Le Débat Wolffien Sur L’Idéalisme de Leibniz Lors de la Première Diffusion de la Monadologie Latine

This paper proposes a reconstruction of the Wolffian debate on Leibniz’s idealism arising from the initial response to Leibniz’s Monadology. This reconstruction requires us to revisit some problems central to the debate: an inaccurate translation of a term in the latin Monadology («le composé» is translated as «substantia composita»); status of body as composed substance; status of elements as simple substances from which bodies result (which goes against the Cartesian conception of substance); status of Leibnizian notions of perception, force and pre-established harmony; status of experience as a holistic and systematic process (which goes against its conception and the tabula rasa in Locke) in the Wolffian response and system. A thorough examination of the founding texts of the response (Bilfinger and Wolff) allows us to reconsider the relation between Leibniz and Wolff from a new perspective.     

High-carbon steel and ancient sword-making as observed in a double-edged sword from an Iron Age megalithic burial in Tamil Nadu,India

An iron sword from an Iron Age megalithic burial at Thelunganur in Tamil Nadu, India, was examined using metallographic techniques. The sword was made of ultra-high-carbon steel with a fairly uniform microstructure consisting primarily of fine cementite particles in a ferrite background free of notable non-metallic inclusions. The morphological control, however, was not perfect and frequently allowed cementite to precipitate in the form of a network along austenite grain boundaries. It was also observed that carbide particles of varying size and shape often caused microscopic layers to develop, forming a visible pattern to the naked eye on the polished and etched surface of the iron sword. This pattern likely inspired the later development of various surface markings such as the damask. This paper presents a detailed account of the analytical data to show that the iron sword under consideration was an early example of high-carbon steel employed in the manufacture of a functional object where the divorced eutectoid transformation technique, rediscovered recently, was used for the control of cementite morphology. It is also proposed that technologies for making and handling high-carbon steel were in existence at a much earlier date than previously supposed.     

Punctuated Equilibrium and Bureaucratic Autonomy in American City Governments

Several recent applications of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) have yielded compelling findings linking institutional design and change distributions, yet, much more work needs to be done to understand institutional arrangements that make punctuated processes more or less likely. In responding to the recent call for more research on unraveling particular mechanisms through which bureaucracy moderates the odds of policy punctuations, this research explores the potential of bureaucratic expertise and professionalism in fostering rational decision making, and thus the stability in change dynamics. One important feature of urban government receives close attention: the position by professionalized, trained bureaucrats in municipalities (city manager and chief administrative officer) and the effects of their discretion on altering municipal budgetary change distributions. Analysis of a novel dataset of fiscal policy changes, charter and census information of city governments in the State of Michigan, 2005–11, suggests city governments, on average, produce change patterns that conform to the expectations of PET; more importantly, it reveals that heightened levels of managerial discretion can have a significant implication for helping cities experience less abrupt, punctuated budget changes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these results for PET, policy change dynamics, and the design of city-governing institutions.     

MISREPRESENTING MARX: A LESSON IN HISTORICAL METHOD

In this book Jonathan Sperber deploys his extensive knowledge of nineteenth‐century European social and political history, and his diligent research into sources that have become readily available only recently, to produce a substantial biography of Karl Marx. We find, however, that Sperber is mistaken in his treatment of Marx's ideas and of the intellectual contexts within which Marx worked. In fact, we suggest that he is systematically mistaken in this regard. We locate a root source of the error in his reductive approach to theoretical ideas. In section I we focus on the claim, taken for granted in the book, that Marx's ideas are instantiations of “materialism.” By detailed reference to the record of Marx's writings, we show that there is no justification for describing Marx as a “materialist” in the usually accepted senses of that term. In section II we review how Soviet and other interpreters of Marx, taking their lead from the later Engels, insisted that “materialism” was fundamental to Marxism. We suggest that Sperber's presentation of Marx's thinking as “materialist and atheist” aligns far better with such interpretations than it does with what Marx actually wrote. In sections III and IV we criticize Sperber's “contextualist” approach to dealing with ideas in history. His approach may seem reminiscent of Quentin Skinner’ s, but where Skinner deploys the discursive conventions prevailing in a past time to illuminate theoretical ideas, Sperber reduces theoretical ideas to context. We name Sperber's approach “theoretical nominalism,” a term that we use to denote the view that theoretical ideas are nothing but interventions into particular situations. We end by suggesting that greater attentiveness to philosophy and theory would have enriched Sperber's efforts in this book.     

Revised stratigraphy of the Xiazhen Formation (Upper Ordovician) at Zhuzhai,South China,based on palaeontological and lithological data

Lee, D.-C., Park, J., Woo, J., Kwon, Y.K., Lee, J.-G., Guan, L., Sun, N., Lee, S.-B., Liang, K., Liu, L., Rhee, C.-W., Choh, S.-J., Kim, B.-S. & Lee, D.-J., September 2012. Revised stratigraphy of the Xiazhen Formation (Upper Ordovician) at Zhuzhai, South China, based on palaeontological and lithological data. Alcheringa 36, 393–412. ISSN 0311-5518.

Three exposures of the Upper Ordovician Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai, Yushan, Jiangxi Province, China are re-measured and described in detail. Comparison of palaeontological and lithological data from the exposures (designated sub-sections ZU1, ZU2 and ZU3) reveals that the sub-sections overlap stratigraphically. Nearly identical assemblages of trilobites and brachiopods occur in mudstones of ZU1 and ZU3, whereas a different assemblage occurs in those of ZU2. Identical coral species occur in the overlapped intervals of ZU1 and ZU2, and ZU1 and ZU3, respectively. In addition, a distinctive identical lithological succession consisting of brachiopod-bearing nodular limestone at the base to coral floatstone at the top is evident in the overlapped interval of ZU1 and ZU2; prism-cracked algal laminites are found in the same interval; and bioclastic limestone beds, which represent bioherms consisting mainly of corals and stromatoporoids, occur in both ZU1 and ZU3. A thrust fault system appears to be responsible for the repetition in the subsections, and the faulting was probably due to the major post-Ordovician structural movements exerted on the Zhe-Gan Platform of the Jiangnan Region of the South China Block.

Dong-Chan Lee [dclee@hit.ac.kr], Department of Heritage Studies, Daejeon Health Sciences College, 300-711, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; Jino Park [jinopark@korea.ac.kr], Suk-Joo Choh [sjchoh@korea.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, 136-701, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Jusun Woo [jusunwoo@kopri.re.kr], Division of Polar Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, 406-840, Incheon, Republic of Korea; Yi Kyun Kwon [kyk70@kigam.re.kr], Marine and Petroleum Division, Korea Institutue of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 305-350, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; Jeong-Gu Lee [leejg@mest.go.kr], Seung-Bae Lee [sblee@mest.go.kr], Exhibition Planning and Coordination Division, Gwacheon National Science Museum, 427-060, Gwacheon, Republic of Korea; Liming Guan [glm.1103218@yahoo.com], Ning Sun [sun@andong.ac.kr], Kun Liang [ibcaskun@126.com], Lu Liu [liulu323@hotmail.com], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, 760-749, Andong, Republic of Korea; Dong-Jin Lee [djlee@andong.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, 760-749, Andong, Republic of Korea and College of Earth Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China; Chul-Woo Rhee [gloryees@chungbuk.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Chungbuk National University, 361-763, Cheongju, Republic of Korea; Byong-Song Kim [kbs1972@163.com], Department of Resources Exploration Engineering, Kim Chaek University of Technology, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and College of Earth Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China. Received 16.10.2011, revised 4.1.2012, accepted 16.1.2012.     

The key role of zinc,tin and lead in copper-base objects from medieval Talgar in Kazakhstan

Metallurgical examination of brass and bronze objects from the medieval (AD 9th–13th century) site at Talgar in Kazakhstan shows that they were mostly cast from the quaternary copper–zinc–tin–lead system with some exceptions that were forged from binary copper–zinc alloys. Evidence is found that brass was produced in the cementation process and that the addition of tin and lead to the parent brass was considered beneficial in casting but was strictly avoided in forging. The mutual effect of zinc, tin and lead for better casting and the advantages of the binary copper–zinc alloys in forging seem to have been the major factors driving the establishment of this unique brass tradition in a society with probably limited access to tin.     

Cultural implications of international volunteer tourism: US students’ experiences in Cameroon

ABSTRACT

A popular trend is for US colleges to organise short-term, self-funded trips for students to volunteer for several weeks in poverty-stricken communities in the global South. To explore the cultural implications of short-term, international volunteer projects, I undertake an ethnographic study of college students of who travel to a small village in Cameroon to improve the quality of drinking water and community health. I examine whether the volunteer tourism can serve as a unique opportunity to see beyond the African stereotypes to recognise the historical and structural context in which Africa continues to suffer. Although a trip such as this can be a disruptive event for students to critically evaluate the global privileges of Westerners, students tend to experience Cameroon through the lens of popular stereotypes about Africa and Western paternalism. The encounters with Africans in the absence of sufficient education about postcolonial Africa can affirm the stereotypes and cultural superiority formed in USA because students negotiate their actual experience in ways to confirm their perception of Africa. Therefore, seminars and workshops about the fundamental aspects about global inequality can help educate volunteers about the postcolonial context of foreign aid of Western countries for the Third World, and White privilege.     

Characteristics of CO2‐driven cold‐water geyser,Crystal Geyser in Utah: experimental observation and mechanism analyses

Geologic carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an option for reducing CO₂ emissions, but leakage to the surface is a risk factor. Natural CO₂ reservoirs that erupt from abandoned oil and gas holes leak to the surface as spectacular cold geysers in the Colorado Plateau, United States. A better understanding of the mechanisms of CO₂‐driven cold‐water geysers will provide valuable insight about the potential modes of leakage from engineered CCS sites. A notable example of a CO₂‐driven cold‐water geyser is Crystal Geyser in central Utah. We investigated the fluid mechanics of this regularly erupting geyser by instrumenting its conduit with sensors and measuring pressure and temperature every 20 sec over a period of 17 days. Analyses of these measurements suggest that the timescale of a single‐eruption cycle is composed of four successive eruption types with two recharge periods ranging from 30 to 40 h. Current eruption patterns exhibit a bimodal distribution, but these patterns evolved during past 80 years. The field observation suggests that the geyser's eruptions are regular and predictable and reflect pressure and temperature changes resulting from Joule–Thomson cooling and endothermic CO₂ exsolution. The eruption interval between multiple small‐scale eruptions is a direct indicator of the subsequent large‐scale eruption.     

A human-centered GIS approach to modeling mobility on southern Baffin Island,Nunavut, Canada

Southern Baffin Island has been occupied for several millennia, but its enormous size, coupled with scarcity of identified inland archaeological sites that can be confidently linked to coastal occupations, makes modeling ancient seasonal mobility across the region through traditional cost-surface least-cost pathway approaches impractical. We present a method that combines weighted multi-criteria cost surface analysis with a watershed function to create a “mobility-shed” of non-winter travel pathways covering the study area. We evaluate the predictive utility of the resulting pathways for future archaeological survey by assessing their spatial relationships to known archaeological sites. The results of this comparison suggest that elevation and land cover criteria should be augmented with ethnographic and resource availability data to model mobility in this region.     

Staging Japan: The Takarazuka Revue and Cultural Nationalism in the 1950s–60s

In the 1950s and 1960s, the modern Japanese state employed overseas cultural promotion as a way to maximise its interests and image not only in international contexts but also at home. By juxtaposing the Takarazuka Revue’s performances in the United States and Japan during the postwar period, this paper argues that the overseas promotion of this Japanese theatre troupe both depended upon and reinforced the Japanese populace’s nationalistic pride in its culture. The paper also addresses the ways in which the Japanese government used Takarazuka’s theatrical presentations as a means of pursuing its domestic and diplomatic agendas: improving Japan’s international position by proposing shared aspects of popular culture with the US and increasing its sense of nationalism by propagating cultural pride. In doing so, the paper explicates the ways in which Japanese popular cultural considerations interfaced with political concerns in the shaping of postwar Japan’s national identity.