Lessons in the rubble: The world trade center and the history of disaster investigations in the United States

The World Trade Center collapse stands as a singular event in American history. As such, it might also stand to reason that the technical investigation into the circumstances of the collapse also stands alone. Clashes over authority among powerful institutions both public and private, competition among rival experts for influence, inquiry into a disaster elevated to the status of a memorial for the dead: these are the base elements of the World Trade Center investigation. These elements, however, are not unique. This article illustrates--drawing on case studies including the burning of the United States Capitol Building (1814), the Hague Street boiler explosion and building collapse in New York (1850), and the Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago (1903)--that conflicts over authority, expertise, memory, and ultimately the attribution of responsibility suffuse the history of disaster in the United States. The "disaster investigation," far from proving itself the dispassionate, scientific verdict on causality and blame, actually emerges as a hard-fought contest to define the moment in politics and society, in technology and culture.     

Pearl fishing in the ancient world: 7500 BP

The oldest pearl in the world was found in the United Arab Emirates and dates from 7500 BP. Gemmologists and jewellers have popularised the idea that the oldest pearl in the world is the 5000‐year‐old Jomon pearl from Japan. Discoveries made on the shores of south‐eastern Arabia show this to be untrue, as the archaeological pearls that have been found are 2500 years older. In this region, pearls still hold an important place. Indeed, today they remain a central, identifying element. The discovery of archaeological pearls demonstrates an ancient fishing tradition that no longer exists today.     

Writing the world: disciplinary history and beyond

In order to grasp some of the key intellectual developments and trends that shaped the global politics of twentieth century and continue to shape our own world—neo-classical economics, modernization theory, deterrence theory, the democratic peace, among others—it is necessary to explore the history of the human sciences. It is important, in other words, to examine the role of the modern research university in producing and diffusing ideas about the self, society, the economy and world order. International Relations (IR), and political science more generally, played a significant role in this story. In recent years we have seen a growth of interest in the history of IR, though it is still an underdeveloped area of research. Among other things, scholars have shown that many of the foundational myths of the discipline—the views that inform textbook understandings of the past and present—are deeply flawed. This article first surveys this recent work, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, and then proceeds to offer some thoughts on future directions for research. It identifies a range of questions and topics that have yet to be adequately addressed, and draws on the latest methodological work in intellectual history, highlighting some new interpretative approaches that can enrich scholarship in this area.     

Ideology and the history of ancient Israel

An answer to the recent criticism of Ian Provan and James Barr of the position of the so-called ''revisionists'' among Old Testament scholars. Provan - as well as Barr - accuses the revisionists for being ''ideologists'', i.e., that ideology has governed their research. This is a false accusation. The revisionists originally shared the ideology of the scholarship of the modern age. Only at a later date they adopted, forced by their analyses, an ideological approach to the reading of text that seems more on-line with ideas that are said to be postmodern.     

Louis Muskens: a leading figure in the history of Dutch and world epileptology

In the history of Dutch neurology Muskens has a place in his own right. Elderly neurologists still attest to the special fame of Muskens. He held a strong opinion on developing the specialty of neurology independent of psychiatry. At the same time he maintained that surgery of the nervous system also should be included in the realm of neurology. These views met with considerable opposition from colleagues and led to Muskens' isolation. To the field of epileptology he contributed both clinical and experimental neurological studies. With Donath he was the co-founder of the International League Against Epilepsy in 1909. In addition he held a lifelong interest in the pathophysiology of forced movements, which he studied both in human pathology and in experimental studies throughout the vertebrate series. This resulted in his magnum opus on the supravestibular system in 1935. His scientific work was well received in scientific societies all over Europe.     

世界中心的星光晚宴

<正>在卡塔楚塔徒步7.4公里后,我们驱车在太阳落山前赶回艾尔斯山营地安营扎寨,安心等待晚上"星光晚宴"和"星光原野展"。对于这次近距离了解"艾尔斯岩",也就是当地人所说的"乌卢鲁"之前的一次远观机会,据说同时也是极致浪漫的夜间旅程。在营地门口等了一会儿,有旅游公司的车来接,走在红土中心路上的十辆大客车里有8辆是他家的,更是包办了这近几年兴起的全     

Creating the world: the origins of all things in ancient Greek myth and medicine

Abstract

In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, a series of dramatic shifts in science and the arts took place in the Greek world, and history, medicine, philosophy, and science came into being. This paper examines 'the Greek miracle', looking at how new ideas about 'the origin of all things' were rooted in traditional mythic patterns of thought. In particular, it examines how medical writers thought about the origins of the cosmos, and of disease. The multiple creations of the world present in Greek myth, where the origin of all things was seen as a process of differentiation out of original similarity, may have predisposed the Greeks to be open to the new theories of early scientific thinkers.     

试析上古时期的历史记忆与历史记载

上古时期口耳相传的历史记忆是后世历史记载的源头.在相关的历史记载中还可以看到其某些影子.出现于早期历史记忆中的"人"多为"英雄"或"圣人",而非普通的人.逐渐剥落掉神的身影,而呈现出真正的"人"面貌,已经是野蛮与文明之际的事情.但是即使在这个时期,人--神之间仍然有着千丝万缕的联系.历史记忆是古代文明出现上升的阶梯.     

古代目录中史部故事类到政书类的演变

故事本意系指旧事,司马迁继承其父遗愿时曾表示:"请悉论先人所次旧闻,弗敢阙."以后又曰:"余所谓述故事,整齐其世传,非所谓作也."①从对旧事的引录叙述,渐指旧日事例及前朝的典章制度,《汉书·楚元王传附刘向传》:"是时,宣王循武帝故事,招名儒俊材置左右."又《汉书·苏武传》:"卫将军张安世荐(苏)武明习故事,奉使不辱使命."故事意指典章制度,史志中一直沿用至明代.     

浅析中国古代方志中的地图

中国的地图与方志之间有着很深的历史渊源.无论在方志的前身地记、图经中作为主导地位的地图,还是在定型后的方志中作为组成部分的地图,它都是方志文献中不可或缺的成分.因此,研究方志中地图的情况既是对地图研究的需要,也是对方志研究的需要.而方志文献是诸多文献中数量众多、信息涵盖面广泛、资料特征独特的重要文献形式,因此,对地图的研究不可缺少对方志中地图的研究.     

Research on the history of the third world in Scandinavia

The aim of this paper is to challenge some of the established views on monetary and economic aspects of medieval Norwegian history. This challenge is not only based on a different understanding of the evidence, but also on new interpretations of documentary and numismatic evidence. Contrary to what has been the general understanding I argue that money was available, and it was, in longer periods of time, available within a framework of a well organized monetary system with large coinages. In the second half of the 12th century, coins became distributed and used among a larger group of people in rural areas than ever before. In market places and towns, money economy was emerging in the 11th and 12th, and probably seen partly in effect in the 13th and 14th century. If we accept the evidence for coinage and the use of money as being widely distributed, or even accept it partly, it opens up a range of new perspectives to use as starting points for understanding medieval monetary and economic history in Norway.