The public misunderstanding of science

Abstract

In spite of tremendous efforts to increase the public understanding of science the results are very meagre. It is shown that the public does not understand science and that there is hardly anybody out there who could help the public catch up, since even eminent scientists do not know about basic ideas outside their own specialist field. It does not help to flood the public with information – it is something else that is relevant, namely knowledge. To increase common knowledge of science a more general approach is necessary.     

谈谈考古学的科学性

前言几年以前,作为木同学科之间桥梁的《读书》杂志,曾组织了有关考古学研究现状的讨论,与会者兼有行内与行外的学者,会后发表的笔谈,读了以后使人产生一种共鸣。《读书》的编者按说得好,“中国考古学的成果斐然,但是一般知识界和社会对它的关注似乎减弱了。”[1]在一般人的印象里,考古学是一种象牙塔里的冷僻学问。文化史学者葛兆光对考古学的印象是觉得它与我们很隔膜。第一,它只凭考古发掘材料来说话,就像地质学采集的标本一样纯而又纯,“科学”得再不能“科学”;第二,它那冷冰冰的术语好似自我封闭,要么让人难懂,要么觉…     

The history and philosophy of social science

Carlo Ginzburg is best known as the author of a popular and widely commented work of microstoria Il formaggio e i vermi, published in 1976. Rather than focusing on Ginzburg's contributions to the genre of microstoria, or on the development of his long and very productive scholarly career, my aim in this article is to reflect on a set of themes that recur, with impressive persistence, in his work, from his earliest publications in the mid-1960s, to his most recent works. Above all, I suggest that two elements recur in his work, and that these, jointly, impart upon it its defining character. They are the concern with epistemological issues of knowing, and the ethical conception of the historian's work, which Ginzburg expressess and defends with urelenting rigour.     

The potential of destruction in art and science

ABSTRACT

Artist and researcher Neal White argues for the potential role of radical engagements in science by drawing on the work of pioneers of conceptual art: John Latham (1921–2006), Gustav Metzger (1926–2017) in the UK, and György Kepes (1906–2001) and Robert Smithson (1938–1973) in the US. Starting with destruction as a positive force in artistic practice, White examines the ideas developed by these artists as a conceptual framework for thinking through time, chemical process and event structures within the context of the Cold War. In further examining the social context and contemporary landscape of cultural forms servicing science in terms of the communication of ideas, or underpinning further a knowledge economy, he argues for artists to engage science on their own terms, through a renewal of radical practices. This would in turn create new and critically framed work of benefit to culture and society more generally.     

The science and scientific legacy of Operation Chastise

Abstract

Operation Chastise, more often known as the 'Dambusters raids', was one of the most audacious aerial military operations of the Second World War, in that it made use of operationally untested technical innovations under extreme logistical constraints. Of particular interest is the scientific environment in which the mission was implemented. Here I review the principal scientific innovations that were necessary for the realisation of the mission. These went beyond the rotating depth charge itself. Simple but nevertheless ingenious methods for altitude and range finding were devised for low altitude flying, and the new system of two stage blue day–night flying was implemented for simulated night flying. Even drugs to combat airsickness during low altitude flight in turbulence were tested. The diverse technical expertise that was necessary for the original idea to be transformed into a logistical reality in less than three months provides a particularly lucid instance of effective scientific management in a framework of rapid technological change. I also describe an expedition inspired by these developments, which fifty years on used a dedicated low altitude night flying microlight aircraft (the Barnes Wallis Moth Machine) to catch insects over a rainforest canopy, illustrating the legacies that such missions can leave.     

The authority of science and the postmodern reformation

Abstract

Popular reactions against science are as old as science itself. The challenge from postmodernity, however, is more fundamental, because it challenges not only what science does, but what science is. The epistemological authority of science is now challenged in much the same way as the spiritual authority of the Catholic Church was challenged by the Reformation. The experience of disruption and instability, the pluralism, relativism, and loss of absolutes of the earlier period are not unlike what we find in our own postmodern condition. Luther's priesthood of all believers has become a priesthood of all knowers in our postmodern reformation. More particularly, we can see how the advent of printing, the humanist cultivation of individuality, and the Copernican mapping of the heavens all have their (post)modern counterparts, in the development of the internet, the cult of narcissism, and the mapping of the human genome.     

The figural go-between in the Cartesian conception of science

ABSTRACT

The article addresses the early-modern conception of figuration, and more specifically the form in which it appears in Descartes’ early writings. There is textual evidence suggesting that Descartes was aware both of the mathematical and of the poetical characters of figures, contributing to the design of methodical processes. It is argued that figures play a central role in the Cartesian conception of method, in which figuration, leaning on the universal laws of geometry, is being used as carrier of data from reality to the observing mind and back, as well as from one domain of inquiry to another. It is therefore a central binder of the Cartesian ‘Unity of Science’, being responsible for the interconnectedness of various domains of inquiry.     

The impact of feminist scholarship on Australian political science

The discipline of political science has remained male dominated in most parts of the world. Women have organised within political science associations both to raise the status of women in the profession and to try to transform the discipline. This article is a personal account of the 25‐year history of the Women's Caucus of the Australasian Political Studies Association and its successes and failures. While the status of women in the profession has improved and the journal has become more gender inclusive, the impact of feminist scholarship on political science curriculum remains patchy. Space has been made for gender scholarship and a chapter added to textbooks and disciplinary histories, but the approach is additive rather than transformative. One contributing factor may be increased fragmentation of the discipline.     

论大足石刻艺术与科技的完美结合

大足石刻超凡的艺术性始终与崇高的科学性紧紧地融会在一起,表现出强烈的民族色彩。大足石刻艺术的科学技术性主要体现在五个方面:一、地形选择;二、峡谷排水;三、龛窟结构;四、力学的运用;五、光学的应用。