Aufruf des international council of scientific unions (I.C.S.U.)

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Hélène Metzger: the history of science between the study of mentalities and total history

In this article, I examine the historiographical ideas of the historian of chemistry Hélène Metzger (1886–1944) against the background of the ideas of the members of the groups and institutions in which she worked, including Alexandre Koyré, Gaston Bachelard, Abel Rey, Henri Berr and Lucien Febrve. This article is on two interdependent levels: that of particular institutions and groups in which she worked (the Centre de Synthèse, the International Committee for History of Science, the Institut d'Histoire des Sciences et Techniques (Sorbonne) and the École Pratique des Hautes Études) and that of historiographical ideas. I individuate two particular theoretical aspirations pursued by the historians in Metzger's milieu: the ideal of total history and the study of the human mind. These two objectives were seen by Metzger and many others as implicating each other. Moreover, Metzger and other historians wanted to integrate the practice of commentary of texts in the realisations of those ideals. I argue, however, that these objectives proved very difficult to realise at the same time. One tradition which stemmed out of these discussions, exemplified by Bachelard, Canguilhem and Foucault, focused on the mind and knowledge, and renounced commentary of texts and total history as it was understood by the historians of the Centre de Synthèse. The latter, however, did not really pursue the study of the mind. Moreover, historians like Metzger and Koyré who practised an attentive analysis of texts could not realise total history.     

Statement issued by the natural science society of China and the Chinese association of scientific workers

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Unipolar induction: a case study of the interaction between science and technology

Unipolar induction, discovered in 1832 by Michael Faraday, is the case of electromagnetic induction in which a conductor and magnet are in relative rotatory motion. Attempts by scientists and engineers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to understand unipolar induction by using magnetic lines of force displayed striking national differences that influenced where the first largescale unipolar dynamo was built. This episode is described, as well as the effect of unipolar induction on Albert Einstein's thinking toward the special theory of relativity, in sections 1–6. The analysis of electromagnetic induction in cases where the source of the magnetic field is in motion relative to the conductor is provided in sections 7–9.     

Comparative evaluation of 7 helminth antigens in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (E.L.I.S.A.)

Summary 112 sera from Europeans with parasitologically proven helminthiasis were tested in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (E.L.I.S.A.) against 6 crude extracts of various helminths (2 of adult worms:Dipetalonema viteae, Fasciola hepatica; 3 of eggs:Ascaris suum, Toxocara canis, Schistosoma mansoni; and ofEchinococcus granulosus scolices) and against bovine hydatid fluid. Each serum was tested simultaneously at a fixed dilution of 1:160 against all antigens. Extensive cross-reactions were observed, leading to the conclusion that non-purified helminth antigens, even in combination, are of limited value for reliable serodiagnosis in E.L.I.S.A.     

美国气候变化技术计划(CCTP)新战略规划及其对我国的启示

美国气候变化技术计划(CCTP)于2006年9月公布了新的气候变化技术计划战略规划,新规划将通过捕集、减少以及储存的方式来控制温室气体的排放量。该计划中包含的技术有氢能源、生物提炼、清洁煤、碳储存、核分裂和聚变能等,这些技术以最基础的方式转化为国民经济价值,不仅能够改善气候变化,而且可以保证能源安全、空气污染以及其他紧迫需求。本文对美国气候变化技术计划战略规划的任务、目标、方法进行概要介绍,并论述了其对我国气候变化技术发展的重要启示。     

Estimation and prediction under structural instability: The case of the U.S. pulp and paper market

The objectives of this paper are: first, to show empirically the relevance of using adaptive estimation techniques over more traditional estimation approaches when economic systems are believed to be structurally unstable over time; and secondly, to compare in an empirical framework two adaptive estimation techniques: Kalman filtering and the Carbone–Longini filter. For that purpose, an econometric model for the U.S. pulp and paper market is examined under the assumption of structural instability and, hence, constitutes the basis for comparing forecasting performances and estimation accuracy achieved by each technique. A version of Kalman filtering, modified in line with the basic idea of ‘tracking’ characterizing the Carbone–Longini filter, is also presented and applied. The analysis of the results shows that it may be worth using adapative estimation methods to estimate structurally unstable models, even if there is no prior knowledge about the patterns of variation of the parameters. Also, it shows the Carbone–Longini filter and Kalman filtering as being complementary estimation techniques. An estimation/forecasting methodology involving a sequential application mode of these two techniques is suggested.     

Experiential and cosmopolitan knowledge: The transcontinental field practices of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey

Before many of the global environmental knowledge producing networks and technologies emerged later in the twentieth century, another spatially extended form of field science was implemented at a continental scale by the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, revealing similar tensions and dynamics. Specimens and observations from across continental spaces were integrated through railroad-based transportation and communications networks in order to map distributions of birds and mammals and delineate “life zones” stretching across the continent. At the same time that field zoologists of the Biological Survey produced this cosmopolitan scientific knowledge, they also developed an intimate, experiential knowledge of many of the places where they traveled. By following the travels of Biological Survey field parties, especially the agency's long-time chief field naturalist Vernon Bailey, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the railroad was dominant, this paper traces the interconnections between the two ways of knowing in the Biological Survey's practice. However, the integration of these different forms of knowledge was ultimately partial and incomplete, as seen through the Survey's daily practices such as food consumption, the seasonality of survey field practice, and limitations on what types of knowledge were incorporated from lay network collaborators and field assistants.     

Nuclear science and technology in the Malaysian context: Three phases of technoscientific knowledge transfer (ETTLG)

This essay considers the development of the nuclear science programme in Malaysia from a transnational perspective by examining the interactions between state agents and other external nuclear-knowledge/technology related actors and agents. Going beyond the model of knowledge diffusion that brings together concerns articulated in Harris’s (2011) geographies of long distance knowledge and Reinhardt's (2011) role of the expert in knowledge transfer, the proposed three-phase model of knowledge transfer theorises the pathways undertaken by a late-blooming participant of modern science and technology as the latter moves from epistemic dependency to increasing independence despite the hurdles encountered, and the underdevelopment of many areas of its technoscientific economy. The model considers tensions stemming from the pressures of expediency for meeting national developmental goals on the one side, and the call to support the objectives of basic science on the other. The three phases of the model are epistemic transition, epistemic transplantation and localisation, and epistemic generation (ETTLG). As additional support for the proposed model, three arguments are proffered as deeper explanations of the epistemic goal by using Malaysia as a case study: knowledge transfer for political legitimization, knowledge transfer for countering agnotology, and knowledge transfer for social engineering and science diplomacy.     

Thought styles and paradigms: A comparative study of Ludwik Fleck and Thomas S. Kuhn

At first glance there seem to be many similarities between Thomas S. Kuhn’s and Ludwik Fleck’s accounts of the development of scientific knowledge. Notably, both pay attention to the role played by the scientific community in the development of scientific knowledge. But putting first impressions aside, one can criticise some philosophers for being too hasty in their attempt to find supposed similarities in the works of the two men. Having acknowledged that Fleck anticipated some of Kuhn’s later theses, there seems to be a temptation in more recent research to equate both theories in important respects. Because of this approach, one has to deal with the problem of comparing the most notable technical terms of both philosophers, namely “thought style” and “paradigm”.This paper aims at a more thorough comparison between Ludwik Fleck’s concept of thought style and Thomas Kuhn’s concept of paradigm. Although some philosophers suggest that these two concepts are essentially equal in content, a closer examination reveals that this is not the case. This thesis of inequality will be defended in detail, also taking into account some of the alleged similarities which may be responsible for losing sight of the differences between these theories.     

Primary visual centers in the frog (Rana esculenta L.) and the problem of ipsilateral projections. Radioautographic study]

The topographic organization of the frog's primary visual system has been reexamined in Rana esculenta using autoradiographic technique. 10 to 24 hrs following an intraocular injection of tritiated proline, an intense labelling was observed contralaterally in the various retinal projection centres (preoptic area); neuropils of Bellonci; corpus geniculatum of the thalamus; posterior thalamus; posterodorsal preoptic area; magnocellular pretectal nucleus and basal optic nucleus; tectal laminae A to G of Potter), as already described. Furthermore, the presence of a ipsilateral projection within the hypothalamus (preoptic area), the thalamus (neuropils of Bellonci and corpus geniculatum) and the pretectium (posterior thalami neuropil, pretectal optic area) is confirmed. On the other hand, the existence of ipsilateral retinotectal (to Potter's lamina F) and retino-tegmentomescencephalic projections (to the basal optic nucleus), which were thusfar questioned, has been demonstrated.