Scientific Renaissance Research Articles

Nullius in Verba: The Birth of Innovation

On the night of October 9, 1604, Italian citizens recorded their astonishment that the universe had changed for the first time in centuries. As they looked to the night sky, they found new star had appeared. They knew nothing about the process for the creation of stars; rather, they believed that the heavens were fixed and immutable. same stars in the same arrangements made up the map of the heavens for their entire lives and going back for generations. What did mean to man and society if the heavens could change their composition? Johannes Kepler was especially intrigued by this new object. He studied the new star in detail, writing an entire book on his observations, De Stella Nova in Pede Serpentarii (On the New Star in Ophiuchus's Foot). His book contained an original drawing of the position of the stars with the shadow of Ophiuchus framing the constellation. new star appears in the heel of the constellation, labeled 'N'. As result of this work, SN1604 is now also known as Kepler's Supernova. supernova and Kepler's methodical observations of planted the seeds for new approach to scientific discovery. appearance of new star opened people's eyes to new possibilities: if there is more in the heavens than has been known in the past, then perhaps there is more on earth as well. If even the heavens are subject to change, then questioning the accepted knowledge received from the ancients might be permissible, beneficial, even essential. SN1604 did not change the physical earth, but did begin to change the mental framework of earth's inhabitants. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This natural philosophy took some time to coalesce. Its first expression might be seen in the formation of small group of natural philosophers in the area around London, England in the late seventeenth century. On November 28, 1660, this of met to hear lecture by Christopher Wren and afterward formally declared themselves a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning. Two years later, they were officially recognized by the Crown with Royal Charter and the loose title The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge--and took the motto Nullius in verba, Latin for Take nobody's word for it (Royal Society 2012). Christopher Wren and the Committee of 12 laid the groundwork for the acceptance of inquiry, innovation, invention, and change in the natural and mechanical worlds. They made acceptable to question what is held to be true and extended their thinking to the question of what might be. For Wren and his compatriots, knowledge and were not--as they had been believed to be--derived exclusively from the wisdom of the ancients. They offered new structure for pursuing knowledge, new understanding of innovation as positive force. However, the boundaries of scientific inquiry were not yet defined. Astrology and astronomy were one practice, and alchemy was just beginning to grow into chemistry. Scientists explored fortune telling and divination alongside mathematics and physics. Gradually, through the development of an objective method of inquiry and the accumulation of results from repeated, well-structured experiments, the parameters of science and disciplined method of inquiry emerged. As natural philosophers uncovered how the physical world worked, they provided essential knowledge for manipulating that world to meet practical needs. birth of real science led to the birth of real engineering. This mother-daughter pair equipped thousands of intelligent and inquisitive minds to invent, discover, and innovate their way out of the Dark Ages, creating scientific Renaissance that would eventually give us the Industrial Revolution. work of the Committee of 12 and their generations of successors opened people's minds to the possibilities of inquiry, enabling them to question accepted knowledge and test their own theories about how the world might work and how might be changed for the better. …

Renaissance meteorology: Pomponazzi to Descartes

Craig Martin takes a careful look at how Renaissance scientists analyzed and interpreted rain, wind, and other natural phenomena like meteors and earthquakes and their impact on the great thinkers of the scientific revolution. Martin argues that meteorology was crucial to the transformation that took place in science during the early modern period. By examining the conceptual foundations of the subject, Martin links Aristotelian meteorology with the new natural philosophies of the seventeenth century. He argues that because meteorology involved conjecture and observation and forced attention to material and efficient causation, it paralleled developments in the natural philosophies of Descartes and other key figures of the scientific revolution. Although an inherently uncertain endeavor, forecasting the weather was an extremely useful component not just of scientific study, but also of politics, courtly life, and religious doctrine. Martin explores how natural philosophers of the time participated in political and religious controversies by debating the meanings, causes, and purposes of natural disasters and other weather phenomena. Through careful readings of an impressive range of texts, Martin situates the history of meteorology within the larger context of Renaissance and early modern science. The first study on Renaissance theories of weather in five decades, Renaissance Meteorology offers a novel understanding of traditional natural philosophy and its impact on the development of modern science.

A review of the taxonomy of chondrichthyan fishes: a modern perspective

Taxonomic clarity is a fundamental requirement as it forms the foundation of all other life sciences. In the last decade, chondrichthyan taxonomy has undergone a scientific renaissance with >180 new species formally described. This effort encompasses c. 15% of the global chondrichthyan fauna, which consists of 1185 currently recognized species. The important role of chondrichthyan taxonomy for conservation management has been highlighted in recent years with new species descriptions or taxonomic resolution of a number of threatened species. These include Australian gulper (genus Centrophorus) and speartooth sharks (genus Glyphis) in coastal waters of Australia and Borneo. Closer examination of other wide-ranging species, for which the taxonomy was thought to be stable, has shown that they consist of species complexes, e.g. manta rays (Manta spp.) and spotted eagle rays (the Aetobatus narinari complex), and highlights the need for critical re-examination of other wide-ranging species. Molecular methods have provided another useful tool to taxonomists and they have proven to assist greatly with identifying cryptic species and species complexes. The limitations of particular molecular methods being used need, however, to be carefully considered and there are some concerns about how these are being integrated with classical taxonomy. The fundamental importance of taxonomic nomenclature to life sciences is often poorly understood but striving for nomenclatural stability is a critical component of taxonomy. Similarly, biological collections are an extremely vital asset to both taxonomists and the broader scientific community. These collections are becoming increasingly important due in part to molecular species identification initiatives such as the Barcode of Life which has resulted in a large number of voucher specimens linked to tissue samples being deposited. Biological collections are also proving to be imperative in biodiversity studies as they contain a 'gold mine' of historical collection information important for assessing changes in faunal assemblages. Resources are typically limited for taxonomic research and the ageing taxonomic community is another issue of concern for the future of taxonomy on this important group. Succession planning and better resource allocation will be essential to ensure that this fundamental discipline is maintained into the future.

Society of Invertebrate Pathology Founders’ Lecture, 2010: Mauro Emilio Martignoni: A renaissance scientist in the 20th century

Society of Invertebrate Pathology Founders’ Lecture, 2010: Mauro Emilio Martignoni: A renaissance scientist in the 20th century

Training the Next Generation of Renaissance Scientists: The GK-12 Ecologists, Educators, and Schools Program at The University of Montana

In response to the need to prepare students to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, new models of graduate education are being developed across the country. One model is provided by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K—12 Education (GK—12) program, which broadens graduate students' training beyond their traditional research programs. We explored the impact of an ecologically focused GK—12 program at The University of Montana and the broader impacts of a set of other environmental-science-oriented GK—12 programs in the United States. These types of programs are urgently needed to ensure that future leaders of the scientific enterprise are well equipped with the tools to conduct science as skilled collaborators, to address the key interdisciplinary questions that arise from complex environmental challenges facing society, and to better communicate their science with diverse audiences well beyond their scientific peers.

ChemInform Abstract: Aminoazoles as Key Reagents in Multicomponent Heterocyclizations

AbstractReview: 176 refs.

Central America: Panama's big ambition

Researchers in Panama suffered under a dictatorship and were overshadowed by the United States. Now the country is attempting a scientific renaissance.

Epilepsy and disorders of consciousness.

This issue of Behavioural Neurology is devoted to the investigation of the long recognised link between epilepsy and disturbances of consciousness. Interest in this topic has witnessed an unprecedented scientific renaissance over the last few years, for two orders of reasons. First, most types of epilepsy are characterised by specific alterations in the level of general awareness and/or the subjective contents of consciousness, which are central aspects of patients’ ictal experiences and can now be assessed and quantified with newly developed psychometric tools. Second, the investigation of what Hughlings-Jackson called the ‘occasional, sudden, rapid and local discharges of grey matter’ has started to shed light on the brain mechanisms underlying pathophysiological states of altered consciousness, thanks to the development of sophisticated neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques. The implementation of combined electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) is just an example of this ongoing revolution. Therefore, the fact that this special issue is appearing in Behavioural Neurology reflects the surge of interest from both neurologists and neuroscientists. In this issue, epilepsy experts from around the world have contributed their insights by reviewing the latest developments in clinical and experimental research on epilepsy and consciousness. The first set of contributions focuses on the phenomenological analysis of ictal alterations of consciousness in patients with epilepsy (Johanson), which is accompanied by specific behavioural (Mula) and cognitive (Krishnamoorthy) changes. The second group of papers presents our current knowledge of the brain mechanisms underlying altered consciousness in both focal (Bagshaw) and generalized (Seri) seizures. The

The Origins of the Developmental State in Taiwan - By J. Megan Greene

The Origins of the Developmental State in Taiwan - By J. Megan Greene

Islamic reception of Greek astronomy

AbstractResearch in Islamic science over the last half century or so has clearly established that such old myths as Islamic science being a preservation of Greek science, or that science was always in conflict with religion in Islamic civilization as it was in Europe, or that the European scientific Renaissance was independent of outside influences –a European phenomenon par excellence– are now all subjects of great dispute if not altogether dead. In what follows I will illustrate the evidence that has put such myths into question with only few examples, since time and space do not allow me to elaborate more.

Physics of causality and continuum: Questioning nature

This article commemorates three distinct periods in the growing understanding of physics of motion during the Renaissance (referring to advancement of art) period, the age of enlightenment (scientific renaissance: the Newtonian mechanics), and the adoption of field concept, embodied in the theory of relativity. Emphasis is put on Newton's immense and fundamental contributions and those of his immediate and subsequent contemporaries, leading to Lagrangian dynamics, which is the cornerstone of many contributions to this journal. In particular, a generic geometric interaction potential is introduced within a closed field, which conforms to Newton's law of universal gravitation and extends to the scale of microcosm, thus embedding gravity with other forces of nature. The implications of these extensions to the Newtonian potential are discussed.

Ibn al-Nafis, the pulmonary circulation, and the Islamic Golden Age

Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288) was an Arab physician who made several important contributions to the early knowledge of the pulmonary circulation. He was the first person to challenge the long-held contention of the Galen School that blood could pass through the cardiac interventricular septum, and in keeping with this he believed that all the blood that reached the left ventricle passed through the lung. He also stated that there must be small communications or pores (manafidh in Arabic) between the pulmonary artery and vein, a prediction that preceded by 400 years the discovery of the pulmonary capillaries by Marcello Malpighi. Ibn al-Nafis and another eminent physiologist of the period, Avicenna (ca. 980-1037), belong to the long period between the enormously influential school of Galen in the 2nd century, and the European scientific Renaissance in the 16th century. This is an epoch often given little attention by physiologists but is known to some historians as the Islamic Golden Age. Its importance is briefly discussed here.

The last Renaissance scientist

The last Renaissance scientist

Nanocosm: Nanotechnology and the Big Changes Coming from the Inconceivably Small

Imagine: you're looking down at the Earth from space. Oceans and continents blur as the planet transforms into one bright blue ball. And it doesn't stop with our own solar system. There are just as many galaxies in the universe as there are stars in our own! Now reverse the direction of this imaginative voyage, and turn inward rather than outward. That same number of stars in our galaxy is less than half the number of cells in an adult human body. Scale. It's all about scale. The fact is, we occupy a middle kingdom, poised delicately between the unimaginably immense and the unimaginably minute. And now science is on the brink of breaking through to the world beneath what we can see with our eyes. Nanoscience takes as its subject the realm of the infinitesimally small. Tinier than the tiniest atom, if the measurement known as a nanometer were scaled up to the width of your fingernail, then your fingernail would be the size of Delaware and your thumb would be the size of Florida. As author William Atkinson puts it, the domain of the nanometer -- he nanocosm -- is a serious kind of small. But one with possibilities, and even larger consequences for the way we live. In Nanocosm, Atkinson takes readers into the incredibly complex, yet equally beautiful world of nanotechnology. Atkinson distinguishes hype and speculation from the amazing reality of what truly is possible through nanotechnology in our very immediate future: cell-sized computers triggered by single electrons rather than millions -- microchips that contain the diagnostic capability of full-sized medical labs -- exceptionally strong and resilient carbon nanotubes that will revolutionize the process of structural engineering -- and much more. The nanocosm promises to transform our environment by revealing new basic facts that we can turn into useful technology. Even discounting optimistic exaggerations, the scientific breakthroughs that are now upon us will dramatically affect everything about our lives: how we communicate, do our work, spend our leisure time, stay healthy, and even raise our children. Asking critical questions about the latest and most intriguing areas of nanotech, Atkinson interviews the most important scientists, ethicists, and business executives at the forefront of this exciting new field to give a riveting account of what is arguably the most important technical frontier since human beings launched themselves into outer space. At a time of astonishing and rapid advances in what we know of our own world, future ages will no doubt record the twenty-first century as the Renaissance of the Nanocosm. Combining the in-depth information of an up-to-the-second scientific report with the thought-provoking readability of a fast-paced novel, charts these first great voyages of discovery into a bizarre new realm, one that is small in size -- but epic in meaning. William Illsey Atkinson is the author of Prototype, a finalist for Canada's National Business Book Award. He is president of Draaken Communications, which interprets technological issues for universities, institutes, and private firms. He is a frequent contributor on science and technology to Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, and has received the Prix d'Excellence in Issues Writing from Dalhousie University. He lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The most amazing thing about nature is her inexhaustible variety. Scientists, technologists, and theologians speak about 'nature' or 'the world' as if it were a unit. But there are limitless worlds and infinite natures. [We] are poised delicately between the unimaginably immense and the unimaginably minute. -- William Illsey Atkinson, author of There's a lot of big thinking going on these days about some very small subjects. And just what are these subjects? Nanometers -- units of measurement so small that they equal one millionth of a millimeter. Yet what can be accomplished by understanding and harnessing this complex and invisible subworld has the potential to utterly transform virtually every aspect of our lives. At this very moment, nanotechnology is on the brink of exploding into a full-scale scientific renaissance with mind-boggling implications. probes both the science and the business behind this technological revolution, exploring how nanotech will ultimately be applied in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and countless other arenas. Based on in-depth research and interviews with the most important minds in nanotech and rendered in a narrative style reminiscent of Lewis Thomas and James Gleick, the book examines in layman's terms the complex science that underpins this new terrain. Lucid and dynamic, offers an enthralling glimpse at a soon-to-be very different world -- our own. Nanocosm is the nanotechnology book we have all been waiting for -- accurate, realistic, and oh so readable. It's a rare book that researchers and business people can both enjoy. -- F. Mark Modzelewski, Executive Director, NanoBusiness Alliance

Pre-Kepler Mathematical Descriptions of the Heavens

In a book review in the December 2003 issue of Physics Today ( Physics Today 0031-9228 56 12 2003 61 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1650230. page 61 ), Gale E. Christianson states that Johannes Kepler was “the formulator of the first mathematical laws of the heavens.” Actually, although Kepler gave an excellent description with his three laws, other mathematical theories of planetary motion had been given previously, going back to antiquity. One could make a good case that the first mathematical description of the heavens predates Claudius Ptolemy, going back to Eudoxus and his theory of uniform motions on concentric spheres (around 370 BC), or even earlier. 1 1. O. Neugebauer, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, 2nd ed., Dover, New York (1969). The most successful and most mathematically sophisticated planetary-motion theory was from Ptolemy in the second century AD. He gave a surprisingly accurate method for computing the positions of the five then-known planets and our moon. His lunar theory also gave good predictions concerning parallax, the size of the Moon and its distance from Earth, and lunar eclipses. The Ptolemaic system had Earth as its center point and based all motion on circles, but by use of epicycles and eccentric circular motion, it achieved great accuracy. 2 2. S. Sambursky, The Physical World of Late Antiquity, Basic Books, New York (1962). In that regard, it was not superseded until Kepler’s work in the 17th century.Another mathematically sophisticated formulation that preceded Kepler was the Copernican theory, from the 1540s. Although Copernicus had the Sun as the center point, he still used circular motion, and made greater use of epicycles than did Ptolemy. 3 3. M. B. Hall, The Scientific Renaissance, 1450–1630, Dover, New York (1994), chap. 3. REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. O. Neugebauer, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, 2nd ed., Dover, New York (1969). Google Scholar2. S. Sambursky, The Physical World of Late Antiquity, Basic Books, New York (1962). Google Scholar3. M. B. Hall, The Scientific Renaissance, 1450–1630, Dover, New York (1994), chap. 3. Google Scholar© 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Vascular mechanics in the clinic

The bioengineer has more to contribute to medicine than he/she ever has in the past. The successful contribution must be based on such experiences as described by Donald McDonald in his collaboration with John Womersley. Clinician and engineer must come to know the other's problems, their weaknesses and their strengths. They must be prepared to compromise, but to know where compromise is warranted, and where it is not. The clinician must be prepared to change if he/she is to gain help from the engineer. Blind acceptance of old concepts (of “hypertension”, and of cuff sphygmomanometric accuracy, etc.) needs enlightenment, while acceptance of physiological reality such as wave reflection needs emerge. The clinician's vocabulary will need to change. This chapter opens with a discussion of a time where knowledge of engineering, physics, physiology and medicine was meagre. These disciplines were small, but they did interconnect through the work of renaissance (and later) scientists. With increase in knowledge, the disciplines enlarged, and grew apart from each other. The challenge of today is to bring these closer together so that there may be some connection, some overlap, and so that the crevases between the disciplines are not so deep, and not such a deterrent to those who wish to engage in interdisciplinary activity.

Influence of early printmaking on the development of neuroanatomy and neurology.

Early Renaissance scientists were heavily influenced by psychological, philosophical, religious, sociological, and anthropological problems that perpetuated blind adherence to classically accepted doctrines. The unchallenged theories of Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Galen (AD 130-200), limited practice of cadaver dissection, and scarcity of books 1 during this time are just a few examples of early obstacles to the advancement of scientific thought. Printmaking and book printing, however, were breakthroughs that enabled science to progress by leaps and bounds. It is difficult to separate the advancements of printmaking and book printing because they are complementary. We will focus on the art of printmaking, present a synopsis of early printing, and discuss the corresponding development of the neurological sciences.

Reaching for Utopia and slouching toward Gomorrah.

Reaching for Utopia and slouching toward Gomorrah.

Nuclear astrophysics: a new era

THE MOST fundamental question in nature is where do we come from, or, put another way, what are we made of? The late Carl Sagan poetically said that we are all made of stardust, but the origin of the elements has fascinated scientists for thousands of years. Many of the greatest medieval and renaissance scientists dabbled in alchemy, trying to create the elements that make up the cosmos, but we had to wait until the early 20th century to recognize that elements are really defined by the number of protons in the nucleus.

:The Anatomical Renaissance: The Resurrection of the Anatomical Projects of the Ancients

The central proposition of this book is that the great anatomists of the Renaissance, from Vesalius to Fabricius and Harvey - the forebears of modern scientific biology and medicine - consciously resurrected not merely the methods but also the research projects of Aristotle and other Ancients. The Moderns' choice of topics and subjects, their aims, and their evaluation of their investigations were all made in a spirit of emulation, not rejection, of their distant predecessors. First published in 1997, Andrew Cunningham’s masterly analysis of the history of the ’scientific renaissance' - a history not of things found, but of projects of enquiry - provoked a reappraisal of the intellectual roots of the Renaissance as well as illuminating debates on the history of the body and its images.