On the Problem of Laws in Nature and History: A Comparison

In the philosophy of science there has traditionally been a tendency to regard physics as the incarnation of science per se . Consequently, the status of other disciplines has been evaluated according to their ability to produce laws resembling those of physics. This view has yielded a considerable bias in the discussion of historical laws. Philosophers as well as historians have tended to discuss such laws mostly with reference to the situation in physics; this often led to either one of two conclusions, namely that (1) history is epistemologically completely separated from natural science because it does not have universal laws, or that (2) the ultimate goal of the study of history must be the formulation of such universal laws. I maintain that neither conclusion is necessary. To substantiate this position, I discuss several aspects of natural laws. One aspect that is often neglected is that there are many kinds of statistical laws in nature; there is no close link between laws and determinism. Moreover, natural systems exist that have a history, that is, systems that are, like human history, shaped by irreversible, singular events. One important case is biological evolution; accordingly I discuss the relation between evolutionary theory and historiography. However, since we are part of the living world, and in addition to considering the methodological similarities between the two fields, one could also ask whether the laws of evolution are of direct relevance for understanding our history. This issue of history as evolution is investigated in detail in the final section of the paper.     

Information Technology and Public Policy

Douglas Rushkoff, Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyper space
Douglas Rushkoff, Media Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture
Douglas Rushkoff, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say     

Analyzing Fertility and Attraction in the Paleolithic: The Venus Figurines

Countless hypotheses have focused on the enigmatic “Venuses”, but most are not testable. The current authors investigate a hypothesis suggested by R.D. Guthrie involving the waist-to-hip ratio. This measurement determines fertility, beauty, and health in modern females; a 0.7 indicates cross-cultural beauty and fertility. Guthrie argued that the statuettes share an average waist-to-hip ratio of 0.655, indicating that Paleolithic males preferred curvier women. We sought to test this and analyze regional data. Our mean was significantly different than Guthrie's and we found evidence for regional differences. While some statuettes may have served as Paleo-erotica, it seems unlikely that they all did.     

Cross-border regional innovation systems: conceptual backgrounds,empirical evidence and policy implications

The concept of cross-border regional innovation systems (CBRIS) surfaced in the literature on economic geography through discourses that highlighted the need for broadening innovation systems to cross-border contexts. Since these early discussions, the theoretical backgrounds of CBRIS have been elaborated through notions of geographical scale, proximity and related variety in a range of conceptual papers proposing CBRIS as a comprehensive framework for analysing regional cross-border integration. However, the empirical literature on CBRIS has failed to keep up with the advances in conceptualization. This paper discusses the reasons behind this mismatch, which means that the concept still rests upon and draws policy suggestions based on a thin evidence base. Directions for further research are pointed out by underlining the need for holistic empirical validation of the concept together with the need of understanding how suggested policy measures based on CBRIS reasoning have been implemented in border regions, and their effectiveness in promoting cross-border integration.     

Denmark,Scandinavia and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in the early Cold War

This article analyses the role of the Danish and Scandinavian labour movements in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in 1950–1955. First, it is demonstrated that although the Scandinavians were critical towards the communist regimes in eastern Europe and supported the Marshall Plan, they only joined the ICFTU as a result of the British break-up of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Next, the Scandinavians, on the one hand, allied with the British and other west Europeans and rejected the ‘negative’ anticommunism of the Americans, while, on the other hand, they supported the establishment of an intelligence network behind the Iron Curtain, gave financial aid to the campaign against communists in west European unions, and supported victims of the East German uprising in 1953. In short, the Scandinavians closely followed the British, remained critical towards the Americans, and challenged the Soviets.     

Learning across distances: an international collaborative learning project between Berlin and Turku

Many geographers graduating from universities enter an international and project-based professional life, which includes working in geographically dispersed project teams. In Europe, the Bologna process aligned study programs and supported student mobility to prepare students for such a work environment. However, research on higher education has reported few examples of international courses that include collaborative learning during which students have experience of both co-location and geographical dispersion. This paper reports on a pilot course that implemented international student-led research projects in two Geography Departments: the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of Turku. We monitored the students’ learning processes via a survey that was administered at the beginning, middle and end of the course, complemented by observations, informal discussions and student team reports. We analysed the survey and observations within a proximity-distance framework to identify the key challenges and good practices for supporting collaborative learning. We developed a model for organising an international course that applies both geographical distance and co-location.     

Heat treatment in the South African Middle Stone Age: temperature induced transformations of silcrete and their technological implications

It was recently found that silcrete raw material was heat-treated during the South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) for altering its flaking properties. This finding led to hypotheses about the implications for the MSA hunter-gatherers such as the cost of thermal treatment in terms of investment and firewood. To date, these hypotheses lack a solid basis, for data on the thermal transformations of South African silcrete and, hence, the necessary heating procedure and heating environment, is missing. In order to produce such data, we conducted an experimental study within the framework of the Diepkloof project. This work is based on the petrographic, mineralogical and structural analysis of South African silcrete from the West Coast and its thermal transformations. Our results shed light on the nature of these transformations, the ideal heating temperatures and the tolerated heating speed. The processes occurring in silcrete are comparable to flint, i.e. the loss of chemically bound ‘water’ and the formation of new Si–O–Si bonds, but their intensity is less pronounced. Effective heating temperatures are significantly higher than for flint and the heating speed tolerated by South African silcrete is relatively fast. These findings imply that silcrete heat treatment cannot be directly compared with flint heat treatment. Unlike flint, heating silcrete does not require the setup of a dedicated heating environment and may have been performed in the same time as other fire related activities. This would represent only a minor supplementary investment in time and firewood. These results have broad implications for the discussion about technological evolution and the acquisition of specialised knowledge in the MSA.     

The Trelleborg House Reconsidered

THE RECONSTRUCTED Viking-age house erected at Trelleborg in 1942 (FIG. 20) has, as a result of recent archaeological investigation,¹ proved to be wrongly designed. The theory that it had an outside gallery is impossible to sustain, since on further examination the posts proved to be inclined towards the house and they must, therefore, be explained as buttresses. Further, since the height of the walls had been deduced basically from the fact that the gallery must allow of free passage, the whole structure of the house must be reconsidered. Despite these errors the Trelleborg reconstruction has produced an extended discussion of Viking-age house structure and provides a reasonable starting point for a new study.     

Anthropology and education: History,method and applications to American schooling

Joan I. Roberts and Sherrie K. Akinsanya, eds. Educational Patterns and Cultural Configurations: The Anthropology of Education. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1976. xiv + 412 pp. Bibliography, biographical notes, and references. $7.95 paper.

Joan I. Roberts and Sherrie K. Akinsanya, eds. Schooling in the Cultural Context: Anthropological Studies of Education. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1976. xiv + 499 pp. Biographical notes and references. $8.95 paper.

Nobou Kenneth Shimahara and Adam Scrupski, eds. Social Forces and Schooling: An Anthropological and Sociological Perspective. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1975. xiv + 358 pp. Biographical notes and references. $6.95 paper.