Physics,metaphysics, dispositions,and symmetries – À la French

Recent philosophy has paid increasing attention to the nature of the relationship between the philosophy of science and metaphysics. In The Structure of the World: Metaphysics and Representation, Steven French offers many insights into this relationship (primarily) in the context of fundamental physics, and claims that a specific, structuralist conception of the ontology of the world exemplifies an optimal understanding of it. In this paper I contend that his messages regarding how best to think about the relationship are mixed, and in tension with one another. The tension is resolvable but at a cost: a weakening of the argument for French's structuralist ontology. I elaborate this claim in a specific case: his assertion of the superiority of a structuralist account of de re modality in terms of realism about laws and symmetries (conceived ontologically) over an account in terms of realism about dispositional properties. I suggest that these two accounts stem from different stances regarding how to theorize about scientific ontology, each of which is motivated by important aspects of physics.     

The letter,the dictionary and the laboratory: translating chemistry and mineralogy in eighteenth-century France

SUMMARY

Eighteenth-century scientific translation was not just a linguistic or intellectual affair. It included numerous material aspects requiring a social organization to marshal the indispensable human and non-human actors. Paratexts and actors' correspondences provide a good observatory to get information about aspects such as shipments and routes, processes of translation and language acquisition (dictionaries, grammars and other helpful materials, such as translated works in both languages), texts acquisition and dissemination (including author's additions and corrections, oral presentations in academic meetings and announcements of forthcoming translations).

The nature of scientific translation changed in France during the second half of the eighteenth century. Beside solitary translators, it also happened to become a collective enterprise, dedicated to providing abridgements (Collection académique, 1755–79) or enriching the learned journals with full translations of the most recent foreign texts (Guyton de Morveau's ‘Bureau de traduction de Dijon’, devoted to chemistry and mineralogy, 1781–90). That new trend clearly had a decisive influence on the nature of the scientific press itself. A way to set up science as a social activity in the provincial capital of Dijon, translation required a local and international network for acquiring the linguistic and scientific expertise, along with the original texts, as quickly as possible. Laboratory results and mineralogical observations were used to compare material facts (colour, odour, shape of crystals, etc.) with those described in the original text. By providing a double kind of validation – with both the experiments and the translations – the laboratory thus happened to play a major role in translation.     

The sperm attractant ofHormosira banksii (Phaeophyceae,Fucales), a seaweed common to Australia and New Zealand

Summary Hormosira banksii is a taxonomically isolated brown seaweed endemic to Australia and New Zealand. The sperm attractant of this species has been isolated and identified as trans-1-vinyl-2-(1E, 3Z-hexadienyl)-cyclopropane (I) (hormosirene).Hormosira is the first organism in which a cyclopropane derivative has been found to act as a hormone in sexual reproduction. The implication of this finding in relation to phylogeny and phytogeography is discussed.Acknowledgment. A substantial part of this work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).     

Trade-offs in model-building: A more target-oriented approach

In his 1966 paper “The Strategy of model-building in Population Biology”, Richard Levins argues that no single model in population biology can be maximally realistic, precise and general at the same time. This is because these desirable model properties trade-off against one another. Recently, philosophers have developed Levins’ claims, arguing that trade-offs between these desiderata are generated by practical limitations on scientists, or due to formal aspects of models and how they represent the world. However this project is not complete. The trade-offs discussed by Levins had a noticeable effect on modelling in population biology, but not on other sciences. This raises questions regarding why such a difference holds. I claim that in order to explain this finding, we must pay due attention to the properties of the systems, or targets modelled by the different branches of science.     

Baluchistine,a new bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid

Summary The new phenolic bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid (+)-baluchistine, found inBerberis baluchistanica Ahrendt (Berberidaceae), has been assigned structure1. O-Methylation using ethereal diazomethane yields (+)-obaberine (2). Baluchistine is the 1 alkaloid of the oxyacanthine-berbamine group to incroporate a free phenolic function at C-6.this project was supported by NIH research grant CA-11450, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, PHS/DHEW.     

Creatol (5-hydroxycreatinine), a new toxin candidate in uremic patients

Summary Both 5-hydroxy-1-methylhydantoin (3) and the hitherto unrecognized 5-hydroxycreatinine (2-amino-5-hydroxy-1-methyl-imidazol-4(5H)-one or creatol) (6) can be isolated from the urine of uremic patients, in whom these compounds probably arise as oxidative metabolites of creatinine (1). The enhanced production of the well-known uremic toxin, methylguanidine (8), from creatinine (1) in such patients, almost certainly occurs via the newly recognized metabolite (6).     

Revised structures for iselin and iliensin and the identity of the former with archangelin

Summary Structures of iselin and iliensin have been revised. The structure (Ib) is secured for iselin by a direct comparison (m.p., UV, IR, PMR) with archangelin. The synthesis of iliensin (IIb) has been effected through the condensation of xanthotoxol (II, R=OH) and -cyclolavandulyl bromide (III). The synthetic product has been shown to be identical with natural iliensin.We thank Dr S.Z. Qasim and Dr M.S. Chadha for the spectral data and C.S.I.R. for a research fellowship to J.V.     

Outward bound: women translators and scientific travel writing, 1780–1800

SUMMARY

As the Enlightenment drew to a close, translation had gradually acquired an increasingly important role in the international circulation and transmission of scientific knowledge. Yet comparatively little attention has been paid to the translators responsible for making such accounts accessible in other languages, some of whom were women. In this article I explore how European women cast themselves as intellectually enquiring, knowledgeable and authoritative figures in their translations. Focusing specifically on the genre of scientific travel writing, I investigate the narrative strategies deployed by women translators to mark their involvement in the process of scientific knowledge-making. These strategies ranged from rhetorical near-invisibility, driven by women's modest marginalization of their own public engagement in science, to the active advertisement of themselves as intellectually curious consumers of scientific knowledge. A detailed study of Elizabeth Helme's translation of the French ornithologist François le Vaillant's Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique [Voyage into the Interior of Africa] (1790) allows me to explore how her reworking of the original text for an Anglophone reading public enabled her to engage cautiously – or sometimes more openly – with questions regarding how scientific knowledge was constructed, for whom and with which aims in mind.     

Luffolide,a novel anti-inflammatory terpene from the spongeLuffariella sp.

Summary Luffolide (4) is a minor metabolite of the spongeLuffariella sp. from Palau. The structure of luffolide was determined by single crystal X-ray analysis. Luffolide is relatively unstable and undergoes a complex cyclization reaction to give the hexacyclic products5 and6. Luffolide (4) has some of the anti-inflammatory properties of manoalide (1): this may help to define the chemical reaction between manoalide (1) and phospholipase A₂.All crystallographic calculations were done on a PRIME 9950 computer operated by the Cornell Chemistry Computing Facility. Principal programs employed were: FOBS, a data reduction program by G.D. Van Duyne, Cornell University, 1987; MULTAN 80, and RANTAN 80, systems of computer programs for the automatic solution of crystal structures from X-ray diffraction data (locally modified to perform all Fourier calculations including Patterson syntheses) written by P. Main, S. E. Hull, L. Lessinger, G. Germain, J. P. Declercq and M. M. Woolfson, University of York, England, 1980 BDLS, an, anisotropic block diagonal least squares refinement written by K. Hirotsu, E. Arnold, and G. D. Van Duyne, Cornell University, 1987; PLUTO 78, a locally modified crystallographic illustration program by W. D. S. Motherwell, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, 1978; and BOND, a program to calculate molecular parameters and prepare tables written by K. Hirotsu and G. Van Duyne, Cornell University, 1985.Acknowledgment. We thank the Government of the Republic of Palau for a scientific research permit. We thank Dr Klaus Rützler, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. for identifying the sponge and Mary Kay Harper for performing additional bioassays. This research was supported by grants from the Sea Grant College Programs of California [Projects R/MP-30 to DJF) and R/MP-31 (to RSJ)] and New York (to JC) and the National Institutes of Health (CA 24487 to JC).     

Between Kepler and Newton: Hooke’s ‘principles of congruity and incongruity’ and the naturalization of mathematics

ABSTRACT

Robert Hooke’s development of the theory of matter-as-vibration provides coherence to a career in natural philosophy which is commonly perceived as scattered and haphazard. It also highlights aspects of his work for which he is rarely credited: besides the creative speculative imagination and practical-instrumental ingenuity for which he is known, it displays lucid and consistent theoretical thought and mathematical skills. Most generally and importantly, however, Hooke’s ‘Principles?…?of Congruity and Incongruity of bodies’ represent a uniquely powerful approach to the most pressing challenge of the New Science: legitimizing the application of mathematics to the study of nature. This challenge required reshaping the mathematical practices and procedures; an epistemological framework supporting these practices; and a metaphysics which could make sense of this epistemology. Hooke’s ‘Uniform Geometrical or Mechanical Method’ was a bold attempt to answer the three challenges together, by interweaving mathematics through physics into metaphysics and epistemology. Mathematics, in his rendition, was neither an abstract and ideal structure (as it was for Kepler), nor a wholly-flexible, artificial human tool (as it was for Newton). It drew its power from being contingent on the particularities of the material world.     

Enzymatic oxidation of xanthobilirubic acid

Summary Xanthobilirubic acid (XBR) undergoes enzymatic oxidation in the presence of horseradish peroxidase and tertbutyl hydroperoxide to give cleanly methylethylmaleimide (1) and 5-formyl-2,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrrole-3-propanoic acid (2).The authors wish to thank the National Science Foundation (NSF CHE 79-10133) and the National Institute of Child Health (HD 09026) for generous support of this work.     

Novel rearrangement of purines

Summary 6-Trichloromethyl-9-methylpurine (1) rearranges to 6-dichloromethyl-9-methyl-8-oxopurine (2) in aqueous mild acidic solution. The rearrangement is rationalized in terms of a reaction involving protonation, covalent hydration, prototropic equilibrium and/or a hydride transfer. An alternative mechanism involving a positive halogen compound and hypochlorous acid as an intermediary is also proposed. Compound1 condenses with 4,5-diaminopyrimidine to give the purine-pyrimidine Schiff base pair4.Acknowledgments. We are deeply indebted to Professor S. Cohen of the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University (Ramat Aviv, Isreal) for his advice and encouragement. Support of this research by the Israel Cancer Association, the Ber-Lamsdorf Foundation Switzerland Israel and by the Advancement of Mankind Foundation, is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Proff. D. Arigoni and A. Eschenmoser, ETH Zürich, for their valuable proposals and comments on the mechanism of the rearrangement.     

Naturally occurring heterocycles inducing drought resistance in plants

Summary During screening of animal metabolites which induce drought resistance in plants, two diketopiperazines, cyclo(L-Hyp-L-Pro) (1) and cyclo(L-Hyp-L-Leu) (2), emerged as effective. When rice seeds were pretreated with the cyclic dipeptides (1 and2) during their germination period, the resulting seedlings showed significant resistance to water-stress caused by 0.5–1.5% NaCl solution or 2.5–5.0% mannitol solution.     

Enantiomeric cannabinoids: stereospecificity of psychotropic activity

Summary The 1,1-dimethylheptyl homolog of (–)-(3R,4R)-7-hydroxy-delta-6-tetrahydrocannabinol (compoundII) is highly psychotropic in mice, rats and pigeons. The (+)-(3S,4S) enantiomer (III) was found to be psychotropically inactive at doses up to several thousand times those of the ED₅₀ of (II).We thank Dr A. Breuer and Mrs H. Amsalem for help with the syntheses. The research reported above was supported in Tucson by NIH grant NS 15441; in Uppsala by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (5757) and the Swedish Council for the Planning and Coordination of Research (84/2082); in Jerusalem by the Szold Foundation.Presented in part at a meeting at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, Washington, D.C., October 1986, see NIDA Research Monographs79 (1987) 15.     

Antimutagenic unusual amino acids from plants

Summary Five unusual amino acids were identified as antimutagens against spontaneous mutation ofSalmonella typhimurium TA100: L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (1) from Liliaceae plants, -(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine (2) fromLitchi chinensis seeds, and 2-amino-4-methylhex-5-ynoic acid (3), hypoglycin A (4), and (2S, 4R)-2-amino-4-hydroxyhept-6-ynoic acid (5) fromEuphoria longana seeds. The absolute stereochemistry of5 was determined by its chiral synthesis from L-allylglycine, proving that5 is the C-4 epimer of the amino acid previously isolated from dried longan seeds.This work was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid form the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Japan, No. 57740283 (to HK).     

Occludin binds to the SH3-hinge-GuK unit of zonula occludens protein 1: potential mechanism of tight junction regulation

The interaction between tight junction proteins occludin and zona occludens protein 1 (ZO-1) was clarified. The sequence cc1 within the hinge region of ZO-1, connecting its SH3 and GuK domains, was identified as a new association site for the occludin C-terminus, core binding area GLRSSKRNLRKSR (mouse ZO-1^606-618). Occludin also bound to the sequence H2 within GuK, core area HKLRKNNH (ZO-1^759-766). In occludin, the binding core was ELSRLDKELDDYREESEEY (mouse occludin^455-473). Helicity of the sequences was suggested by circular dichroism. Because basic residues in ZO-1, acidic residues in occludin (underlined), coiled-coil helix-forming leucine heptad motifs (bold) in occludin and, probably, in cc1 were essential, we conclude that interactions were both helical and ionic. Moreover, the GuK domain bound other GuK molecules, suggesting oligomerization of ZO-1. Generally, the assumption is supported that the SH3-hinge-GuK region represents a functional and regulatory unit in ZO-1 forming a multiprotein tight junction complex with occludin.Received 12 January 2004; received after revision 23 February 2004; accepted 31 March 2004     

Luffariellolide,an anti-inflammatory sesterterpene from the marine spongeLuffariella sp.

Summary Luffariellolide (2) is a sesterterpene from the Palauan spongeLuffariella sp. that has useful anti-inflammatory properties. In contrast with the irreversible action of manoalide (1) on phospholipase A₂, luffariellolide (2) is a slightly less potent but partially reversible PLA₂ inhibitor.30 December 1986Acknowledgment We thank Edward Luedtke, Elise Clason and Ellen Snideman for performing some of the assays reported above. The sponge was identified by Dr. Klaus Rützler, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The research was supported by grants from Allergan Pharmaceuticals and the California Sea Grant College Program (Projects R/MP-30 and R/MP-31).     

(-)-Dihydromylione A,a novel tetracyclic sesquiterpene ketone containing two conjugated cyclopropane rings,from Mylia taylorii (liverwort)

Summary A novel tetracyclic sesquiterpene ketone named (-)-dihydromylione A (III) was isolated from the liverwort, and the structure was determined together with the absolute configuration to be ent-5, 10-cyclo-aromadendr-3-one by connecting the compound with co-occurring (-)-myliol (II).     

Locke's Species: Money and Philosophy in the 1690s

Summary

John Locke intervened in two major debates in which the issue of species featured: (1) the question of whether species designations are based on real essences or only nominal essences (discussed in the Essay), and (2) the debate over the recoinage of English currency in the 1690s, in which Locke argued for a restoration of silver depleted by widescale clipping (discussed in his economic writings published between 1692–95). This article investigates Locke's position on the recoinage and considers alternative proposals in the period, including those which advocated the introduction of a ‘new species’ of money in the form of credit, based on land. Locke opened the space, philosophically, for innovations in defining money, but endorsed a narrower conception of money as silver by weight alone (not by its stamp or denomination). His rationale for doing so exposes his attachment to shared systems of measurement, intersubjective agreement and ways of stabilizing meaning by reference to external criteria (in this case, the weight of silver, a measure that functioned internationally). This suggests a pattern of attempting to constrain the nominalism that his system otherwise foregrounded.     

6H-anthra[1,9-bc]thiophene derivatives from a bryozoan,Dakaira subovoidea

Separation of a lipophilic extract of the bryozoan,Dakaira subovoidea, a common fouling organism of underwater structures, guided by inhibition of lipid peroxide formation in rat liver microsomes, gave 5,7-dihydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-6-oxo-6H-anthra[1,9-bc]thiophene (1a) and its 1-methoxycarbonyl derivative (1c), together with the known 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone (2). The structures were determined by spectral and crystallographic analyses.