Comments on papers by Sharlin and Wall

Wall is convincing on the Fuller court, but less so on Holmes, who may have understood Spencer's Social statics as a laissez faire rather than as a Darwinist document. Sharlin helps us to follow Spencer's attempt to universalize the concept of energy, even if Sharlin's explanation for Spencer's failure reduces to an application of the classical insight that physical phenomena are more predictable than social phenomena. Sharlin's conception of ‘scientism’ is helpful in some contexts, but less so in others; we need to remind ourselves that the role of values in scientism is active as well as passive.     

简评储氢与制氢研究中的问题与进展

储氢与再生氢的制备是到达氢经济时代必须解决的2个关键技术问题。通过阐述超临界温度下气体的吸附机理,指出基于吸附原理的储氢材料不可能具有工业应用前景,其它已知的储氢方法亦然,因此储氢研究必须从原理方面探索具有工业应用前景的储氢方法。虽然大多数制氢研究仍以化石燃料为制氢原料,但只有从水制得的氢才是再生氢,才具有可持续性、洁净性和能源安全性。简评了再生氢制备方法,并报告一种通过不同价态的铁氧化物之间的转换实现水不完全分解制取纯氢的实验室研究结果。     

Comments on the significance of the quasi-valence number for chemical carcinogenesis

Summary A quasi-valence number of less than 3.20 was reported to be significant in correlating carcinogenicity. This criterion has no meaningful relationship since such a large proportion of organic compounds fall in this group, that it provides no selectivity.Acknowledgment. The authors express appreciation to the American Cancer Society (CH-57), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1-RO1-ES01975-01 PTHB) and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (B-702) for financial assistance of projects related to this paper.     

Separation of metal ions on inorganic ion-exchange papers

Zusammenfassung Mit anorganischen Ionenaustauchern Titanwolframat und -molybdat imprägnierte Papiere wurden zur Chromatographie mehrerer Metallionen in verschiedenen wässrigen, nichtwässrigen und gemischten Lösungsmitteln verwendet. Trennungen einer Anzahl von ternären und binären Gemischen wurden damit erzielt.     

Comments on testing for forecast and specification optimality using linear composites

This paper extends the method of using linear composites of forecasts for testing the efficiency of one forecast compared to a finite collection of other forecasts. It also gives necessary and sufficient conditions for forecast optimality in the mean square error sense. Information sets are found to be unnecessary for forecast optimality. Finally, the paper shows that a consistent test of forecast optimality cannot in general be obtained using linear composites. A similar conclusion applies to tests of specification optimality based on linear composites.     

A frosty disagreement: John Tyndall,James David Forbes,and the early formation of the X-Club

How do glaciers move? This seemingly straightforward question provided the backdrop for a heated debate between the physicists John Tyndall (1820–1893) and James David Forbes (1809–1868) in the late 1850s and early 1860s. Forbes described the motion of glaciers as that of a viscous fluid. After visiting the Alps, Tyndall proposed an alternative theory that combined fracture and regelation. The glacial controversy ensued. Yet the debate was never simply about whether glaciers moved like honey, or if they moved by continuously breaking and re-attaching. This paper shows that the glacial controversy formed an important prelude to the strategies used by the X-Club in reforming science and establishing cultural authority. There was a central difference in the way Forbes and Tyndall presented their scientific arguments. Tyndall and his allies used the changes in the periodical press as part of their strategy for establishing and maintaining cultural and scientific authority. By contrast, Forbes and his supporters, including the North British physicists, were not as quick to make use of this new medium. This paper, therefore, examines in detail the significance of these two publishing strategies in shaping the nature and results of the glacial controversy.     

Saving the Strong Programme? A critique of David Bloor’s recent work

This article critically appraises David Bloor’s recent attempts to refute criticisms levelled at the Strong Programme’s social constructionist approach to scientific knowledge. Bloor has tried to argue, contrary to some critics, that the Strong Programme is not idealist in character, and it does not involve a challenge to the credibility of scientific knowledge. I argue that Bloor’s attempt to deflect the charge of idealism, which calls on the self-referential theory of social institutions, is partially successful. However, I suggest that although the Strong Programme should not be accused of ‘strong idealism’, it is still vulnerable to the criticism that it entails a form of ‘weak idealism’. The article moves on to argue that, contrary to Bloor, constructionist approaches do challenge the credibility of the scientific knowledge that they analyse. I conclude the article by arguing that sociological analyses of scientific knowledge can be conducted without the weak idealism and the credibility-challenging assumptions of the Strong Programme approach.     

Geometrical constructions equivalent to non-linear algebraic transformations of the plane in Newton's early papers

Summary The theory of constructive formation of plane algebraic curves in Newton's writings is discussed in § 1: the apparatus by which Newton forms the curves, Newton's theorems on forming unicursal curves, his theory of conics, and his theory of (m, n) correspondence. Special Cremona plane and space transformations obtained by Newton's organic method are dealt with in § 2. The article ends with § 3, which shows two different directions in the theory of the constructive formation of plane algebraic curves in the XVIII-XIXth centuries. A synopsis is appended.Abbreviations MPN The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, edited by D. T. Whiteside, Vols. 1–3, Cambridge, 1967–1969 - Hudson H. Hudson, Cremona Transformations in Plane and Space, Cambridge, 1927 - PT (abridged) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 1665–1800 (abridged), London, 1809 - Andreev ₁ K. A. Andreev, On geometrical correspondences ... (in Russian), Moscow, 1879 - Andreev ₂ K. A. Andreev, On the Geometrical Formation of Plane Curves (in Russian), Kharkov, 1875