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.     

Minerva Scientifica: the owl that flies at dawn - women scientists,women composers

ABSTRACT

Under the leadership of soprano Frances M Lynch, Minerva Scientifica deploys sung theatrical performances to encourage, celebrate and demonstrate the achievements of women in science and music. Based on collaborative discussions between practising female scientists and contemporary classical composers, the events staged by Minerva Scientifica are receiving high acclaim not only as educational and musical experiences for general audiences, but also for enhancing scientists’ appreciation of their own work. Adopting a historical approach, this article first explores the relationships between three pairs – women and science, music and science, women and music – before giving a more detailed account of the project’s evolution since 2011.     

Exotericism and the Untroubled Race for the Future

Abstract

The simple case against the philosophic practice of exoteric writing is that it takes too long. Especially short of time are those who would contribute to or even attempt to keep up with the advance of what used to be called natural philosophy. The assumption of progress in science has been purchased with the relentless specialization of its practitioners. In theory transparent to inquiry, in practice specialized, science may be not just anti-exoteric but esoteric.     

Governing science before it governs us

Abstract

In this article I reflect on the motivation behind my latest book, ‘The governance of science: ideology and the future of the open society’, which is traceable to Karl Popper's dictum that scientists let their ideas die in their stead. I take this insight as the mark of our humanity more generally, even though we are on the verge of losing it. I argue that this is because, over the past century, the material and psychic investments in particular research trajectories have made it increasingly difficult to envisage what it would be like to pursue scientific inquiry in a substantially different way. I begin by discussing the historical significance of rhetoric in distinguishing between our privately held beliefs and publicly expressed theories, and then showing how this necessary – albeit morally ambivalent – distinction has been compromised with the onset of ‘big science’, first in physics and now in biology. We are thus saddled with a conception of scientific progress that threatens to render us, in evolutionary terms, overadapted to our environments. At the end of the article, I suggest some ways in which we may overcome the problem, at least in terms of the emerging ‘bioliberal’ regime.     

Tom Stoppard’s Big Picture: The Chaos that is Our World

Abstract

Issues arising from discussions regarding the ‘two cultures’ of science and art are many and varied. Tom Stoppard’s very active utilization of science in many of his plays has resulted in his work — especially the quantum mechanics-informed Hapgood and the chaotics-informed Arcadia — being held up as paradigmatic of one science/art position or another. Often, critical approaches to these plays involve a checklist of scientific facts, implying that the goal of such art is to serve as a delivery device for scientific breakthroughs. While plays, novels, and movies of various sorts may have such goals in mind, Stoppard’s plays do not comfortably fill that agenda, critical arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. Neither do Stoppard’s plays show particular interest in engaging any debate about the superiority of one ‘culture’ over the other. In his two ‘science plays’ in particular, what Stoppard offers is an enrichment of both science and art through metaphorical intertwinings that suggest experience is best served when both camps collaborate. The bigger picture that results argues an overlap in epistemology, namely revealing the uncanny similarity in which artist and scientist approach the material that is our universe.     

The Sahelian Problem

Abstract

Philosophy of engineering is an area of study that is still in its infancy – attracting a growing number of researchers but still far behind the established field of philosophy of science. This essay reports on a series of seminars held on the topic at the Royal Academy of Engineering which have demonstrated that it is an area rich with problems for both philosophers and engineers to tackle. These problems can shed light on existing philosophical questions, raise new ones and even have practical value for the engineer.     

Building the nation of the future,one waiting room at a time: hospital murals in the making of modern Mexico

Abstract

Mid-twentieth century Mexican hospitals – the buildings themselves and their interior and exterior walls – became stages that depicted national hopes and aspirations. Hospitals and clinics became ideal spaces that married science and medicine with the state’s version of a triumphant social revolution. Visitors and patients to hospital waiting rooms, lobbies and auditoriums would see, indeed be surrounded by, depictions of the complicated hopes placed on science and medicine as interpreted by politicians, architects, and artists. Hospital walls became contested spaces where art depicted Mexico’s embrace of modern technology and medical practices while also showcasing, in vivid color, citizens challenging the government’s broken revolutionary promises, especially the right of all to health and social security.     

China,Natural Resources,Sovereignty and International Law

Abstract

This article explores China’s attitudes towards the regulation of key natural resources by international law, domestically and at the trans-boundary and international levels. It considers the impact of international law on China’s own practices, and the contribution of China towards shaping international law. The article suggests that popular conceptions of a relatively isolated, sovereign absolutist China do not accord with contemporary legal realities, including in its dealings with natural resources. While China’s construction of strong sovereignty shapes its attitudes towards legal regulation, practice also suggests that China adopts a nuanced approach which includes legal compromise, and a commitment to multilateral regulation or bilateral diplomatic settlement of issues previously within the competence of national governments. China is often an active and constructive participant in contemporary law-making, even if – like all countries – it also seeks to instrumentally use international law.     

Representing Science that Isn’t: Harvest as Science Fiction Theatre

Abstract

Engaging with the difficulty of plausibly staging scientific developments that have not yet been realized (or even those which might never occur), Manjula Padmanabhan’s 1997 play Harvest relies upon science fictional developments in two technologies, communications and medicine. Rather than merely working around them, Padmanabhan’s play makes use of the challenges inherent in staging a fictional future, calling both representation and power into question. In so doing the play exemplifies the increasing openness of science drama to science fictional ideas.     

Human Genetics As a Bridging Science

Abstract

The history of the biological sciences since 1900 shows that genetic theory has to act as a unifying principle bringing together various, and sometimes quite different, fields in the analysis of common problems. This historical process can be studied especially well in the development of human genetics – a branch of science that, mainly through hybridisation, first with biochemistry, then with cytogenetics, and recently with molecular biology, developed from an outsider's hobby into one of the most challenging fields of biological and medical research. Concepts and approaches derived from genetic theory are now influencing and, in part, determining the structure of an increasing number of scientific specialities – especially in medicine – leading to important practical applications. Genetic theory and methods might also become increasingly useful for analysis of brain function in relation to behaviour.     

Sir Robert G. A. Jackson (1911–91): an Appreciation

Abstract

Although the celestial observations made by the Aborigines were precise, the significance attached to them was conceptual rather than perceptual. It could not be derived from observation but only from knowledge gained by initiation into tribal values. The legends which embodied the astronomical knowledge had a threefold pragmatic role in tribal culture: they functioned as a predictive calendar for terrestrial events; they were associated with stories which reinforced the moral values pertaining to tribal identity; and they contributed to the belief system which provided a philosophical rationale for a tribe’s understanding of the universe. Selected myths relating to the sun, moon, the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, Venus, and various constellations are outlined and illustrated by traditional bark painting designs to provide examples of these general statements. Parallels are drawn with the theories of some contemporary philosophers of science.     

Soft power,Russia and the former Soviet states: a case study of Russian language and education in Armenia*

Abstract

As in human relations, attraction can be an influential force in international relations. A well-known tool in Western countries, in Russia ‘soft power’ has come into play mainly under Putin’s presidency in the 2000s. This paper focuses on language and education as sources generating ‘soft power’. It looks first on the institutional framework progressively established to attract and integrate culturally the former Soviet space. Second, it studies the evolution of the Russian language and education in Armenia. The findings suggest that even if the previous decline in the usage of Russian has been reversed, the monopoly once enjoyed by this language seems to be over. Russian is promoted in a multicultural environment – alongside English, French, German or Chinese – which reflects the new geopolitical reality. Multicultural landscape characterises also the Armenian higher education system.     

Electronic Information Management in the Social Sciences

Abstract

The use of the computer and its capabilities in the social sciences – psychology, sociology, economics, political science and history – are here discussed. It is suggested that the computer is essential to research in these disciplines and examples are given where certain research projects could not be undertaken without the capabilities of the computer. Three uses which are common to all the social science are described. First, there is a discussion of several computer-based statistical packages which have been specifically developed for the social sciences. Next, there is a presentation of the development of models and particularly casual modeling. Finally, computer-based bibliographic methods and capabilitie are described. More specific applications are: on-line control psychological experiments stimulus presentation, data acquisition, the simulation of psychological functions and the computer a a surrogate clinician; also the application of information-processing model in cognitive psychology. In sociology, the computer is used in social science surveys and particularly in the recent development of computer-based telephone survey techniques. In economics, there is a discussion of econometric modeling and particularly of Project LINK, a worldwide economic model. Finally, a number of examples are given of the use of computers in political science and historical research. It is concluded that the computer is a basic tool in social science research.     

Chemistry: Facts not Fiction

Abstract

Brecht has said that ‘the task of science is to lighten the laboriousness of human existence’ and some examples are given of the way chemistry has contributed to this task. Yet great challenges remain – atomic war and the population explosion – and it is essential to achieve a just and informed balance between benefits and risks. Uninformed criticism of chemistry in the media is roundly condemned, and tribute is paid to antipollution measures taken by the chemical industry. The common language which unites scientists from all nations must be used to further peace and understanding in the world.     

Science,sustainability and the establishment in a technological age

Abstract

Sustainable development, balancing economic and social development with environmental protection, has become a modern paradigm in our technological age. The British government, amongst others, regards science as being important in underpinning the move towards sustainability. However, many of the principles that bolster the three pillars of sustainable development – 'people, prosperity and planet' – are often viewed as being unscientific by sceptical natural and social scientists. But these principles are no different from the rules of thumb that engineers typically employ to design technological systems. The links between science, technology and the need to achieve environmental sustainability are explored here mainly in the context of the energy sector, which accounts for ninety-five per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK. It is argued that the UK national academies of science and engineering tend to provide policy advice to government that favours 'advanced' technologies. They advocate support for such technologies often without regard for the results of science based integrated appraisal methods or for the need to engage in wider stakeholder dialogue. Greater attention is paid to 'hardware' than to, for example, energy efficiency or resource productivity more generally. The national academies could instead place themselves at the forefront of moves towards sustainability, by locating themselves more firmly in the vanguard of those devising a sustainability assessment framework.     

Science and secularization

ABSTRACT

According to a long-standing narrative of Western modernity science is one of the main drivers of secularization. Science is said to have generated challenges to core religious beliefs and to have provided an alternative, rational way of looking at the world. This narrative typically relies on progressive and teleological understandings of history, and commitment to some version of an ongoing struggle between science and religion. By way of contrast, recent theories of secularization, such as that of Charles Taylor, have suggested that the role of science in secularization has been greatly exaggerated. This article also offers a critique of the standard “science causes secularization” story. But in contrast to other critiques of this kind, it suggests that science nonetheless has a significant role in secularization – one that can be maintained without a commitment to a crude progressivist history or a narrative of science-religion conflict.     

Science in Antarctica Intellectual and Physical Adventure

Abstract

Antarctica is a geographical region and Antarctic science is therefore multidisciplinary, the main areas of research being concerned with the continent's geological base, the superimposed ice-cap, the atmosphere above it and their external relationship. Each of these research areas is interdisciplinary: the study of its outstanding problem – the history of the Antarctic ice sheet – requires contributions from meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, geology, chemistry and physics; and its future behaviour will he determined by external events, including the consumption of fossil fuels on other continents. Research in Antarctica is given added piquancy by the continent's unique environment and rigorous climate which retain their attractive character even though modern technological developments have removed many elements of discomfort and danger. The region is also singular in its political nature and scientist have a particularly close relationship with their governments through the Antarctic Treaty.     

Gender in Polar Air: Roald Amundsen and his Aeronautics

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the polar aeronautics of the 1920s as men, that is: to take seriously the obvious – but so far more or less ignored fact – that polar history is a gendered history: a man's history. It is time to ask what kind of men the polar aviators were: that is the purpose of scrutinizing polar history as a part of the history of masculinity. A more general purpose of gender studies is to study the variety of masculinity as an illustration of the historicity of human behaviour. The conclusion of the article is that the polar aviators were representatives of an archaic kind of masculinity that deviated from the hegemonic engineer-hailing masculinity of the 1920s. They were escapists, of course. They loved flying, of course – and certainly they worshipped technology. At the same time, however, they acted extremely emotionally and even irrationally towards themselves. They were dictated by their strong feelings in a degree that collided with both common sense and the ideals of correct manliness. Thus, the article is intended to be a contribution not only to the study of masculinity, but even to the discussion in social research on the meaning of emotions in human interrelationships.     

Die Französische Revolution im Spiegelbild. Die Reaktion der deutschen Ärzte auf die Revolution und das Revolutionieren

The German physicans and medical scientists reacted to the French Revolution in several ways, if you judge only from the medical literature:

• 1 At the beginning of the French Revolution, the scientist answered with still silence, whereas the young intellectual generation was filled with enthusiasm. But after the battle of Valmy (1792) this enthusiasm vanished and they resigned to execute an equal revolution in Germany.
• 2 When, in the middle of the 1790s, scientists gave commentaries on revolutionary acts, they despised the revolution itself. This could only destroy the old – and even better – order. They argued that you can have recourse to science to avoid the political and socially deranged situation.
• 3 This rejection against the political revolution was combined with a rejection against the influences of natural philosophy on medicine. Schelling's philosophy plays the role as an scientific revolution with all negative aspects like the political one. In this sense, the science in the old scientific manner has to be an accepted refuge.
• 4 But in this retreat they developed ideas of German national science to conteract on the French influences. The consciousness of nationalism was supported by the scientists of romantic movements.
• 5 The following degree is characterized by a mental leap. Now, they argued, it will never be necessary to revolutionize the medicine: in science all the ideals of French Revolution are realized – freedom, equality and fraternity.
• 6 Consequently, only in a formal sense did they respond to the French Revolution and so they avoided recognizing, that science is influenced politically and also science itself exercises on in a political way.