British Science Research Articles

Метафизика пространства как эпистемологическая основа гетеродоксальной теологии и историографии Исаака Ньютона

The article deals with the Newtonian concept of space, which became not only the basis of classical mechanics, but also the central component of Newton’s Christian theology and his non-canonical preaching. The author of the paper analyses the ontological dualism of the thinker. Newton distinguished absolute and relative space, defending the principles of ontological dualism. It is revealed that Newton’s ontological dualism is directly caused by his theological conclu­sions about the presence of God in the Universe. It was characteristic for Newton to combine the ideas in physics and theological metaphysics into one indivisible unity. It is found out that the English scientist regarded the absolute space as in­herent to God, and relative spaces as characteristic of the Universe in which we exist and which we can explore. Newton formulated the basic principles of his “scientific” Christian homiletics, non-canonical and often heterodox from the view of the Anglican religion. It is revealed that Newton’s Christian sermon was intended for an extremely narrow circle of people, mainly his followers Newtonians and the members of the Royal Society. An attempt is made to ana­lyse the effectiveness of Newtonian “scientific” homiletics in the context of the social life of England in the late 17th – early 18th centuries.

The environmental impact of various forms of waste PET bottle management

ABSTRACT The paper analyses the environmental impact of three forms of waste PET bottle management, i.e. through recycling, energy recovery and as a result of its disposal. The analysis was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique enabling comprehensive assessment covering both direct and indirect environmental impacts. The research carried out included changes resulting from technological progress and the development of environmental protection technologies, which may have a significant impact on the obtained results. An attempt has been made to take into account these changes and assess the environmental benefits of various forms of PET bottle management. The study confirmed the results of research carried out by Chinese and British scientists indicating that the most environmentally friendly form of waste PET bottle management is recycling (1.38 mPt). Energy recovery (2.73 mPt) shows a higher environmental burden, while disposal is the most unfavourable form of waste PET bottles management (7.31 mPt). As a result, despite differences in environmental technologies used a decade ago and today, as well as legal differences in force in the compared regions of the world, the main conclusions of the study remain valid. For this reason, it is important adopt environmentally friendly waste PET bottles management and to include them in the global material balance for the implementation of circular economy solutions that correspond directly with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.

“VAGUE BUT EXCITING” – THE NARRATIVE BEHIND THE HISTORY OF TIMOTHY BERNERS-LEE’S INVENTION OF THE WEB

Background. The history of science is a multifaceted endeavor. It comprises theory and practice of scientific inquiry, epistemological issues, the formation and evolution of scientific paradigms, language and science, but, above all, people’s trials and tribulations, needs and aspirations. Ours is the age of the World Wide Web – also termed as the WWW or simply the Web - part and parcel of present-day information and communication technologies age. The key person behind this seminal invention and disruptive innovation is the British scientist and engineer Timothy Berners-Lee.Objective. The aim of this paper is to unveil the history of the World Wide Web through the prism of the narrative identity of Tim Berners-Lee – the WWW initiator and developer.Methods. We used mixed (both quantitative and qualitative) methods, specifically, discourse analysis and postmodern narrative research methods, as well as quantitative Lawrence Anthony’s AntConc corpus analysis toolkit for the keyword, frequency, collocation and text analysis. The material of our analysis is mostly Tim Berners-Lee’s book “Weaving the Web” plus several other resources.Results. The case of the WWW, specifically, the story of Tim Berners-Lee is an example of a “little narrative” that fits within the current postmodern narrative paradigm. His narrative identity is elucidated via Michael Bamberg’s “three-levelpositioning” narrative analysis technique: authorial positioning on the level of the story, on the level of the interaction, and on the level of self-defining. Berners-Lee is viewed as a humanist, an altruistic and modest person who is enthusiastic about scientific progress for the benefit of humanity.Conclusions. The story behind the history of the WWW invention proves the importance of studying “little narratives”. Berners-Lee’s story could best be described as the narrative of human interconnectedness via technology to solve problems.

Vitaly Grigorevsky’s Contribution to the Development of International Cooperation in Photometric Studies of Artificial Earth Satellites

This article highlights the participation of the Ukrainian scientist, Professor Vitaly Mikhailovich Grigorevsky, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, and representative of the scientific school of Vladimir Platonovich Tsesevich, in the organization and development of international cooperative partnership in the field of satellite astronomy and photometric studies of artificial satellites of the Earth. The activity of the scientist in the coordination of scientific research of the countries of Eastern Europe in 1965–1973 under the SPIN program, carried out under the auspices of the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is discussed. The article explores the main forms of Grigorevsky’s scientific cooperation with the world’s leading experts in the field of satellite astronomy—the British scientist Desmond King-Hele, the Czech astronomer František Link, Hungarian researchers Iván Almár and D. Toth, and others. Also, the achievements of the Latvian researchers Māris Ābele and Kasimirs Lapushka in the creation of photographic cameras of surveillance of satellites are analysed.

Humanity as Matter: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Vivacious Materialism in “The Birth-mark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter”

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” (1843) and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844) have often been interpreted as a critique of science both inside and outside the literary scholarship. Men of science in these two short stories, Aylmer and Rappaccini, aspire to create a perfect form of humanity by attempting to transform their beloved ones into an impeccably beautiful woman with no blemishes, or into a girl capable of defeating everything with her invincible poisonous power, respectively. Critics have emphasized that, as such, they emerge as morally dubious figures representing the desire for mastery and limitless improvement of the human body lurking in nineteenth-century American science or science in general.1 Similarly, bioethicists have tended to see in these two characters science’s hubristic perfectionism, drawing an analogy between them and present-day scientists seeking to ameliorate human life through control and manipulation.2 However, I consider that Hawthorne does not criticize science itself. As will be evinced later, in these stories Hawthorne radically questions the traditional scientific-cum-theological understanding of life, whereby humanity is very different from other organisms due to its unique possession of a soul—that is, immaterial high intelligence. Nevertheless, this attitude does not lead him to oppose the scientific thinking itself. Far from it, in denying the old dogma he embraces the same view of life as is proposed by the newly emerging school of science in the nineteenth century, wherein humans are undeniably material entities like all other living things. In this essay, I will clarify how Hawthorne foregrounds an image of humanity as matter in “The Birth-mark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” and how such a picture resonates strongly with the materialistic theories of life. These theories became widespread in the Western intellectual world starting in the 1810s, largely through the scholarly activities of the English surgeon William Lawrence and scientist Charles Darwin. Having thus shown that Hawthorne shares the materialistic idea of life with the new sciences in the nineteenth century, I will also demonstrate that the materialism seen both in Hawthorne and his scientist peers does not reduce life to mere dead matter but presents it as a physical phenomenon charged with vital energy. This thinking, far from being a reductive or sheer materialism, goes beyond the traditional dualism of animated life and mechanically functioning matter and can be termed “vivacious materialism.”

‘Spreading the word’ in the Polish People's Republic: the British Council and the English Reading Room at the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, 1946–1989

The British Council's library work in Communist Poland remains relatively unknown. This paper contributes to a better understanding of British cultural influence in that part of Europe by examining the British Council's efforts in sharing the works of British culture, literature, and science with Polish society in the context of sometimes turbulent Cold War cultural relations between Poland and Britain. Particular attention is given to the Jagiellonian Library English Reading Room, which for decades remained the only British Council-sponsored regional reading centre outside Warsaw. It offers insight into the Council's library work in the university setting, reassuring, if only indirectly, the principles of academic and intellectual freedom.

Kathleen Digre: a creative neurologist between two cultures

“I fell in love with neurology because it is like explicating a novel”, says Kathleen Digre, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA). Digre made an unusual switch in her career, from English teacher to neurologist. “I read a beautiful essay by [British scientist and novelist] CP Snow called Two Cultures, in which he argued that those in the arts should go to science, and scientists should go to the arts.” Her uncle Vincent, an English major, had himself made that transition into medicine, and encouraged her to do the same.

“Leviathan”, or an essay on the doctrine of the state by T. Hobbes

The study focuses on individual episodes of the biography, the most notable ideas and main socio-political views of the outstanding English scientist, social philosopher, theorist of the origin of the state – T. Hobbes. On the basis of the classic work “Leviathan”, his backbone thoughts on the processes of state building, the development of a balanced normative and legislative system and specific motives for striving for power are highlighted. In particular, attention is focused on the search by the researcher of the optimal balance between freedom and the duties of a citizen. The aspiration of the classic to a comprehensive study of the most effective mechanism, optimal forms of public administration, primarily for the establishment of stable social order and safety, is noted. The scientist emphasized that an authoritative, sovereign, legitimate state is able to effective cope with the tasks set. In which those in power are obliged to be guided by norms of morality and law. Characterized, according to the researcher, the socio-psychological traits of both average citizens and sovereigns for the full life support of the country.Highlighted his heuristic principles of anthropomorphism, which more metaphorically, expressively detail the likely destructive diseases of the state, among which he considered the lack of frugality and the processes of oligarchization of the socio-political system to be especially unsafe. Scientists emphasized the absolute rejection of corruption, lack of social justice, abuse of power. Thus, the advantages and disadvantages of various forms of government were highlighted, in particular, monarchical, aristocratic, democratic. The scientists himself was an active supporter of absolute monarchy and the unshakable authority of the state. At the same time, he focused not so much on the duties of citizens to the state, as on the duties of state representatives to their citizens, the implementation of which can state structure effective, authoritative and legitimate. At the same time, the contribution of T. Hobbes to the development of the philosophy of law is highlighted. In general, it was emphasized that the English scientist comprehensively substantiated his own thought about the immutability of human nature in the form of manifestations of selfishness, individualism, insatiable appetites, unrestrained passions, and the desire for social change. According to the philosopher, only a just, sovereign, authoritative state is capable of curbing the negative manifestations of human nature. In addition, attention focused on the state-forming nature of his philosophy and the scientist’s significant contribution to the development of the theory of the social contract or the contractual origin of the state is highlighted.

Rendezvous with the Pandemic Survivors: An Analysis of the Spanish Flu in Katherine Anne Porter’s “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and COVID-19

Laura Spinney, British science journalist and author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World observes that, “The Spanish Flu is remembered personally, not collectively. Not as a historical disaster, but as millions of discreet, private tragedies.” The pandemic of 1918 was not memorialized like World War I which supervened at the same time as the Spanish Flu. It was soon relegated in public memory as the world emerged from the throes of the nightmarish war. Almost a century later, the world finds itself in the grip of yet another pandemic, the COVID-19. Similar situations of patients with multiple complex symptoms, heaving hospitals, shortage of doctors and nurses, scenes of patients left unattended, dealing with the guilt of infecting their family and friends and struggling to survive paints an apocalyptic scenario. This paper tries to explore a parallel among the two pandemics as it witnesses the tragic tale of a survivor of the Spanish Influenza in Katherine Anne Porter’s autobiographical short novel “Pale Horse, Pale Rider.” The private tragedies of physical deterioration, psychological delusions and social stigmatization also suffered by the COVID-19 survivors have been documented and blazoned all over news and social media. The design behind broadcasting these factual accounts are recognition of the reality of the virus (suspected and labelled fake on many occasions), awareness of the symptoms and understanding of the disease. These hopeful and optimistic narratives of the COVID survivors are a faint ray of hope in these bleak times.

Public science in the private garden: Noblewomen horticulturalists and the making of British botany c. 1785-1810.

This study considers three noblewomen - Lady Amelia Hume (1751-1809), Jane Barrington (1733-1807), and Mary Watson-Wentworth, Marchioness of Rockingham (c. 1735-1804) - whose contributions to plant studies were so important that Linnean Society President James Edward Smith dedicated three books to them. Their skills in cultivating newly imported exotic plants rivaled those of elite nurserymen, and taxonomists of the highest caliber came to depend on them to unlock information encoded within flowers to enable classification and publication. Eventually, the women played strategic roles within national scientific studies of the world's plants orchestrated by Smith, Joseph Banks, and William Roxburgh. The stories of Hume, Barrington, and Rockingham complicate our understandings of the gendered, professional, and disciplinary hierarchies of knowledge that constituted British science in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They also resituate the domestic hothouse as a publicly engaged laboratory and museum.

Cryopreservation of ram-sires semen and its qualitative changes under the influence of low temperatures

The article presents in retrospect the methods of cryopreservation of sperm of bulls and breeding rams. It is indicated that the first methods were proposed by I.V. Smirnov in 1947–1951, which ensured the production of viable lambs and calves. The significant contribution to the development of the method of cryopreservation of bull sperm by British scientists Polge C. and Rawson L. and Japanese scientists Nagase H. and Niwa T. The methods developed by them, with minor changes, have been used by scientists and breeding specialists for many decades. Modern technologies of cryopreservation of bull sperm are represented, in particular: Kharkiv in coated granules (author FI Ostashko and others), French company IMV-R-Cassou, German company Minitub, which are currently used in most countries with developed animal husbandry. It is noted that the first attempts to freeze the sperm of breeding rams were made by E. M. Platov in 1965. It is noted that in the cryopreservation of sperm the importance of adaptation and equilibration processes is important. The role of glycerin as a cryoprotectant in freezing the semen of male farm animals has been elucidated. The optimal concentration of glycerin in the media for cryopreservation of sperm of fetuses has been established. It is noted that the basis of “temperature shock” of sperm is damage to the sperm membrane, which is caused by balancing the concentration gradient that occurs at the boundary of cell-medium division with a sharp change in temperature. A high correlation between the physiological quality of the acrosome of sperm and its fertilizing ability is indicated. Studies of the chemical composition of the sperm of breeding rams have shown that it differs from the sperm of other animal species by a slightly higher content of proteins, lipids of lactic acid and a lower concentration of minerals. Proteins contain much more amino acids. Sheep sperm do not tolerate aerobic conditions, it is proved that damage to sperm by oxygen occurs mainly after its dilution and equilibration, and not during cryopreservation. Under aerobic conditions, one amino acid is cleaved from the molecule of lecithin, which is part of the membranes of sperm, with the formation of toxic lysolecithin. The most critical zones at thawing of deep-frozen sperm are shown. It has been experimentally established that the rate of the recrystallization process can be reduced by using cryoprotectants in environments, as well as by increasing the rate of thawing. An important influence in the thawing of sperm has the selection of the optimal mode of thawing. Analysis of literature data revealed that in practical conditions in the process of freezing ‒ thawing about 50% of sperm lose activity, which indicates that currently available methods of freezing sperm of breeding rams are imperfect and need further study and improvement.

Трансформации источников власти в условиях постсовременности: (макро)социологическое осмысление концепции М. Манна

From the standpoint of historical (macro) sociology, the article examines the main directions of transformation of the sources of power identified by the English scientist M. Mann in the realities of post-modern society. The essential characteristics of the four sources of social power, which include ideology, military forces, economics and political characteristics of the organization of states, are considered. The vectors of transformations of these sources of power, contributing to changes in the image of power at the present time, are noted. The interdependence of transformations and the specificity of their manifestation at the institutional level in the political and legal sphere of public life are shown.

A Review on Medicinal and General Importance of Ficus Bengalis Tree

Ficus Bengalis is also called banyan tree it is used as medicinal tree since antique times. The discriminative names of banyan tree are given by British scientist a lot of people & traders used to assemble for the purpose of business Fichus tree is recognized as National Tree. The meaning of Ficus is fig and bengalensis means belonging to or is of Bengal. To the lot of Indians it is motivating and embodies most of three Gods of Hindus. The bark of banyan tree embody Lord Vishnu, the roots of this tree represent lord of Brahma and Siva the branches. Since Vedic times its small branches are used in Yajiia (a sacrificial rite) and known for its giant structure. Which was hig enough to shelter his whole army of 7,000 men? As per Some Veda banyan tree checks the environmental pollution and one of the source of Lfiksfi (Lac). Its medicinal importance as well as documented in Ayurvedic literature. In the various researches needs for understanding the medicinal value of Banyan tree.

Analisis Persepsi Masyarakat Terhadap Kinerja Aparatur Desa Dalam Meningkatkan Pelayanan Publik Di Desa Lenek Lauk Menggunakan Metode Naive Bayes

Public service is an activity or series of activities in the framework of fulfilling service needs in accordance with statutory regulations for every citizen and resident of goods, services, or administrative services provided by public service providers. All types of services are provided and provided to the community by the village government apparatus, in general it has not satisfied many people. The services provided are too complicated for reasons according to the procedure, the amount of fees charged, and a very long time, so the services provided tend to be ineffective and inefficient. In this study predictions will be made about the community's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the performance of village officials in improving services using the Naïve Bayes algorithm method. The Naive Bayes algorithm is a classification with probability and statistical methods proposed by the British scientist Thomas Bayes, which predicts future opportunities based on past experience so that it is known as Bayes theorem. This research was conducted using a data collection technique in the form of a questionnaire filled out by 50 respondents 10% of the total population, from a population of 5,539 permanent residents in the village of Lenek Lauk. Analysis of the results of the study was conducted using the Naïve Bayes algorithm method. Function to see the level of accuracy. Measurement with naïve bayes algorithm produces 92.26% accuracy and AUC value on the ROC curve is 0.924. DOI : 10.29408/jit.v3i2.2314

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОЗВИТКУ МЕТОДУ ТЕСТУВАННЯ В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ ТА ЗАРУБІЖНІЙ ПЕДАГОГІЧНІЙ НАУЦІ

The article considers the process of becoming and development of test technologies in Ukrainian and foreign pedagogical science. The using of a foreign experience and its adaptation to national features during the reforming of the Ukrainian educational system is emphasized. Priority task is the introduction of the innovative educational technologies and improving of the monitoring system in Ukrainian educational practice that requires an effective application of the pedagogical methods. The development of testing method in the United States, Great Britain and Germany is revealed. In United States testing diagnostic has spread the most in comparison to other countries. At the beginning of the XX century tests were actively used during professional selection, psychological and pedagogical researches. Numerous testing centers were opened; collections of tests were published at that period. Now American tests are aimedat the developing of the creative and independent thinking. The development of pedagogical diagnostic in The Great Britain is showed. The earliest researches were aimed at the measuring of students’ intellectual abilities. British scientists were the first to express the idea of a hierarchical structure of intelligence. The country has been improving testing methodic for a long time and now is demonstrating high results of pupils’ progress. German pedagogues were the founder of pedagogical diagnostic. The First and the Second World War put their scientific investigations on the brakes, but in the 1970 th the study of testing method was activated. This experience was adopted by Ukrainian pedagogues who renewed their researches after a long break caused by political and social situation. The development of testing diagnostic fell behind the foreign pedagogic and that’s why now the purpose is to prepare the teachers for effective use of the testing method, to use the tests widely in various branches. The trend of modern pedagogical diagnostic is the transition from normatively orientated to criterion-orientated evaluation.

The Immunological Reactivity of Turkeys of Different Genotypes on the Action of Environmental Factors

The Immunological Reactivity of Turkeys of Different Genotypes on the Action of Environmental Factors

The discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole

To celebrate its 150 anniversary, Nature collected 10 extraordinary papers published on Nature in November, 2019. One of the papers is on the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, which was published by three British scientists, Joe C. Farman, Brian G. Gardiner, and Jonathan D. Shanklin, in 1985. They first showed observational evidence that Antarctic stratospheric ozone experienced drastic decrease in the early 1980s, by contrasting to the relative steady state in the 1970s. They also suggested that the ozone hole is due to human-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Nature invited Susan Solomon, who made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the ozone hole, to comment on the paper. She pointed out that “The unexpected discovery of a hole in the atmospheric ozone layer over the Antarctic revolutionized science—and helped to establish one of the most successful global environmental policies of the twentieth century.” The observational evidence by Farman et al. greatly confirmed earlier theoretical works by P. Cruzen, M. Molina, and F. Rowland who first emphasized in the 1970s that anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides and CFCs would damage the ozone layer. Their observational confirmation led to the winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry by Cruzen, Molina, and Rowland in 1995. The discovery of the ozone hole also led to great international actions in reducing CFCs emissions and protecting the ozone layer, which is crucially important for screening solar ultraviolet radiation for surface life. A series of conventions has been organized by the United Nations, and the most successful one is the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The Montreal Protocol and the succeeding amendments, adjustments, and decisions were subsequently negotiated to control the consumption and production of anthropogenic emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Since then, ODSs emissions have been largely reduced and showed rapid decrease since the early 1990s. The global ozone layer and the ozone hole over Antarctic all have showed gradual increasing since the late 1990s. According to predictions of climate-chemistry models, the global total column ozone will return to its 1980 values by 2045 when ODSs decline to very low levels, and the Antarctic ozone hole will recover by 2060. The gradual recovery of the ozone hole, due to reducing anthropogenic emissions, from severe depletion also due to human emissions, is considered a successful story that human can protect their environment through self-efforts. It provides us with the confidence that we are able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to solve the problem of global greenhouse warming. In the present paper, we will first introduce the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by Farman et al. Then, we introduce the chemical mechanisms of the Chapman and the catalytic reactions that result in the formation of the ozone layer, and how anthropogenic perturbations caused the Antarctic ozone hole. We shall also introduce the actions that was taken by international communities to protect the ozone layer. In the final section, we point out the important implications of the discovery of the ozone hole.

One Health

British science is facing arguably its biggest ever peacetime challenge – to develop reliable diagnostic tests and an effective vaccination for the human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative organism of COVID-19. If there is one researcher who truly understands how difficult the task will be, and what is needed to succeed, he is Joe Brownlie. The former head of pathology at the Royal Veterinary College led the team which solved the mystery of a coronavirus strain causing respiratory disease in dogs. He told John Bonner what lessons that project can teach us in dealing with the current pandemic.

The English Galileo and His Vision of Projectile Motion under Air Resistance

This article presents a detailed discussion of the shape of the trajectory traced by a projectile under the forces of gravity and air resistance. In particular, our results confirm the insight of the English scientist Thomas Harriot into the motion of a projectile before the development of Newtonian classical mechanics. Our approach is based on the fact that the flight path of a resisted projectile is implemented by a strictly concave function for which the derivative is also strictly concave.

Constructing the Global Irish Woman Traveller: Cynthia Longfield’s Scientific Researches in South America, 1921-27

Irish-born Cynthia Longfield (1896-1991) became a leading entomologist after participating in three expeditions to South America in the 1920s. Working unpaid in the British Museum for 30 years, she catalogued Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) from all over the world, published scientific papers, and collaborated with British, Irish and international scientists. While she made several other collecting expeditions to Africa and South-East Asia in the 1920s and 1930s, her early experiences of South American natural history are a crucial aspect of her formation as an internationally renowned scientist, and are an interesting chapter in the long history of Irish connections with the region. She was a migrant, a traveller, and a scientist, and was a person at once privileged by her class and denied basic equalities due to her gender. This article firstly considers her scientific career in the context of Irish women’s migration in the first half of the twentieth century, before focusing on her three voyages to South America in 1921-7 and, finally, examining the ways in which her participation in the St George expedition– as one of just three women aboard ship – was reported in the Anglophone press.