18 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
Newton Was "Last of the Magicians"
Newton provides an example of how the idea of "science" had not yet fully emerged as something separate from religion in early Enlightenment thinking. In fact, during the seventeenth century, the word "scientist" was not commonly used to describe experimenters at all; they were called natural philosophers"^^ in an extension of the Puritan idea of the study of the Book of Nature. Science had also not fully emerged as a separate concept, but was sometimes thought of as a method or style of stud... 1 
notes
notesThere was a great deal of belief in magic in Newton's writings.
22 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
The Bell Jar
A famous experiment in high school physics involves putting an electric buzzer in a bell jar, a glass container from which the air can be removed by a pump. When the air is removed, the sound of the buzzer disappears. As early as the seventeenth century, it was recognized that sound needed some medium to travel in. In a vacuum, such as exists inside the bell jar, there is nothing to carry the sound waves, so you don't hear the buzzer inside. To be more specific, sound is a pressure wave, or d... 1 notes
notesA jar with a buzzer placed inside it from which the air is pumped out, eliminating the sound.
31 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Scientific Revolution
Although few expressions are more commonly used in writing about science than 'science revolution,' there is a continuing debate as to the propriety of applying the concept and term 'revolution' to scientific change. There is, furthermore, a wide difference of opinion as to what may constitute a revolution. And although almost all historians would agree that a genuine alteration of an exceptionally radical nature (the Scientific Revolution) occurred in the sciences at some time between the la...Folksonomies: scientific revolution
Folksonomies: scientific revolution
1 notes
notesWhat is a revolution? What causes it? When did it begin? Scholars disagree on these matters.
16 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Hippopotamus as Closest Relative to the Whale
good candidate is the hippopotamus, which, although closely
related to terrestrial mammals, is about as aquatic as a land mammal can
get. (There are two species, the pygmy hippo and the “regular” hippo,
whose scientific name is, appropriately, Hippopotamus amphibius.) Hippos
spend most of their time submerged in tropical rivers and swamps,
surveying their domain with eyes, noses, and ears that sit atop their
head, all of which can be tightly closed underwater. Hippos mate in the
water, an...Folksonomies: evolution transition
Folksonomies: evolution transition
1 notes
notesA list of the traits hippos exhibit that make the land mammal a likely candidate for being related to the whale.
29 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Weening Among Human Ancestors
Archaeologists have discovered that since the Pleistocene, humans lave always suckled infants for several years. Using biochemical analysis given human population when its children moved from breast milk to other foods. In one group of skeletons from South Dakota dated between 5500-2000 b.c., children were apparently depending on food other than mother's milk by the time they were twenty months of age.^' Recorded history also tells a similar story. Middle Eastern groups in 3000 B.C. were brea...Folksonomies: evolution breastfeeding
Folksonomies: evolution breastfeeding
1 A survey of ancient cultures and estimates of when they weened their children onto other foods.
29 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Objections to Cosleeping with Infants
The fear of overlaying haunts many parents in Western culture today. Most believe it is possible to roll over and squish a baby or suffocate it under a mound of blankets. But as infant sleep researcher McKenna notes, babies are born with strong survival reflexes, and they will kick and scream before they let anything clog their airways. The simple evidence that most babies around the world today sleep with a parent and they are not dying from suffocation should be enough to convince parents t... 1 notes
notesThe fear of overlaying and religious objections to parents cosleeping with their babies.
19 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Ignoring Inconvenient Truths In Astronomy
Metaphysically speaking, no one paradigm
is innately any better than any other. A universe that began at
9 a.m. on October 10, 4004 B.C. (which was official back in the
seventeenth century) is intrinsically no less valuable for those who
live by a belief in it than is our present uncertain universe, perhaps
built like a yo-yo, forever destroying and remaking itself in
never-ending big bangs. Each of the cosmological theories has, at
different times, found totally ironclad evidence to support ...In order to keep the Earth at the center of the Universe, theologians and astronomers had to come up with wild explanatory theories that did not fit the evidence.
04 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Science Saves Lives
Even at its best, pre-modern medical practice did not save many. Queen Anne was the last Stuart monarch of Great Britain. In the last seventeen years of the seventeenth century, she was pregnant eighteen times. Only five children were born alive. Only one of them survived infancy. He died before reaching adulthood, and before her coronation in 1702. There seems to be no evidence of some genetic disorder. She had the best medical care money could buy.
Diseases that once tragically carried off...You can pray over a sick person, or give them medicine. All the ways medical science has reduced mortality.
18 APR 2011 by ideonexus
The Growth of Taxonomy in the Scientific Revolution
Taxonomy was the biology of the scientific revolution. The opening up of the New World and the Far East provided European scientists with thousands of new species to examine and classify. Establishing botanical gardens, menageries and 'cabinets' of minerals, preserved animal specimens and dried plants were favourite hobbies amongst wealthy collectors. And since the natural sciences were not yet fully recognised by university faculties, these studies remained in the hands of amateurs. Of 48 na...Folksonomies: science history
Folksonomies: science history
1 notes
notesMany women became botonists and entomologist during this time.
