08 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Rational Potter Plots to Take Over the Magical World
Professor McGonagall undoubtedly knew every last detail of how you went about turning into a cat. But she seemed to have literally never heard of the scientific method. To her it was just Muggle magic. And she didn't even seem curious about what secrets might be hiding behind the natural language understanding of the Retrieval Charm.
That left two possibilities, really.
Possibility one: Magic was so incredibly opaque, convoluted, and impenetrable, that even though wizards and witches had ... 1 
notes
notesThrough science!
01 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Dissecting Crystals
A casual glance at crystals may lead to the idea that they were pure sports of nature, but this is simply an elegant way of declaring one's ignorance. With a thoughtful examination of them, we discover laws of arrangement. With the help of these, calculation portrays and links up the observed results. How variable and at the same time how precise and regular are these laws! How simple they are ordinarily, without losing anything of their significance! The theory which has served to develop th... 1 notes
notesHauy describes learning the secrets of their structure.
16 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
The Importance of the Velocity of Light
The velocity of light is one of the most important of the fundamental constants of Nature. Its measurement by Foucault and Fizeau gave as the result a speed greater in air than in water, thus deciding in favor of the undulatory and against the corpuscular theory. Again, the comparison of the electrostatic and the electromagnetic units gives as an experimental result a value remarkably close to the velocity of light–a result which justified Maxwell in concluding that light is the propagation...Folksonomies: speed of light light
Folksonomies: speed of light light
1 notes
notesGrows more important with each scientist who uncovers its secrets.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Don't Be Discouraged by the Complexity of Nature
Far from becoming discouraged, the philosopher should applaud nature, even when she appears miserly of herself or overly mysterious, and should feel pleased that as he lifts one part of her veil, she allows him to glimpse an immense number of other objects, all worthy of investigation. For what we already know should allow us to judge of what we will be able to know; the human mind has no frontiers, it extends proportionately as the universe displays itself; man, then, can and must attempt al... 1 notes
notesMaintain the enthusiasm that investigation will reveal all her secrets.
12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The Pursuit of Truth Puts One in Contact With the Infinite
The fascination of any search after truth lies not in the attainment, which at best is found to be very relative, but in the pursuit, where all the powers of the mind and character are brought into play and are absorbed by the task. One feels oneself in contact with something that is infinite and one finds joy that is beyond expression in sounding the abyss of science and the secrets of the infinite mind. 1 notes
notesFlorence Bascom quoted.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Herschel Compares Scientific Discovery to Columbus' Explo...
Herschel prophetically implied that electricity and electro-magnetism still hid many secrets, and that their investigation would become the leading science of the new age. This would indeed be Faraday’s coming field of triumph. He summarised (paragraph no. 376) this pursuit in the image of a great and noble sea voyage of exploration. ‘There is something in this which reminds us of the obstinate adherence of Columbus to his notion of the necessary existence of the New World; and the whole ... 1 notes
notesThrough analogies and parallels the scientists finds branches to connect fields of knowledge.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Dr. Victor Frankenstein Inspired by Science
‘The ancient teachers of this science,’ said he, ‘promised impossibilities and performed nothing. The modern masters promise very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But these philosophers, whose hands seem only to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles. They penetrate into the recesses of Nature, and show how she works in her hiding-places. They ascend into the heav... 1 notes
notesScience promises the secrets of the Universe, Shelley makes it sound like a dark art.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
How Ballooning Changed Our Perspective of the Earth
Ballooning produced a new, and wholly unexpected, vision of the earth. It had been imagined that it would reveal the secrets of the heavens above, but in fact it showed the secrets of the world beneath. The early aeronauts suddenly saw the earth as a giant organism, mysteriously patterned and unfolding, like a living creature. For the first time the impact of man on nature was clearly revealed: the ever-expanding relationship of towns to countryside, roads to rivers, cultivated fields to fore... 1 notes
notesThe same way the "Earthrise" photo changed our perspective, ballooning revealed the Earth to be a dynamic, interconnected organism.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Speculation Informed by Science is Not the Same as Fantasy
Our search for life elsewhere is not haphazard or random: our knowledge of physics and chemistry and biology equips us to seek out meaningful information about stars and planets vast distances away and to identify planets that are at least possible candidates as hosts for life. There is much that remains deeply mysterious, and it is not likely that we will ever uncover all the secrets of a universe as vast as ours: but, armed with science, we can at least ask sensible, meaningful questions ab... 1 notes
notesWe keep our speculations within the realm of the probable. It is imagination, but with rules, which is far more satisfying.
06 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Modern Explorers Must Change Their Methods
Today there remain but a few small areas on the world's map unmarked by explorers' trails. Human courage and endurance have conquered the Poles; the secrets of the tropical jungles have been revealed. The highest mountains of the earth have heard the voice of man. But this does not mean that the youth of the future has no new worlds to vanquish. It means only that the explorer must change his methods.Folksonomies: exploration adventuring
Folksonomies: exploration adventuring
1 If they want to venture into new realms of knowledge. Andrews may be talking about scientific methods here as a means to seeing previously explored settings with new eyes.
