identity for the NAL that emphasized both aesthetic and scientific experience. The paper addresses the circumstances of the laboratory's founding, the "audiences" important to its success, and the ways in which the physical environment and management structure--framed by Wilson's vision of a scientific utopia--reorganized existing perceptions of physics within a humanistic framework intended to distinguish the NAL from its predecessors in the National Laboratory system.     

Editorial

Abstract

In the United States of America, the National Science Foundation distributes over 600 million annually for scientific and technological research. The Director, Dr H. Guyford Stever, who is also President Ford's scienfific adviser, writes about the complex relationship between scientific research, technological development and their consequent economic, social and ethical effects. He exemplifies an American point of view in his discussion of a variety of NSF supported projects, ranging from the utilization of solar energy and enzyme catalyzed chemical processes to the development of better tunneling techniques. The problem of morality, law and international equity are recognized and Stever argues for the importance of scientific and technological research to ensure a better future for mankind.     

Administration for Scientific Research

Abstract

Stability and change are the poles of the field in which scientific research exists: Ideally stable – better: growing-resources for ever-changing scientific aims? The author deals first with the 'why' of science management and introduces some basic aspects from the point of view of the German lawyer as science administrator. Dealing next with the 'how' of science management, he gives examples of lines of action in personnel, finance, and procurement using the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum as a model. Finally, he sketches some character traits of a science administrator and a scientist: ideally not opponents, sitting on the poles of stability and change respectively, but partners working together for the enhancement of scientific research in their field.     

Science Adviser to Government

Abstract

That Government works at all, should surprise us; it invariably has to deal with most difficult questions involving many imponderables, particularly in the technological field. Rendering scientific advice in the Ministry of Defence and other British Government Departments involves the conveying of various shades of uncertainty; invariably a difficult task not made easier by the lack of scientific background of senior politicians and senior civil servants. The sources and the costs of scientific knowledge are here discussed and two problem areas in the British Government system pointed out; as remedy a 'New Science Education' is advocated.     

Second Laws,Two Cultures,and the Emergence of an Ecosystem Aesthetics

Abstract

The appropriation of scientific concepts by the humanities and the visual arts exemplifies what many feel are both the pitfalls and possibilities of interdisciplinary engagement. The principle of entropy, which C. P. Snow claimed could serve as a litmus test of the ‘two cultures’ divide, provides an excellent starting point for exploring how artists have employed scientific concepts far beyond their original contexts. As a case study in interdisciplinarity, the use of entropy in the visual arts is also a lens to consider the evolution of an artistic proposal from the 1960s known as ‘system aesthetics’. As an early challenge to the clean demarcation of art and science, system aesthetics was a precedent for what might be described as the emergence of an ecosystem aesthetics within contemporary art and design today.     

Feminist geographies: fight and achievement of a place in the Brazilian scientific production

Abstract

This paper examines the development of the field of feminist geographies in Brazil, proposing a reflection upon the different aspects of the policy (personal, institutional and national/international) which are intertwined with the geographical scientific production on gender and sexualities. This research is based on a data survey comprising 17,636 papers published between 1974 and 2015 in 90 scientific journals kept by Brazilian geographical entities at all levels of the ranking established by the government. The study emphasizes that there was an expansion of the gender and sexualities approach after the 2000s, characterized for its production from the peripheral universities, by young researchers and its publication in scientific journals of lower scientific impact, when the formal criteria of evaluation recently set in Brazil are taken into consideration. The gender studies field can be considered consolidated in Brazil, however, the approach of sexualities in the Brazilian geography still requires some work to be finally recognized.     

Nuclear energy development in postwar West Germany: Struggles over cooperation in the Federal Republic's first reactor station

In the 1950s, a small group of political, scientific and business leaders in West Germany were determined to build a center for nuclear reactor research and development. They characterized the venture as a three-way partnership, intending to set an example for a scientific-technical age. The project was eventually carried out, but not without much conflict. The attempts at cooperation show parties with divergent sets of criteria that they only inadequately reconciled, and the struggles display their conflicted understandings of both the public-private boundary and the scientific role. New archival material lets us inspect more accurately the workings of the proposed collaboration. It shows how the conflicts developed in practice, despite all parties' expressions of commitment to cooperation.     

Originals and Imitations A Study of Scientific Instruments

Abstract

As inflation continues to increase, objets d'art including early scientific instruments offer an excellent investment to the connoisseur, but also tempt the forger to imitate them. Various grades of imitation must be distinguished and are here defined and illustrated by nocturnals, barometers, microscopes and quadrants. The growing challenge of these imitations must spur the museum curator to insist on provenance, to establish type specimen and to employ the full range of modern scientific analyse available, if he is not to fall victim like the careless collector.     

Reforming China’s polar science and technology system

ABSTRACT

Along with its modernization process, China has developed many interests in polar ecology and has connected the significance of the Antarctic and Arctic to its national interests. We present an in-depth analysis and assessment of the state of the art of China’s polar research from following points of view, mechanism of policy making on polar affairs, science diplomacy and polar governance, on-spot research expedition management, allocation of scientific funds, forming polar scientific team, especially on the management system of CHINARE. From an integrated perspective of social and natural sciences, we present a vision for future reform and development of polar affairs of China: to establish a macro and long term policy for the polar regions, to promote and establish a government-led, diversified polar scientific management system, to establish a reasonable and rule based evaluation system, to train, stabilize and expand polar scientific research teams, and to attract and encourage talents for polar science communication.     

The scientific basis of organic farming

Abstract

Organic farming is frequently dismissed as being unscientific, but this perception is based on a lack of understanding of the underlying concepts. Researchers in the organic field accept the scientific discipline whilst at the same time seeking new methodologies to explore the holistic character of the agricultural enterprise. Of central importance is the notion that health, food quality, and the nature of the farming system are inextricably linked. This paper reviews in scientific terms the key theoretical bases of the organic approach, and discusses the various methodologies used in this area. It is argued that a holistic approach to scientific investigations in agriculture is valid even if at present it is more of an aspiration than a reality.     

The Gmelin Factual Databank A modern information source in chemistry and physics

Abstract

In chemistry especially, it is becoming increasingly difficult to survey the large amount of material published if poorly defined search strategies are employed – in 1991 and 1992, Chemical Abstracts cited over 500 000 publications, including reports and patents. Traditional comprehensive literature searches require a suitable perspective, a great deal of time and patience, and access to all relevant information sources. The Gmelin Factual Databank can offer improved search strategies for the scientific literature in the area of inorganic and organometallic chemistry.     

Country stories: the use of oral histories of the countryside to challenge the sciences of the past and future

Abstract

In the context of recent media, governmental, academic and popular attention and enthusiasm for debates surrounding the construction and meaning of the British countryside, this paper outlines the potential for oral history to make a contribution. Drawing on work in Devon, UK, we outline how an oral history methodology can engage with the fields of archaeological science and heritage management of landscape resources from the past, before outlining how such lay narratives may also inform present policies for the landscapes of the future. On the one hand we note the potential of oral histories for animating existing scientific narratives of landscape development. Moving from a position of scientific complicity towards one of critical engagement, we then go on to argue that oral histories may also challenge the authority of scientific knowledge, serving to destabilise existing assumptions, and offering in their stead more complex, meaningful and community-led narratives of landscape.