Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, ...
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This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson; and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, form a constellation of scientists who have become public intellectuals, influencing millions of people around the world. All six have made major and highly original contributions to science, and all six have stepped onto the public stage, articulating a much larger vision for science, how it should work, and what role it should play in the worldview of the modern world. In so doing, they have challenged many traditional ideas, such as belief in God. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions exert an enormous influence on modern intellectual conversation, both inside and outside science. The book carefully distinguishes science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles, and invites readers to a respectful dialogue with some of the greatest minds of our time.Less
This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson; and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, form a constellation of scientists who have become public intellectuals, influencing millions of people around the world. All six have made major and highly original contributions to science, and all six have stepped onto the public stage, articulating a much larger vision for science, how it should work, and what role it should play in the worldview of the modern world. In so doing, they have challenged many traditional ideas, such as belief in God. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions exert an enormous influence on modern intellectual conversation, both inside and outside science. The book carefully distinguishes science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles, and invites readers to a respectful dialogue with some of the greatest minds of our time.
Edwin S. Gaustad
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305357
- eISBN:
- 9780199850662
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305357.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
The tenth and youngest son of a poor Boston soapmaker, Benjamin Franklin would rise to become, in Thomas Jefferson's words, “the greatest man and ornament of his age”. This book offers a portrait of ...
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The tenth and youngest son of a poor Boston soapmaker, Benjamin Franklin would rise to become, in Thomas Jefferson's words, “the greatest man and ornament of his age”. This book offers a portrait of this towering colonial figure, illuminating Franklin's character and personality. Here is truly one of the most extraordinary lives imaginable, a man who, with only two years of formal education, became a printer, publisher, postmaster, philosopher, world-class scientist and inventor, statesman, musician, and abolitionist. The book presents a chronological account of all these accomplishments, delightfully spiced with quotations from Franklin's own extensive writings. The book describes how the hardworking Franklin became at age twenty-four the most successful printer in Pennsylvania and how by forty-two, with the help of Poor Richard's Almanack, he had amassed enough wealth to retire from business. The book then follows Franklin's next brilliant career, as an inventor and scientist, examining his pioneering work on electricity and his inventions of the Franklin Stove, the lightning rod, and bifocals, as well as his mapping of the Gulf Stream, a major contribution to navigation. Lastly, the book covers Franklin's role as America's leading statesman, ranging from his years in England before the Revolutionary War to his time in France thereafter, highlighting his many contributions to the cause of liberty. Along the way, the book sheds light on Franklin's personal life, including his troubled relationship with his illegitimate son William, who remained a Loyalist during the Revolution, and Franklin's thoughts on such topics as religion and morality.Less
The tenth and youngest son of a poor Boston soapmaker, Benjamin Franklin would rise to become, in Thomas Jefferson's words, “the greatest man and ornament of his age”. This book offers a portrait of this towering colonial figure, illuminating Franklin's character and personality. Here is truly one of the most extraordinary lives imaginable, a man who, with only two years of formal education, became a printer, publisher, postmaster, philosopher, world-class scientist and inventor, statesman, musician, and abolitionist. The book presents a chronological account of all these accomplishments, delightfully spiced with quotations from Franklin's own extensive writings. The book describes how the hardworking Franklin became at age twenty-four the most successful printer in Pennsylvania and how by forty-two, with the help of Poor Richard's Almanack, he had amassed enough wealth to retire from business. The book then follows Franklin's next brilliant career, as an inventor and scientist, examining his pioneering work on electricity and his inventions of the Franklin Stove, the lightning rod, and bifocals, as well as his mapping of the Gulf Stream, a major contribution to navigation. Lastly, the book covers Franklin's role as America's leading statesman, ranging from his years in England before the Revolutionary War to his time in France thereafter, highlighting his many contributions to the cause of liberty. Along the way, the book sheds light on Franklin's personal life, including his troubled relationship with his illegitimate son William, who remained a Loyalist during the Revolution, and Franklin's thoughts on such topics as religion and morality.
Mark D. Regnerus
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320947
- eISBN:
- 9780199785452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320947.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter reviews and evaluates the various ways in which social scientists have come to understand how religion affects human behavior in general, and adolescent sex in particular. In a nutshell, ...
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This chapter reviews and evaluates the various ways in which social scientists have come to understand how religion affects human behavior in general, and adolescent sex in particular. In a nutshell, social scientific debate about the real influence of religion on human behavior remains intense. However, some reasonable conclusions about it can be made.Less
This chapter reviews and evaluates the various ways in which social scientists have come to understand how religion affects human behavior in general, and adolescent sex in particular. In a nutshell, social scientific debate about the real influence of religion on human behavior remains intense. However, some reasonable conclusions about it can be made.
Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.intro
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Weinberg, and Edward. O. Wilson are scientists and science writers with gifts for communication that have allowed them to speak ...
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Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Weinberg, and Edward. O. Wilson are scientists and science writers with gifts for communication that have allowed them to speak to millions outside the scientific community. We are a culture that looks to science because that is where we expect to find our answers, but we need specialists or guides — oracles — to show us the way. In their scientific personas, the oracles make many negative comments about religion and belief in God, and deliver a message to the broader culture about humankind’s place in the grand scheme of things.Less
Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Weinberg, and Edward. O. Wilson are scientists and science writers with gifts for communication that have allowed them to speak to millions outside the scientific community. We are a culture that looks to science because that is where we expect to find our answers, but we need specialists or guides — oracles — to show us the way. In their scientific personas, the oracles make many negative comments about religion and belief in God, and deliver a message to the broader culture about humankind’s place in the grand scheme of things.
Gustav Born
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264812
- eISBN:
- 9780191754029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264812.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This chapter presents the author's recollections about his family's migration and experiences as refugees from Nazi Germany to Britain in 1933. It recalls the academic scene into which German ...
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This chapter presents the author's recollections about his family's migration and experiences as refugees from Nazi Germany to Britain in 1933. It recalls the academic scene into which German scientists came and indicates the contributions refugees made to science and medicine in this country.Less
This chapter presents the author's recollections about his family's migration and experiences as refugees from Nazi Germany to Britain in 1933. It recalls the academic scene into which German scientists came and indicates the contributions refugees made to science and medicine in this country.
Christian Fleck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264812
- eISBN:
- 9780191754029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264812.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This chapter presents an overview of one sub-group of Nazi refugees: social scientists from Austria, and Vienna in particular. After a deft sketch of the constraints and opportunities for scholars, ...
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This chapter presents an overview of one sub-group of Nazi refugees: social scientists from Austria, and Vienna in particular. After a deft sketch of the constraints and opportunities for scholars, especially Jewish scholars, in 1930s Austria with its economic decline, political turmoil, and rampant anti-semitism, it compares the number of Jews in Vienna, the size of the educated class in the city, and the number of Austrian émigré and refugee social scientists with the equivalent figures for Germany. These statistics provide some explanation for the ‘disproportionally large group of former Austrians’ among the émigrés and refugee scholars in the 1930s. The chapter then illustrates the often lowly occupations of many later famous social scientists and the remarkable intellectual milieu they were part of in Vienna. The final section examines the personal and social factors that influenced their fate in exile. It concludes that, within the larger group of German-speaking refugee scholars, the Austrians who later became sociologists had characteristics that enabled them to succeed after their traumatic experiences.Less
This chapter presents an overview of one sub-group of Nazi refugees: social scientists from Austria, and Vienna in particular. After a deft sketch of the constraints and opportunities for scholars, especially Jewish scholars, in 1930s Austria with its economic decline, political turmoil, and rampant anti-semitism, it compares the number of Jews in Vienna, the size of the educated class in the city, and the number of Austrian émigré and refugee social scientists with the equivalent figures for Germany. These statistics provide some explanation for the ‘disproportionally large group of former Austrians’ among the émigrés and refugee scholars in the 1930s. The chapter then illustrates the often lowly occupations of many later famous social scientists and the remarkable intellectual milieu they were part of in Vienna. The final section examines the personal and social factors that influenced their fate in exile. It concludes that, within the larger group of German-speaking refugee scholars, the Austrians who later became sociologists had characteristics that enabled them to succeed after their traumatic experiences.
Gurpreet Mahajan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198076971
- eISBN:
- 9780199080403
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198076971.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
Social scientists explain events by identifying reasons and causes. Occasionally they weave a series of events into a historical narrative. What is entailed in each kind of explanation? What form of ...
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Social scientists explain events by identifying reasons and causes. Occasionally they weave a series of events into a historical narrative. What is entailed in each kind of explanation? What form of explanation is adequate for the social sciences? This book surveys each of the major forms of inquiry—hermeneutic understanding, narrative, reason-action, and causal explanation—to examine how each method changes our perceptions of social reality. It shows why we need to nurture plurality of theoretical frameworks, disciplinary orientations along with plural modes of inquiry, and recognize that our engagement with the present is likely to be marked by differences and doubts rather than by certainty and consensus.Less
Social scientists explain events by identifying reasons and causes. Occasionally they weave a series of events into a historical narrative. What is entailed in each kind of explanation? What form of explanation is adequate for the social sciences? This book surveys each of the major forms of inquiry—hermeneutic understanding, narrative, reason-action, and causal explanation—to examine how each method changes our perceptions of social reality. It shows why we need to nurture plurality of theoretical frameworks, disciplinary orientations along with plural modes of inquiry, and recognize that our engagement with the present is likely to be marked by differences and doubts rather than by certainty and consensus.
Alastair Wood
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231256
- eISBN:
- 9780191710803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231256.003.0005
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter focuses on the friendship between Sir G. G. Stokes and Kelvin. Kelvin was Stokes's principal correspondent over a period of fifty-six years. The correspondence between the two provide ...
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This chapter focuses on the friendship between Sir G. G. Stokes and Kelvin. Kelvin was Stokes's principal correspondent over a period of fifty-six years. The correspondence between the two provide valuable insight not only into the research and research methods of two giants of 19th-century British science, but also into the day-to-day running of Cambridge and Glasgow Universities and of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh at a critical time in their histories. The family backgrounds and formative influences of Kelvin and Stokes, their life in Cambridge, their early research correspondence, professorships, marriages, and political activities are discussed.Less
This chapter focuses on the friendship between Sir G. G. Stokes and Kelvin. Kelvin was Stokes's principal correspondent over a period of fifty-six years. The correspondence between the two provide valuable insight not only into the research and research methods of two giants of 19th-century British science, but also into the day-to-day running of Cambridge and Glasgow Universities and of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh at a critical time in their histories. The family backgrounds and formative influences of Kelvin and Stokes, their life in Cambridge, their early research correspondence, professorships, marriages, and political activities are discussed.
Denis Weaire
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231256
- eISBN:
- 9780191710803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231256.003.0006
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter compares Lord Kelvin and George Francis Fitzgerald. Topics covered include their Irish roots, education, publications, educational concerns, attitudes towards James Clark Maxwell, and ...
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This chapter compares Lord Kelvin and George Francis Fitzgerald. Topics covered include their Irish roots, education, publications, educational concerns, attitudes towards James Clark Maxwell, and final words.Less
This chapter compares Lord Kelvin and George Francis Fitzgerald. Topics covered include their Irish roots, education, publications, educational concerns, attitudes towards James Clark Maxwell, and final words.
Elaine Howard Ecklund
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392982
- eISBN:
- 9780199777105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392982.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The existence of an ongoing and irreconcilable antagonism between science and religion has been taken for granted by many. And in the wake of recent controversies over teaching intelligent design and ...
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The existence of an ongoing and irreconcilable antagonism between science and religion has been taken for granted by many. And in the wake of recent controversies over teaching intelligent design and the ethics of embryonic-stem-cell research, the divide seems to remain as unbridgeable as ever. In chapter 1 Ecklund shows that in spite of these controversies, the American public and scientists themselves understand little about the real religious lives of scientists. She argues that the insurmountable hostility between science and religion is a caricature, perhaps useful as a satire on groupthink, but hardly representative of reality. Scientists face a plethora of religious challenges, both public and personal, and employ just as many diverse responses to these challenges.Less
The existence of an ongoing and irreconcilable antagonism between science and religion has been taken for granted by many. And in the wake of recent controversies over teaching intelligent design and the ethics of embryonic-stem-cell research, the divide seems to remain as unbridgeable as ever. In chapter 1 Ecklund shows that in spite of these controversies, the American public and scientists themselves understand little about the real religious lives of scientists. She argues that the insurmountable hostility between science and religion is a caricature, perhaps useful as a satire on groupthink, but hardly representative of reality. Scientists face a plethora of religious challenges, both public and personal, and employ just as many diverse responses to these challenges.
Elaine Howard Ecklund
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392982
- eISBN:
- 9780199777105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392982.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Through in-depth portraits of the scientists she interviewed and extensive survey data analysis, Ecklund provides key insights into the myriad reasons scientists reject faith. Scientists at elite ...
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Through in-depth portraits of the scientists she interviewed and extensive survey data analysis, Ecklund provides key insights into the myriad reasons scientists reject faith. Scientists at elite research universities are indeed less religious than many other Americans, and many are atheists- at least when measured by their levels of traditional religious commitment. Yet, statistics obscure underlying reasons for lack of belief among scientists. Some scientists forecast that it is only a matter of time before science completely replaces religion. For other scientists at elite U.S. universities, religion had its chance and left them wanting—or even scarred. And still another group was raised completely without religion, did not learn much about their tradition, or were never taught to see religion as an integral part of everyday life.Less
Through in-depth portraits of the scientists she interviewed and extensive survey data analysis, Ecklund provides key insights into the myriad reasons scientists reject faith. Scientists at elite research universities are indeed less religious than many other Americans, and many are atheists- at least when measured by their levels of traditional religious commitment. Yet, statistics obscure underlying reasons for lack of belief among scientists. Some scientists forecast that it is only a matter of time before science completely replaces religion. For other scientists at elite U.S. universities, religion had its chance and left them wanting—or even scarred. And still another group was raised completely without religion, did not learn much about their tradition, or were never taught to see religion as an integral part of everyday life.
Elaine Howard Ecklund
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392982
- eISBN:
- 9780199777105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392982.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In chapter 3, Ecklund describes the faith journeys of scientists who came through their own personal faith struggles to a place where they do not see any conflict between religion and science. ...
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In chapter 3, Ecklund describes the faith journeys of scientists who came through their own personal faith struggles to a place where they do not see any conflict between religion and science. Through extensive analysis of survey data and in-depth interviews with scientists, Ecklund shows that scientists who have achieved such reconciliation—even though they believe in the same God-may generally understand their faith traditions differently than do the nonscientists who share their faith. While none of the religious scientists Ecklund interviewed supported the theory of intelligent design, many thought that their faith commitments ought to influence their interactions with students and colleagues. Others thought their faith ought to influence the kinds of projects they chose, refusing, for example, to participate in studies that support nuclear proliferation because of a Christian conviction to care about the welfare of humanity.Less
In chapter 3, Ecklund describes the faith journeys of scientists who came through their own personal faith struggles to a place where they do not see any conflict between religion and science. Through extensive analysis of survey data and in-depth interviews with scientists, Ecklund shows that scientists who have achieved such reconciliation—even though they believe in the same God-may generally understand their faith traditions differently than do the nonscientists who share their faith. While none of the religious scientists Ecklund interviewed supported the theory of intelligent design, many thought that their faith commitments ought to influence their interactions with students and colleagues. Others thought their faith ought to influence the kinds of projects they chose, refusing, for example, to participate in studies that support nuclear proliferation because of a Christian conviction to care about the welfare of humanity.
Elaine Howard Ecklund
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392982
- eISBN:
- 9780199777105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392982.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
More than any other venue, university classrooms are the front lines of any science professor’s conflict with the American public. Scientists are pressed by their students to respond to religion in ...
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More than any other venue, university classrooms are the front lines of any science professor’s conflict with the American public. Scientists are pressed by their students to respond to religion in the classroom—what Ecklund calls environmental push. She shows that scientists use different cultural scripts (blueprints or road maps that tell them what to do) for handling religion in the classroom. Some use language focusing on the separation of church and state to suppress all discussion of religion. Others are loath to address a topic so far outside their specialty. Still another group believes that religion is just irrelevant to science. But Ecklund also describes the group of scientists who do want positive engagement with religion while teaching in university classrooms. These professors think they simply cannot be effective teachers when they ignore student concerns about religion. This chapter responds to their dilemma by highlighting the kinds of scripts some scientists (religious or not) have developed to discuss religion in science classrooms.Less
More than any other venue, university classrooms are the front lines of any science professor’s conflict with the American public. Scientists are pressed by their students to respond to religion in the classroom—what Ecklund calls environmental push. She shows that scientists use different cultural scripts (blueprints or road maps that tell them what to do) for handling religion in the classroom. Some use language focusing on the separation of church and state to suppress all discussion of religion. Others are loath to address a topic so far outside their specialty. Still another group believes that religion is just irrelevant to science. But Ecklund also describes the group of scientists who do want positive engagement with religion while teaching in university classrooms. These professors think they simply cannot be effective teachers when they ignore student concerns about religion. This chapter responds to their dilemma by highlighting the kinds of scripts some scientists (religious or not) have developed to discuss religion in science classrooms.
David L. Wykes and Isabel Rivers
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199215300
- eISBN:
- 9780191706929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215300.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This introductory chapter begins with a brief review of the notable achievements of Joseph Priestley. It then discusses 18th-century religious dissent in England, doctrinal developments within ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief review of the notable achievements of Joseph Priestley. It then discusses 18th-century religious dissent in England, doctrinal developments within dissent, and late 18th-century reform movements. The commemoration of Priestley and sources for the study of Priestley are then covered.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief review of the notable achievements of Joseph Priestley. It then discusses 18th-century religious dissent in England, doctrinal developments within dissent, and late 18th-century reform movements. The commemoration of Priestley and sources for the study of Priestley are then covered.
Shula Marks
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264812
- eISBN:
- 9780191754029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264812.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
The contributions to this collection were originally given at a conference held at the British Academy on 3–4 December 2008, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Academic ...
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The contributions to this collection were originally given at a conference held at the British Academy on 3–4 December 2008, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Academic Assistance Council in 1933, later the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (1936–98), and now the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics. This introductory chapter discusses the story of the SPSL and the flood of European refugee scholars and scientists from Nazi-occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and their subsequent contribution to specific disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
The contributions to this collection were originally given at a conference held at the British Academy on 3–4 December 2008, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Academic Assistance Council in 1933, later the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (1936–98), and now the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics. This introductory chapter discusses the story of the SPSL and the flood of European refugee scholars and scientists from Nazi-occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and their subsequent contribution to specific disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
ALISON WYLIE
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264843
- eISBN:
- 9780191754050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264843.003.0014
- Subject:
- Sociology, Methodology and Statistics
This chapter adopts a philosophical perspective on evidential reasoning in archaeology. It argues that strong relativist and scientistic positions in debates within anthropological archaeology are ...
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This chapter adopts a philosophical perspective on evidential reasoning in archaeology. It argues that strong relativist and scientistic positions in debates within anthropological archaeology are both based on simplistic assumptions. The ‘scientists’ set standards of credibility that are too high, while the relativists underestimate the confirmatory power of epistemically independent lines of evidence. The chapter outlines a model of evidential reasoning based on archaeological practice that integrates insights drawn from philosophical theories of confirmation, model building, and hypothesis testing. Given growing interest in the uses of material evidence in fields that had been resolutely text-based, the archaeological principles of evidential reasoning may have much wider reach than this particular social/historical discipline.Less
This chapter adopts a philosophical perspective on evidential reasoning in archaeology. It argues that strong relativist and scientistic positions in debates within anthropological archaeology are both based on simplistic assumptions. The ‘scientists’ set standards of credibility that are too high, while the relativists underestimate the confirmatory power of epistemically independent lines of evidence. The chapter outlines a model of evidential reasoning based on archaeological practice that integrates insights drawn from philosophical theories of confirmation, model building, and hypothesis testing. Given growing interest in the uses of material evidence in fields that had been resolutely text-based, the archaeological principles of evidential reasoning may have much wider reach than this particular social/historical discipline.
Stefan Helmreich and Sophia Roosth
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164809
- eISBN:
- 9781400873869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164809.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines how natural philosophers and scientists in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries employed the term “life form.” It asks how life came to have a form, where the ...
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This chapter examines how natural philosophers and scientists in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries employed the term “life form.” It asks how life came to have a form, where the term “life form” came from, and what “life form” has come to mean in the contemporary moment, when it is possible to use the term to refer to as-yet-conjectural manifestations that may redefine the very referent of life itself. To map the historical transformation of the term “life form,” the chapter draws on Raymond Williams's 1976 Keywords, in which Williams offered histories of keywords in social theory, detailing the shifting, contested meanings of such terms as “culture,” “nature,” and “ideology.” Using this approach, the chapter identifies a move from deductive reasoning to inductive reasoning to abductive reasoning.Less
This chapter examines how natural philosophers and scientists in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries employed the term “life form.” It asks how life came to have a form, where the term “life form” came from, and what “life form” has come to mean in the contemporary moment, when it is possible to use the term to refer to as-yet-conjectural manifestations that may redefine the very referent of life itself. To map the historical transformation of the term “life form,” the chapter draws on Raymond Williams's 1976 Keywords, in which Williams offered histories of keywords in social theory, detailing the shifting, contested meanings of such terms as “culture,” “nature,” and “ideology.” Using this approach, the chapter identifies a move from deductive reasoning to inductive reasoning to abductive reasoning.
Nicholas P. Money
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195189711
- eISBN:
- 9780199790265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189711.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Microbiology
This chapter describes the global pandemic of Dutch elm disease caused by the fungus, Ophiostoma ulmi. Dutch elm disease was the worst epidemic of urban trees in history. Besides the fascinating ...
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This chapter describes the global pandemic of Dutch elm disease caused by the fungus, Ophiostoma ulmi. Dutch elm disease was the worst epidemic of urban trees in history. Besides the fascinating biology of the interaction between elm trees and this fungus, the chapter also tells compelling stories about the women scientists, led by Johanna Westerdijk, who first identified the cause of the epidemic.Less
This chapter describes the global pandemic of Dutch elm disease caused by the fungus, Ophiostoma ulmi. Dutch elm disease was the worst epidemic of urban trees in history. Besides the fascinating biology of the interaction between elm trees and this fungus, the chapter also tells compelling stories about the women scientists, led by Johanna Westerdijk, who first identified the cause of the epidemic.
Adriana Petryna
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151663
- eISBN:
- 9781400845095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151663.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the ethical positions of local scientists and clinicians from the perspective of Soviet and post-Soviet scientific trajectories as well as in relation to international ...
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This chapter examines the ethical positions of local scientists and clinicians from the perspective of Soviet and post-Soviet scientific trajectories as well as in relation to international scientific influences. More specifically, it considers how the radiation research process makes connections between ailments and the Chernobyl disaster real—that is, organic. It also explores how scientific and political pressures at the international level restrict local discourses on the health effects of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster and influence the processes through which the biology of such effects becomes an object of contested scientific understanding and research. Finally, it shows how patients become captives of a new sociality in Ukraine and describes the changing doctor–patient relations, along with the in utero research carried out, at the Radiation Research Center.Less
This chapter examines the ethical positions of local scientists and clinicians from the perspective of Soviet and post-Soviet scientific trajectories as well as in relation to international scientific influences. More specifically, it considers how the radiation research process makes connections between ailments and the Chernobyl disaster real—that is, organic. It also explores how scientific and political pressures at the international level restrict local discourses on the health effects of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster and influence the processes through which the biology of such effects becomes an object of contested scientific understanding and research. Finally, it shows how patients become captives of a new sociality in Ukraine and describes the changing doctor–patient relations, along with the in utero research carried out, at the Radiation Research Center.
Gerry Stoker and Peter Taylor-Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197264935
- eISBN:
- 9780191760365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264935.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter returns to the question of how social scientists can contribute to public policy. First, it is desirable to open up the range of approaches and orientations available to policy-making by ...
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This chapter returns to the question of how social scientists can contribute to public policy. First, it is desirable to open up the range of approaches and orientations available to policy-making by ensuring that those involved are recruited from a wide range of communities, by analysing how policy objectives are selected and defined, and by promoting greater interplay at different career stages between government and academic life. Second, social science must develop, alongside the academic research that is at its heart, a ‘design arm’ directed at practical issues and concerned with the application of research findings in improving policy outcomes.Less
This chapter returns to the question of how social scientists can contribute to public policy. First, it is desirable to open up the range of approaches and orientations available to policy-making by ensuring that those involved are recruited from a wide range of communities, by analysing how policy objectives are selected and defined, and by promoting greater interplay at different career stages between government and academic life. Second, social science must develop, alongside the academic research that is at its heart, a ‘design arm’ directed at practical issues and concerned with the application of research findings in improving policy outcomes.
