An Experimental Technological Study of Upper Paleolithic Kostenki-type Figurines

Principal stages in the manufacture of zoomorphic, polyiconic, and anthropomorphic Upper Paleolithic figurines are reconstructed. General factors determining their characteristics include universal conventions of representation and the limited set of technological operations available, whereas local factors include specific ways of processing materials and combining artistic techniques, the manner of individual masters, technological faults and accidents, as well as taphonomic processes.     

Titans with Feet of Clay

The Two Cultures debate of the early 1960s was initiated by C. P. Snow and by F. R. Leavis. Snow's understanding of the nature of science was fashionable but defective, while Leavis's views were those of a literary coterie, quaint and lacking the universality he wished to claim. Between them, as a result, they created an ill-conceived dichotomy, leading to a nugatory debate. Snow's profound lack of understanding of the nature of science and technology was in line with views popular in his time, but was all too likely to be seriously damaging to those whom he wished to champion.     

Fishing gear from the Roman period in the Netherlands: An overview

This paper presents an overview of fishing gear recovered from Roman period sites in the Netherlands. Fish hooks, line sinkers, net sinkers, floaters, wickerwork fish traps, canoes with live wells and fish tanks have been identified. These artefacts provide additional insight into the widespread practice of fishing and thus of fish consumption during this time period and is a valuable addition to research on archaeological fish bone remains.     

Comparison of the Different Types of Qinghua Porcelain from Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty of China (ad 1271–1368) by Micro X‐ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (μ‐XRF) and Microscopy

The Yuan Qinghua porcelain produced in the city of Jingdezhen, in China, mainly includes the gaudy blue type, a blue–grey or grey‐coloured type and the type featuring a blue colour with a slight amount of grey. For a long time, only the gaudy blue type was focused on and discussed, while the other two types, which contain equally important information with regard to recovering the manufacturing technology of Yuan Qinghua, were always ignored by scientific researchers. In this paper, by using micro X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ‐XRF), spectrophotometry and optical microscopy, all three different types of Yuan Qinghua porcelain are analysed systemically and, based on the analyses of the body, the glaze and the blue decoration, the differences in the materials and the manufacturing technologies of the three different types are discussed. This not only provides a good basis for the reconstruction of the whole picture of the manufacturing process of Yuan Qinghua porcelains in Jingdezhen, but also contributes to database‐building for the identification of Qinghua porcelain.     

Technology of Medieval Mortars: An Investigation into the Use of Organic Additives

This work proposes a multi‐analytical approach to determine the additives in historical mortars, the use of which is widely described in bibliographical sources, but has rarely been reported in the literature. A protocol to thoroughly analyse mortars was created (optical microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analyses and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry). These techniques, which had already been carried out on samples from various sites from the Roman to the modern era, determined that additives had only been used in the mortars from the internal masonry at our sampling site: the medieval military shipyard of Amalfi (Italy). The investigations yielded information on the production technology, and FT–IR and GC–MS revealed a saccharide material‐based additive in the mortars, of plant origin. The FT–IR spectra suggested the presence of a natural gum, which has been used since ancient times to strengthen the cohesion properties of mortars and their resistance to tensile stress.     

The Necessity of Dialectical Naturalism: Marcuse,Bookchin, and Dialectics in the Midst of Ecological Crises

In the wake of ecological crises, there has been a resurgence of interest in the relation between dialectical thought and nature. The work of Herbert Marcuse and Murray Bookchin offers unique approaches to this question that remain highly relevant. In the first half of the article, we engage with Marcuse's application of the dialectical method in which he gestured to the “vital need” to push beyond the appearance of “the real” and yet lamented the loss of the ability for negative thinking to pierce the dominance of the “technical apparatus” that tied humanity to this “radical falsity”. Here, we suggest the need for a more holistic dialectical understanding of the social totality—one that is directly located within, and takes as foundational, the environmental conditions of human society. In the second half, we examine Murray Bookchin's conception of “dialectical naturalism” as a more thorough engagement with the human/nature relation that surpasses Marcuse's late engagements with ecologism. In particular, we offer critical reflections on the concept of “nature” in the contemporary ecology movement and illustrate how dialectical naturalism is capable of not only transcending dualistic conceptions of “man/nature” but in expanding our awareness of the potentialities of history along what Bookchin terms the “libertory pathways” to a restorative relation between human “second nature” and biological “first nature”. We posit that systemic, interconnected and accelerating ecological crises (climatic, biospheric and oceanic) form the objective and absolute contradiction of contemporary global social life that compels an awareness of the potentialities of an ecological society. Only through this awareness can we break through the reified “solutions” that have often plagued the ecology movement, bringing about the urgent social and ecological transformation that our species requires for its liberation and long‐term survival.     

Engineering Education in Cold War Diplomacy: India,Germany, and the Establishment of IIT Madras**

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT) was set up with assistance of the Federal Republic of Germany between 1956 and 1974. It became the largest, and finally, a successful techno-scientific education project undertaken by the Federal Republic outside of Germany. In this paper, I argue that the engagement of the Federal Republic at IIT Madras has to be understood primarily as a project of Cold-War science and technology diplomacy, which on the German side was aimed at preventing an Indian recognition of the German Democratic Republic as a sovereign nation. In aiding the establishment of IIT Madras, the Federal Republic came into direct competition with the Soviet Union, which supported IIT Bombay but also with the United States of America, which supported IIT Kanpur. The assistance to establish IIT Madras and its governance followed mainly political guidelines, to which educational and scientific aspects were rendered subordinate. When the project was in a crisis after the first State Treaty to establish IIT Madras expired in 1963, the political flagship project of the Federal Republic was not allowed to fail. Instead, the cooperation was reorganized and support increased.     

The anti-politics of smart energy regimes

In this paper, we explicate how smart energy infrastructures embed and enact politics. By advancing the framework of technopolitics, and building on two in-depth case studies of the US and Australia, this paper analyzes the emergence and effects of the smart energy sector. With the aim of economizing electricity, the “modernization” of the energy sector has followed from historical dynamics of deregulation and marketization. Based on interviews and document analysis, we argue that a specific logic, which we call anti-politics, is now being enacted through the creation of policies and technologies that aim to reduce and remove human agency from energy systems. Analyses based on post-politics do not fully capture the extent to which politics—the continual process of disagreement and deliberation—has been purged from the ideologies and institutions that govern energy and society. In addition to the technocratic evolution beyond politics, we are witnessing the neoliberal elimination of politics.