A European Enlightenment in the Promised Land? The Jewish Kulturkampf at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the European Kulturkampf in the nineteenth century from the points of view of the Russian Hebrew writer Judah Leib Gordon and the founding father of the Zionist movement Theodor Herzl. Gordon’s literary outlook emphasizes the tension between the traditional Jewish religious leadership and the maskilim as an instance of the sweeping all-European Kulturkampf phenomenon, in which the problem of the rabbis was the last issue that had not yet been solved. He believed that the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel, without the elimination of the rabbis’ authority, carried serious dangers. In his dystopian feuilleton published in 1885 depicting the future Jewish state, he argued that the victory of liberalism was a historical necessity in order to avoid a radical orthodox and nationalistic hegemony. Like Gordon before him, Herzl feared that losing the basic humanistic principles of the Enlightenment the Jews had acquired in Europe would be one of the outcomes of their settling in the Land of Israel. In his 1902 utopian novel Altneuland he declared: “Stand by the principles that have made us great: Liberalism, Tolerance, Love of Mankind. Only then will Zion be truly Zion.” Gordon and Herzl both expressed their concerns in their fictional works, probably wishing that these would serve only as warning signs.     

Cooking Pots as Burial Urns

Abstract

Large ceramic vessels used as burial urns occasionally have been found in Late Mississippian/protohistoric contexts in Alabama and Mississippi. Ethnohistorical documents suggest that large vessels were used for cooking in a domestic context. A systematic examination of three urns from east-central Mississippi shows multiple uses prior to their final deposition with burials. Vessel size analysis of a temporal sequence of sherds from midden contexts used sherd thickness and curvature data to show that large vessels became more common. Three explanations are examined to better understand the use of large vessels during this time: bet hedging, costly signaling, and changing technology. The results confirm the use of burial urns in domestic contexts before their final use as interment containers, making technological change the most viable of the three hypotheses.     

Future challenges for Australian and world interpretive methodology

Abstract

When Tilden wrote his book Heritage Interpretation in 1957 he could never have imagined the full extent of socio‐ecological challenges that would be facing humanity at the millennial dawn.This paper defines nine suggested challenge areas for world heritage interpretation and some of the issues that must be urgently addressed if interpretation is to remain a positive force for the survival of humanity and ecological systems.     

Equilibrium,Stability and Strength The Anatomy of Structural Performance

Abstract

Structures, contrary to general experience and expectation, do move. It is therefore the responsibility of the structural engineer, bearing in mind economy and materials, to decide how far he can go in his designs to control structural performance and to avoid failure. Here the basic principles are reviewed: calculating the strength of structures with computers, the complications when movement becomes significant, the structural properties which can cause trouble, when deflections can help and finally if it is possible to achieve a perfect structure.     

Tocqueville on Pantheism,Materialism, and Catholicism

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that Leo Strauss was an extraordinary scholar and teacher who strove to open up forgotten vistas of philosophical inquiry. Gigantic controversy rages, however, about the sorts of political and social changes, if any, that he hoped to promote. The fire has been fueled by the alleged contributions of Straussians to the Iraq War—and by the publication of Strauss's 1933 letter that commended “fascist, authoritarian, and imperial” principles. This article reviews and then updates the assessments proffered in my 2009 book (Straussophobia) about the state of the “Strauss Wars.” Critics such as Shadia Drury continue to embarrass themselves in prestigious venues, but newer voices are using innovative strategies to argue that Strauss was attempting to undermine the principles of American democracy. Whereas William Altman relies on “esoteric interpretations” of Strauss's writings, Alan Gilbert illuminates Strauss's behind-the-scenes efforts regarding policy disputes. Although I maintain that Gilbert and especially Altman have made invaluable contributions, I argue that they both overreach.     

Cosmology,creation, and the force of history

Abstract

At first sight, any attempt to understand the cosmos may seem overambitious. Cosmologists would claim, nonetheless, to have transformed their subject into a genuine empirical science, especially in the last three decades. This progress has proved possible because the universe possesses a surprising degree of overall symmetry and uniformity. It is complexity, and not sheer size, that makes a phenomenon baffling. In the fierce heat of a star and (even more surely) in the early universe, everything is broken down into its simplest constituents. So cosmology need not be the most intractable science. Our biological colleagues – studying the intricate multilayered structures of trees, butterflies, and brains – face challenges that may be even tougher.     

Stone-boiling maize with limestone: experimental results and implications for nutrition among SE Utah preceramic groups

Groups living on Cedar Mesa, SE Utah in the late Basketmaker II period (Grand Gulch phase, AD 200–400) were heavily maize-dependent, but lacked beans as a supplemental plant protein, and pottery vessels for cooking. Common occurrence of limestone fragments in their household middens suggests 1) limestone may have been used as the heating element for stone-boiling maize and 2) this practice might have made some maize proteins more available for human nutrition. Experiments examined these possibilities; results indicate that stone-boiling with Cedar Mesa limestone creates an alkaline cooking environment suitable for nixtamalization of maize kernels, and that maize cooked in this fashion shows significant increases in availability of lysine, tryptophan, and methionine. Archaeological limestone fragments from a Grand Gulch phase site show amounts of fragmentation and changes in density consistent with repeated heating. While not conclusive, these data indicate that further research (e.g., examination of archaeological limestone fragments for maize starch grains or phytoliths) is warranted. It is suggested that greater attention be paid to archaeological indications of stone-boiling with limestone among maize-dependent but pre-pottery societies.     

A group of 17th-century glass goblets with restored stems: considering the archaeology of repair

Abstract

Recent research has identified a group of 22 glass goblets, dating to the 17th century, that have contemporary repairs to their stems. The repairs used are conspicuous and it is doubtful whether they would have proved effective in the long term. This paper compares these stems with repaired vessels of other media and periods to ascertain whether there were additional motives for the retention of damaged material culture. Further reasons for these repairs are suggested, leading to significant differences in the way that material culture can be viewed archaeologically.     

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.     

Russia,nuclear leakage,and the non-proliferation regime

Abstract

Russia inherited from the Soviet Union vast holdings of nuclear weapons and of the fissile materials necessary to build them. These nuclear assets have been in the possession of a Russia in the midst of an extraordinarily difficult and turbulent political, social, and economic transformation. Never before have such enormous inventories of nuclear weapons and fissile materials existed in such circumstances of political instability and uncertainty and economic distress. The economic struggles and financial crisis experienced by Russia since it emerged as an independent state in 1991 have placed enormous stress on its society. The Russian military and the Russian nuclear complex have not been exempt from these pressures. This reality has led to concerns that the Russian state is not in a position to provide adequately for the safety and security of its nuclear assets. If true, this would raise the risk that these assets could leak out of Russia and into the hands of those who wish to acquire nuclear weapons –the so called nuclear leakage problem.     

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.     

The Thought and Role of Ayatollah Hossein'ali Montazeri in the Politics of Post-1979 Iran

Ayatollah Montazeri was a Khomeinist who came to regret being Khomeini's unabashed protegé. Though he has never abandoned the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, he has sought to reconceptualize it by furnishing it with democratic principles. In this, he has not been credible, although he has managed to portray himself as a reformer among some Iranian activists who themselves have credible reformist credentials, such as Akbar Ganji. But other reformists believe that the principles of the mandate of the jurist permit authoritarian abuses. And those among them who seek a mujtahid's support for overthrowing that doctrine would prefer to turn to the writings of Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Ha'iri (d. 1999).     

Ships on Maps: Pictures of Power in Renaissance Europe. By Richard W. Unger

Abstract

In the Reclus-Perron cartographical collection held in the Public Library of Geneva, a recently discovered map by the explorer Henri Coudreau seems to have been essential, together with other published and unpublished cartographic materials, in deciding the 1900 Swiss arbitration of the Franco-Brazilian border dispute. These materials provide an opportunity not only to analyse the political power of maps, but also to explore a different European way of conceiving maps and geography, that of anarchist geographers, which diverged from the uncritical hagiographies of colonialism and geographical discoveries that were typical in European science during the Age of Empire (1875?1914).     

Becoming a conservation ‘good power’: Norway’s early World Heritage history

Abstract

States stand at the core of the World Heritage Convention and their multifaceted interstate relations have been a central subject in contemporary World Heritage research. Less research has been directed towards intrastate relations, that is relations between organisation-agencies and individual agents within a State Party. Spurring from the 40th anniversary of Norway’s ratification of the World Heritage Convention, this paper utilises archival records to explore the intrastate relations and transactional authority at play within the State Party of Norway. Inspired by recent research in international relations and political science, it analyses Norway’s ratification process (1972–1977) through its early years as an observer (1978–1983) to its first committee tenure (1983–1989). Currently known as one of the spokespersons for scientific advice, returning to the 1980s provides an opportunity to reflect on how Norway laid the foundations for becoming a conservation ‘good power’ through its actions and responses to other states’ lobbying efforts.     

Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus (1776–1827) on Gall’s craniognomic system,zoology, and comparative anatomy

ABSTRACT

Most of what was known about Franz Joseph Gall’s (1758–1828) organology or Schädellehre prior to the 1820s came from secondary sources, including letters from correspondents, promotional materials, brief newspaper articles about his lecture-demonstrations, and editions and translations of some lengthier works of varying quality in German. Physician Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus (1776–1827) practiced in Vienna’s General Hospital in 1797–1798; attended some of Gall’s public lectures; and, in 1801–1802, became one of the first physicians to provide detailed reports on Gall’s emerging organology in French and English, respectively. Although Bojanus considered the human mind to be indivisible and did not entirely agree with Gall’s assumption that the brain consists of a number of independent organs responsible for various faculties, he provided valuable information and thoughtful commentary on Gall’s views. Furthermore, he defended Gall against the charge that his sort of thinking would lead to materialism and cautiously predicted that the new system would be fruitful for developing and stimulating important new research about the brain and mind. Bojanus became a professor of zoology in 1806 and a professor of comparative anatomy in 1814 at Vilnius University, where, among other accomplishments, he established himself as a founder of modern veterinary medicine and a pioneer of pre-Darwinian and pre-Lamarckian evolutionism.     

Communicating Science through the Performing Arts

Abstract

The author reviews over a decade of science and the arts programming he and his colleagues have produced and disseminated. The programs have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the American Physical Society, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and various foundations and corporations. The author gives detailed examples of using science and the arts to reach the public and students with respect to programming related to the play Copenhagen, the opera Doctor Atomic, the Science & the Arts Series, a major international conference on Communicating Science to the Public, and many other outreach efforts.     

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 Responsibility of Science for the Future of Mankind

Abstract

Science and technology have brought immense benefits to man, yet through them he has become divorced from nature and he has failed to understand them. Adverse effects have been deliberately hidden, and when they became obvious, have turned science into a scapegoat. Scientists are here presented as unconcerned with the social consequences of their work, whether it affects industry or politics. The endless scientific future is now seen to have strict limits, and, the author proposes, scientists must devote themselves to the problems of mankind's future. Above all, scientists must explain their work in a language which all can understand, so that man can feel again at ease in his scientific civilization.     

Creation in Art and Science

Abstract

The proposition that the creations of art are unique (in the sense tbat we would not have had Timon of Athens had Shakespeare not lived), whereas the creations of science are inevitable or commonplace (in the sense that we would have had the DNA double helix even if Watson and Crick had not lived), has little philosophical or historical merit. For, this proposition conflates works of art and science (the texts of the play Timon and of the paper A structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid), both of which are unique, and their semantic content (the insights into human affects provided by Timon and the concept of the DNA double helix), both of which are commonplace as well as unique.