diff --git a/_index.db b/_index.db index 20f2fc660..c83033d82 100644 Binary files a/_index.db and b/_index.db differ diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cb2c8bed1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:37.233104+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, also known as The Guide to Science or Brewer's Guide to Science, is a book by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer presenting explanations for common phenomena. First published in the United Kingdom around 1840, the book is laid out in the style of a catechism and proved very popular. 47 editions were printed by 1905 in English alone and translations made into various other languages. A revised version was produced for the US market which was digitised and republished in 2005 as part of Making of America IV: the American voice, 1850–1877. +Although it presented itself as an accurate science text, the book actually promotes religious ideas, including divine design. +The popularity of The Guide to Science enabled Brewer to gather material for his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable which remains a classic reference work. + +== Content == + +The object of The Guide to Science was to present answers to over 2000 questions about common phenomena. There are questions dealing with man-made objects such as candles, stoves and chimneys, as well as answers seeking to explain natural phenomena such as thunder, lightning (including a mention of ball lightning), clouds, dew, and rainbows. Brewer intended his book to be intelligible to a child, since children might often ask the questions he sought to answer, but not so simple as to offend the scientific. +The book is divided into two or three parts, depending upon the edition, each part having several chapters. Part one deals with questions relating to heat, such as the sources of heat and its effects on humans and animals, while Part two deals with questions relating to air, explaining why metal rusts in air, the operation of barometers, and the transmission of sound. A Miscellaneous section deals with several more nebulous questions, including questions about sleep and dreaming. Within each part, the different chapters break the questions and answers up into subject areas organised thematically. + +== History == +The Guide to Science had its origin in a habit of Brewer's of making and saving notes from his reading. He set his notes out in a question-and-answer or catechism style, leaving a space for answers when they were obtained. Brewer bound his book into a volume and, disregarding advice from one man of science to burn it, sought to have it published. His initial offer to Thomas Jarrold to sell the copyright for 50 pounds was rejected. Instead, Jarrold agreed to publish the book under a profit sharing arrangement. The ultimate success of the book meant that this arrangement proved to be very profitable for both Brewer and Jarrold, with Jarrold later refusing to sell his share back to Brewer even when offered 4000 pounds. + +The exact date of the book's first publication is uncertain. Brewer believed it was 1840 but other sources suggest 1841 or as late as 1847. A second edition of the book was published in 1848 and two more in 1849. A total of 47 editions were published with the 47th edition appearing in 1905. The print runs were among the highest of any scientific book published in the second half of the 19th century, and Brewer said the success of the book was almost unparalleled at the time. Several translations of the book were made including a Spanish translation in 1858 and two French translations. The French translations were themselves translated into Swedish in 1858 and 1890 and into Portuguese in 1900. +An edited version of the book by Robert Evans Peterson was published in the United States in 1851 as Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things, with a revised edition following in 1863. These versions were edited and rearranged in order to make them more suitable for American pupils and were used as a text-book by schools in Pennsylvania and Brooklyn. Brewer wrote to Peterson expressing his satisfaction at the rearrangement but nevertheless prepared a revised edition of his own which was published in the US in 1864. This edition was digitised and republished by the University of Michigan Library in 2005 following a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of Making of America IV: the American voice, 1850–1877. + +== Religious perspectives == +Brewer said that he consulted "the most approved modern authors" and submitted additions to "the revision of gentlemen of acknowledged reputation for scientific attainments". Nevertheless, religious rather than scientific answers to certain questions are prevalent in the book, particularly answers inferring divine design. For example, although modern theories of ice formation show that most of its unusual properties result from the hydrogen bond between neighbouring water molecules, Brewer suggested that the reason ice is lighter than water, expanding as it freezes, is because it has been "wisely ordained by God that water shall be an exception to a very general rule". +Brewer was ordained as a deacon and later as a priest and wished to provide a religious framework for science. He and many other Christian populist science writers of the time presented religious themes and were able to keep them relevant to modern science in the mind of the public even after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859. Part of Brewer's approach in promoting his ideas was to avoid discussing religious perspectives until about a third of the way into the book so that the introduction of these ideas would appear more natural. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4981060f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Scientific_Knowledge_of_Things_Familiar" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:37.233104+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Reception and legacy == +A review of the second edition of The Guide to Science was published by Punch magazine in 1850. The book was seen to be a "very useful little work", but in the typical Punch satirical style, the reviewer disagreed with one answer that we "feel a desire for activity in cold weather" due to "fanning combustion in the blood" by instead insisting that we feel a desire "to sit cosily over a fire in cold weather". +The success of The Guide to Science convinced Brewer that his readers still accepted religious explanations rather than evolutionary theory. Following the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, Brewer wrote Theology in Science; or The Testimony of Science to the Wisdom and Goodness of God (published in 1860) in order to demonstrate that evolution had not destroyed theological tradition and to continue The Guide to Science's promotion of natural theology. The book's popularity also resulted in Brewer being sent "a large number of questions on all imaginary matters". These questions and their answers became the nucleus of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, first published in 1870. This latter book has long outlived all of Brewer's other publications and remains a classic reference work. + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Bibliography == +Andrews, William (2008), Literary Byways, BiblioBazaar, LLC, ISBN 978-0-554-52804-5, retrieved 22 June 2009 +Brewer, E. Cobham (1864), A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar (US ed.), Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, ISBN 1-4255-5648-5, retrieved 1 April 2007 {{citation}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) +Brewer, E. Cobham (1880), A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar (38th ed.) +Evans, Ivor J. (1981), Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (new and revised ed.), Cassell, ISBN 0-304-31589-3 +Ferguson, Chris D. (1999), From Past-Present to Future-Perfect: A Tribute to Charles A. Bunge and the Challenges of Contemporary Reference Service, Routledge, p. 80, ISBN 0-7890-0767-3, retrieved 1 July 2009 +Lightman, Bernard V. (2007), Victorian popularizers of science, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-48118-0, retrieved 22 June 2009 +Peterson, Robert Evans (1851), Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things, Robert E. Peterson & co., retrieved 1 July 2009 +Peterson, Robert Evans (1863), Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things (revised ed.), retrieved 1 July 2009 + +== External links == +Sound and Its Phenomena by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, written following success of the Guide +Evenings at home, or, The juvenile budget opened by John Aikin, pages 453–454 (one of many available copies of an advert with accompanying reviews) +A Handy-book of the Law of Copyright by Frederick Patey Chappell, John Shoard, page 34–35 +Sources expressing dissatification with cramming facts +Report of the commissioners by schools inquiry commission, Great Britain, page 812 +The governess by Trev Lynn Broughton, Ruth Symes, page 52 +The Missionary herald by American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, page 327 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Guide-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Guide-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c758d248e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Guide-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Golden Guide" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Guide" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:33.611570+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Golden Guides, originally Golden Nature Guides, were a series of 160-page, pocket-sized books created by Western Publishing and published under their "Golden Press" line (primarily a children's book imprint) from 1949. Edited by Herbert S. Zim and Vera Webster, the books were written by experts in their field and featuring realistic color illustrations. +Intended for primary and secondary school level readers, the first books were field guides illustrated by James Gordon Irving, with such titles as Birds (1949), Insects (1951), and Mammals (1955). The series later expanded beyond identification guides to cover a wider range of subjects, such as Geology (1972), Scuba Diving (1968), and Indian Arts (1970). +In 1966, Zim launched a related series, the Golden Field Guides, aimed at high school or college-age readers. +An updated series was relaunched in 2001 as "Golden Guides by St. Martin's Press", illustrated largely with photographs but retaining some of the original 1950s illustrations. + + +== List of Golden Guides == + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press - Current list of Golden Guides +List of the original Golden Guide titles with links to cover images \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1ec2c94a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Good Faith Collaboration" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:34.781217+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia is a 2010 book by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. that deals with the topic of Wikipedia and the Wikipedia community. The book was first published on August 27, 2010, through the MIT Press and has a foreword by Lawrence Lessig. The book is an ethnographic study of the history of Wikipedia, its real life and theoretical precursors, and its culture including its consensus and collaborative practices. +The book has been described as a pioneering ethnographic study of the culture of Wikipedia. Reagle's main thesis has been summarized as the argument that "the success of Wikipedia may be less technological than a consequence of the community of Wikipedians and their cultural norms". + +== History of publication == +Good Faith Collaboration is based on Reagle's PhD dissertation. Reagle, the book's author, is a scholar specializing in sociology of the Internet, as well as a Wikipedia volunteer. In writing the book, Reagle relied on documents produced by the Wikipedia community, such as "content pages, discussion pages, mailing lists, newsletters, and meet-ups". +The book was published in 2010 by MIT Press. In September 2011, the Web edition of the book was released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license and Japanese language translation was made on GitHub. + +== Synopsis == +The book is composed of 8 chapters with a foreword by Lawrence Lessig. +The book opens with Chapter 1, "Nazis and Norms", which provides an overview of the text, and the author's methodology. In Chapter 2, "The Pursuit of the Universal Encyclopedia", Reagle explores the history of encyclopedias and of community collaboration, focusing on the 20th century onward. Reagle mentions specific examples such as H.G. Wells' World Brain, Paul Otlet's Universal Repository, and the collaborative practices of Quakers. +Chapter 3, "Good Faith Collaboration", and Chapter 4, "The Puzzle of Openness", begin the ethnographic parts of the book. They discuss reasons why Wikipedia has met its intended purpose; these reasons include the effects of the project's core policies, such as neutral point of view, no original research, and verifiability, all made possible due to the "good faith", represented by virtues such as "assuming the best of others, patience, civility, and humor". The book's title itself alludes to the Wikipedia policy "Assume Good Faith" (AGF); Reagle argues that this policy has been a key to the Wikipedia project's success. Chapter 4 also addresses issues of licensing, as well as whether everything on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, and the options for those who disagree (such as forking). +The next two chapters focus on the decision-making process within Wikipedia. Chapter 5, "The Challenges of Consensus", discusses the nature of consensus decision making within Wikipedia. Chapter 6, "The Benevolent Dictator", discusses the role of Jimbo Wales, the project's co-founder, as well as other less famous elements of Wikipedia's hierarchy, such as administrators, the Arbitration Committee, and the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees. +In Chapter 7, "Encyclopedic Anxiety", Reagle analyzes the popular and critical discussion of Wikipedia, including those of concerns about the prevalent "amateurism" of the project. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b6e5a7ab8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Good Faith Collaboration" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Faith_Collaboration" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:34.781217+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Reception == +William S. Kowinski, in a review of the book for the North Coast Journal published in 2010, wrote that "What this book does well is describe how Wikipedia works and what issues have arisen... this may remain the best opportunity for learning about this remarkable project." +Cory Doctorow, in a 2010 review on the Boing Boing portal, said that Reagle "offers a compelling case that Wikipedia's most fascinating and unprecedented aspect isn't the encyclopedia itself – rather, it's the collaborative culture that underpins it: brawling, self-reflexive, funny, serious, and full-tilt committed to the project". +The book was also reviewed by R. Stuart Geiger for The Wikipedia Signpost that year. He commended the author on his involvement in the Wikipedia project, which has allowed him to create a work that "goes well beyond most accounts written about Wikipedia, insisting on studying Wikipedians both on and in their own terms." Geiger concluded that the book "is well-written, well-sourced, and neutral; something I'd recommend for my mother." He also noted that the book had been praised by the then-director of the Wikimedia Foundation, Sue Gardner, on her blog. +Humphreys Lee, reviewing the book for the Journal of Communication in 2011, noted that it is a welcome addition to the body of ethnographic literature about new digital media. She noted that the book focuses on the production, not consumption of Wikipedia and stressed the historical importance of the wiki technology which was necessary for the development of the Wikipedia project. She concluded that the book "is an important contribution to understanding the collaborative culture of media production and the open content community". +Jeff Loveland, in his review published in 2011 in Annals of Science, wrote that the book has "one major weakness, namely in historical contextualization", but praised it as a de facto introduction to Wikipedia, exploring the "insightful and worthwhile" topic of ethnography of Wikipedia. +Paul Youngquist, in his 2011 review for symploke, noted that the book is worthy to recommend "to anyone interested in the history of infotech and its new forms of collective agency". +José-Carlos Redondo-Olmedilla, reviewing the book for The Information Society in 2012, wrote "Reagle's book on the culture of Wikipedia gives an accurate account of this sociocultural and sociotechnological phenomenon that Wikipedia is" and concluded that "it is definitely an excellent read and an accomplished exercise of transparency". +Olivia Auxier, writing a review for the International Journal of Communication in 2013, noted that "Reagle’s book is mostly descriptive but does offer some theoretical ideas about the issues Wikipedia faced early on and that it will continue to confront". +Mayo Fuster Morell, in her 2013 review in the Information, Communication & Society, commended Reagle's book for pioneering the study of Wikipedia using an ethnographic approach, "particularly in terms of its cultural and historical specificity". +Craig Hight, in his 2013 review for Media International Australia, concluded that "this is a detailed and persuasive analysis of the nature of the Wikipedia community, and a valuable addition to critical and reflective accounts of the technological, social and political dimensions of contemporary media platforms". +Piotr Konieczny, reviewing the book for Social Forces in 2014, wrote that while the book might not address all possible aspects of the Wikipedia project, it "has earned itself a place of a classic in the studies of Wikipedia, and, likely, in the bookshelves dedicated to the open content communities and online ethnography". + +== See also == +Bibliography of Wikipedia +Common Knowledge?: A monograph about Wikipedia, written by the internet researcher Dariusz Jemielniak + +== References == + +== External links == +Good Faith Collaboration in the Library of Congress Online Catalog +Online copy of Good Faith Collaboration—Web-based open content book released under a CC-BY-NC-SA license +Official website at MIT Press Direct +Good Faith Collaboration at the Internet Archive +Good Faith Collaboration at Google Books +Further reviews: +James Grimmelmann, Good Faith Scholarship, JOTWELL (October 13, 2010) (reviewing Joseph Michael Reagle Jr., Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia) +Chamberlain, Susanna. Good faith collaboration: The culture of Wikipedia [Book Review]. Communication, Politics & Culture, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2011: 133-134. +Maceviciute E. (2011). Review of: Reagle, Joseph Michael. Good faith collaboration: the culture of Wikipedia. Cambridge (Mas.), The MIT Press, 2010. Information Research, 16(3) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mambo_Chicken_and_the_Transhuman_Condition-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mambo_Chicken_and_the_Transhuman_Condition-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e709f2017 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mambo_Chicken_and_the_Transhuman_Condition-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mambo_Chicken_and_the_Transhuman_Condition" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:35.996206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition is a non-fiction book copyright 1990 by Ed Regis, an American author and educator, that presents a lighthearted look at scientific visionaries planning for a future with "post-biological" people, space colonization, nanotechnology, and cryonics. The book emphasizes the personality and projects of Robert Truax, Eric Drexler, Gerard K. O'Neill, Chris Langton, Freeman Dyson, Hans Moravec, Ralph Merkle, Robert Forward, Keith Henson, Carolyn Meinel, Gary Hudson, Saul Kent, and a number of others. + + +== External links == +Book PDF. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_To_(book)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_To_(book)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..15c9305b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_To_(book)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "How To (book)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_To_(book)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:41.876078+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems is a book by Randall Munroe in which the author provides absurd suggestions based in scientific fact on ways to solve some common and some absurd problems. The book contains a range of possible real-world and absurd problems, each the focus of a single chapter. The book was released on September 3, 2019. + + +== Production == +Munroe had the idea for How To while working on his 2014 book, What If?, which answered questions submitted by readers of Munroe's blog. While working on the book, Munroe started to think about problems that he would like to solve and the consequences of solving them in different ways. +While researching his answers for How To, Munroe investigated how to dry out a phone that has fallen in water. However, he could not find a reliable practical answer, and did not want to give readers bad information. Ultimately, Munroe decided to omit the question from his book. +As part of researching the chapter on "How to Catch a Drone", Munroe reached out to professional tennis player Serena Williams to knock a drone out of the sky by hitting it with a tennis ball. Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian piloted the drone, making it hover just over a tennis net, and Williams successfully batted it down on her third try. +How To is Munroe's third published book, after What If? in 2014 and Thing Explainer in 2015. + + +== Chapters == +How To contains the following chapters, with each chapter exploring a range of solutions, both plausible and absurd, to a particular problem: + +In between chapters, there are a few short answers: How to Listen to Music, How to Chase a Tornado, How to Go Places, How to Blow Out Birthday Candles, How to Walk a Dog, and How to Build a Highway. After the index appears How to Change a Light Bulb, drawn on one page in the style of a comic strip. Exclusive to the UK paperback edition, there is an additional chapter, How to Make Money. + + +== Reception == +The book was received positively by critics. Stephen Shankland of CNET stated that it "will make you laugh as you learn". Shankland contended that How To forces the reader to "appreciate the glorious complexity of our universe and the amazing breadth of humanity’s effort to comprehend it" through its "hilariously edifying answers" to some everyday and some improbable questions. Publishers Weekly described the text as "generously laced with dry humor" with "Munroe's comic stick-figure art [being an] added bonus." + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Self_Controls_Its_Brain-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Self_Controls_Its_Brain-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c0fe477e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Self_Controls_Its_Brain-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "How the Self Controls Its Brain" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Self_Controls_Its_Brain" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:40.746776+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +How the Self Controls Its Brain is a book by Sir John Eccles, proposing a theory of philosophical dualism, and offering a justification of how there can be mind-brain action without violating the principle of the conservation of energy. The model was developed jointly with the nuclear physicist Friedrich Beck in the period 1991–1992. +Eccles called the fundamental neural units of the cerebral cortex "dendrons", which are cylindrical bundles of neurons arranged vertically in the six outer layers or laminae of the cortex, each cylinder being about 60 micrometres in diameter. Eccles proposed that each of the 40 million dendrons is linked with a mental unit, or "psychon", representing a unitary conscious experience. In willed actions and thought, psychons act on dendrons and, for a moment, increase the probability of the firing of selected neurons through quantum tunneling effect in synaptic exocytosis, while in perception the reverse process takes place. + +Previous mention of the "psychon" +The earliest prior use of the word "psychon" with a similar meaning of an "element of consciousness" is in the book "Concerning Fluctuating and Inaudible Sounds" by K. Dunlap in 1908. +The most popular prior use is in Robert Heinlein's short story Gulf, wherein a character refers to the fastest speed of thought possible as "one psychon per chronon". + + +== See also == +Brain and mind +Dualistic interactionism + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Dinosaur-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Dinosaur-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..58035a26c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Dinosaur-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "How to Build a Dinosaur" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Dinosaur" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:43.075582+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever is a 2009 book by paleontologist Jack Horner and James Gorman. The book outlines Horner's theory for being able to resurrect a maniraptoran dinosaur by altering the genes of a chicken embryo. In 2010, a paperback version was published under the title How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution. + + +== Summary == +Paleontologist Jack Horner describes evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) and outlines his theory for being able to resurrect a maniraptoran dinosaur from a chicken embryo, by activating and deactivating certain genes to restore dormant dinosaur characteristics such as a tail, claws, teeth, and a snout. Horner also discusses paleontology in the book. + + +== Background and publication == +Horner's idea for the "Chickenosaurus" project came from "a pretty good script" that was written for Jurassic Park IV early in its development. The film's story, at that time, was expected to involve genetic engineering of dinosaurs. Horner was planning the book with co-author James Gorman in spring 2005. Gorman was deputy science editor for The New York Times, and had previously co-written Horner's 1990 book, Digging Dinosaurs. +Horner and his publisher planned for the book to come out at the same time as Jurassic Park IV, to serve as a scientific companion volume; however, the film was delayed. Horner's book, in hardcover form, was ultimately published by Dutton Penguin on March 19, 2009, without the accompaniment of the film. The book was initially published with the title How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever. A paperback version was published by Plume on February 23, 2010, with the title How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution. + + +== Reception == +Publishers Weekly called the book "provocative but frustrating", writing that aside from the main concept, "Much of the rest of the book offers background, but often digresses, for example, into hunting for DNA from 68-million-year-old dinosaur bones or the surfing habit of the man who discovered the polymerase chain reaction or how genetically close humans and Neanderthals are—none of which advances the book's central argument." +Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book "has a comfortable, intelligent flow," but noted that Horner first "wants to tell a story—and it's a good one, though at times meandering—about paleontology […]. Horner digresses about skinheads, Ted Kaczynski and chicken carcasses, but his main idea is reverse evolutionary engineering." Gilbert Taylor of Booklist wrote, "Straight from the scientific frontier, Horner's work should excite anyone who's dreamed of walking with dinosaurs." +Riley Black, writing for Smithsonian said, "The importance of How to Build a Dinosaur does not lie in Horner's wish to create a dinochicken. That makes up only a small part of the book. Instead the slim volume indicates how paleontology is becoming more of an interdisciplinary science where studies of development and genetics are just as important as fossilized bones." Jeff Hecht of New Scientist wrote that Horner "is at his best" in the book, which he called "provocative yet firmly grounded in science." + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_and_Present_State_of_Electricity-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_and_Present_State_of_Electricity-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8d9eee8e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_and_Present_State_of_Electricity-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "The History and Present State of Electricity" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_and_Present_State_of_Electricity" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:38.470095+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The History and Present State of Electricity (1767), by eighteenth-century British polymath Joseph Priestley, is a survey of the study of electricity up until 1766, as well as a description of experiments by Priestley himself. + + +== Background == +Priestley became interested in electricity while he was teaching at Warrington Academy. Friends introduced him to the major British experimenters in the field: John Canton, William Watson, and Benjamin Franklin. These men encouraged Priestley to perform the experiments he was writing about in his history; they believed that he could better describe the experiments if he had performed them himself. In the process of replicating others' experiments, however, Priestley became intrigued by the still unanswered questions regarding electricity and was prompted to design and undertake his own experiments. +Priestley possessed an electrical machine designed by Edward Nairne. With his brother Timothy he designed and constructed his own machines (see Timothy Priestley#Scientific apparatus). + + +== Contents == +The first half of the 700-page book is a history of the study of electricity. It is parted into ten periods, starting with early experiments "prior to those of Mr. Hawkesbee", finishing with variable experiments and discoveries made after Franklin's own experiments. The book takes Franklin's work into focus, which was criticised by contemporary scholars, especially in France and Germany. +The second and more influential half contents a description of contemporary theories about electricity and suggestions for future research. Priestley also wrote about the construction and use of electrical machines, basic electrical experiments and "practical maxims for the usw of young elecricians". In the second edition, Priestley added some of his own discoveries, such as the conductivity of charcoal. This discovery overturned what he termed "one of the earliest and universally received maxims of electricity," that only water and metals could conduct electricity. Such experiments demonstrate that Priestley was interested in the relationship between chemistry and electricity from the beginning of his scientific career. In one of his more speculative moments, he "provided a mathematical quasi-demonstration of the inverse-square force law for electrical charges. It was the first respectable claim for that law, out of which came the development of a mathematical theory of static electricity." +The book contains an account of the kite experiment of Benjamin Franklin, that has been taken as authoritative. Some details not found elsewhere are presumed to have been communicated by Franklin. The status of this account matters for the priority dispute over the experiment in which Franklin became involved. + +The focus on Franklin's experiments influenced the reception of his work in Europe. Priestley's famous text supported the distribution of Franklin's research, which helped it becoming one of the most important works on electricity in the late 18th century. + + +== Influence == +Priestley's strength as a natural philosopher was qualitative rather than quantitative and his observation of "a current of real air" between two electrified points would later interest Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell as they investigated electromagnetism. Priestley's text became the standard history of electricity for over a century; Alessandro Volta (who would go on to invent the battery), William Herschel (who discovered infrared radiation), and Henry Cavendish (who discovered hydrogen) all relied upon it. Priestley wrote a popular version of the History of Electricity for the general public titled A Familiar Introduction to the Study of Electricity (1768). + + +== Notes == + + +== Bibliography == +Gibbs, F. W. Joseph Priestley: Adventurer in Science and Champion of Truth. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1965. +Jackson, Joe, A World on Fire: A Heretic, An Aristocrat and the Race to Discover Oxygen. New York: Viking, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03434-7. +Schofield, Robert E. The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of his Life and Work from 1733 to 1773. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-271-01662-0. +Thorpe, T.E. Joseph Priestley. London: J. M. Dent, 1906. +Uglow, Jenny. The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. ISBN 0-374-19440-8. + + +== External links == +Priestley, Joseph. The History and Present State of Electricity, with original experiments. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, J. Johnson and T. Cadell, 1767. (Third edition, 1775) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bcd3f9fdc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "The Hot Zone" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:39.634684+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was Preston's 1992 New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone". +The filoviruses—including Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Marburg virus, and Ravn virus—are Biosafety Level 4 agents, extremely dangerous to humans because they are very infectious, have a high fatality rate, and most have no known prophylactic measures, treatments, or cures. Along with describing the history of the devastation caused by two of these Central African diseases, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease, Preston described a 1989 incident in which a relative of Ebola virus, Reston virus, was discovered at a primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia, less than 15 miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C. + +== Synopsis == +The book is in four sections: + +"The Shadow of Mount Elgon" delves into the history of filoviruses, as well as speculation about the origins of AIDS. Preston recounts the story of "Charles Monet" (a pseudonym), who might have caught Marburg virus from visiting Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon in Kenya. The author describes the progression of the disease, from the initial headache and backache, to the final stage in which Monet's internal organs fail and he hemorrhages extensively in a waiting room in a Nairobi hospital. This part also introduces a promising young physician who became infected with Marburg virus while treating Monet. Nancy Jaax's story is told. Viruses, biosafety levels and procedures are described. The Ebola virus disease outbreaks caused by Ebola virus and its cousin, Sudan virus, are mentioned. Preston talks to the man who named the Ebola virus. +"The Monkey House" chronicles the discovery of Reston virus among imported monkeys in Reston, Virginia, and the following actions taken by the U.S. Army and Centers for Disease Control. It starts with the monkey house receiving a shipment of 100 wild monkeys. After four weeks, 29 of these monkeys have died. This is followed by the veterinarian for the facility, Dan Dalgard, examining the dead monkeys and sending the samples to Peter Jahrling, a virologist at United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. After seeing a rope-like virus under the microscope, it is suspected that the monkeys were infected with a hot agent similar to the Marburg virus. Jahrling then conducts a blood test to find out that the hot agent is the Ebola Zaire virus. This conclusion leads to the Army Medical Research Institute deciding to euthanize all the monkeys in the same room as the infected monkeys. +"Smashdown" is more on the Reston epizootic, which involved a strain of the virus that does not affect humans but which easily spreads by air, and is very similar to its cousin the Ebola virus. +"Kitum Cave" tells of the author's visit to the cave that is the suspected home of the natural host animal in which Ebola lives. +The book starts with "Charles Monet" visiting Kitum Cave during a camping trip to Mount Elgon in Central Africa. Not long after, he begins to suffer from a number of symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea and red eye. He is taken to Nairobi Hospital for treatment, but his condition deteriorates further, and he goes into a coma while in the waiting room. This particular filovirus is called Marburg virus. +Nancy Jaax had been promoted to work in the Level 4 Biosafety containment area at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and is assigned to research Ebola virus. While preparing food for her family at home, she cuts her right hand. Later, while working on a dead monkey infected with Ebola virus, one of the gloves on the hand with the open wound tears, and she is almost exposed to contaminated blood, but does not get infected. Nurse Mayinga is also infected by a nun and goes to Ngaleima Hospital in Kinshasa for treatment, where she succumbs to the disease. +In Reston, Virginia, less than fifteen miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C., a company called Hazelton Research once operated a quarantine center for monkeys that were destined for laboratories. In October 1989, when an unusually high number of their monkeys began to die, their veterinarian decided to send some samples to Fort Detrick (USAMRIID) for study. Early during the testing process in biosafety level 3, when one of the flasks appeared to be contaminated with harmless pseudomonas bacterium, two USAMRIID scientists exposed themselves to the virus by wafting the flask. The virus found at the facility was a mutated form of the original Ebola virus and was initially mistaken for simian hemorrhagic fever virus. They later determine that, while the virus is lethal to monkeys, humans can be infected with it without any health effects at all. This virus is now known as Reston virus. +Finally, the author goes to Africa to explore Kitum Cave. On the way, he discusses the role of AIDS in the present, as the Kinshasa Highway that he travels on was sometimes called the "AIDS Highway" after its early appearance in the region. Equipped with a hazmat suit, he enters the cave and finds a large number of animals, one of which might be the virus carrier. At the conclusion of the book, he travels to the quarantine facility in Reston. He finds the building abandoned and deteriorating. He concludes the book by claiming that Ebola will be back. + +== Reston virus outbreak == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9dbcbb52f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "The Hot Zone" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:39.634684+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The discovery of the Reston virus was made in November 1989 by Thomas W. Geisbert, an intern at United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Peter B. Jahrling isolated the filovirus further. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted blood tests of the 178 animal handlers. While six tested positive, they did not exhibit any symptoms. The Reston virus was found to have low pathogenicity in humans. This was further supported later when a handler infected himself during a necropsy of an infected monkey, as the handler did not show symptoms of the virus after the incubation period. + +== Reception == +The Hot Zone was listed as one of around 100 books that shaped a century of science by American Scientist. Many reviews of The Hot Zone exemplify the impact the book had on the public's view of emerging viruses. A review in the British Medical Journal captures the paranoia and public panic described in this book. The reviewer was left "wondering when and where this enigmatic agent will appear next and what other disasters may await human primates". This can also be seen in a review in the Public Health Reports which highlights the "seriousness of our current situation" and "our ability to respond to a major health threat". +The Hot Zone was described in an academic journal covering research in the history of science as a "romantic account of environmental transgression". Reactions to this book could be seen not only in the public's view of emerging viruses, but in the changes in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to the funding of public health infrastructure during the early 1970s, there were many public discussions of biodefense. This book continued to fuel the emerging diseases campaign. By connecting international health to national security, this campaign used The Hot Zone to justify increased intervention in the global phenomena of disease. +The Hot Zone elicited a major response by the World Health Organization (WHO) by shedding light on the Zaire ebolavirus. Teams of experts were immediately released. Many countries tightened their borders, issued warnings to customs officials, quarantined travellers, and issued travel advisories. +In his blurb, horror writer Stephen King called the first chapter "one of the most horrifying things I've read in my whole life". When asked whether any book "scared the pants off you" writer Suzanne Collins answered "The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston. I just read it a few weeks ago. Still recovering." +The Hot Zone has received criticism for sensationalizing the effects of Ebola virus. In their memoir Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC (1996), former CDC scientists Joseph B. McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch lambasted Preston for claiming that Ebola dissolves organs, stating that although it causes great blood loss in tissues the organs remain structurally intact. McCormick and Fisher-Hoch also dispute Preston's version of the CDC's actions in the Reston virus incident. In an interview about his book Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus (2014), David Quammen claimed that The Hot Zone had "vivid, gruesome details" that gave an "exaggerated idea of Ebola over the years" causing "people to view this disease as though it was some sort of preternatural phenomenon". + +== Dramatizations == + +=== Failed film adaptation === +In January 1993, 20th Century Fox producer Lynda Obst won a bidding war for the film rights to Preston's 1992 New Yorker article, which was still being transitioned into book form. In response to being outbid, Warner Bros. producer Arnold Kopelson immediately began working on a similarly themed production. This competing film, Outbreak, would ultimately be a factor in the collapse of Fox's planned production, Crisis in The Hot Zone. +Directors considered for Crisis in The Hot Zone included Wolfgang Petersen (who would later direct Outbreak), Michael Mann, and Ridley Scott. Scott eventually signed on to direct the film in February 1994. Screenwriter James V. Hart was also signed to adapt the book. In late April 1994, Fox announced they had signed Robert Redford and Jodie Foster to star in the film. +Crisis in The Hot Zone, however, was never made. Foster dropped out of the film two weeks before filming was to begin having not been satisfied by her character as written in the script. Production was delayed, with Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and Robin Wright touted as possible replacements. In August 1994, Redford also dropped out of the film; a few days after Redford left it was announced that pre-production had been shut down. + +=== Television series === + +On October 16, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Ridley Scott again planned to adapt the book, this time as a television miniseries for NatGeo. Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, and Jeff Vintar wrote the pilot. Julianna Margulies starred as Nancy Jaax. Filming began in September 2018. Lynda Obst again produced the series. The series first aired from May 27 to May 29, 2019, and was later renewed for a second season. + +== See also == +C.J. Peters +Hot zone (environment) +The Demon in the Freezer +United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases + +== References == + +=== Cited sources === + +== Further reading == +Preston, Richard (July 20, 1995) [1994]. The Hot Zone, A Terrifying True Story. Anchor Books (Random House), Sagebrush Education Resources, Tandem Library Books. ISBN 0-385-47956-5. + +== External links == +CNN Article on Ebola +Joseph B. McCormick, MD Archived July 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at New York Academy of Sciences \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Zoo_(book)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Zoo_(book)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..82438fb6c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Zoo_(book)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "The Human Zoo (book)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Zoo_(book)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:04:44.228558+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Human Zoo is a book written by the British zoologist Desmond Morris, published in 1969. It is a follow-up to his earlier book The Naked Ape; both books examine how the biological nature of the human species has shaped the character of the cultures of the contemporary world. +The Human Zoo examines the nature of civilised society, especially in the cities. Morris compares the human inhabitants of a city to the animal inhabitants of a zoo, which have their survival needs provided for, but at the cost of living in an unnatural environment. Humans in their cities, and animals in their zoos, both have food and shelter provided for them, and have considerable free time on their hands. But they have to live in an unnatural environment, and are both likely to have problems in developing healthy social relationships, both are liable to suffer from isolation and boredom, and both live in a limited amount of physical space. The book explains how the inhabitants of cities and zoos have invented ways to deal with these problems, and the consequences that follow when they fail at dealing with them. +From this point of view, Morris examines why civilised society is the way it is. He offers explanations of the best and the worst features of civilised society. He examines the magnificent achievements of civilised society, the sublime explorations that make up science and the humanities, as well as the horrible behaviours of this same society such as war, slavery and rape. This book, and Morris's earlier book The Naked Ape, are two of the early works in the field of sociobiology, which have both contributed much to contemporary understandings of society. + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Selected quotations from The Human Zoo \ No newline at end of file