Download or read book Visions of Science written by James A. Secord and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed an extraordinary transformation in British political, literary, and intellectual life. There was widespread social unrest, and debates raged regarding education, the lives of the working class, and the new industrial, machine-governed world. At the same time, modern science emerged in Europe in more or less its current form, as new disciplines and revolutionary concepts, including evolution and the vastness of geologic time, began to take shape. In Visions of Science, James A. Secord offers a new way to capture this unique moment of change. He explores seven key books—among them Charles Babbage’s Reflections on the Decline of Science, Charles Lyell’s Principles ofGeology, Mary Somerville’s Connexion of the Physical Sciences, and Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus—and shows how literature that reflects on the wider meaning of science can be revelatory when granted the kind of close reading usually reserved for fiction and poetry. These books considered the meanings of science and its place in modern life, looking to the future, coordinating and connecting the sciences, and forging knowledge that would be appropriate for the new age. Their aim was often philosophical, but Secord shows it was just as often imaginative, projective, and practical: to suggest not only how to think about the natural world but also to indicate modes of action and potential consequences in an era of unparalleled change. Visions of Science opens our eyes to how genteel ladies, working men, and the literary elite responded to these remarkable works. It reveals the importance of understanding the physical qualities of books and the key role of printers and publishers, from factories pouring out cheap compendia to fashionable publishing houses in London’s West End. Secord’s vivid account takes us to the heart of an information revolution that was to have profound consequences for the making of the modern world.
Download or read book Follies of Science written by Eric Dregni and published by Chicago Review Press - Fulcrum. This book was released on 2006 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early twentieth century's futuristic utopian plans for your home and lifestyle--in vivid color and detail!
Download or read book Visions of the Land written by Michael A. Bryson and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2002-06-29 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The work of John Charles Fremont, Richard Byrd, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, John Wesley Powell, Susan Cooper, Rachel Carson, and Loren Eiseley represents a widely divergent body of writing. Yet despite their range of genres—including exploration narratives, technical reports, natural histories, scientific autobiographies, fictional utopias, nature writing, and popular scientific literature—these seven authors produced strikingly connected representations of nature and the practice of science in America from about 1840 to 1970. Michael A. Bryson provides a thoughtful examination of the authors, their work, and the ways in which science and nature unite them. Visions of the Land explores how our environmental attitudes have influenced and been shaped by various scientific perspectives from the time of western expansion and geographic exploration in the mid-nineteenth century to the start of the contemporary environmental movement in the twentieth century. Bryson offers a literary-critical analysis of how writers of different backgrounds, scientific training, and geographic experiences represented nature through various kinds of natural science, from natural history to cartography to resource management to ecology and evolution, and in the process, explored the possibilities and limits of science itself. Visions of the Land examines the varied, sometimes conflicting, but always fascinating ways in which we have defined the relations among science, nature, language, and the human community. Ultimately, it is an extended meditation on the capacity of using science to live well within nature.
Download or read book Visions of Nature written by Olaf Breidbach and published by Prestel Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume, which includes a number of Haeckel's drawings and watercolours which have never been published before, is the first detailed overview of the scientist and artist's vast output and provides a lively picture of his exceptional talent."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Visions written by Michio Kaku and published by Oxford Paperbacks. This book was released on 1999-03-04 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects the research of today's scientists to explore the possibilities of the science of tomorrow. Among the issues covered are how decoding DNA will allow us to alter and reshape our genetic heritage, and how quantum physicists will harness the energy of the Universe.
Download or read book Visions of STS written by Stephen H. Cutcliffe and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2001-02-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maps interconnections between science, technology, and society in order to understand both benefits and costs.
Download or read book Visions of the Future Chemistry and Life Science written by J. M. T. Thompson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-07-12 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading young scientists give engaging reviews of their research areas and exciting visions of future developments.
Download or read book Visions of Science written by James Secord and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-03-27 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early 1830s witnessed an extraordinary transformation in British political, literary, and intellectual life. New scientific disciplines begin to take shape, while new concepts of the natural world were hotly debated. James Secord, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, captures this unique moment of change by exploring key books, including Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, Mary Somerville's Connexion of the Physical Sciences, and Thomas Carlyle's satirical work, Sartor Resartus. Set in the context of electoral reform and debates about the extension of education to meet the demands of the coming age of empire and industry, Secord shows how the books were published, disseminated, admired, attacked and satirized.
Download or read book Space and Time written by David C. Wright, Jr., and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-04-19 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays in this work examine treatments of history in science fiction and fantasy television programs from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Some essays approach science fiction and fantasy television as primary evidence, demonstrating how such programs consciously or unconsciously elucidate persistent concerns and enduring ideals of a past era and place. Other essays study television as secondary evidence, investigating how popular media construct and communicate narratives about past events.
Download or read book Technophobia written by Daniel Dinello and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Techno-heaven or techno-hell? If you believe many scientists working in the emerging fields of twenty-first-century technology, the future is blissfully bright. Initially, human bodies will be perfected through genetic manipulation and the fusion of human and machine; later, human beings will completely shed the shackles of pain, disease, and even death, as human minds are downloaded into death-free robots whereby they can live forever in a heavenly "posthuman" existence. In this techno-utopian future, humanity will be saved by the godlike power of technology. If you believe the authors of science fiction, however, posthuman evolution marks the beginning of the end of human freedom, values, and identity. Our dark future will be dominated by mad scientists, rampaging robots, killer clones, and uncontrollable viruses. In this timely new book, Daniel Dinello examines "the dramatic conflict between the techno-utopia promised by real-world scientists and the techno-dystopia predicted by science fiction." Organized into chapters devoted to robotics, bionics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other significant scientific advancements, this book summarizes the current state of each technology, while presenting corresponding reactions in science fiction. Dinello draws on a rich range of material, including films, television, books, and computer games, and argues that science fiction functions as a valuable corrective to technological domination, countering techno-hype and reflecting the "weaponized, religiously rationalized, profit-fueled" motives of such science. By imaging a disastrous future of posthuman techno-totalitarianism, science fiction encourages us to construct ways to contain new technology, and asks its audience perhaps the most important question of the twenty-first century: is technology out of control?
Download or read book Visions of Tomorrow written by Tom Easton and published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2010-07-08 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gathers science fiction stories that accurately predicted future developments, including "The Land Iron Clads" by H.G. Wells, which foresaw tank warfare in 1903, and a tale that so closely depicted the atomic bomb in 1944 it worried the FBI.
Download or read book Visions of Discovery written by Raymond Y. Chiao and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 827 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World-leading researchers, including Nobel Laureates, explore the most basic questions of science, philosophy, and the nature of existence.
Download or read book Visions of Mars written by Howard V. Hendrix, and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-02-21 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen wide-ranging essays explore the evolving scientific understanding of Mars, and the relationship between that understanding and the role of Mars in literature, the arts and popular culture. Essays in the first section examine different approaches to Mars by scientists and writers Jules Verne and J.H. Rosny. Section Two covers the uses of Mars in early Bolshevik literature, Wells, Brackett, Burroughs, Bradbury, Heinlein, Dick and Robinson, among others. The third section looks at Mars as a cultural mirror in science fiction. Essayists include prominent writers (e.g., Kim Stanley Robinson), scientists and literary critics from many nations.
Download or read book Indic Visions written by Varadaraja V. Raman and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indic Visions is the tenth book by the acclaimed scientist and humanist Varadaraja V. Raman. In it he provides a detailed introduction to Indic religions and contemporary interpretations thereof consistent with modern science. In a world of rapid changes, dangerous fundamentalism, parochial chauvinisms, culture wars, and clashing civilizations, this book provides both a soothing balm and potent antidote. By delving more deeply into Indic civilization, Raman shows us the way to transform our emerging global civilization in wholesome and healthy ways consistent with science and the great challenges of the 21st century.
Download or read book Science Communication written by Annette Leßmöllmann and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-12-16 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science is an essentially cooperative, critical, and dynamic enterprise. Were it not for the continuous creation and improvement of special forms of communication, argumentation, and innovation, all of them suitable for its three key features, scientific knowledge and progress could hardly be achieved. The aim of this volume is to explore the nature of science communication in its several functions, modalities, combinations, and evolution - past, present, and future. One of our objectives is to provide an overview of the richness and variety of elements that take part in performing the complex tasks and fulfilling the functions of science communication. The overall structure and criteria for the choice of topics: 1. The origin and target of a communication episode - its source(s) and addressee(s). 2. The media of communication employed. 3. The thematic field and content types. 4. The distinction between aspects of science communication (e.g., media, texttypes, domains, communicative maxims) and aspects of research on science communication (e.g., the contribution of different research traditions to the understanding of science communication). 5. The history and dynamics of science communication (past, present, and future), both in an empirical perspective (e.g., the development of the research article) and a systematic perspective (e.g., what are basic types and mechanisms of change in science communication).
Download or read book The History of Science Fiction written by A. Roberts and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-11-28 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The History of Science Fiction traces the origin and development of science fiction from Ancient Greece up to the present day. The author is both an academic literary critic and acclaimed creative writer of the genre. Written in lively, accessible prose it is specifically designed to bridge the worlds of academic criticism and SF fandom.
Download or read book The Great Mathematical Problems written by Ian Stewart and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are some mathematical problems whose significance goes beyond the ordinary - like Fermat's Last Theorem or Goldbach's Conjecture - they are the enigmas which define mathematics. The Great Mathematical Problems explains why these problems exist, why they matter, what drives mathematicians to incredible lengths to solve them and where they stand in the context of mathematics and science as a whole. It contains solved problems - like the Poincar Conjecture, cracked by the eccentric genius Grigori Perelman, who refused academic honours and a million-dollar prize for his work, and ones which, like the Riemann Hypothesis, remain baffling after centuries. Stewart is the guide to this mysterious and exciting world, showing how modern mathematicians constantly rise to the challenges set by their predecessors, as the great mathematical problems of the past succumb to the new techniques and ideas of the present.
