09 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Center of the Earth
Of all regions of the earth none invites speculation more than that which lies beneath our feet, and in none is speculation more dangerous; yet, apart from speculation, it is little that we can say regarding the constitution of the interior of the earth. We know, with sufficient accuracy for most purposes, its size and shape: we know that its mean density is about 5½ times that of water, that the density must increase towards the centre, and that the temperature must be high, but beyond thes...Invites speculation and is the realm of mathematics, not observation.
05 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Theories Dwindle in Number as Facts Emerge
The intensity and quantity of polemical literature on scientific problems frequently varies inversely as the number of direct observations on which the discussions are based: the number and variety of theories concerning a subject thus often form a coefficient of our ignorance. Beyond the superficial observations, direct and indirect, made by geologists, not extending below about one two-hundredth of the Earth's radius, we have to trust to the deductions of mathematicians for our ideas regard...Folksonomies: observation theory
Folksonomies: observation theory
From speculation to precision based on observations.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Why "Origin of Species" was So Devastating
Yet with the growing public knowledge of geology and astronomy, and the recognition of ‘deep space’ and ‘deep time’, fewer and fewer men or women of education can have believed in a literal, Biblical six days of creation. However, science itself had yet to produce its own theory (or myth) of creation, and there was no alternative Newtonian Book of Genesis — as yet. That is why Darwin’s On the Origin of Species appeared so devastating when it was finally published in 1859. It was n...Before it's publication, science had no story of our origins to compete with the Bible.
30 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
The Need to Cross-Pollinate Knowledge
When chemists have brought their knowledge out of their special laboratories into the laboratory of the world, where chemical combinations are and have been through all time going on in such vast proportions,—when physicists study the laws of moisture, of clouds and storms, in past periods as well as in the present,—when, in short, geologists and zoologists are chemists and physicists, and vice versa,—then we shall learn more of the changes the world has undergone than is possible now t...Folksonomies: progress cross-pollination
Folksonomies: progress cross-pollination
Chemsits and physicists must come out and study nature, while geologists and zoologists must go into the lab, so that scientific progress may multiply.
08 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
It Takes Numerous Experts to Explore a One-Mile Path
Of course, no one person has the time, knowledge, or skill to learn everything about a landscape, so in my walks 1 have relied upon the labors of generations of botanists, ornithologists, zoologists, geologists, ecologists, meteorologists, astronomers. cultural historians, and a host of other specialists who have studied with particular care some feature of the natural world. Whenever possible, I queried people I met along the way: the old people who grew up in the landscape, who knew it in i...Folksonomies: expertise specialization
Folksonomies: expertise specialization
Chet Raymo lists all the individuals he needed to consult to fully understand the path he walks each day.