05 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Gradualistic Mode and Saltatory Mode
Based on modern and contemporary history, there are two ways in which the results of fundamental scientific research can be converted into practical applications: gradualistic mode and saltatory mode.
Gradualistic mode: theoretical, fundamental results are gradually applied to technology; advances accumulate until they reach a breakthrough. Recent examples include the development of space technology.
Saltatory mode: theoretical, fundamental results rapidly become applied technology, leading... 1 
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notes13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Weakness of the Library of Alexandria
Both the work of research and the work of dissemination went on under serious handicaps. One of these was the great social gap that {152}separated the philosopher, who was a gentleman, from the trader and the artisan. There were glass workers and metal workers in abundance in those days, but they were not in mental contact with the thinkers. The glass worker was making the most beautifully coloured beads and phials and so forth, but he never made a Florentine flask or a lens. Clear glass does... 1 notes
notesThe library's knowledge did not benefit the average worker. It's discoveries were purely academic, reserved for the aristocracy.
15 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Science Must Have Practical Application in Ordinary Life
Though the parallel is not complete, it is safe to say that science will never touch them unaided by its practical applications. Its wonders may be catalogued for purposes of education, they may be illustrated by arresting experiments, by numbers and magnitudes which startle or fatigue the imagination but they will form no familiar portion of the intellectual furniture of ordinary men unless they be connected, however remotely, with the conduct of ordinary life. 1 notes
notesThe wonders of science won't hold in people's minds unless they also touch their daily lives.
14 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Science VS Art
The subject matter of the scientist is a crowd of natural events at all times; he presupposes that this crowd is not real but apparent, and seeks to discover the true place of events in the system of nature. The subject matter of the poet is a crowd of historical occasions of feeling recollected from the past; he presupposes that this crowd is real but should not be, and seeks to transform it into a community. Both science and art are primarily spiritual activities, whatever practical applica...
1 What the two have in common and the different ways they approach the world.
29 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
The Cultural Bias of the "Growth Curve"
A more flexible construct of normality also has practical applications. As all parents in Western culture know, there is a "normal growth curve" against which all infants are compared when they are brought in for visits to the pediatrician. This standard is used to evaluate babies' growth, and if die baby falls drastically below die curve, pediatricians recommend intervention. But pediatrician Glen Flores, who codirects the Pediatric Latino Clinic at the Boston University School of Medicine, ... 1 notes
notesInfants are compared to a growth average, but this average is based on on white, Western infants, other breeds of humans fall beneath or above the curve, resulting in their being considered "abnormal" when they are not.
