tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36560980175424852412024-03-14T03:40:12.389+01:00In RetrospectHistory of the Sciences and HumanitiesRubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-83902170619491418202010-02-02T12:03:00.003+01:002010-02-02T12:32:45.442+01:00Imaging ScienceI was surfing the web for some images of science and came across these amazing scientific photographs.<br /><br />http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/photogalleries/2008-best-science-photos/<br /><br />Science can not only be visualized photographically, but also musically, it seems. Judging from a composition called <span style="font-style: italic;">The Biochemists' Songbook </span>by Harold Baum, a biochemist. It is claimed to be scientifically accurate and amusing.<br />Images may be the comedy of science, bringing life to a hypothesis. Or are it the ugly facts that slay the beautiful hypothesis?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-72564874943946240992009-10-27T21:17:00.002+01:002009-10-27T21:20:50.087+01:00Der Mensch als IndustriepalastFantastic visualisation of human understood as a machine. By Henning Lederer.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="220"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6505158&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6505158&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="220"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/6505158">Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace]</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1208362">Henning Lederer</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-45445371348101644172009-10-12T09:46:00.002+02:002009-10-12T09:49:24.100+02:00Movie Night: Stalker<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; border-collapse: collapse; ">This Wednesday, October 14th: Movie Night about STALKER</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: small;"><div><strong></strong></div><blockquote><div><strong>what: </strong>filmdiscussion night about Stalker</div><div><strong>where: </strong>Ina Bouider-Bakkerlaan 41-4</div><div><strong>when:</strong> Wednesday, October 14th</div><div><strong>what to bring</strong>: some foods (chips/brownies etc.) drinks to share, your agenda for planning some winter movie nights, ideas about what movies you want to watch next time, and prejudices about Russian Cold War movies to bring to the test!</div></blockquote><div></div></span></span></div>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-13386359258286372542009-10-01T10:02:00.001+02:002009-10-12T10:04:23.420+02:00Ranking evidence is not enough<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;">Jacoline Bouvy won the Night of Descartes Essay Contest on Evidence Based Medicine, featured in the latest UBlad:<br /><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">RANKING EVIDENCE IS NOT ENOUGH</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Doctors have always treated patients according to what they believed were effective treatments. Until the late 19th century, however, bloodletting was thought to be a cure for a variety of diseases. Today, we prefer treatments that are ‘scientifically proven’ to be effective and expect our doctors to practice evidence-based medicine. But evidence-based medicine is not a medical doctrine: it is a set of tools that allows doctors to practice medicine by preferably using treatments that have been shown to be efficacious and effective. It helps doctors to be able to provide the ‘best’ therapies to their patients. However, evidence-based medicine is far from perfect and holds several weaknesses.The foundation of evidence-based medicine is the ‘hierarchy of evidence’ model, which ranks different types of scientific research study designs according to the authority these types of research hold. The hierarchy of evidence model wrongly regards the randomized controlled trial (RCT) (and systematic reviews of RCTs) as the ‘best’ type of medical research. Furthermore, it discriminates against lower ranked study designs that in the past have contributed to a great extent to current knowledge of diseases.In the development of medical evidence-based guidelines, the hierarchy of evidence model is used to rank the authority of different types of research. The randomized controlled trial and systematic reviews of RCTs are ranked above observational studies, case reports and expert opinion. A systematic review of at least two independent randomized double-blinded controlled trials of sufficient quality and size is considered the highest form of evidence in medicine followed by a single randomized double-blinded controlled trial. Ranked below RCTs are comparative studies (e.g. case-control studies and open trials), and at the bottom we find non-comparative observational studies and expert opinion.The randomized controlled trial is the closest medicine has come to a formal experiment which is why it is ranked highest. Yet, it is exactly the nature of RCT design that is problematic for its application in medicine: the highly controlled circumstances and selected patient population result in problems with external validity. The homogenous patient sample of an RCT is not very representative for the real-life, daily practice of health care, where the patient population is naturally very heterogeneous. Possibly even more important, pharmaceutical companies that have an obvious interest in publishing promising results of their products often fund RCTs. This does not mean we cannot trust the outcomes of their studies; it does mean we have to be aware of the issue of objectivity in their studies. Ideally, their results should be repeated by independent studies.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Objectivity</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Unfortunately, neither does independent research guarantee objectivity of study outcomes. The well-known ‘Scientists behaving badly’ publication (2005) has shown that 33 percent of researchers have engaged in at least one form of serious misbehavior in research (Martinson et al. 2005*). Thus, objectivity in medical research and publications in scientific journals does not exist. The hierarchy of evidence model does suggest that when study design conditions (e.g. sufficient quality and size) are met, RCTs will always produce reliable results. This is a wrong assumption.Randomized controlled trials have another major fallacy: they are short-term oriented. Observational studies (that are ranked below RCTs) are essential in investigating long-term effects of treatments and determinants of disease. The Framingham Heart study that started in 1948 is an example of a well-known observational study that has contributed greatly to our knowledge of cardiovascular diseases. Also, the relationship between smoking and lung cancer was shown not by randomized controlled trials but by epidemiological study designs. These examples clearly show that study design does not necessarily indicate the importance of the study’s results to the field of medicine.Evidence-based medicine and its hierarchy of evidence model clearly put randomized controlled trials above observational studies and, therefore, forces rigid judgment on their value and utility in medicine. But history has shown us that we need to look beyond study design to determine the true quality of scientific research and the extent to which published studies contribute to our knowledge of diseases and treatments. The hierarchy of evidence model is useful but has several limitations that create a need to look beyond evidence-based medicine. True evidence-based medicine should value research according to its importance and contribution to our increasing understanding of medicine. The evidence-based medicine model that simply ranks scientific studies based on their study design is not sufficient.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">*Martinson BC, Anderson MS, de Vries R. Scientists behaving badly. Nature 2005;435(June):737-738.</span></span></div></div></div>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-70458098922718668932009-08-23T22:04:00.004+02:002009-08-23T22:23:18.833+02:00Museum Price 2009<div>Museum's are hot these days. At least, debates on Dutch museums keep on going. Sometimes it's about negative news, such as the renovation of the Rijksmuseum of Art and History which continues to take longer and gets more and more expensive, or the National Museum of History in Arnhem of which the content remains a mystery... sometimes it's about good news, such as the Hermitage Amsterdam, a great new museum (built within budget and period), and the Giroloterij Museum Price 2009.</div><div><br /></div><div>This price of €100,000 will be given to one of the by jury selected museums best able to tell Dutch history to its visitors. The nominees are:</div><div><ul><li>Beeld & Geluid experience / Sound and Vision Experience</li><li>Het Dolhuys</li><li>Nederlands Openluchtmuseum / Dutch Open Air Museum</li><li>Het Spoorwegmuseum / Dutch Railway Museum</li><li>Tropenmuseum</li></ul></div><div>You can vote for the best museum: <a href="http://museumprijs.nl/">Museum Prijs 2009</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the history of the sciences, The Dolhuys is of course the one. On the history of technologies, you can consider Sound & Vision and the Railway Museum. Cultural history is shown in Open Air Museum and Tropenmuseum. Likely winners are Dolhuys, Open Air and Railway Museum. We'll see on 24 September...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-44625059859570201502009-08-21T01:50:00.002+02:002009-08-21T02:13:28.043+02:00Evidence-Based Medicine Prijsvraag<blockquote></blockquote>Taken from <a href="http://www.ublad.uu.nl/WebObjects/UOL.woa/2/wa/Nieuws/archief?id=1036553">Ublad.uu.nl</a>:<blockquote>Zo’n twintig jaar geleden werd de term ‘evidence-based medicine’ (EBM) geïntroduceerd. Bij het maken van een keus voor de behandeling van een patiënt diende de arts gebruik te maken van wetenschappelijk bewezen inzichten. Schrijf een essay over dit thema en ontvang voor 250 euro aan boekenbonnen. Het winnende essay wordt bovendien gepubliceerd in het Ublad.</blockquote><blockquote><b>De tweede ‘Nacht van Descartes’ – die plaatsvindt op 24 september in de Geertekerk in Utrecht - is gewijd aan 'evidence-bases medicine' (EBM).</b> Voor die gelegenheid hebben het Descartes Centre, Studium Generale en het Ublad een prijsvraag over dit fenomeen uitgeschreven.</blockquote><blockquote>Vragen die geopperd worden zijn: Had de geneeskunde zich voorheen dan niet op de wetenschap gebaseerd? Hoefde de effectiviteit van medische ingrepen voorheen niet te zijn bewezen? Is de geneeskunde sindsdien beter en effectiever geworden? Kan de introductie van EBM misschien ook worden verklaard door factoren van niet-medische aard? Wat heeft EBM bijvoorbeeld te maken met het streven naar kostenbeheersing in de zorg en met de juridisering van het medisch handelen? En heeft EBM bijgedragen aan een versterking van de medische professie of vormt het juist een bedreiging voor haar autonomie? Kortom: hoe moeten we Evidence-based medicine als fenomeen begrijpen en evalueren?</blockquote><blockquote>Studenten en medewerkers van de UU en het UMC worden nadrukkelijk uitgenodigd om een bijdrage over dit thema per e-mail te sturen naar a.heijnen@ublad.uu.nl. De bijdrage mag niet langer zijn dan 800 woorden en moet uiterlijk op dinsdag 1 september binnen zijn – voorzien van naam, adres en telefoonnummer van de auteur. Een jury bestaande uit Yvonne van Rooy (College van Bestuur), Herman Philipse (Universiteitshoogleraar), Frank Huisman (Descartes Centre / UMC), Melanie Peters (Studium Generale) en Armand Heijnen (Ublad) beoordeelt de bijdragen. Het bekroonde essay wordt gepubliceerd in het Ublad voorafgaand aan de Nacht van Descartes. De auteur krijgt bovendien een prijs bestaande uit boekenbonnen ter waarde van 250 Euro.</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-23235316204062143382009-04-08T16:06:00.002+02:002009-04-08T16:06:42.357+02:00Descartes College<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www2.hum.uu.nl/nieuws/algemeen/ani-UU-Descartes-banner.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 420px; height: 595px;" src="http://www2.hum.uu.nl/nieuws/algemeen/ani-UU-Descartes-banner.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-40735598379371191952009-04-03T19:17:00.002+02:002009-04-03T19:24:21.430+02:00Symposium Alexander von Humboldt in Holland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6STUu5MbYrf8lyngIchXMNXd_Bz8AKk7ZkpyEy5ThufdBKiNDSKJZuhi6nVWtP-lpjufatEEbA1RJ0bKRQYz23FZQpsvRolXXKcLlWSVlDX13Zq5EfPvOC4BeogDIjKy2_sv1T4TdGTo/s1600-h/IMG_0270.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6STUu5MbYrf8lyngIchXMNXd_Bz8AKk7ZkpyEy5ThufdBKiNDSKJZuhi6nVWtP-lpjufatEEbA1RJ0bKRQYz23FZQpsvRolXXKcLlWSVlDX13Zq5EfPvOC4BeogDIjKy2_sv1T4TdGTo/s320/IMG_0270.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320516089455125778" /></a>Azadeh Achbari presented her first results part of her research into the "Global Science from a Dutch Perspective: Dutch Participation in 19th Century Humboldtian Networks." Azadeh presented the case study of English scientist Whewell and the Dutch professor Gerrit Moll and their work on the tidal waves and water currents in seas and oceans.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-26885067234644982302009-03-05T10:23:00.002+01:002009-03-05T10:32:32.982+01:00Agenda<div style="text-align: center;">Monday, 9 March:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Symposium Wetenschapsarchieven Janskerk</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speakers: Leen Dorsman, Wijnand Mijnhardt, et al.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tuesday: 17 March:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Descartes Colloquium</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Friday, 3 April:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Symposium "Alexander von Humboldt in Holland (1800 – 1900)"</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speakers: Nicolaas Rupke, Azadeh Achbari, et al.</div>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-57370863209676595082009-02-22T14:14:00.006+01:002009-02-22T15:47:48.103+01:00Cullen & ter Haar on Chinese Chronology<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvBHWZKi3GFb2q2tmA89arQkZuLq-0ihbGuLAzIOF1JSDD9K0dDdwYoivixJnDUQAjZrnsSxGwhqjrxMl6sVfMnOo19ZHwnm_5xpMb40jAeCV11FTRXjVrklBV_Gau_n6F2eYetZ1ln8/s1600-h/IMG_0048.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvBHWZKi3GFb2q2tmA89arQkZuLq-0ihbGuLAzIOF1JSDD9K0dDdwYoivixJnDUQAjZrnsSxGwhqjrxMl6sVfMnOo19ZHwnm_5xpMb40jAeCV11FTRXjVrklBV_Gau_n6F2eYetZ1ln8/s400/IMG_0048.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305615377888167058" /></a><br />Professor Christopher Cullen, director of the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, gave a lecture on the characteristics of ordering and arranging historical events typical for Chinese chronology. Under the title "Astronomy and chronology in Han dynasty: some issues and debates," Culler not only discussed the way ancient Chinese scholars tried to establish the dates of past events, but also the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project, a recent attempt to get the dates of the oldest dynasties fixed.<br /><br />"The Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) saw the construction of the first fully worked out systems of mathematical astronomy in China." The famous Sima Qian 司馬遷 provided a list of the generations of the early dynasties without adding dates to them, because he already did not trust his sources. "Such systems were not only expected to predict future astronomical events, but also to 'retrodict' astronomical events recorded in ancient historical sources. As a result, debates about the validity of astronomical systems inevitably involved questions of chronology." Cullen used the writings of Liu Xin 劉歆 (c. 50 BCE - 23 CE) as an example of an early chronology project which dates the fall of the Xia dynasty in 1751 BCE. The Bamboo Annals would suggest 1558 BCE, and the recent chronology project, commissioned by the P.R. of China, dated the Xia conveniently from 2070 to 1600 BCE. Personally, I prefer seeing the Xia as the mythical dynasty of which its features, let alone exact dates, we will never know. Carbon-dating has been applied to some archaeological findings, but these only give an estimate, and moreover, might not even be really Xia, but instead Shang. Besides, even if these were Xia, that would not make it a dynasty, a civilisation with an hierarchical organisation and the application of metal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijKIMuXMpawLAGpxtcj2PTNA5nUPFPLG2KbvjDw0qtFTwCmtY18JtWIiNWyXbhU7WpdZdzFdD505bkRelEyrDqGZJHeIWpSCNDQKZP4bpK6ZdeJ-1gW_KtL1PHN_1rgLnlmDGBYdmPRY/s1600-h/IMG_0051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijKIMuXMpawLAGpxtcj2PTNA5nUPFPLG2KbvjDw0qtFTwCmtY18JtWIiNWyXbhU7WpdZdzFdD505bkRelEyrDqGZJHeIWpSCNDQKZP4bpK6ZdeJ-1gW_KtL1PHN_1rgLnlmDGBYdmPRY/s400/IMG_0051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305623325760123666" /></a><br />Professor Barend ter Haar had an interesting hypothesis on the Xia controversy: he suggested that the Xia and Shang existed more or less simultaneously. When a list of the generations was set up during Han, these families were named one after the other, making seem that one came before the other, which does not necessarily need to be true at all.<br /><br />Under the title "Historical chronology in traditional China," ter Haar also talked about the social aspect of the literati occupied with chronology. Only a very small number of people, the literati, were able to assign astronomical signs to events, and seeing that only a handful of copies existed of, for example Sima Qian's Shiji 史記, knowledge of these chronologies was not widespread.<br /><br />A fascinating knowledge object that was shown was the compass: not just a needle in the middle to pinpoint the north, already a greatly influential invention, but also the circles and categories ordered around it, namely the Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches, the seasons and Solar Terms, etc. Yet again, only a small percentage of the population in Chinese society knew how to operate this invention. It concerned 'cosmic time' and the theory of Qi, the energy that flows in the universe, which can be attracted to and radiated from the human body. When studying the history of Chronology, one therefore needs to be conscious of the different perceptions of time.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-91426562695486547782009-02-21T21:25:00.003+01:002009-02-21T21:38:50.772+01:00The History of Chronology - Continued<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-iJdh0VCk2HfFLT8RqH9ACm0vSBFgAn6NM90ycRmoghAak1jna6qGg2hWK-fHIWLQ-Gv3tsWaW0g2R7YWVxLJyhIjue1u66YGNNpl8P-MJ7gsqy-TFwhGByxzgI-z4ku2MkBbQKmIyk/s1600-h/IMG_0042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-iJdh0VCk2HfFLT8RqH9ACm0vSBFgAn6NM90ycRmoghAak1jna6qGg2hWK-fHIWLQ-Gv3tsWaW0g2R7YWVxLJyhIjue1u66YGNNpl8P-MJ7gsqy-TFwhGByxzgI-z4ku2MkBbQKmIyk/s400/IMG_0042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305350168995316610" /></a><br />Prof. Rosamond McKitterick of the University of Cambridge gave a lecture on "Carolingian Chronology: the Evidence of Scaliger Manuscripts 14 and 28 in Context." <br /><br />"Chronology in the Carolingian period had both a practical and ideological function. It was deployed not only to determine the date of the moveable feasts in the liturgical calendar and to date legal documents, but also to record the past and the passing of time. My paper will first sketch in the background for the Carolingian interest in chronology and time, for which Scaliger MS 28, a ninth-century codex containing Bede's De temporum ratione, provides important evidence. Secondly I shall address the precedents for the presentation of the past according to particular chronological schemes with particular reference to Scaliger MS 14, a magnificent copy of the Chronicle of Eusebius-Jerome, written in the early ninth century within a milieu associated with the Emperor Charlemagne, king of the Franks. These two manuscripts raise the question of the diversity of chronological schemes deployed in the Carolingian period for the writing of history and the ideological significance of that diversity."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPC-Iamt_kmOZBe2RjYrrm7UPpRq0eP4RKNDrJ_vNuoZih4x00Mc8nnImmTxPRUhFPELma1Pe2C9p3pMasgL8ztGU80FNt8LowzS2x5BN8887T1RuXFJwSYaMatVFtxwE7dS6aCx8lAVM/s1600-h/IMG_0045.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPC-Iamt_kmOZBe2RjYrrm7UPpRq0eP4RKNDrJ_vNuoZih4x00Mc8nnImmTxPRUhFPELma1Pe2C9p3pMasgL8ztGU80FNt8LowzS2x5BN8887T1RuXFJwSYaMatVFtxwE7dS6aCx8lAVM/s400/IMG_0045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305352083298264994" /></a><br />"Between aiōn and deuteron hexēkoston: Some thoughts on time in the Graeco-Roman world" by Dr Frits Naerebout of Leiden University.<br /><br />"On the divide between Europe and Asia we find the Graeco-Roman world. Its so-called sciences were rooted in the Ancient Near East, stimulated by Greek thought of the free-thinking polis communities of the Archaic and Classical periods, brought to fruition in Hellenistic Egypt, and given their final infuential shape across the Roman Empire. Chronology is one of these sciences. If we want to understand the way it functioned in ancient society, we should not limit ourselves to astronomical chronology – as we are wont to do because of modern ideas of what science should be. Instead, we should also look at consciousness and conceptions of time, in relation to questions of marking time, telling time, and measuring time. Chronology is about time, and time is a multi-faceted phenomenon. In this paper we will make a tour d’horizon mapping the main issues."Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-52397985808584403172009-02-21T16:48:00.003+01:002009-02-21T17:02:54.529+01:00Kapil Raj: Connecting ChronologiesAt the History of Chronology conference, Kapil Raj gave a lecture on "Connecting Chronologies: The Making of Modern Science through Intercultural Encounter, South Asia and Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN33usvFqxJMGqL2pVearVyUpw2mEbPzA41CaYPHQtuthd4zNCVbgTA8va-BGuaPLBH2S-5deSSndC3iw3UjaqYLijJX482WBc9lHxIlWNDbKhUufhO-GR6WNAYMXIHq6p58MWUdEA14/s1600-h/IMG_0039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN33usvFqxJMGqL2pVearVyUpw2mEbPzA41CaYPHQtuthd4zNCVbgTA8va-BGuaPLBH2S-5deSSndC3iw3UjaqYLijJX482WBc9lHxIlWNDbKhUufhO-GR6WNAYMXIHq6p58MWUdEA14/s400/IMG_0039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305278956630571330" /></a><br />"Conventional wisdom conceives that, along with their discontinuous cultural traits, different ethnic groups also have discontinuous chronologies until being steam-rolled by the globalising effects of western imperialism and industrialisation. Based on an analysis of the sustained contact between South Asia and Europe in the domain of knowledge practices at the crucial period of the rise of European imperialism and of the Industrial Revolution, this talk will show, on the contrary, that modern science, and indeed significant traits of modernity itself are the result of making European and South Asian chronologies commensurable."<br /><br />Dr. Kapil Raj followed the story of Sir William Jones who had learned Arabic and Persian, travelled to Calcutta and came into contact with a mixed chronology designed to legitimise Arabic rule over the Hindus. This ultimately led to Jones' theory for the underlying connection between the languages of Sanskrit, Greek and Latin, and which led to his new map of humanity, locating Noah in Persia, the origin, and then theorised about people's spread around the world. Today, William Jones is known for being the founder of modern philology.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-8636563340246279352009-02-21T14:49:00.008+01:002009-02-21T16:48:11.702+01:00Anthony Grafton on the History of ChronologyOn 19 and 20 February, I attended "the History of Chronology" conference organised by Prof. Harm Beukers of the Scaliger Institute (Leiden University). It was great to meet fellow history students interested in the history of science and the connection with Asia. Also the opportunity to listen to and speak with the authors of the books I have been reading is really inspiring.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_lGZYS0Vd6mL6FCPRv56mRUueIQ3nuRcvbrJe5Qc6WIPWZQh7hrLYYvcvVMAe8XHoHIk49zOrU3nejlMEyvrm1LI5VZ0UiM3Q0GjFKI5ViPST2uvfAZtAolpDV7LadR18umeZ3SjMeU/s1600-h/IMG_0036.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_lGZYS0Vd6mL6FCPRv56mRUueIQ3nuRcvbrJe5Qc6WIPWZQh7hrLYYvcvVMAe8XHoHIk49zOrU3nejlMEyvrm1LI5VZ0UiM3Q0GjFKI5ViPST2uvfAZtAolpDV7LadR18umeZ3SjMeU/s400/IMG_0036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305267227111940578" /></a><br />After the introductory speeches by Max Sparreboom (IIAS) and Harm Beukers, Professor Anthony Grafton gave his keynote address with the title "From Chronicle to Chronology: Emending Past Time in Early Modern Europe." Interesting points Grafton touched upon were, I thought, the difference in role between chronology and history. In the eyes of some, chronology overshadowed history because the former recorded when and where historical events occurred and combined it with the the positions of the Sun and other heavenly bodies.<br /><br />From the 15th century onwards, various innovations improved chronology, such as an index to make the chronology better accessible, the use of illustrations, new designs for lay-out (horizontal timeline and important persons and events encircled to attract attention, and a timeline in BC. In the 16th century, history and astronomy were connected by linking events to solar eclipses. This is very useful now, since modern astronomers and calculate exactly when solar eclipses must have taken place; this is data with which we can reconstruct 16th century calendars according to our own calendar.<br /><br />Furthermore, Grafton talked about the Byzantine efforts to combine Persian sources with their own; the use of topography, genealogies, and Biblical chronology in conflict with Greek chronology. And of course, the keynote could not be finished without first discussing the Scaliger's cosmopolitan interest and innovation to include not only the Greek and Roman chronologies, but also the Persian, Babylonian, and Egyptian chronologies. Entertaining was the anecdote that Jews must have laughed at the Christians in the late 15th-early 16th century, because the Christians had great difficulty calculating when Easter had to be celebrated.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-85825952959689314742009-02-04T10:14:00.004+01:002009-02-17T09:39:25.653+01:00Lunch<div align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:180%;">F.Y.I.</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong>HCSSH Lunch</strong></div><div align="center">When: Every Thursday</div><div align="center">Where: Letterenbibliotheek</div><div align="center">Time: 13:30</div><div align="center">For: Discussion, etc.</div><div align="center">Also for: HPS students and anyone else interested...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-60701673993665495542008-12-16T05:43:00.002+01:002008-12-16T06:11:51.081+01:00Intercultural Communication<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.companysj.com/v243/rites-ricci-guangqi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 380px; height: 571px;" src="http://www.companysj.com/v243/rites-ricci-guangqi.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />China, 16th century engraving. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) and the Chinese scholar who had converted to Christianity, Xu Guangqi (1562-1633).<br /><br />Xiaosui Xiao wrote a interesting article on the contribution of Intercultural Communication to the topic of Exchange of Knowledge. He noticed the following problem: Historians would tend to be mainly concerned with the interaction between two cultural systems of thought (bodies of knowledge), rather than with the interaction between the speakers and listeners. He felt that historians were rather impersonal, meaning that the agency in communication of thought was rather neglected. Although I do not fully agree with his observation, I can see that Xiao, coming from a communication background, would like to see more detailed analyses of actual communication processes between people in history. Besides the historical approach, there is the communicative approach, specifically looking at the communication between people and on the use of various technologies in this communication. The topic of how knowledge is/was communicated is rather neglected in this social science discipline.<br /><br />Having observed this problem, Xiao therefore proposed the following study: Intercultural Communication. The focus in this study would be on the intellectual dimension of intercultural transaction; the communication involved with cross-cultural exchange of ideas and thoughts.<br /><br />Xiao made a theoretical framework based on historical examples since the Opium Wars. After the Opium Wars (1839-1861), the "assimilation of Western Learning" can be said to refer to the introduction and popularisation of Western ideas in China, which reached its heights during the Reform Movement (1890s) and the May Fourth Movement (1915-1925).<br /><br />Xiao’s theoretical framework is as follows:<br />1. The assimilation of Western learning is a process of signification (meaning-building). For example, the concept of <span style="font-style:italic;">rén</span>, having the connotation of hierarchy in Confucianism, was given a new meaning by Tan Sitong, namely the principle that all people are equal.<br />2. Signification is a site of social struggle. The new meaning of <span style="font-style:italic;">rén</span> created a struggle between the new interpretation and Confucianism.<br />3. Signification inevitably involves the critical role of rhetoric. In the same example, rhetoric was applied by Tan Sitong to make his case stronger, namely the argumentation around the interconnectivity of <span style="font-style:italic;">rén</span> in Neo-Confucianism.<br />4. The role of native interpreters and advocates of a foreign practice of signification. Tan Sitong’s initiative and effort was crucial in the assimilation of Western learning and the discussion that followed.<br /><br />In short: Foreign knowledge was interpreted in China and trough translation and advocated within a long-standing tradition by means of rhetoric and by assigning new meanings to words. This causes strong responses and social struggles.<br /><br />Although Xiao's examples seem to rule out any 'exchange,' rather suggesting an one-way assimilation of Western learning by Chinese initiative, the idea a signification, use of rhetoric, and the focus on agency can really provide a more comprehensive view on the the phenomenon of circulation of knowledge in history.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-2789001032527456432008-12-03T00:23:00.005+01:002008-12-07T16:12:28.567+01:00keep the debate aliveI introduce to you: Alan Sokal. A physicist who hoaxed the cultural studies journal <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Social Text </span>by submitting a parody of postmodern science criticism. It aimed at some relativist positions held by sociologists of science. Sokal states that the sociological study of science can claim some things and that he's no arrogant physicist that 'rejects all sociological intrusion on our "turf," as he calls it. There are three propositions on which he thinks science and its critics can agree: 1)science is a human endeavour 2)there are some external factors to science (f.e. the prevailing attitudes of mind which arise in part from deepseated historical factors) 3)the outcome of science is in part due to external factors to science like politics. So science is done by people, who can be researched sociologically and historically, as can the content and outcome of their work. From the Sokal hoax there can be deduced that some cultural study of science is nonsense, but not all. Its content are for the most part direct quotes from postmodern Masters, whom he 'showers with mock praise.' The article was structured around some of the silliest remarks that were made about mathematics and physics. In two ways postmodernists went wrong; 1) meaningless and absurd statements, name-dropping, and a display of false erudtion were made, and 2) sloppy thinking and bad philosophy made glib relativism. <div><br /></div><div>Examples: In <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Science in Action </span>Latour introduces his so-called Third Rule of Method which reads as follows: 'Since the settlement of a controversy is the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">cause </span>of Nature's representation, not the consequence, we can never use the outcome - Nature - to explain how and why a controversy has been settled.' Latour slips here, without comment or argument, from "Nature's representation" to "Nature". Sokal finds it hard to make sense of the statement, unless applying the First Rule of Interpretation of Postmodern Academic Writing: 'no sentence means what it says.' His conclusion is that Latour has no competence in the field of physics and sociologists like him employ methods that enable them to fathom both the 'inner workings' and the 'outer character' of science without having to be expert in the fields they study. The method used is to achieve by definition what one could not achieve by logic. Old words are used in a new sense which results in conflating concepts. </div><div><br /></div><div>The basis of Sokal's argument is that scientists generally don't listen to relativist claims about reality by science studies. And these studies should not waste their time trespassing on the expertise of sciences, ridiculing themselves by thinking they are experts in (quantum) physics and mathematics. </div><div>As for myself; I would much rather sleep in a house built by science. But then again, I would also rather read less bricks and stones statements than more historical relativist stories. It remains interesting and informative to read what someone from the science perspective has to say about those who study science sociologically and historically. Although I am in the confident conviction that I am less interesting than the subjects I study. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-55238835567990322752008-11-28T23:44:00.003+01:002009-02-03T23:58:23.497+01:00Chinese Agricultural CalendarWANG ZHEN’S APPLICATION OF ASTRONOMY IN AGRONOMY IN THE LATER CHINESE EMPIRE<br />Essay introduction for the course "Chinese and Chinese Culture," Xiamen University<br />Ruben Verwaal<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/images/arbigimages/e3f4c919a29c72473ccaab02531c773f.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/images/arbigimages/e3f4c919a29c72473ccaab02531c773f.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />In the intellectual history of China, one of the most distinguished works among the scientific classics is the <span style="font-style:italic;">Wáng Zhēn Nóng Shū</span> 王禎農書 ("Agricultural Treatise of Wang Zhen," 1313). Written during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), the county magistrate Wang Zhen (1290-1333) had specifically designed this work to serve as a guide to agricultural production. The book consisted of three parts: first, a general outline on the origin of agriculture and on various agricultural aspects and techniques, such as its dependence on weather conditions, terrestrial productivity, and human effort; the second part consisted of discussions on the cultivation, protection, harvesting, storage and utilisation of crops, fruit, vegetables, bamboo and other plants and trees; the last and most extensive part consisted of a collection of about 270 illustrations of various farm tools and instruments (Deng Yinke, <span style="font-style:italic;">Ancient Chinese Inventions</span>, 129). Many of these tools have long been lost, making this agricultural treatise an invaluable source of information. What has often been unexplored, however, was the agricultural calendar included in the <span style="font-style:italic;">Nóng Shū</span>.<br /><br />This essay will therefore investigate a sophisticated feature in Wang Zhen’s comprehensive work on agriculture, namely the <span style="font-style:italic;">yué lìng</span> 月令 (monthly ordinances) or agricultural calendar. The reason for the neglect of attention to this agricultural calendar in the discourse on Chinese astronomy or on agriculture might be found in the reason that it fell exactly in between the two subject matters. Despite the fact that the genre of agricultural calendar was one of utilitarianism (Joseph Needham’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Science and Civilisation of China</span>, Vol.6, Pt. 2, 52), I would be of the opinion that Wang’s agricultural calendar deserves special attention because his advanced creation was able to include ancient Chinese concepts of Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches and Solar Terms, as well as details for year-round farm management.<br /><br />In order to show the exceptional standing of Wang’s agricultural calendar, we will first briefly look into the history of this literary form. Considering that China was an agricultural economy, farmers have made use of the study of phenology, the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, in an attempt to get a grip on the country’s often unpredictable climate. Second, we will discuss the ancient Chinese philosophical concepts included into the calendar and relate them to their practical use in Chinese society and agriculture. Third, we will investigate the influence of Wang’s agricultural calendar in the continuation of the <span style="font-style:italic;">yué lìng</span> genre. <br /><br />Ever since the beginning of agriculture in China, farmers made use of natural signals such as blooming in order to decide upon when to begin farming season. For example, before the availability of the calendar, Chinese people would observe the morning and evening stars in order to recognise the seasons. This remained a difficult practice, however. In an attempt to solve this problem, farmers and working people invented a system of the twenty-four <span style="font-style:italic;">jiéqi</span> 節氣 (Solar Terms), with which the seasons could be better indicated and therefore useful for the farmers (Chen Jiujin ascribes the invention of the Solar Terms to the Chinese working people in Jiujin, “Chinese Calendars,” 46 ). Throughout Chinese history, scholars have attempted to perfect the calendar for various reasons, such as to provide new emperors with legitimacy, but the utility of its application in agriculture can be said to remain one of the most important reasons.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-45229983263630427522008-11-27T21:16:00.001+01:002008-11-27T21:16:52.417+01:00Follow up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnlCXzctiaz3fqNavB90yGoOB1ChWWRau7JjbRPHhfmLcI58E9N-wm3zyzUe1SKgBRxjLvNTdUlmHDA025NCSXixp8HCUaS0YeFENuGeCJnxLfNQ0ahnpYjIP0hy-ydi8L_MvnLPZUsc/s1600-h/funny-pictures-schrodinger-does-an-experiment-with-a-tube-and-kittens.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnlCXzctiaz3fqNavB90yGoOB1ChWWRau7JjbRPHhfmLcI58E9N-wm3zyzUe1SKgBRxjLvNTdUlmHDA025NCSXixp8HCUaS0YeFENuGeCJnxLfNQ0ahnpYjIP0hy-ydi8L_MvnLPZUsc/s320/funny-pictures-schrodinger-does-an-experiment-with-a-tube-and-kittens.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273433843962431250" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-71180268795952198392008-11-24T17:21:00.001+01:002008-11-24T17:23:13.724+01:00?Could Schrödinger's cat also have been a dog?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-89592711225274777562008-11-16T16:58:00.003+01:002008-11-16T17:32:57.957+01:00Aboriginal Australians, Apes, and Art<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeky_Ge2Ld5MScOhNFLKOgRf3n-1WJxsUVRQf3nu9-iEEzyfKZ0ekASmdO31RFBF4pWQPHJ4tH0jiZSMbnLb6eudc9drcVn8rCkPihcDUomVflQTBChntCfgjrHfOZss0ud02rw83jMI/s1600-h/female,+apes,+art.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeky_Ge2Ld5MScOhNFLKOgRf3n-1WJxsUVRQf3nu9-iEEzyfKZ0ekASmdO31RFBF4pWQPHJ4tH0jiZSMbnLb6eudc9drcVn8rCkPihcDUomVflQTBChntCfgjrHfOZss0ud02rw83jMI/s320/female,+apes,+art.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269287377291470194" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-44573601125755359282008-11-11T00:58:00.003+01:002008-11-11T01:06:14.421+01:00Faraday 1791-1867: ‘Chemical history of a candle’<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt">The following is a small hand-out I made of our reading of Faraday. As there were two elderly people in my class I added a slightly sneering comment to rouse them. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height:115%;font-size:10.0pt;">On<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faraday the ‘Anthology of Nineteenth Century Science’ tells he was of middle class decent. He was a member of the Sandemanians, a group of religious Christians who thought there was no basis in the New Testament for a national church and wanted to go back to primitive Christianity. They believed in the unity and harmony of nature. Rather heroically, Faraday, being an apprentice in a book bindery, educated himself and was able to make a career in a field where being of lower descent made you appear a lesser scientist. The following excerpt is from one of his Friday night Christmas lectures. Interestingly to note in advance is that he tirelessly worked behind the scenes to make the experiments look natural on stage. He even got eloquency lessons to improve his public performance. The lectures were held by the Royal Institution to earn enough money for its endeavours. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height:115%;font-size:10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height:115%;font-size:10.0pt;">His public experiments with candles give us an interesting image of science popularized. With crowd pleasers like pop! (ignition of gas) and crunch! (collapse of can after subsequent heating and cooling of inside gas) Faraday was able to excite his audience. Public participation in these experiments build up the entertainment value even more. A lady brings Faraday Japanese candles of luxury to do his experiments with and Faraday says the crowd will be able to make these experiments themselves, which in the case of his experiments with carbonic acid can do not much harm. Faraday uses a simple train of reasoning for explaining what he is doing. Everything is done step by step and in a matter of fact way. This makes the experiments and conclusions evidential, you can see the experiments and even redo them yourself. Faraday unveils the mysteries of nature and makes them intelligible to the public. In one case he even reflects on a social issue when he tells his crowd about the ‘impropriety of many of the arrangements of the poorer classes’<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>due to bad ventilation. In his chemical explanation of a burning candle Faraday shows how to extinguish the light by putting his mouth over a tube and breathe thereby explaining the necessity of oxygen for combustion. In the end of his experiment with candles Faraday turns his explanation of scientific principles to the public into a kind of sermon. He concludes by stating the beauty of the simple process of the use of oxygen by people. They breathe oxygen which the body turns into carbon dioxide which is used by plants to create oxygen which creates this magnificent circle of dependency. According to Faraday, his listeners are like the candles he used in his experiments. They have this energy to shine, but need oxygen (breathing) to make them live, move, act and do things; they are therefore dependent on their fellow existers, i.e. the plants. He employs his audience to shine as lights to those about them. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height:115%;font-size:10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height:115%;font-size:10.0pt;">To whom is Faraday addressing his public display of science? In the introduction to his lectures, Faraday says he means to pass away from the seniors in the audience and instead claims ‘the privilege of speaking to juveniles as a juvenile myself.’ In his first lecture he further informs his audience of what candles are made of, thereby beginning from the basis in his instruction on chemistry. His listeners need little to no background in chemistry. His lectures are accessible and use the clarity of expression needed for public education; no difficult jargon or an explanation to the words used is given. Faraday further uses his lectures to address social questions such as the conditions of the poorer classes and even his Sandemanian background jumps up at the end of the lecture when he teaches his public the harmony of nature. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-80331957656668323902008-10-30T10:03:00.000+01:002009-02-04T00:14:10.874+01:00Philosophy in Traditional Chinese MedicinePresentation for the course Understanding Chinese Medicine 理解传统中医药<br />Xiamen University, Ruben Verwaal<br /><br />Man and Nature in Harmony <br />The philosophical basis for TCM is the holistic principle of integration of man and nature: the human body is regarded as a whole, and man and nature are regarded as a whole (e.g. the circulation of blood and <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span> through the body and to the flow of water and rivers in the natural world). Natural disasters and diseases of the human body reflect the lack of harmony between man and the world.<br /><br />Confucianism <br />Heaven and Earth were composed of the same substance <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span>. Mencius: the ‘gentleman’ cultivates <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span> within himself, which is sufficiently refined to bridge the gab between Heaven and Earth, making the cosmos a balanced whole. <br />Han Confucianism and the theory of ‘Five Elements’: Heaven employs the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water; and there exist systematic correspondences between these elements and human life. For example, fathers stand to sons in the ‘begetting’ relation of soil to metal, so that an improper paternal relationship would be ‘unnatural.’ <br />Heaven had the <span style="font-style:italic;">yin</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">yang</span>, while human nature is composed of ‘congenital goodness’ (yang feature) and ‘natural emotions’ (yin feature); thus harmony between the self and Heaven.<br /><br />Theories<br />气 (<span style="font-style:italic;">qì</span>, air, breath): the extremely fine and tiniest substance of the universe.<br />阴阳 (<span style="font-style:italic;">yīn yáng</span>): two opposite principles of the universe. <span style="font-style:italic;">Yin</span> (feminine, moon, shade) is characterised as passive, earth, cold. <span style="font-style:italic;">Yang</span> (male, sun, positive) is characterised by heaven, light, heat. The opposition is relative, not absolute.<br />五行 (<span style="font-style:italic;">wǔxíng</span>, five elements): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These elements are the basic properties of five categories of substances in nature.<br /><br />Books<br />The <span style="font-style:italic;">Huángdì Nei Jing</span>《黄帝内经》(Yellow Emperor's Interiors Classic) is from around the Warring States period. The book is written in conversation between the Yellow Emperor and his ministers Qi Bo, Lei Gong and Bo Gao. They discuss the different ideas in medicine: either to adopt the theory of the Five Elements or <span style="font-style:italic;">yin yang</span>.<br />Also the <span style="font-style:italic;">Huángdì Bāshíyī Nanjing</span>《黄帝八十一难经》 (Yellow Emperor's 81 Difficult Issues Classic) is written as a conversation, compiled in the late Western Han dynasty. <span style="font-style:italic;">Nanjing</span> (Difficult Issues) studies medicine by combining the theories of <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">yin yang</span> and Five Elements together, rather than separate, and by applying pulse diagnosis, channels, and <span style="font-style:italic;">zang fu</span> organs with manifestations with the <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span>,<span style="font-style:italic;"> yin yang</span>, and the Five Elements.<br /><br />Some Questions:<br /> - “The study of functions and relationships of the five zàng systems can not be confined to the theory of five elements which only works as a naive theoretical tool of TCM” (p. 237). To what extent is the practice of TCM dependent on the theories of <span style="font-style:italic;">qi</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">yin yang</span>, and the Five Elements? <br />- The philosophical theories provide explanations to the practice of TCM. Have these theories led to new medical practices and know-how? Are the philosophical theories actually contributing to the medical practice, or are they just means of remembering symptoms and treatments?<br /> - If so, could we simply add a fourth theory in case the theories of <span style="font-style:italic;">qi, yin yang</span> and the Five Elements fall short? In other words, what is the justification for using these three in particular?Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-30584818588158762402008-10-07T08:49:00.005+02:002008-10-07T08:54:01.334+02:00Now reading: 1434<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pfviFvrhL._SL500_.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pfviFvrhL._SL500_.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />An enjoyable read and exciting theory: that the Chinese fleet of the early 15th century would have travelled all the way to Italy and would have ignited the Renaissance. I am halfway now, but no single proof have been offered yet, only more hypotheses.Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-57248136688068551982008-09-22T06:22:00.002+02:002008-09-22T07:51:09.082+02:00Continuous ConvergenceOn the 15th of September, I took the ferry to Macao, an island in front of the coast of China where the Portuguese in the 15th century first went on shore: Vasco de Gama visited the peninsula in 1497. My visit 511 years later felt as a ‘must,’ considering the rich history of the island and the fact that the island was an early ‘contact zone’ for east and west. Of course Macao has changed a lot since Matteo Ricci and Francis Xavier walked around, yet the churches, missionary buildings, and crucifixes reminds of its Christian and Portuguese past. Ironically though, Macao has now turned into the Las Vegas of the east, because it’s one of the few places where gambling is not forbidden. Huge casino’s light up at night; dramatically overdone, but surely gives a nice view from the 68th floor in the Macao tower.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT36dFRvnVehb8jyaOOS6EzNr1DTlRdhdeXKTO8WIF2hrJ0s1fbEmSZqE7YweUjoAuju9lJW7s-bwYw_OcYGhRLBoj_Un_xLjIun_J9AdxzaYO630ZihR4P-NReQkBwNTjPYzM7a1yRg/s1600-h/P7010034.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT36dFRvnVehb8jyaOOS6EzNr1DTlRdhdeXKTO8WIF2hrJ0s1fbEmSZqE7YweUjoAuju9lJW7s-bwYw_OcYGhRLBoj_Un_xLjIun_J9AdxzaYO630ZihR4P-NReQkBwNTjPYzM7a1yRg/s400/P7010034.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248718322187468354" /></a><br />(Ruins of St Paul Church)<br /><br />To talk about an other museum: the Macao Museum in the centre is most definitely worth a visit, because it’s shows a historical and comparative story of China and Europe, under the title of “Continuous Convergence.” I have yet to find a more suitable application of our master programme in a museum. You walk through an alley, and on your left you see the history of Europe and on your right the Chinese. You could choose just to see the one or the other, but you’re invited to make the comparison yourself. First, examples of the Egyptian, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scripts are compared with the evolutionary development of the Chinese script. Second, the Roman empire and Qin empire (first emperor Qin Shihuang and his terracotta army) are shown with their accomplishments. Further comparisons concern schools of thought (Greek philosophers and Confucius), religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism), science and technology, and it keeps on going; as long as it fits in the idea of east and west convergence.<br /><br />In the museum, the number of houses were rebuild to give an impression of a Macao street through time. The first house is typical Chinese, the last typical Portuguese, and the houses in between combinations of the two. A map of the world show the Portuguese trade routs over the oceans as well as the famous Silk Road through Central Asia towards the west. This comparison technique is practised on practically everything: Chinese and Christian marriage rituals, eastern and western medicine, a Chinese and a Portuguese living-room, which contained a picture of a Portuguese-Chinese couple and their children. The story is at times a bit too romantic, yet very entertaining and interesting.<br /><br />I couldn’t thus detect any clashes between the Chinese and Portuguese. One violent confrontation is mentioned, which only gave the Macao and the Portuguese a common enemy: the Dutch! It turns out that the Dutch tried to take over control over Macao, and although initially successful, they were defeated by Portuguese soldiers and Macao civilians. Since 1999, Macao passed to China, but is considered a Special Administrative Region so I have an extra stamp in my passport!<br /><br />[Pictures soon]Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656098017542485241.post-27923292317911728562008-09-18T16:03:00.006+02:002008-09-22T07:51:50.065+02:00Hong Kong Museum of HistoryOn the first day in Hong Kong, I went to the Hong Kong Museum of History. This museum instantly became one of my favourite museums (others being for example the Tate Modern in London). I did not exactly know what to expect, but I have learned that that is usually the best. Sometimes I go visit a museum with big expectations, or just the wrong expectations, and then your experience will usually be a disappointment. But in the case of the Museum of History, everything added up to a great museum experience.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzzPKIs22pIfGP_YXr_tfrLwZPKpwOh7Ljp31x9Ts2UU4a4gr54NM-HW_wRlB3vi07lqUboDdExLht4q7d5ULOhqrIW4OefyMvzF-u-OzZwrhFbMNPLh7C6HMzUCgjEQEZlipfMp6pas/s1600-h/P6280013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzzPKIs22pIfGP_YXr_tfrLwZPKpwOh7Ljp31x9Ts2UU4a4gr54NM-HW_wRlB3vi07lqUboDdExLht4q7d5ULOhqrIW4OefyMvzF-u-OzZwrhFbMNPLh7C6HMzUCgjEQEZlipfMp6pas/s400/P6280013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247523568557947954" /></a><br /><br />The museum had done a great job in combining all kinds of history into one. It started with the geological features and history of the Hong Kong area. How the different layers in the earth came to be, what effect the ice age had, how the different islands and mountains came to be; everything complemented with the estimated years when it occurred, usually going into the millions of years ago. Of course I don’t know anything about geology, but the fact that the rock we’re sitting on hides an enormous history under its surface is of course amazing to a simple history student.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBOwq7XMXZRuZ1GuULoyc3XlCf7G70g18JFMsmXsfypB3Mo7GdY8CfgC_1vUGxSd5Rwsd_E_wIK-T930-ZvQ-tU8EGCTyRd26o2lGhDLDI8l7hBZxkjbG5GpGXVWp6nuBSVbyqLnSN_g/s1600-h/P6280031.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBOwq7XMXZRuZ1GuULoyc3XlCf7G70g18JFMsmXsfypB3Mo7GdY8CfgC_1vUGxSd5Rwsd_E_wIK-T930-ZvQ-tU8EGCTyRd26o2lGhDLDI8l7hBZxkjbG5GpGXVWp6nuBSVbyqLnSN_g/s400/P6280031.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247524077240762194" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, after the geological history of rocks, the next hall in the museum was dedicated to natural history! Suddenly you walk in a small jungle with animals and plants, typical for the region through time. I was just too happy and walked around without reading all the info signs; maybe next time. With the third room you finally enter human history, but it’s still pre-history so no written records. There are mannequins of how the humans a few tens of thousands of years ago probably looked like. The museum explains the discipline of archaeology, a history of archaeological excavations in Hong Kong, and the donor collections of (amateur) archaeologists.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsfoxQc3TmO158J6cITdxK9mtmiUjXIdFHllb0ZyeqXMJgm54NeMQppI2EACx8AXvduRokClhpOtQe-IR8MJ-digdi2NQtaH8owvaOuolDiAfx7-uuJO2E3xL7CNc9awizRehMuaZuFw/s1600-h/P6280016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsfoxQc3TmO158J6cITdxK9mtmiUjXIdFHllb0ZyeqXMJgm54NeMQppI2EACx8AXvduRokClhpOtQe-IR8MJ-digdi2NQtaH8owvaOuolDiAfx7-uuJO2E3xL7CNc9awizRehMuaZuFw/s400/P6280016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247523790182500706" /></a><br /><br />Now we race through the dynasties from Han to Qing and the place of Hong Kong in this history. So only in fourth section did the museum enter my field of study, namely history based on written works. But after the geological, natural, archaeological, and ‘ordinary’ history, it still continues! Now it is time for the people itself: anthropology. It turns out that we can distinguish four kinds of people in Hong Kong. The Boat Dwellers who fish, the rich Punti, the Hoklo who cultivate rice, and the […]. Other cultural riches are shown, such as Chinese opera, theatre, rituals for marriage and birth, etc. Next floor: Opium war, English rule, grow of the city, Japanese occupation, modernisation, and it all finishes with the return to China. All accompanied by pictures, posters, movies, buildings with period rooms, etc. Wow…<br /><br />So, everyone who visits Hong Kong, go to the Museum of History! But if you plan to visit multiple museums in Hong Kong, go to this one last, to keep your expectations for the other museums low. This museum reaches a high level, making the other museums look, well, less impressive.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL5wB92HiKPJFuJ9VyA6HrnmjKB1VWqcoTnOEIJtFRUElkjcRHbetxR8zhBm5-l8o6FzgtDtNB9R5glLU0uVJaaj7_JbLrqp-x70Ezxh9Wvw1LGeSfeCVOwYYRGdo5YUEo-ePiryKLsQ/s1600-h/P6280012.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL5wB92HiKPJFuJ9VyA6HrnmjKB1VWqcoTnOEIJtFRUElkjcRHbetxR8zhBm5-l8o6FzgtDtNB9R5glLU0uVJaaj7_JbLrqp-x70Ezxh9Wvw1LGeSfeCVOwYYRGdo5YUEo-ePiryKLsQ/s400/P6280012.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247524333369384818" /></a>Rubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635846257093090677noreply@blogger.com1