# kb

id: history-of-anthropometry-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_anthropometry-4.md
category: reference
title: History of anthropometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_anthropometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:21.668562+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-anthropometry-20260505-0
summary:
Caucasoid characterized by a tall dolichocephalic skull, receded zygomas, large brow ridge and projecting-narrow nasal apertures. Negroid characterized by a short dolichocephalic skull, receded zygomas and wide nasal apertures. Mongoloid characterized by a medium brachycephalic skull, projecting zygomas, small brow ridge and small nasal apertures. Ripley's The Races of Europe was rewritten in 1939 by Harvard physical anthropologist Carleton S. Coon. Coon, a 20th-century craniofacial anthropometrist, used the technique for his The Origin of Races (New York: Knopf, 1962). Because of the inconsistencies in the old three-part system (Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid), Coon adopted a five-part scheme. He defined "Caucasoid" as a pattern of skull measurements and other phenotypical characteristics typical of populations in Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and Northeast Africa (Ethiopia, and Somalia). He discarded the term "Negroid" as misleading since it implies skin tone, which is found at low latitudes around the globe and is a product of adaptation, and defined skulls typical of sub-Saharan Africa as "Congoid" and those of Southern Africa as "Capoid". Finally, he split "Australoid" from "Mongoloid" along a line roughly similar to the modern distinction between sinodonts in the north and sundadonts in the south. He argued that these


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-0.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
The Antikythera mechanism ( AN-tik-ih-THEER-ə, US also AN-ty-kih-) is an ancient Greek hand-powered orrery (model of the Solar System). It is the oldest known example of an analogue computer. It could be used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. It could also be used to track the four-year cycle of athletic games similar to an olympiad, the cycle of the ancient Olympic Games. The artefact was among wreckage retrieved from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in 1901. In 1902, during a visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, it was noticed by Greek politician Spyridon Stais as containing a gear, prompting the first study of the fragment by his cousin, Valerios Stais, the museum director. The device, housed in the remains of a wooden-framed case of (uncertain) overall size 34 cm × 18 cm × 9 cm (13.4 in × 7.1 in × 3.5 in), was found as one lump, later separated into three main fragments which are now divided into 82 separate fragments after conservation efforts. Four of these fragments contain gears, while inscriptions are found on many others. The largest gear is about 13 cm (5 in) in diameter


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-1.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Origin === The Antikythera mechanism is generally referred to as the first known analogue computer. The quality and complexity of the mechanism's manufacture suggests it must have had undiscovered predecessors during the Hellenistic period. Its construction relied on theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers during the second century BC, and it is estimated to have been built in the late second century BC or the early first century BC. In 2008, research by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project suggested the concept for the mechanism may have originated in the colonies of Corinth, since they identified the calendar on the Metonic Spiral as coming from Corinth, or one of its colonies in northwest Greece or Sicily. Syracuse was a colony of Corinth and the home of Archimedes, and the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project argued in 2008 that it might imply a connection with the school of Archimedes. It was demonstrated in 2017 that the calendar on the Metonic Spiral is of the Corinthian type, but cannot be that of Syracuse. Another theory suggests that coins found by Jacques Cousteau at the wreck site in the 1970s date to the time of the device's construction, and posits that


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-2.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Operation === On the front face of the mechanism, there is a fixed ring dial representing the ecliptic, the twelve zodiacal signs marked off with equal 30-degree sectors. This matched with the Babylonian custom of assigning one twelfth of the ecliptic to each zodiac sign equally, even though the constellation boundaries were variable. Outside that dial is another ring which is rotatable, marked off with the months and days of the Sothic Egyptian calendar, twelve months of 30 days plus five intercalary days. The months are marked with the Egyptian names for the months transcribed into the Greek alphabet. The first task is to rotate the Egyptian calendar ring to match the current zodiac points. The Egyptian calendar ignored leap days, so it advanced through a full zodiac sign in about 120 years. The mechanism was operated by turning a small hand crank (now lost) which was linked via a crown gear to the largest gear, the four-spoked gear visible on the front of fragment A, gear b1. This moved the date pointer on the front dial, which would be set to the correct Egyptian calendar day. The year is not selectable, so it is necessary to know the


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-3.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
ΠΑΧΩΝ (Pashons) ΠΑΥΝΙ (Payni) ΕΠΙΦΙ (Epiphi) The other months have been reconstructed; some reconstructions of the mechanism omit the five days of the Egyptian intercalary month. The Zodiac dial contains Greek inscriptions of the members of the zodiac, which is believed to be adapted to the tropical month version rather than the sidereal: ΚΡΙΟΣ (Krios [Ram], Aries) ΤΑΥΡΟΣ (Tauros [Bull], Taurus) ΔΙΔΥΜΟΙ (Didymoi [Twins], Gemini) ΚΑΡΚΙΝΟΣ (Karkinos [Crab], Cancer) ΛΕΩΝ (Leon [Lion], Leo) ΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΣ (Parthenos [Maiden], Virgo) ΧΗΛΑΙ (Chelai [Scorpio's Claw or Zygos], Libra) ΣΚΟΡΠΙΟΣ (Skorpios [Scorpion], Scorpio) ΤΟΞΟΤΗΣ (Toxotes [Archer], Sagittarius) ΑΙΓΟΚΕΡΩΣ (Aigokeros [Goat-horned], Capricorn) ΥΔΡΟΧΟΟΣ (Hydrokhoos [Water carrier], Aquarius) ΙΧΘΥΕΣ (Ichthyes [Fish], Pisces) Also on the zodiac dial are single characters at specific points (see reconstruction at ref). They are keyed to a parapegma, a precursor of the modern day almanac inscribed on the front face above and beneath the dials. They mark the locations of longitudes on the ecliptic for specific stars. The parapegma above the dials reads (square brackets indicate inferred text): The parapegma beneath the dials reads: At least two pointers indicated positions of bodies upon the ecliptic. A lunar pointer indicated the position of the Moon, and a mean Sun pointer was shown, perhaps


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-4.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
The Saros dial is the main lower spiral dial on the rear of the mechanism. The Saros cycle is 18 years and 11+1⁄3 days long (6585.333... days), which is very close to 223 synodic months (6585.3211 days). It is defined as the cycle of repetition of the positions required to cause solar and lunar eclipses, and therefore, it could be used to predict them—not only the month, but the day and time of day. The cycle is approximately 8 hours longer than an integer number of days. Translated into global spin, that means an eclipse occurs not only eight hours later, but one-third of a rotation farther to the west. Glyphs in 51 of the 223 synodic month cells of the dial specify the occurrence of 38 lunar and 27 solar eclipses. Some of the abbreviations in the glyphs read: Σ = ΣΕΛΗΝΗ ("Selene", Moon) Η = ΗΛΙΟΣ ("Helios", Sun) H\M = ΗΜΕΡΑΣ ("Hemeras", of the day) ω\ρ = ωρα ("hora", hour) N\Y = ΝΥΚΤΟΣ ("Nuktos", of the night) The glyphs show whether the designated eclipse is solar or lunar, and give the day of the month and hour. Solar eclipses may not be visible at any given point, and


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-5.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Gearing === The mechanism is remarkable for the level of miniaturisation and the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 14th-century astronomical clocks. It has at least 30 gears, although mechanism expert Michael Wright has suggested the Greeks of this period were capable of implementing a system with many more gears. There is debate as to whether the mechanism had indicators for all five of the planets known to the ancient Greeks. No gearing for such a planetary display survives and all gears are accounted for—with the exception of one 63-toothed gear (r1) otherwise unaccounted for in fragment D. Fragment D is a small quasi-circular constriction that, according to Xenophon Moussas, has a gear inside a somewhat larger hollow gear. The inner gear moves inside the outer gear reproducing an epicyclical motion that, with a pointer, gives the position of planet Jupiter. The inner gear is numbered 45, "ME" in Greek, and the same number is written on two surfaces of this small cylindrical box. The purpose of the front face was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere along the ecliptic, in reference to the observer's position on the Earth. That is


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-6.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
It is very probable there were planetary dials, as the complicated motions and periodicities of all planets are mentioned in the manual of the mechanism. The exact position and mechanisms for the gears of the planets is unknown. There is no coaxial system except for the Moon. Fragment D that is an epicycloidal system, is considered as a planetary gear for Jupiter (Moussas, 2011, 2012, 2014) or a gear for the motion of the Sun (University of Thessaloniki group). The Sun gear is operated from the hand-operated crank (connected to gear a1, driving the large four-spoked mean Sun gear, b1) and in turn drives the rest of the gear sets. The Sun gear is b1/b2 and b2 has 64 teeth. It directly drives the date/mean sun pointer (there may have been a second, "true sun" pointer that displayed the Sun's elliptical anomaly; it is discussed below in the Freeth reconstruction). In this discussion, reference is to modelled rotational period of various pointers and indicators; they all assume the input rotation of the b1 gear of 360 degrees, corresponding with one tropical year, and are computed solely on the basis of the gear ratios of the gears named. The Moon train


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-7.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Proposed gear schemes === Because of the large space between the mean Sun gear and the front of the case and the size of and mechanical features on the mean Sun gear, it is very likely that the mechanism contained further gearing that either has been lost in or subsequent to the shipwreck, or was removed before being loaded onto the ship. This lack of evidence and nature of the front part of the mechanism has led to attempts to emulate what the Ancient Greeks would have done and because of the lack of evidence, many solutions have been put forward over the years. But as progress has been made on analyzing the internal structures and deciphering the inscriptions, earlier models have been ruled out and better models developed. Derek J. de Solla Price built a simple model in the 1970s. In 2002 Michael Wright designed and built the first workable model with the known mechanism and his emulation of a potential planetarium system. He suggested that along with the lunar anomaly, adjustments would have been made for the deeper, more basic solar anomaly (known as the "first anomaly"). He included pointers for this "true sun", Mercury, Venus, Mars,


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-8.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
The system to synthesise the solar anomaly is very similar to that used in Wright's proposal: three gears, one fixed in the centre of the b1 gear and attached to the Sun spindle, the second fixed on one of the spokes (in their proposal the one on the bottom left) acting as an idle gear, and the final positioned next to that one; the final gear is fitted with an offset pin and, over said pin, an arm with a slot that in turn, is attached to the sun spindle, inducing anomaly as the mean Sun wheel turns. The inferior planet mechanism includes the Sun (treated as a planet in this context), Mercury, and Venus. For each of the three systems, there is an epicyclic gear whose axis is mounted on b1, thus the basic frequency is the Earth year (as it is, in truth, for epicyclic motion in the Sun and all the planets—excepting only the Moon). Each meshes with a gear grounded to the mechanism frame. Each has a pin mounted, potentially on an extension of one side of the gear that enlarges the gear, but doesn't interfere with the teeth; in some cases, the needed distance between


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-9.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
In short, the Antikythera Mechanism was a machine designed to predict celestial phenomena according to the sophisticated astronomical theories current in its day, the sole witness to a lost history of brilliant engineering, a conception of pure genius, one of the great wonders of the ancient world—but it didn't really work very well! In addition to theoretical accuracy, there is the issue of mechanical accuracy. Freeth and Jones note that the inevitable "looseness" in the mechanism due to the hand-built gears, with their triangular teeth and the frictions between gears, and in bearing surfaces, probably would have swamped the finer solar and lunar correction mechanisms built into it: Though the engineering was remarkable for its era, recent research indicates that its design conception exceeded the engineering precision of its manufacture by a wide margin—with considerable cumulative inaccuracies in the gear trains, which would have cancelled out many of the subtle anomalies built into its design. While the device may have struggled with inaccuracies, due to the triangular teeth being hand-made, the calculations used and technology implemented to create the elliptical paths of the planets and retrograde motion of the Moon and Mars, by using a clockwork-type gear train with the


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-10.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
Pappus of Alexandria (290 – c. 350 AD) stated that Archimedes had written a now lost manuscript on the construction of these devices titled On Sphere-Making. The surviving texts from ancient times describe many of his creations, some even containing simple drawings. One such device is his odometer, the exact model later used by the Romans to place their mile markers (described by Vitruvius, Heron of Alexandria and in the time of Emperor Commodus). The drawings in the text appeared functional, but attempts to build them as pictured had failed. When the gears pictured, which had square teeth, were replaced with gears of the type in the Antikythera mechanism, which were angled, the device was perfectly functional. If Cicero's account is correct, then this technology existed as early as the third century BC. Archimedes' device is also mentioned by later Roman era writers such as Lactantius (Divinarum Institutionum Libri VII), Claudian (In sphaeram Archimedes), and Proclus (Commentary on the first book of Euclid's Elements of Geometry) in the fourth and fifth centuries. Cicero also said that another such device was built "recently" by his friend Posidonius, "... each one of the revolutions of which brings about the same movement in


id: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism-11.md
category: reference
title: Antikythera mechanism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:22.835554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antikythera-mechanism-20260505-0
summary:
Several exhibitions have been staged worldwide, leading to the main "Antikythera shipwreck" exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. As of 2012, the Antikythera mechanism was displayed as part of a temporary exhibition about the Antikythera shipwreck, accompanied by reconstructions made by Ioannis Theofanidis, Derek de Solla Price, Michael Wright, the Thessaloniki University and Dionysios Kriaris. Other reconstructions are on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana, at the Children's Museum of Manhattan in New York, at Astronomisch-Physikalisches Kabinett in Kassel, Germany, at the Archimedes Museum in Olympia, Greece, at the Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology in Athens, at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and at the Western Australian Museum. The National Geographic documentary series Naked Science dedicated an episode to the Antikythera Mechanism entitled "Star Clock BC" that aired on 20 January 2011. A documentary, The World's First Computer, was produced in 2012 by the Antikythera mechanism researcher and film-maker Tony Freeth. In 2012, BBC Four aired The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Computer; it was also aired on 3 April 2013 in the United States on NOVA, the PBS science series, under the name Ancient Computer. It documents the discovery and 2005 investigation of the


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-0.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:28.027972+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
Antiquarian science books are original historical works (e.g., books or technical papers) concerning science, mathematics and sometimes engineering. These books are important primary references for the study of the history of science and technology, they can provide valuable insights into the historical development of the various fields of scientific inquiry (History of science, History of mathematics, etc.) The landmark are significant first (or early) editions typically worth hundreds or thousands of dollars (prices may vary widely based on condition, etc.). Reprints of these books are often available, for example from Great Books of the Western World, Dover Publications or Google Books. Incunabula are extremely rare and valuable, but as the Scientific Revolution is only taken to have started around the 1540s, such works of Renaissance literature (including alchemy, Renaissance magic, etc.) are not usually included under the notion of "scientific" literature. Printed originals of the beginning Scientific Revolution thus date to the 1540s or later, notably beginning with the original publication of Copernican heliocentrism. Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium of 1543 sold for more than US$2 million at auctions. == List of notable books == === 16th century === Tartaglia, Niccolò. Nova Scientia (A New Science). Venice, 1537. Ballistics.


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-1.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:28.027972+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
=== 19th century === Gauss, Carl Friedrich (Germany). Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Leipzig, 1801. Number theory Young, Thomas (England). Experiments and Calculations Relative to Physical Optics, 1803. Light Argand, Jean-Robert (Switzerland). Essai sur une maniere de representer les quantities imaginaries dans les constructions geometriques, 1806. Imaginary numbers. Dalton, John (England). A New System of Chemical Philosophy. London, 1808. Atomic theory Berzelius, Jöns Jacob (Sweden). Läroboken i kemien, 1808. Chemistry Cayley, George (England). On Aerial Navigation. Brompton, 3 Vol, 1809. Aeronautics. Ørsted, Hans Christian (Denmark). Experimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acum magneticam. Copenhagen, 1820. Electromagnetism. Fourier, Joseph (France). Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur. Paris, 1822. Fourier series. Fresnel, Augustin-Jean (France). Mémoire Sur Un Nouveau Système D'Éclairage Des Phares Lu À L'Académie Des Sciences. Paris, 1822. Wave optics Babbage, Charles (England). Mr. Babbage's invention: Application of machinery to the purpose of calculating and printing mathematical tables. London, 1823. Computing Lobachevsky, Nikolai (Russia). Geometriya. 1823. Non-Euclidean geometry Cauchy, Augustin-Louis (France). Le calcul infinitesimal. Paris, 1823. Mathematical analysis Carnot, Sadi (France). Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu et sur les machines propres à déveloper cette puissance. Paris, 1824. Thermodynamics Ampère, André-Marie (France). Mémoire sur la théorie mathématique des phénomènes électrodynamiques, 1827. Electromagnetism Laplace, Pierre-Simon


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-2.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:28.027972+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
=== 20th century (pre-Cold War) === Planck, Max (Germany). Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum. Leipzig, 1900. Quantum mechanics Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich (Russia). The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. Kaluga, 1903. Rockets Rutherford, Ernest (New Zealand). Radio-activity. Cambridge, 1904. Nuclear physics Lorentz, Hendrik (Netherlands). Electromagnetic phenomena in a system moving with any velocity smaller than that of light. Amsterdam, 1904. Special relativity Einstein, Albert (Germany). Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper ("On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies") Leipzig, 1905. Special relativity Einstein, Albert (Germany). Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content? Leipzig, 1905. Physics Richardson, Lewis (England). The Approximate Arithmetical Solution by Finite Differences of Physical Problems Involving Differential Equations, with an Application to the Stresses in a Masonry Dam. London, 1910. Computational mechanics Boas, Franz (Germany/America). The Mind of Primitive Man. New York, 1911. Anthropology Bohr, Niels (Denmark). On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules. London, 1913. Quantum mechanics Einstein, Albert (Germany). Die Grundlage Der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie (Foundations of the General Theory of Relativity). Leipzig, 1916. Physics. Goddard, Robert Hutchings (America). A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Washington, D.C, 1919. Rockets de Broglie, Louis (France). Recherches sur la théorie des quanta


id: astrology-and-astronomy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_astronomy-0.md
category: reference
title: Astrology and astronomy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_astronomy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:29.137090+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-and-astronomy-20260505-0
summary:
Astrology and astronomy were archaically treated together (Latin: astrologia), but gradually distinguished through the Late Middle Ages into the Age of Reason. Developments in 17th century philosophy resulted in astrology and astronomy operating as independent pursuits by the 18th century. Whereas the academic discipline of astronomy studies observable phenomena beyond the Earth's atmosphere, astrology uses the apparent positions of celestial objects as the basis for divination. == Overview == In pre-modern times, most cultures did not make a clear distinction between the two disciplines, putting them both together as one. In ancient Babylonia, famed for its astrology, there were not separate roles for the astronomer as predictor of celestial phenomena, and the astrologer as their interpreter; both functions were performed by the same person. In ancient Greece, pre-Socratic thinkers such as Anaximander, Xenophanes, Anaximenes, and Heraclides speculated about the nature and substance of the stars and planets. Astronomers such as Eudoxus (contemporary with Plato) observed planetary motions and cycles, and created a geocentric cosmological model that would be accepted by Aristotle. This model generally lasted until Ptolemy, who added epicycles to explain the retrograde motion of Mars. (Around 250 BC, Aristarchus of Samos postulated a proto-heliocentric theory, which would not


id: astrology-and-astronomy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_astronomy-1.md
category: reference
title: Astrology and astronomy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_astronomy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:29.137090+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: astrology-and-astronomy-20260505-0
summary:
For a long time the funding from astrology supported some astronomical research, which was in turn used to make more accurate ephemerides for use in astrology. In Medieval Europe the word Astronomia was often used to encompass both disciplines as this included the study of astronomy and astrology jointly and without a real distinction; this was one of the original Seven Liberal Arts. Kings and other rulers generally employed court astrologers to aid them in the decision making in their kingdoms, thereby funding astronomical research. University medical students were taught astrology as it was generally used in medical practice. Astronomy and astrology diverged over the course of the 17th through 19th centuries. It is unclear if Copernicus practiced astrology,), but the most important astronomers before Isaac Newton were astrologers by profession—Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilei. Also relevant here was the development of better timekeeping instruments, initially for aid in navigation; improved timekeeping made it possible to make more exact astrological predictions—predictions which could be tested, and which consistently proved to be false. By the end of the 18th century, astronomy was one of the major sciences of the Enlightenment model, using the recently codified scientific method, and was


id: barlow-s-law-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow's_law-0.md
category: reference
title: Barlow's law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow's_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:30.346242+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: barlow-s-law-20260505-0
summary:
Barlow's law is an incorrect physical law proposed by Peter Barlow in 1825 to describe the ability of wires to conduct electricity. It says that the strength of the effect of electricity passing through a wire varies inversely with the square root of its length and directly with the square root of its cross-sectional area, or, in modern terminology: I ∝ A L , {\displaystyle I\propto {\sqrt {\frac {A}{L}}},} where I is electric current, A is the cross-sectional area of the wire, and L is the length of the wire. Barlow formulated his law in terms of the diameter d of a cylindrical wire. Since A is proportional to the square of d the law becomes I ∝ d / L {\displaystyle I\propto d/{\sqrt {L}}} for cylindrical wires. Barlow undertook his experiments with the aim of determining whether long-distance telegraphy was feasible and believed that he proved that it was not. The publication of Barlow's law delayed research into telegraphy for several years, until 1831 when Joseph Henry and Philip Ten Eyck constructed a circuit 1,060 feet long, which used a large battery to activate an electromagnet. Barlow did not investigate the dependence of the current strength on electric tension


id: bharat-ki-chhap-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Ki_Chhap-0.md
category: reference
title: Bharat Ki Chhap
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Ki_Chhap
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:31.564809+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bharat-ki-chhap-20260505-0
summary:
Bharat Ki Chhap (Identity of India) is a 13-episode Indian TV science documentary series chronicling the history of science and technology in India from pre-historic times until the present. It was directed by filmmaker Chandita Mukherjee and funded by the Department of Science and Technology's National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) in 1987. It was telecasted on Doordarshan every Sunday Morning. It was introduced by Professor Yash Pal. It projected in a pragmatic way alternative viewpoints on the subject of science as pioneered in India, in contrast with western scientific endeavours. It drew support from People's Science Movement. A companion book was later published by Comet Project titled Bhārat Ki Chhāp: A Companion Book to the Film Series by Chayanika Shah, Suhas Paranjape, Swatija Manorama. == Episodes == A total of 13 episodes were released. == References ==


id: big-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Big science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:32.723471+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: big-science-20260505-0
summary:
Big science is a term used by scientists and historians of science to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations during and after World War II, as scientific progress increasingly came to rely on large-scale projects usually funded by national governments or groups of governments. Individual or small group efforts, or small science, are still relevant today as theoretical results by individual authors may have a significant impact, but very often the empirical verification requires experiments using constructions, such as the Large Hadron Collider, costing between $5 and $10 billion. == Development == While science and technology have always been important to and driven by warfare, the increase in military funding of science following the second World War was on a scale wholly unprecedented. James Conant, in a 1941 letter to Chemical Engineering News, said that World War II "is a physicist's war rather than a chemist's," a phrase that was cemented in the vernacular in post-war discussion of the role that those scientists played in the development of new weapons and tools, notably the proximity fuse, radar, and the atomic bomb. The bulk of these last two activities took place in a new form


id: big-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Big science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:32.723471+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: big-science-20260505-0
summary:
When history looks at the 20th century, she will see science and technology as its theme; she will find in the monuments of Big Science—the huge rockets, the high-energy accelerators, the high-flux research reactors—symbols of our time just as surely as she finds in Notre Dame a symbol of the Middle Ages. ... We build our monuments in the name of scientific truth, they built theirs in the name of religious truth; we use our Big Science to add to our country's prestige, they used their churches for their cities' prestige; we build to placate what ex-President Eisenhower suggested could become a dominant scientific caste, they built to please the priests of Isis and Osiris. Weinberg's article addressed criticisms of the way in which the era of Big Science could negatively affect science — such as astronomer Fred Hoyle's contention that excessive money for science would only make science fat and lazy — and encouraged, in the end, limiting Big Science only to the national laboratory system and preventing its incursion into the university system. Since Weinberg's article there have been many historical and sociological studies on the effects of Big Science both in and out of the laboratory. Soon


id: book-of-nature-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature-0.md
category: reference
title: Book of Nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:33.831526+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: book-of-nature-20260505-0
summary:
The Book of Nature (Lat. liber naturae/liber mundi, Ar. kitāb takwīnī) is a religious and philosophical cosmological metaphor known from Antiquity in various cultures, and prominent in the Latin and Romance literature of the European Middle Ages. The idea of a cosmos formed by letters is already found in the fragments of Heraclitus, where it relates to the Greek concept of logos, in Plato’s Timaeus, and in Lucretius’ De rerum natura. The metaphor of the Book of Nature straddles the divide between religion and science, viewing nature as a readable text open to knowledge and understanding. Early theologians, such as St. Paul, believed the Book of Nature was a source of God's revelation to humankind. He believed that when read alongside sacred scripture, the "book" and the study of God's creations would lead to a knowledge of God himself. This type of revelation is often referred to as a general revelation. The concept corresponds to the early Greek philosophical concept of logos, which implies that humans, as part of a coherent universe, are capable of understanding the design of the natural world through reason. The phrase liber naturae was famously used by Galileo when writing about how "the book of


id: book-of-nature-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature-1.md
category: reference
title: Book of Nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:33.831526+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: book-of-nature-20260505-0
summary:
== Christianity and Greek culture == The Greeks constructed a view of the natural world in which all references to mythological origins and causes were removed. Greek philosophers inadvertently left the upper world vacant by abandoning ancient ties to free-acting, conspiring gods of nature. The new philosophy of nature made unseen mythological forces irrelevant. While some philosophers drifted toward atheism, others worked within the new philosophy to reconstitute the concept of a divine being. Consequently, the new outlook toward the natural world inspired the belief in one supreme force compatible with the new philosophy—in other words, monotheistic. However, the path from nature to rediscovering a divine being was uncertain. The belief in causality in nature implied an endless, interconnected chain of causation acting upon the natural world. It is presumed, however, that Greek thought denied the existence of a natural world where causality was infinite, which gave rise to the notion of "first cause", upon which the order of other causes must rely. The first contact between Christianity and Greek culture occurred in Athens in the first century CE. The Christian Scriptures note that within a few years of Christ’s crucifixion, Paul and Silas were debating with Epicureans and Stoics


id: book-of-nature-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature-2.md
category: reference
title: Book of Nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:33.831526+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: book-of-nature-20260505-0
summary:
From a single print shop in Mainz, Germany around 1440, the movable type printing-press had spread to no less than around 270 cities in Central, Western and Eastern Europe and had already produced more than 20 million volumes by the end of the 15th century. At the same time, the number of universities had grown to more than 60. By revealing a "New World" unknown to the ancients, the European encounter with the Americas specifically undermined the authority of Claudius Ptolemy, the 2nd-century scholar whose geographic and astronomical models had long been considered infallible. Tycho Brahe's unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations in the late 16th century and Galileo Galilei’s early 17th-century telescopic observations combined to turn astronomy into the first modern science. Galileo's observations ended a millenium of pre-modern astronomical orthodoxy. Johannes Kepler used Brahe's data to discover that planets have elliptical, not circular, orbits and develop the laws of planetary motion. Because of Kepler, astronomical phenomena came to be seen as being governed by physical laws, a kind of clockwork. Ancient texts and doctrines were disputed, knowledge of the natural world was incomplete, interpretation of Christian Scripture was challenged, and Greek philosophy—which helped draft the Book of Nature—and Christian Scripture


id: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises-0.md
category: reference
title: Bridgewater Treatises
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:34.927628+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-0
summary:
The Bridgewater Treatises (1833–36) are a series of eight works that were written by leading scientific figures appointed by the President of the Royal Society in fulfilment of a bequest of £8000, made by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, for work on "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation." Despite being voluminous and costly, the series was very widely read and discussed, becoming one of the most important contributions to Victorian literature on the relationship between religion and science. They made such an impact that Charles Darwin began On the Origin of Species with a quotation from the Bridgewater Treatise of William Whewell. == The Bridgewater Bequest == Before unexpectedly becoming the 8th Earl of Bridgewater in 1823, Francis Henry Egerton spent most of his life as an absentee parson. He published works of classical scholarship and issued others praising the historical achievements of his family, including those of his father's cousin, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, the "father of British inland navigation." In 1781, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; after 1802 he lived mostly in Paris, where he amassed a collection of manuscripts later donated to the


id: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises-1.md
category: reference
title: Bridgewater Treatises
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:34.927628+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-0
summary:
=== Medical practitioners: Kidd and Bell, Roget and Prout === The two medical professors John Kidd and Charles Bell wrote shorter and theologically lightweight contributions. Kidd's work, on the "physical constitution of man," was claimed to be "but a moderate thousand pounds worth," Like Bell, whose limited subject was "the hand," Kidd set out to show that modern developments in anatomy did not support either materialism or the transmutation of species, instead confirming belief in the reality of divine design. The two other medical authors, Peter Mark Roget and William Prout, wrote lengthier contributions considering how the emergence of physiological laws enhanced the belief in divine design, rather than diminishing it. In his treatise on "animal and vegetable physiology," Roget argued that the laws of "philosophical anatomy" provided a grander vision of divine action. Prout's rag-bag treatise on "chemistry, meteorology, and the function of digestion" was more ambivalent, arguing that God's action was strikingly evident in the laws of chemical action, but also that many phenomena seemed to subvert the general laws. === The Bible and science: Kirby and Buckland === The final two treatises, those of William Kirby and William Buckland, both addressed the relationship of the Bible to


id: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises-2.md
category: reference
title: Bridgewater Treatises
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Treatises
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:34.927628+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bridgewater-treatises-20260505-0
summary:
== Further reading == Addinall, Peter (1991). Philosophy and Biblical Interpretation: A Study in Nineteenth-Century Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Alexander, Denis R.; Numbers, Ronald L. (2010). Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-60842-6. "Authors of the Bridgewater Treatises (act. c. 1833–1836)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96360. Retrieved 2022-09-12. Brock, W. H. (1966). "The Selection of the Authors of the Bridgewater Treatises". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 21 (2): 162–179. ISSN 0035-9149. Clark, John F. M. (2009). Bugs and the Victorians. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-15091-9. Desmond, Adrian. The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine, and Reform in Radical London. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-14453-5. Gillispie, Charles Coulston (1996). Genesis and Geology: A Study in the Relations of Scientific Thought, Natural Theology, and Social Opinion in Great Britain, 1790-1850. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-34481-5. Hilton, Boyd (1988). The Age of Atonement: The Influence of Evangelicalism on Social and Economic Thought, 1795-1865. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820107-6. Rehbock, Philip F. (1983). The Philosophical Naturalists: Themes in Early Nineteenth-century British Biology. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-09430-0. Robson, John M. "The Fiat and Finger of God: The Bridgewater Treatises". In Helmstadter, Richard


id: charles-babbage-s-saturday-night-soir-es-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage's_Saturday_night_soirées-0.md
category: reference
title: Charles Babbage's Saturday night soirées
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage's_Saturday_night_soirées
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:36.039917+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: charles-babbage-s-saturday-night-soir-es-20260505-0
summary:
Charles Babbage's Saturday night soirées were gatherings held by the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage at his home in Dorset Street, Marylebone, London from 1828 and into the 1840s. The soirées were attended by the cultural elite of the time. == Scientific soirées == Babbage left England when his wife and father died in 1827. On his return in 1828, now in possession of a considerable inheritance, he began to host Saturday evening parties. The science historian James A. Secord describes the parties as "scientific soirées". Secord writes that Babbage imported the idea from France, and once established, such soirées "became one of the chief ways in which scientific discussion could take place on a more sustained basis within polite society." In her autobiography, the English writer and sociologist Harriet Martineau wrote: "All were eager to go to his glorious soirées and I always thought he appeared to great advantage as a host. His patience in explaining his machine in those days was really exemplary." According to biographers Bruce Collier and James H. MacLachlan, "Babbage was a bon vivant with a love of dining out and socialising. He sparkled as a host and raconteur. His Saturday soirées were glittering events


id: list-of-chemical-elements-named-after-people-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements_named_after_people-0.md
category: reference
title: List of chemical elements named after people
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements_named_after_people
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:37.286553+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-chemical-elements-named-after-people-20260505-0
summary:
This list of chemical elements named after people includes elements named for people both directly and indirectly. Of the 118 elements, 19 are connected with the names of 20 people. 15 elements were named to honor 16 scientists (as curium honours both Marie and Pierre Curie). Four others have indirect connection to the names of non-scientists. Only gadolinium and samarium occur in nature; the rest are man-made. == List == These 19 elements are connected to the names of people. Seaborg and Oganessian were the only living persons honored by having elements named after them; Oganessian is the only one still alive. Names were proposed to honor Einstein and Fermi while they were still alive, but they had both died by the time those names became official. The four elements associated with non-scientists were not named in their honor but named for something else bearing their name: samarium for the mineral samarskite from which it was isolated; and americium, berkelium and livermorium after places named for them. The cities of Berkeley, California and Livermore, California are the locations of the University of California Radiation Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, respectively. Six elements have only an indirect namesake: samarium, gadolinium,


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-0.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
The history of chemistry represents a time span from ancient history to the present. By 1000 BC, civilizations used technologies that would eventually form the basis of the various branches of chemistry. Examples include the discovery of fire, extracting metals from ores, making pottery and glazes, fermenting beer and wine, extracting chemicals from plants for medicine and perfume, rendering fat into soap, making glass, and making alloys like bronze. The protoscience of chemistry, alchemy, was unsuccessful in explaining the nature of matter and its transformations. However, by performing experiments and recording the results, alchemists set the stage for modern chemistry. The history of chemistry is intertwined with the history of thermodynamics, especially through the work of Willard Gibbs. == Ancient history == === Early humans === ==== Fire ==== Arguably the first chemical reaction used in a controlled manner was fire. However, for millennia fire was seen simply as a mystical force that could transform one substance into another (burning wood, or boiling water) while producing heat and light. Fire affected many aspects of early societies. These ranged from the simplest facets of everyday life, such as cooking and habitat heating and lighting, to more advanced uses, such as making


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-1.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
==== Ferrous metallurgy ==== The extraction of iron from its ore into a workable metal is much more difficult than copper or tin. While iron is not better suited for tools than bronze (until steel was discovered), iron ore is much more abundant and common than either copper or tin, and therefore more often available locally, with no need to trade for it. Iron working appears to have been invented by the Hittites in about 1200 BC, beginning the Iron Age. The secret of extracting and working iron was a key factor in the success of the Philistines. Cast iron smithing as well as the innovation of the Blast Furnace and Cupola furnace was invented in ancient China, during the Warring States period when armies sought to develop better weaponry and armor in state-armories. Many other applications, practices, and devices associated with or involved in metallurgy were also established in ancient China, with the innovations of hydraulic-powered trip hammers, and double-acting piston bellows. The Iron Age is named after the advent of iron working (ferrous metallurgy). Historical developments in ferrous metallurgy can be found in a wide variety of past cultures and civilizations. These include the ancient and medieval kingdoms


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-2.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
Alchemy is defined by the Hermetic quest for the philosopher's stone, the study of which is steeped in symbolic mysticism, and differs greatly from modern science. Alchemists toiled to make transformations on an esoteric (spiritual) and/or exoteric (practical) level. It was the protoscientific, exoteric aspects of alchemy that contributed heavily to the evolution of chemistry in Greco-Roman Egypt, in the Islamic Golden Age, and then in Europe. Alchemy and chemistry share an interest in the composition and properties of matter, and until the 18th century they were not separate disciplines. The term chymistry has been used to describe the blend of alchemy and chemistry that existed before that time. During the Renaissance, exoteric alchemy remained popular in the form of Paracelsian iatrochemistry, while spiritual alchemy flourished, realigned to its Platonic, Hermetic, and Gnostic roots. Consequently, the symbolic quest for the philosopher's stone was not superseded by scientific advances, and was still the domain of respected scientists and doctors until the early 18th century. Early modern alchemists who are renowned for their scientific contributions include Jan Baptist van Helmont, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton. === Alchemy in the Islamic world === In the Islamic World, the Muslims were translating the works


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-3.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
Practical attempts to improve the refining of ores and their extraction to smelt metals was an important source of information for early chemists in the 16th century, among them Georg Agricola (1494–1555), who published his great work De re metallica in 1556. His work describes the highly developed and complex processes of mining metal ores, metal extraction and metallurgy of the time. His approach removed the mysticism associated with the subject, creating the practical base upon which others could build. The work describes the many kinds of furnace used to smelt ore, and stimulated interest in minerals and their composition. It is no coincidence that he gives numerous references to the earlier author, Pliny the Elder and his Naturalis Historia. Agricola has been described as the "father of metallurgy" and the founder of geology as a scientific discipline. In 1605, Sir Francis Bacon published The Proficience and Advancement of Learning, which contains a description of what would later be known as the scientific method. In 1605, Michal Sedziwój publishes the alchemical treatise A New Light of Alchemy which proposed the existence of the "food of life" within air, much later recognized as oxygen. In 1615 Jean Beguin published the Tyrocinium


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-4.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
In 1702, German chemist Georg Stahl coined the name "phlogiston" for the substance believed to be released in the process of burning. Around 1735, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt analyzed a dark blue pigment found in copper ore. Brandt demonstrated that the pigment contained a new element, later named cobalt. In 1751, a Swedish chemist and pupil of Stahl's named Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, identified an impurity in copper ore as a separate metallic element, which he named nickel. Cronstedt is one of the founders of modern mineralogy. Cronstedt also discovered the mineral scheelite in 1751, which he named tungsten, meaning "heavy stone" in Swedish. In 1754, Scottish chemist Joseph Black isolated carbon dioxide, which he called "fixed air". In 1757, Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt, while investigating arsenic compounds, creates Cadet's fuming liquid, later discovered to be cacodyl oxide, considered to be the first synthetic organometallic compound. In 1758, Joseph Black formulated the concept of latent heat to explain the thermochemistry of phase changes. In 1766, English chemist Henry Cavendish isolated hydrogen, which he called "inflammable air". Cavendish discovered hydrogen as a colorless, odourless gas that burns and can form an explosive mixture with air, and published a paper on the


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-5.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
Repeating the experiments of Priestley, he demonstrated that air is composed of two parts, one of which combines with metals to form calxes. In Considérations Générales sur la Nature des Acides (1778), he demonstrated that the "air" responsible for combustion was also the source of acidity. The next year, he named this portion oxygen (Greek for acid-former), and the other azote (Greek for no life). Because of his more thorough characterization of it as an element, Lavoisier thus has a claim to the discovery of oxygen along with Priestley and Scheele. He also discovered that the "inflammable air" discovered by Cavendish – which he termed hydrogen (Greek for water-former) – combined with oxygen to produce a dew, as Priestley had reported, which appeared to be water. In Reflexions sur le Phlogistique (1783), Lavoisier showed the phlogiston theory of combustion to be inconsistent. Mikhail Lomonosov independently established a tradition of chemistry in Russia in the 18th century; he also rejected the phlogiston theory, and anticipated the kinetic theory of gases. Lomonosov regarded heat as a form of motion, and stated the idea of conservation of matter. Lavoisier worked with Claude Louis Berthollet and others to devise a system of chemical nomenclature,


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-6.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
== 19th century == Throughout the 19th century, chemistry was divided between those who followed the atomic theory of John Dalton and the energeticists, such as Wilhelm Ostwald and Ernst Mach. Although such proponents of the atomic theory as Amedeo Avogadro and Ludwig Boltzmann made great advances in explaining the behavior of gases, this dispute was not finally settled until Jean Perrin's experimental investigation of Einstein's atomic explanation of Brownian motion in the first decade of the 20th century. Well before the dispute had been settled, many had already applied the concept of atomism to chemistry. A major example was the ion theory of Svante Arrhenius which anticipated ideas about atomic substructure that did not fully develop until the 20th century. Michael Faraday was another early worker, whose major contribution to chemistry was electrochemistry, in which (among other things) a certain quantity of electricity during electrolysis or electrodeposition of metals was shown to be associated with certain quantities of chemical elements, and fixed quantities of the elements therefore with each other, in specific ratios. These findings, like those of Dalton's combining ratios, were early clues to the atomic nature of matter. === John Dalton === In 1803, English meteorologist and


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-7.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
=== New elements and gas laws === English chemist Humphry Davy was a pioneer in the field of electrolysis, using Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile to split up common compounds and thus isolate a series of new elements. He went on to electrolyse molten salts and discovered several new metals, especially sodium and potassium, highly reactive elements known as the alkali metals. Potassium, the first metal that was isolated by electrolysis, was discovered in 1807 by Davy, who derived it from caustic potash (KOH). Before the 19th century, no distinction was made between potassium and sodium. Sodium was first isolated by Davy in the same year by passing an electric current through molten sodium hydroxide (NaOH). When Davy heard that Berzelius and Pontin prepared calcium amalgam by electrolyzing lime in mercury, he tried it himself. Davy was successful, and discovered calcium in 1808 by electrolyzing a mixture of lime and mercuric oxide. He worked with electrolysis throughout his life and, in 1808, he isolated magnesium, strontium and barium. Davy also experimented with gases by inhaling them. This experimental procedure nearly proved fatal on several occasions, but led to the discovery of the unusual effects of nitrous oxide, which came to be


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-8.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
After Dalton published his atomic theory in 1808, certain of his central ideas were soon adopted by most chemists. However, uncertainty persisted for half a century about how atomic theory was to be configured and applied to concrete situations; chemists in different countries developed several different incompatible atomistic systems. A paper that suggested a way out of this difficult situation was published as early as 1811 by the Italian physicist Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856), who hypothesized that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules, from which it followed that relative molecular weights of any two gases are the same as the ratio of the densities of the two gases under the same conditions of temperature and pressure. Avogadro also reasoned that simple gases were not formed of solitary atoms but were instead compound molecules of two or more atoms. Thus Avogadro was able to overcome the difficulty that Dalton and others had encountered when Gay-Lussac reported that above 100 °C the volume of water vapor was twice the volume of the oxygen used to form it. According to Avogadro, the molecule of oxygen had split into two atoms in the course of forming


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-9.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
=== Mid-1800s === In 1840, Germain Hess proposed Hess's law, an early statement of the law of conservation of energy, which establishes that energy changes in a chemical process depend only on the states of the starting and product materials and not on the specific pathway taken between the two states. In 1847, Hermann Kolbe obtained acetic acid from completely inorganic sources, further disproving vitalism. In 1848, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (commonly known as Lord Kelvin) established the concept of absolute zero, the temperature at which all molecular motion ceases. In 1849, Louis Pasteur discovered that the racemic form of tartaric acid is a mixture of the levorotatory and dextrotatory forms, thus clarifying the nature of optical rotation and advancing the field of stereochemistry. In 1852, August Beer proposed Beer's law, which explains the relationship between the composition of a mixture and the amount of light it will absorb. Based partly on earlier work by Pierre Bouguer and Johann Heinrich Lambert, it established the analytical technique known as spectrophotometry. In 1855, Benjamin Silliman, Jr. pioneered methods of petroleum cracking, which made the entire modern petrochemical industry possible. Avogadro's hypothesis began to gain broad appeal among chemists only after his


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-10.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
British chemist and physicist William Crookes is noted for his cathode ray studies, fundamental in the development of atomic physics. His researches on electrical discharges through a rarefied gas led him to observe the dark space around the cathode, now called the Crookes dark space. He demonstrated that cathode rays travel in straight lines and produce phosphorescence and heat when they strike certain materials. A pioneer of vacuum tubes, Crookes invented the Crookes tube – an early experimental discharge tube, with partial vacuum with which he studied the behavior of cathode rays. With the introduction of spectrum analysis by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff (1859–1860), Crookes applied the new technique to the study of selenium compounds. Bunsen and Kirchhoff had previously used spectroscopy as a means of chemical analysis to discover caesium and rubidium. In 1861, Crookes used this process to discover thallium in some seleniferous deposits. He continued work on that new element, isolated it, studied its properties, and in 1873 determined its atomic weight. During his studies of thallium, Crookes discovered the principle of the Crookes radiometer, a device that converts light radiation into rotary motion. The principle of this radiometer has found numerous applications in the development


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-11.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
An important breakthrough in making sense of the list of known chemical elements (as well as in understanding the internal structure of atoms) was Dmitri Mendeleev's development of the first modern periodic table, or the periodic classification of the elements. Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, felt that there was some type of order to the elements and he spent more than thirteen years of his life collecting data and assembling the concept, initially with the idea of resolving some of the disorder in the field for his students. Mendeleev found that, when all the known chemical elements were arranged in order of increasing atomic weight, the resulting table displayed a recurring pattern, or periodicity, of properties within groups of elements. Mendeleev's law allowed him to build up a systematic periodic table of all the 66 elements then known based on atomic mass, which he published in Principles of Chemistry in 1869. His first Periodic Table was compiled on the basis of arranging the elements in ascending order of atomic weight and grouping them by similarity of properties. Mendeleev had such faith in the validity of the periodic law that he proposed changes to the generally accepted values for the atomic weight


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-12.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
American mathematical physicist J. Willard Gibbs's work on the applications of thermodynamics was instrumental in transforming physical chemistry into a rigorous deductive science. During the years from 1876 to 1878, Gibbs worked on the principles of thermodynamics, applying them to the complex processes involved in chemical reactions. He discovered the concept of chemical potential, or the "fuel" that makes chemical reactions work. In 1876 he published his most famous contribution, "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances", a compilation of his work on thermodynamics and physical chemistry which laid out the concept of free energy to explain the physical basis of chemical equilibria. In these essays were the beginnings of Gibbs' theories of phases of matter: he considered each state of matter a phase, and each substance a component. Gibbs took all of the variables involved in a chemical reaction – temperature, pressure, energy, volume, and entropy – and included them in one simple equation known as Gibbs' phase rule. Within this paper was perhaps his most outstanding contribution, the introduction of the concept of free energy, now universally called Gibbs free energy in his honor. The Gibbs free energy relates the tendency of a physical or chemical system to simultaneously


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-13.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
German engineer Carl von Linde's invention of a continuous process of liquefying gases in large quantities formed a basis for the modern technology of refrigeration and provided both impetus and means for conducting scientific research at low temperatures and very high vacuums. He developed a dimethyl ether refrigerator (1874) and an ammonia refrigerator (1876). Though other refrigeration units had been developed earlier, Linde's were the first to be designed with the aim of precise calculations of efficiency. In 1895 he set up a large-scale plant for the production of liquid air. Six years later he developed a method for separating pure liquid oxygen from liquid air that resulted in widespread industrial conversion to processes utilizing oxygen (e.g., in steel manufacture). He founded the Linde plc, the world's largest industrial gas company by market share and revenue. In 1883, Svante Arrhenius developed an ion theory to explain conductivity in electrolytes. In 1884, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff published Études de Dynamique chimique (Studies in Dynamic Chemistry), a seminal study on chemical kinetics. In this work, van 't Hoff entered for the first time the field of physical chemistry. Of great importance was his development of the general thermodynamic relationship between the


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-14.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a Polish-born French physicist and chemist who is famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She and her husband are considered to have laid the cornerstone of the nuclear age with their research on radioactivity. Marie was fascinated with the work of Henri Becquerel, a French physicist who discovered in 1896 that uranium casts off rays similar to the X-rays discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen. Marie Curie began studying uranium in late 1897 and theorized, according to a 1904 article she wrote for Century magazine, "that the emission of rays by the compounds of uranium is a property of the metal itself—that it is an atomic property of the element uranium independent of its chemical or physical state." Curie took Becquerel's work a few steps further, conducting her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays remained constant, no matter the condition or form of the uranium. The rays, she theorized, came from the element's atomic structure. This revolutionary idea created the field of atomic physics and the Curies coined the word radioactivity to describe the phenomenon. Pierre and Marie further explored radioactivity by working to separate the substances in uranium ores and then using the


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-15.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
He also observed that the intensity of radioactivity of a radioactive element decreases over a unique and regular amount of time until a point of stability, and he named the halving time the "half-life". In 1901 and 1902 he worked with Frederick Soddy to prove that atoms of one radioactive element would spontaneously turn into another, by expelling a piece of the atom at high velocity. In 1906 at the University of Manchester, Rutherford oversaw an experiment conducted by his students Hans Geiger (known for the Geiger counter) and Ernest Marsden. In the Geiger–Marsden experiment, a beam of alpha particles, generated by the radioactive decay of radon, was directed normally onto a sheet of very thin gold foil in an evacuated chamber. Under the prevailing plum pudding model, the alpha particles should all have passed through the foil and hit the detector screen, or have been deflected by, at most, a few degrees. However, the actual results surprised Rutherford. Although many of the alpha particles did pass through as expected, many others were deflected at small angles while others were reflected back to the alpha source. They observed that a very small percentage of particles were deflected through angles much


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-16
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-16.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
In 1913, Niels Bohr, a Danish physicist, introduced the concepts of quantum mechanics to atomic structure by proposing what is now known as the Bohr model of the atom, where electrons exist only in strictly defined circular orbits around the nucleus similar to rungs on a ladder. The Bohr Model is a planetary model in which the negatively charged electrons orbit a small, positively charged nucleus similar to the planets orbiting the Sun (except that the orbits are not planar) – the gravitational force of the solar system is mathematically akin to the attractive Coulomb (electrical) force between the positively charged nucleus and the negatively charged electrons. In the Bohr model, however, electrons orbit the nucleus in orbits that have a set size and energy – the energy levels are said to be quantized, which means that only certain orbits with certain radii are allowed; orbits in between simply do not exist. The energy of the orbit is related to its size – that is, the lowest energy is found in the smallest orbit. Bohr also postulated that electromagnetic radiation is absorbed or emitted when an electron moves from one orbit to another. Because only certain electron orbits are permitted,


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-17
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-17.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
In 1924, French quantum physicist Louis de Broglie published his thesis, in which he introduced a revolutionary theory of electron waves based on wave–particle duality. In his time, the wave and particle interpretations of light and matter were seen as being at odds with one another, but de Broglie suggested that these seemingly different characteristics were instead the same behavior observed from different perspectives—that particles can behave like waves, and waves (radiation) can behave like particles. Broglie's proposal offered an explanation of the restricted motion of electrons within the atom. The first publications of Broglie's idea of "matter waves" had drawn little attention from other physicists, but a copy of his doctoral thesis chanced to reach Einstein, whose response was enthusiastic. Einstein stressed the importance of Broglie's work both explicitly and by building further on it. In 1925, Austrian-born physicist Wolfgang Pauli developed the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that no two electrons around a single nucleus in an atom can occupy the same quantum state simultaneously, as described by four quantum numbers. Pauli made major contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory – he was awarded the 1945 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the Pauli


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-18
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-18.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
Hence the quantum mechanical methods developed in the 1930s and 1940s are often referred to as theoretical molecular or atomic physics to underline the fact that they were more the application of quantum mechanics to chemistry and spectroscopy than answers to chemically relevant questions. In 1951, a milestone article in quantum chemistry is the seminal paper of Clemens C. J. Roothaan on Roothaan equations. It opened the avenue to the solution of the self-consistent field equations for small molecules like hydrogen or nitrogen. Those computations were performed with the help of tables of integrals which were computed on the most advanced computers of the time. In the 1940s many physicists turned from molecular or atomic physics to nuclear physics (like J. Robert Oppenheimer or Edward Teller). Glenn T. Seaborg was an American nuclear chemist best known for his work on isolating and identifying transuranium elements (those heavier than uranium). He shared the 1951 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Edwin Mattison McMillan for their independent discoveries of transuranium elements. Seaborgium was named in his honour, making him the only person, along with Albert Einstein and Yuri Oganessian, for whom a chemical element was named during his lifetime. === Molecular biology and


id: history-of-chemistry-20260505-19
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry-19.md
category: reference
title: History of chemistry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:38.639255+00:00
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parent: history-of-chemistry-20260505-0
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The later part of the nineteenth century saw a huge increase in the exploitation of petroleum extracted from the earth for the production of a host of chemicals and largely replaced the use of whale oil, coal tar and naval stores used previously. Large-scale production and refinement of petroleum provided feedstocks for liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel, solvents, lubricants, asphalt, waxes, and for the production of many of the common materials of the modern world, such as synthetic fibers, plastics, paints, detergents, pharmaceuticals, adhesives and ammonia as fertilizer and for other uses. Many of these required new catalysts and the utilization of chemical engineering for their cost-effective production. In the mid-twentieth century, control of the electronic structure of semiconductor materials was made precise by the creation of large ingots of extremely pure single crystals of silicon and germanium. Accurate control of their chemical composition by doping with other elements made the production of the solid state transistor in 1951 and made possible the production of tiny integrated circuits for use in electronic devices, especially computers. == See also == === Histories and timelines === === Notable chemists === listed chronologically: == Notes == == References == Selected classic


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
Most scientific and technical innovations prior to the Scientific Revolution were achieved by societies organized by religious traditions. Ancient Christian scholars pioneered individual elements of the scientific method. Historically, Christianity has been and still is a patron of sciences. It has been prolific in the foundation of schools, universities and hospitals, and many Christian clergy have been active in the sciences and have made significant contributions to the development of science. Historians of science such as Pierre Duhem credit medieval Catholic mathematicians and philosophers such as John Buridan, Nicole Oresme and Roger Bacon as the founders of modern science. Duhem concluded that "the mechanics and physics of which modern times are justifiably proud to proceed, by an uninterrupted series of scarcely perceptible improvements, from doctrines professed in the heart of the medieval schools". Many of the most distinguished classical scholars in the Byzantine Empire held high office in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Protestantism has had an important influence on science, according to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of English Puritanism and German Pietism on the one hand, and early experimental science on the other. Christian scholars and scientists have made noted contributions to science


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
Christian philosophers Augustine of Hippo (354–430) and Thomas Aquinas held that scriptures can have multiple interpretations on certain areas where the matters were far beyond their reach, therefore one should leave room for future findings to shed light on the meanings. Augustine argued:Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars ... Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking non-sense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.The "Handmaiden" tradition, which saw secular studies of the universe as a very important and helpful part of arriving at a better understanding of scripture, was


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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Physics teacher David Hutchings and intellectual historian James C. Ungureanu credit the central tenets of traditional Christianity for having been the greatest benefit to scientific thinking, while at the same time noting the irony of the conflict thesis:And yet, as impossible as it might seem, both Conflict and Warfare are plagued by an even greater irony than that. It turns out that when they went after Christian doctrine for being the ultimate enemy of science, they were engaging in friendly fire. For, in actual fact, no other body of thought has ever been of greater benefit to scientific thinking than the central tenets of traditional Christianity have—in the whole of human history.David C. Lindberg states that the widespread popular belief that the Middle Ages was a time of ignorance and superstition due to the Christian church is a "caricature". According to Lindberg, while there are some portions of the classical tradition which suggest this view, these were exceptional cases. It was common to tolerate and encourage critical thinking about the nature of the world. The relation between Christianity and science is complex and cannot be simplified to either harmony or conflict, according to Lindberg. Lindberg reports that "the late medieval


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-3.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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summary:
=== Influence of biblical worldviews on early modern science === At first, according to Andrew Dickson White's 1896 book A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, a biblical worldview affected negatively the progress of science through time. Dickinson also argues that immediately following the Reformation matters were even worse. The interpretations of Scripture by Luther and Calvin became as sacred to their followers as the Scripture itself. For instance, when Georg Calixtus ventured, in interpreting the Psalms, to question the accepted belief that "the waters above the heavens" were contained in a vast receptacle upheld by a solid vault, he was bitterly denounced as heretical. Today, much of the scholarship in which the conflict thesis was originally based is considered to be inaccurate. For instance, the claim that early Christians rejected scientific findings by the Greco-Romans is false, since the "handmaiden" view of secular studies was seen to shed light on theology. This view was widely adapted throughout the early medieval period and afterwards by theologians (such as Augustine) and ultimately resulted in fostering interest in knowledge about nature through time. Also, the claim that people of the Middle Ages widely believed that the Earth was


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-4.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Catholicism === While refined and clarified over the centuries, the Catholic position on the relationship between science and religion is one of harmony and has maintained the teaching of natural law as set forth by Thomas Aquinas. For example, regarding scientific study such as that of evolution, the church's unofficial position is an example of theistic evolution, stating that faith and scientific findings regarding human evolution are not in conflict, though humans are regarded as a special creation, and that the existence of God is required to explain both monogenism and the spiritual component of human origins. Catholic schools have included all manners of scientific study in their curriculum for many centuries. Historian John Heilbron says that "The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, then any other, and probably all, other Institutions." The first universities in Europe were established by Catholic Church monks. The first Western European institutions generally considered to be universities were established in present-day Italy (including the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Kingdom of Italy), the


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-5.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
The Catholic Cistercian order used its own numbering system, which could express numbers from 0 to 9999 in a single sign. According to one modern Cistercian, "enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit" have always been a part of the order's identity, and the Cistercians "were catalysts for development of a market economy" in twelfth-century Europe. Until the Industrial Revolution, most of the technological advances in Europe were made in the monasteries. According to the medievalist Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the diffusion of new techniques: "Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries located on its floor." Waterpower was used for crushing wheat, sieving flour, fulling cloth and tanning – a "level of technological achievement [that] could have been observed in practically all" of the Cistercian monasteries. The English science historian James Burke examines the impact of Cistercian waterpower, derived from Roman watermill technology such as that of Barbegal aqueduct and mill near Arles in the fourth of his ten-part Connections TV series, called "Faith in Numbers". The Cistercians made major contributions to culture and technology in medieval Europe: Cistercian


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-6.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, encouraged some values which may have been conducive to encouraging scientific talents. A theory suggested by David Hackett Fischer in his book Albion's Seed indicated early Quakers in the US preferred "practical study" to the more traditional studies of Greek or Latin popular with the elite. Another theory suggests their avoidance of dogma or clergy gave them a greater flexibility in response to science. Despite those arguments a major factor is agreed to be that the Quakers were initially discouraged or forbidden to go to the major law or humanities schools in Britain due to the Test Act. They also at times faced similar discriminations in the United States, as many of the colonial universities had a Puritan or Anglican orientation. This led them to attend "Godless" institutions or forced them to rely on hands-on scientific experimentation rather than academia. Because of these issues it has been stated Quakers are better represented in science than most religions. There are sources, Pendlehill (Thomas 2000) and Encyclopædia Britannica, that indicate that for over two centuries they were overrepresented in the Royal Society. Mention is made of this possibility in studies referenced in religiosity


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-7.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
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parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
In the field of Optics, Nestorian Christian Hunayn ibn-Ishaq's textbook on ophthalmology called the Ten Treatises on the Eye, which was written in 950 A.D., remained the authoritative source on the subject in the western world until the 1800s. It was a Christian scholar and Bishop from Nisibis named Severus Sebokht who was the first to describe and incorporate Indian mathematical symbols in the mid 7th century, which were then adopted into Islamic culture and are now known as the Arabic numerals. During the fourth through the seventh centuries, scholarly work in the Syriac and Greek languages was either newly initiated, or carried on from the Hellenistic period. Centers of learning and of transmission of classical wisdom included colleges such as the School of Nisibis, and later the School of Edessa, and the renowned hospital and medical academy of Jundishapur; libraries included the Library of Alexandria and the Imperial Library of Constantinople; other centers of translation and learning functioned at Merv, Salonika, Nishapur and Ctesiphon, situated just south of what later became Baghdad. The House of Wisdom was a library, translation institute, and academy established in Abbasid-era Baghdad, Iraq. Nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture,


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-8.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Perspectives on evolution == In recent history, the theory of evolution has been at the centre of controversy between Christianity and science, largely in America. Christians who accept a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation find incompatibility between Darwinian evolution and their interpretation of the Christian faith. Creation science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism that attempts to provide scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and attempts to disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the geological history of Earth, formation of the Solar System, Big Bang cosmology, the chemical origins of life and evolution. It began in the 1960s as a fundamentalist Christian effort in the United States to prove Biblical inerrancy and falsify the scientific evidence for evolution. It has since developed a sizable religious following in the United States, with creation science ministries branching worldwide. In 1925, The State of Tennessee passed the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of the theory of evolution in all schools in the state. Later that year, a similar law was passed in Mississippi, and likewise, Arkansas in 1927. In 1968, these "anti-monkey" laws were struck down


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-9.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference (427 prizes). Overall, Christians are considered a total of 72.5% in Chemistry between 1901 and 2000, 65.3% in Physics, 62% in Medicine, 54% in Economics. Between 1901 and 2000 it was revealed that among 654 Laureates 31.9% have identified as Protestant in its various forms (208 prize), 20.3% were Christians (no information about their denominations; 133 prize), 11.6% have identified as Catholic and 1.6% have identified as Eastern Orthodox. Although Christians make up over 33.2% of the world's population, they have won a total of 65.4% of all Nobel prizes between 1901 and 2000. In an estimate by scholar Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, between 1901 and 2001, about 57.1% of Nobel Prize winners were either Christians or with a Christian background. Between 1901 and 2001, about 56.5% of laureates in scientific fields were Christians. According to scholar Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, Protestants were overrepresented in scientific categories and Catholics were well-represented in the Literature and Peace categories. In an estimate made by Weijia Zhang from Arizona State University and


id: christianity-and-science-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science-10.md
category: reference
title: Christianity and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:43.006189+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: christianity-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Works cited === Numbers, Ronald L. (2006). The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02339-0. Shalev, Baruch A. (2003). 100 Years of Nobel Prizes. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 978-81-269-0278-1. Thomas, Anne (24 April 2000), This I Know Experimentally, Spring 2000 Monday Night Lecture Series: Science and Religion, Pendle Hill (published 6 October 2003), archived from the original on 1 May 2006, retrieved 29 June 2009 == Further reading == Buxhoeveden, Daniel; Woloschak, Gayle, eds. (2011). Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church (1. ed.). Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 9781409481614. Spierer, Eugen. God-of-the-Gaps Arguments in Light of Luther's Theology of the Cross. Archived 19 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Matthews, Roy T.; Platt, F. DeWitt (1991). The Western Humanities. Mayfield Publishing Co. ISBN 0874847850. == External links == Christianity And The Scientist by Ian G. Barbour Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Cambridge Christians in Science (CiS) group Archived 3 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine Christians in Science website Ian Ramsey Centre, Oxford The Society of Ordained Scientists-Mostly Church of England "Science in Christian Perspective" The (ASA) Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation (CSCA) The International Society for Science & Religion's founding members.(Of


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-0.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
Science in classical antiquity encompasses inquiries into the workings of the world or universe aimed at both practical goals (e.g., establishing a reliable calendar or determining how to cure a variety of illnesses) as well as more abstract investigations belonging to natural philosophy. Classical antiquity is traditionally defined as the period between the 8th century BC (beginning of Archaic Greece) and the 6th century AD (after which there was medieval science). It is typically limited geographically to the Greco-Roman West, Mediterranean basin, and Ancient Near East, thus excluding traditions of science in the ancient world in regions such as China and the Indian subcontinent. Ideas regarding nature that were theorized during classical antiquity were not limited to science but included myths as well as religion. Those who are now considered as the first scientists may have thought of themselves as natural philosophers, as practitioners of a skilled profession (e.g., physicians), or as followers of a religious tradition (e.g., temple healers). Some of the more widely known figures active in this period include Hippocrates, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes, Hipparchus, Galen, and Ptolemy. Their contributions and commentaries spread throughout the Eastern, Islamic, and Latin worlds and contributed to the birth of modern science.


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-1.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
The earliest Greek philosophers, known as the pre-Socratics, were materialists who provided alternative answers to the same question found in the myths of their neighbors: "How did the ordered cosmos in which we live come to be?" Although the question is much the same, their answers and their attitude towards the answers is markedly different. As reported by such later writers as Aristotle, their explanations tended to center on the material source of things. Thales of Miletus (624–546 BC) considered that all things came to be from and find their sustenance in water. Anaximander (610–546 BC) then suggested that things could not come from a specific substance like water, but rather from something he called the "boundless". Exactly what he meant is uncertain but it has been suggested that it was boundless in its quantity, so that creation would not fail; in its qualities, so that it would not be overpowered by its contrary; in time, as it has no beginning or end; and in space, as it encompasses all things. Anaximenes (585–525 BC) returned to a concrete material substance, air, which could be altered by rarefaction and condensation. He adduced common observations (the wine stealer) to demonstrate that air


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-2.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
The first institution of higher learning in Ancient Greece was founded by Plato (c. 427 – c. 347 BC), an Athenian who—perhaps under Pythagorean influence—appears to have identified the ordering principle of the universe as one based on number and geometry. A later account has it that Plato had inscribed at the entrance to the academy the words "Let no man ignorant of geometry enter." Although the story is most likely a myth, it nonetheless testifies to Plato's interest in mathematics, which is alluded to in several of his dialogues. Plato's philosophy maintained that all material things are imperfect reflections of eternal unchanging ideas, just as all mathematical diagrams are reflections of eternal unchanging mathematical truths. Since Plato believed that material things had an inferior kind of reality, he considered that demonstrative knowledge cannot be achieved by looking at the imperfect material world. Truth is to be found through rational argumentation, analogous to the demonstrations of mathematicians. For instance, Plato recommended that astronomy be studied in terms of abstract geometrical models rather than empirical observations, and proposed that leaders be trained in mathematics in preparation for philosophy. Aristotle (384–322 BC) studied at the academy and nonetheless disagreed with Plato in


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-3.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
The military campaigns of Alexander the Great spread Greek thought to Egypt, Asia Minor, Persia, up to the Indus River. The resulting migration of many Greek speaking populations across these territories provided the impetus for the foundation of several seats of learning, such as those in Alexandria, Antioch, and Pergamum. Hellenistic science differed from Greek science in at least two respects: first, it benefited from the cross-fertilization of Greek ideas with those that had developed in other non-Hellenic civilizations; secondly, to some extent, it was supported by royal patrons in the kingdoms founded by Alexander's successors. The city of Alexandria, in particular, became a major center of scientific research in the 3rd century BC. Two institutions established there during the reigns of Ptolemy I Soter (367–282 BC) and Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 BC) were the Library and the Museum. Unlike Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, these institutions were officially supported by the Ptolemies, although the extent of patronage could be precarious depending on the policies of the current ruler. Hellenistic scholars often employed the principles developed in earlier Greek thought in their scientific investigations, such as the application of mathematics to phenomena or the deliberate collection of empirical data. The


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-4.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
Advances in mathematical astronomy also took place during the Hellenistic age. Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BC) was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe, with the Earth revolving around the Sun once a year and rotating about its axis once a day. Aristarchus also estimated the sizes of the Sun and Moon as compared to Earth's size, and the distances to the Sun and Moon. His heliocentric model did not find many adherents in antiquity but did influence some early modern astronomers, such as Nicolaus Copernicus, who was aware of the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus. In the 2nd century BC, Hipparchus discovered precession, calculated the size and distance of the Moon and invented the earliest known astronomical devices such as the astrolabe. Hipparchus also created a comprehensive catalog of 1020 stars, and most of the constellations of the northern hemisphere derive from Greek astronomy. It has recently been claimed that a celestial globe based on Hipparchus's star catalog sits atop the broad shoulders of a large 2nd-century Roman statue known as the Farnese Atlas. == Roman era == Science during the Roman Empire


id: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity-5.md
category: reference
title: Science in classical antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_classical_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:44.265759+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: science-in-classical-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100–170 AD), living in or around Alexandria, carried out a scientific program centered on the writing of about a dozen books on astronomy, astrology, cartography, harmonics, and optics. Despite their severe style and high technicality, a great deal of them have survived, in some cases the sole remnants of their kind of writing from antiquity. Two major themes that run through Ptolemy's works are mathematical modelling of physical phenomena and methods of visual representation of physical reality. Ptolemy's research program involved a combination of theoretical analysis with empirical considerations seen, for instance, in his systematized study of astronomy. Ptolemy's Mathēmatikē Syntaxis (Ancient Greek: Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις), better known as the Almagest, sought to improve on the work of his predecessors by building astronomy not only upon a secure mathematical basis but also by demonstrating the relationship between astronomical observations and the resulting astronomical theory. In his Planetary Hypotheses, Ptolemy describes in detail physical representations of his mathematical models found in the Almagest, presumably for didactic purposes. Likewise, the Geography was concerned with the drawing of accurate maps using astronomical information, at least in principle. Apart from astronomy, both the Harmonics and the Optics contain (in addition to mathematical


id: conversazione-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversazione-0.md
category: reference
title: Conversazione
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversazione
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:45.410919+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversazione-20260505-0
summary:
A conversazione is a "social gathering [predominantly] held by [a] learned or art society" for conversation and discussion, especially about the arts, literature, medicine, and science. It would not be easy to devise a happier way [than the conversazione] of bringing novelties at once under practical criticism—of making the outliers of science acquainted with the centre, of enabling investigators to compare operations and discuss facts and speculations, and of giving occasion for renewal of intercourse and removal of misunderstandings. …[The] tangible gain to science [from the conversazione is that] inventors and experimentalists … hear [directly] what contemporaries say of their schemes and experiments, and much can be said and done with advantage amid the free talk of a general gathering which could not be permitted in the formal meeting of a scientific society. (Nature, 5 May 1870.) == Origin == The writer Horace Walpole is credited with the first recorded English use of conversazione in a letter written (from Italy) on 11 November 1739 to Richard West (1716–1742) in which he writes, "After the play we were introduced to the assembly, which they [viz., the Italians] call the conversazione". == Historical usage in Britain == In Italy, the term generally


id: darwin-s-ghosts-the-secret-history-of-evolution-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin's_Ghosts:_The_Secret_History_of_Evolution-0.md
category: reference
title: Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin's_Ghosts:_The_Secret_History_of_Evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:46.568267+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: darwin-s-ghosts-the-secret-history-of-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution is a nonfiction history of science book by British author Rebecca Stott. It was published in the United States in 2012 by Spiegel & Grau, the international version is subtitled differently: Darwin's Ghosts: In Search of the First Evolutionists. It is written in 12 distinct chapters that highlight persons that contributed to the pre-history of evolution by natural selection, published by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species in 1859. The book contains biographical sketches of 12 persons spanning from 344 BC to 19th century contemporaries of Darwin. The book has received reviews from notable reviewers and was included on the New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books 2012 list. == Synopsis == Tho focus of each chapter is summarized in the table below. == References ==


id: department-of-history-and-philosophy-of-science-university-of-cambridge-20260505-0
category: reference
title: Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
tags: science, encyclopedia
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:47.701211+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: department-of-history-and-philosophy-of-science-university-of-cambridge-20260505-0
file:
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_History_and_Philosophy_of_Science,_University_of_Cambridge-0.md

summary:
The Department of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), of the University of Cambridge is the largest department of history and philosophy of science in the United Kingdom. A majority of its submissions received maximum ratings of 4* and 3* in the 2014 REF (Research Excellence Framework). Located in the historic buildings of the Old Physical Chemistry Laboratories on Free School Lane, Cambridge, the department teaches undergraduate courses towards the Cambridge Tripos and graduate courses including a taught Masters and PhD supervision in the field of HPS. The department shares its premises with the Whipple Museum and Whipple Library which provide important resources for its teaching and research. == Academic staff == The Department of HPS at Cambridge employs fifteen full-time teaching staff, approximately thirty research staff, numerous supervisors and research associates from departments and colleges across the University of Cambridge, in addition to external supervisors and examiners. A long-standing head of department was the noted Professor Peter Lipton, who served until his unexpected death in 2007. He was followed as head of department by the late Professor John Forrester, an international authority in the History of Mind, and a leading figure on Sigmund Freud and the history of psychoanalysis.

source_url:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_History_and_Philosophy_of_Science,_University_of_Cambridge


id: dibner-institute-for-the-history-of-science-and-technology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibner_Institute_for_the_History_of_Science_and_Technology-0.md
category: reference
title: Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibner_Institute_for_the_History_of_Science_and_Technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:48.831513+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dibner-institute-for-the-history-of-science-and-technology-20260505-0
summary:
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology (1992–2006) was a research institute established at MIT, and housed in a renovated building (E56) on campus at 38 Memorial Drive, overlooking the Charles River. == Description == At the heart of the Institute was the Burndy Library on the ground floor, initially containing 37,000 volumes on the history of science and technology collected by the Dibner Fund. The Library also possessed a large collection of antique scientific instruments, such as astrolabes, telescopes, microscopes, early spectrometers, and a Wimshurst machine, which were on public display in a dedicated gallery outside the library. Also on display was a large collection of antique incandescent light bulbs, gas discharge tubes, electronic vacuum tubes, and other early examples of electrical and electronic technology. The Library would mount occasional special exhibits, such as The Afterlife of Immortality: Obelisks Outside Egypt. The building was a modest Art Deco structure, fronting on Memorial Drive and the Charles River. Above the Library and display space, on the second and third floor were offices and lecture and seminar rooms. The Institute held regular lectures, seminars, study programs, and an annual symposium in the history of science and technology. Over


id: list-of-discoveries-influenced-by-chance-circumstances-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discoveries_influenced_by_chance_circumstances-0.md
category: reference
title: List of discoveries influenced by chance circumstances
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discoveries_influenced_by_chance_circumstances
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:49.993086+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-discoveries-influenced-by-chance-circumstances-20260505-0
summary:
Below are discoveries in science that involve chance circumstances in a particularly salient way. This page should not list all chance involved in all discoveries (i.e. it should focus on discoveries reported for their notable circumstances). == Overview == Royston Roberts says that various discoveries required a degree of genius, but also some lucky element for that genius to act on. Richard Gaughan writes that accidental discoveries result from the convergence of preparation, opportunity, and desire. Major everyday discoveries that were helped by luck in some way include products like vulcanized rubber, teflon, nylon, penicillin, cyanoacrylate (Super Glue), the implantable pacemaker, the microwave oven, Scotchgard, Saran wrap, Silly Putty, Slinky, safety glass, propeller, snowmaking, stainless steel, Perkin's mauve, and popsicles. Most artificial sweeteners have been discovered when accidentally tasted, including aspartame and saccharin. Ideas include the theory of the Big Bang, tissue culture, radio astronomy, and the discovery of DNA. Such archeological discoveries as the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ruins of Pompeii also emerged partly out of serendipity. Many relevant and well known scientific theories were developed by chance at some degree along history. According to a legend, Archimedes realized his principle on hydrostatics when he


id: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity-0.md
category: reference
title: Discovery of human antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:51.332676+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
The discovery of human antiquity was a major achievement of science in the middle of the 19th century, and the foundation of scientific paleoanthropology. The antiquity of man, human antiquity, or in simpler language the age of the human race, are names given to the series of scientific debates it involved, which with modifications continue in the 21st century. These debates have clarified and given scientific evidence, from a number of disciplines, towards solving the basic question of dating the first human being. Controversy was very active in this area in parts of the 19th century, with some dormant periods also. A key date was the 1859 re-evaluation of archaeological evidence that had been published 12 years earlier by Boucher de Perthes. It was then widely accepted, as validating the suggestion that man was much older than had previously been believed, for example than the 6,000 years implied by some traditional chronologies. In 1863 T. H. Huxley argued that man was an evolved species; and in 1864 Alfred Russel Wallace combined natural selection with the issue of antiquity. The arguments from science for what was then called the "great antiquity of man" became convincing to most scientists, over the following


id: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity-1.md
category: reference
title: Discovery of human antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:51.332676+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
==== Human origins and the "universal deluge" debated ==== The Flood could explain extinctions of species at that date, on the hypothesis that the Ark had not contained all species of animal. A Flood that was not universal, on the other hand, had implications for the biblical theory of races and Noah's sons. The theory of catastrophism, which was as much secular as theological in attitude, could be used in analogous ways. There was interest in matters arising from modification of the biblical narrative, therefore, and it was fuelled by the new knowledge of the world in early modern Europe, and then by the growth of the sciences. One hypothesis was of people not descended from Adam. This hypothesis of polygenism (no unique origin of humans) implied nothing on the antiquity of man, but the issue was implicated in counter-arguments, for monogenism. ==== La Peyrère and the completeness of the Biblical account ==== Isaac La Peyrère appealed in formulating his Preadamite theory of polygenism to Jewish tradition; it was intended to be compatible with the biblical creation of man. It was rejected by many contemporary theologians. This idea of humans before Adam had been current in earlier Christian scholars and


id: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity-2.md
category: reference
title: Discovery of human antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:51.332676+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
The three-age system was in place from about 1820, in the form given to it by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen in his work on the collections that became the National Museum of Denmark. He published his ideas in 1836. Postulating cultural change, in itself and without explaining a rate of change, did not generate reasons to revise traditional chronology. But the concept of Stone Age artifacts became current. Thomsen's book in Danish, Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed, was translated into German (Leitfaden zur Nordischen Alterthumskunde, 1837), and English (Guide to Northern Archæology, 1848). John Frere's 1797 discovery of the Hoxne handaxe helped to initiate the 19th century debate, but it started in earnest around 1810. There were then a number of false starts relating to different European sites. William Buckland misjudged what he had found in 1823 with the misnamed Red Lady of Paviland, and explained away the mammoth remains with the find. He also was dismissive of the Kent's Cavern findings of John MacEnery in the later 1820s. In 1829 Philippe-Charles Schmerling discovered a Neanderthal fossil skull (at Engis). At that point, however, its significance was not recognised, and Rudolf Virchow consistently opposed the theory that it was very old. The


id: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity-3.md
category: reference
title: Discovery of human antiquity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_human_antiquity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:51.332676+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: discovery-of-human-antiquity-20260505-0
summary:
=== Acceptance of human association with extinct animal species === Boucher de Perthes had written up discoveries in the Somme valley in 1847. Joseph Prestwich and John Evans in April 1859, and Charles Lyell with others also in 1859, made field trips to the sites, and returned convinced that humans had coexisted with extinct mammals. In general and qualitative terms, Lyell felt the evidence established the "antiquity of man": that humans were much older than the traditional assumptions had made them. His conclusions were shared by the Royal Society and other British learned institutions, as well as in France. It was this recognition of the early date of Acheulean handaxes that first established the scientific credibility of the deep antiquity of humans. This debate was concurrent with that over the book On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, and was evidently related; but was not one in which Charles Darwin initially made his own views public. Consolidation of the "antiquity of man" required more work, with stricter methods; and this proved possible over the next two decades. The discoveries of Boucher de Perthes therefore motivated further researches to try to repeat and confirm the findings at other sites. Significant


id: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md
category: reference
title: Doctrine of signatures
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:52.473646+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
summary:
The doctrine of signatures, also known as the doctrine of correspondences, is a biomedicinal theory of pseudoscience. It states that herbs or animals have physical or behavioral traits that mirror the ailment it can successfully treat. Theological justifications, such as that of botanist William Cole, were that God would want to show men what plants would be useful for. The doctrine of signatures has a debated origin. Many historians believe it begins with primitive thinking methods, while other historians believe it originated with Dioscorides and was popularized in the 16th and 17th centuries after Jakob Böhme coined the doctrine of signatures in his book The Signature of All Things. This theory is a possible explanation for the ancient discovery of medicinal properties; however, there is no definitive proof as to whether the medicinal property or the connection in physical/behavioral traits was realized first. The theory later became a scientific basis for trying new remedies solely based upon their qualities in an attempt to find new medicines. While there are some homeopathic remedies that are still used today which have been connected to this theory, there are also remedies from this theory which have been found harmful. For instance, birthwort (so-called


id: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md
category: reference
title: Doctrine of signatures
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:52.473646+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: doctrine-of-signatures-20260505-0
summary:
It is worth noting that it is possible that these are post hoc attributions—the appearance and treatment linked after the medicinal property was discovered. Depending on the article, remedies connected to the doctrine vary in number and consistency. == Scientific, spiritual, and social context == Signatures are often described as post hoc attributions and mnemonics used to remember the properties of a plant rather than the reason it was originally used. There is no scientific or historical evidence that plant shapes and colors have aided in the discovery of their medical uses. In Europe, the idea of doctrine of signatures was linked with Christian beliefs. However, similar theories were created within black magic with sympathetic magic. Similar theories have been observed all over the world in ancient Egypt, China, pre-Columbian America, and the Middle East. This can also explain how varied, and at times contradictory, applications of the doctrine can be because traditional botany is subject to optimal foraging theory. Remedies would, in many cases, be based on the environmental availability of that resource rather than its objective effectiveness. Some sociologists frame the doctrine of signatures as a type of "enchantment", the idea that it is not just what one


id: dyson-sphere-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere-0.md
category: reference
title: Dyson sphere
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:53.646045+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dyson-sphere-20260505-0
summary:
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to imagine how a spacefaring civilization would meet its energy requirements once those requirements exceed what can be generated from the home planet's resources alone. Because only a tiny fraction of a star's energy emissions reaches the surface of any orbiting planet, building structures encircling a star would enable a civilization to harvest far more energy. The earliest modern imagining of such a structure was by Olaf Stapledon in his science fiction novel Star Maker (1937). The same concept was later used by physicist Freeman Dyson in his 1960 paper "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation". Dyson speculated that such structures would be the logical consequence of the escalating energy needs of a technological civilization and would be a necessity for its long-term survival. A signature of such spheres detected in astronomical searches would be an indicator of extraterrestrial intelligence. Since Dyson's paper, many variant designs involving an artificial structure or series of structures to encompass a star have been proposed in exploratory engineering or described in science fiction, often


id: dyson-sphere-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere-1.md
category: reference
title: Dyson sphere
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:53.646045+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dyson-sphere-20260505-0
summary:
== Feasibility and science-based speculation == Although Dyson spheres in the form of a swarm are theoretically possible, building a stable megastructure around the Sun is currently far beyond humanity's engineering capacity. The number of craft required to obtain, transmit, and maintain a complete Dyson sphere exceeds present-day industrial capabilities. Dyson spheres have prompted speculation into the feasibility of a class of proposed stellar engines, hypothetical megastructures whose purpose is to extract useful energy from a star, sometimes for specific purposes. For example, Matrioshka brains have been proposed to use energy extracted by Dyson spheres for computation, while Shkadov thrusters would extract energy for propulsion. Some proposed stellar engine designs are based on the Dyson sphere. Futurist George Dvorsky has advocated the use of self-replicating robots to overcome the limitation of humanity's engineering capacity in the relatively near term. Some have suggested that Dyson sphere habitats could be built around white dwarfs or pulsars. In 2022 it was suggested that a Dyson swarm around the Sun could be launched from either Mercury or Mars. In order to transmit the energy back, far-field radiative wireless power transfer was proposed, a technology that is not yet fully developed. == Fictional examples ==


id: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism-0.md
category: reference
title: The eclipse of Darwinism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:58.221063+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
summary:
Julian Huxley used the phrase "the eclipse of Darwinism" to describe the state of affairs prior to what he called the "modern synthesis". During the "eclipse", evolution was widely accepted in scientific circles but relatively few biologists believed that natural selection was its primary mechanism. Historians of science such as Peter J. Bowler have used the same phrase as a label for the period within the history of evolutionary thought from the 1880s to around 1920, when alternatives to natural selection were developed and explored—as many biologists considered natural selection to have been a wrong guess on Charles Darwin's part, or at least to be of relatively minor importance. Four major alternatives to natural selection were in play in the 19th century: Theistic evolution, the belief that God directly guided evolution Neo-Lamarckism, the idea that evolution was driven by the inheritance of characteristics acquired during the life of the organism Orthogenesis, the belief that organisms were affected by internal forces or laws of development that drove evolution in particular directions Mutationism, the idea that evolution was largely the product of mutations that created new forms or species in a single step. Theistic evolution had largely disappeared from the scientific literature


id: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism-1.md
category: reference
title: The eclipse of Darwinism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:58.221063+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
summary:
British science developed in the early 19th century on a basis of natural theology which saw the adaptation of fixed species as evidence that they had been specially created to a purposeful divine design. The philosophical concepts of German idealism inspired concepts of an ordered plan of harmonious creation, which Richard Owen reconciled with natural theology as a pattern of homology showing evidence of design. Similarly, Louis Agassiz saw Ernest Haeckel's recapitulation theory, which held that the embryological development of an organism repeats its evolutionary history, as symbolising a pattern of the sequence of creations in which humanity was the goal of a divine plan. In 1844 Vestiges adapted Agassiz's concept into theistic evolutionism. Its anonymous author Robert Chambers proposed a "law" of divinely ordered progressive development, with transmutation of species as an extension of recapitulation theory. This popularised the idea, but it was strongly condemned by the scientific establishment. Agassiz remained forcefully opposed to evolution, and after he moved to America in 1846 his idealist argument from design of orderly development became very influential. In 1858 Owen cautiously proposed that this development could be a real expression of a continuing creative law, but distanced himself from transmutationists. Two years


id: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism-2.md
category: reference
title: The eclipse of Darwinism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:58.221063+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
summary:
In the late 19th century the term neo-Lamarckism came to be associated with the position of naturalists who viewed the inheritance of acquired characteristics as the most important evolutionary mechanism. Advocates of this position included the British writer and Darwin critic Samuel Butler, the German biologist Ernst Haeckel, the American paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Alpheus Hyatt, and the American entomologist Alpheus Packard. They considered Lamarckism to be more progressive and thus philosophically superior to Darwin's idea of natural selection acting on random variation. Butler and Cope both believed that this allowed organisms to effectively drive their own evolution, since organisms that developed new behaviors would change the patterns of use of their organs and thus kick-start the evolutionary process. In addition, Cope and Haeckel both believed that evolution was a progressive process. The idea of linear progress was an important part of Haeckel's recapitulation theory. Cope and Hyatt looked for, and thought they found, patterns of linear progression in the fossil record. Packard argued that the loss of vision in the blind cave insects he studied was best explained through a Lamarckian process of atrophy through disuse combined with inheritance of acquired characteristics. Many American proponents of neo-Lamarckism were


id: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism-3.md
category: reference
title: The eclipse of Darwinism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:58.221063+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
summary:
Mutationism was the idea that new forms and species arose in a single step as a result of large mutations. It was seen as a much faster alternative to the Darwinian concept of a gradual process of small random variations being acted on by natural selection. It was popular with early geneticists such as Hugo de Vries, who along with Carl Correns helped rediscover Gregor Mendel's laws of inheritance in 1900, William Bateson a British zoologist who switched to genetics, and early in his career, Thomas Hunt Morgan. The 1901 mutation theory of evolution held that species went through periods of rapid mutation, possibly as a result of environmental stress, that could produce multiple mutations, and in some cases completely new species, in a single generation. Its originator was the Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries. De Vries looked for evidence of mutation extensive enough to produce a new species in a single generation and thought he found it with his work breeding the evening primrose of the genus Oenothera, which he started in 1886. The plants that de Vries worked with seemed to be constantly producing new varieties with striking variations in form and color, some of which appeared to


id: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism-4.md
category: reference
title: The eclipse of Darwinism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:58.221063+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-eclipse-of-darwinism-20260505-0
summary:
== Historiography == The concept of eclipse suggests that Darwinian research paused, implying in turn that there had been a preceding period of vigorously Darwinian activity among biologists. However, historians of science such as Mark Largent have argued that while biologists broadly accepted the extensive evidence for evolution presented in The Origin of Species, there was less enthusiasm for natural selection as a mechanism. Biologists instead looked for alternative explanations more in keeping with their worldviews, which included the beliefs that evolution must be directed and that it constituted a form of progress. Further, the idea of a dark eclipse period was convenient to scientists such as Julian Huxley, who wished to paint the modern synthesis as a bright new achievement, and accordingly to depict the preceding period as dark and confused. Huxley's 1942 book Evolution: The Modern Synthesis therefore, argued Largent, suggested that the so-called modern synthesis began after a long period of eclipse lasting until the 1930s, in which Mendelians, neo-Lamarckians, mutationists, and Weismannians, not to mention experimental embryologists and Haeckelian recapitulationists fought running battles with each other. The idea of an eclipse also allowed Huxley to step aside from what was to him the inconvenient association of


id: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment-0.md
category: reference
title: Eddington experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:59.485048+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
The Eddington experiment was an observational test of general relativity, organised by the British astronomers Frank Watson Dyson and Arthur Stanley Eddington in 1919. Observations of the total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 were carried out by two expeditions, one to the West African island of Príncipe, and the other to the Brazilian town of Sobral. The aim of the expeditions was to measure the gravitational deflection of starlight passing near the Sun. The amount of deflection was predicted by Albert Einstein in a 1911 paper; however, his initial prediction proved inaccurate because it was based on an incomplete theory of general relativity. Einstein improved his prediction after finalizing his theory in 1915 and obtaining the solution to his equations by Karl Schwarzschild. Following the return of the expeditions, the results were presented by Eddington to a joint meeting of the Royal Society and Royal Astronomical Society in London and, after some deliberation, were accepted. Widespread newspaper coverage of the results led to worldwide fame for Einstein and his theories. == Background == One of the first considerations of gravitational deflection of light was published in 1801, when Johann Georg von Soldner pointed out that Newtonian gravity predicts that


id: eddington-experiment-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment-1.md
category: reference
title: Eddington experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:59.485048+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
== Theory == The theory behind the experiment concerns the predicted deflection of light by the Sun. The first observation of light deflection was performed by noting the change in position of stars as they passed near the Sun on the celestial sphere. The approximate angular deflection δφ for a massless particle coming in from infinity and going back out to infinity is given by the following formula: δ φ ≈ 2 r s b = 4 G M c 2 b . {\displaystyle \delta \varphi \approx {\frac {2r_{s}}{b}}={\frac {4GM}{c^{2}b}}.} Here, b can be interpreted as the distance of closest approach. Although this formula is approximate, it is accurate for most measurements of gravitational lensing, due to the smallness of the ratio rs/b. For light grazing the surface of the Sun, the approximate angular deflection is roughly 1.75 arcseconds. This is twice the value predicted by calculations using the Newtonian theory of gravity. It was this difference in the deflection between the two theories that Eddington's expedition and other later eclipse observers would attempt to observe. == Expeditions and observations == The aim of the expeditions was to take advantage of the shielding effect of the Moon during a total


id: eddington-experiment-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment-2.md
category: reference
title: Eddington experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:59.485048+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
=== Príncipe === The equipment used for the expedition to Príncipe, an island in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of West Africa, was an astrographic lens borrowed from the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford. Eddington sailed from England in March 1919. By mid-May he had his equipment set up on Príncipe near what was then Spanish Guinea. The eclipse was due to take place in the early afternoon of 29 May, at 2 pm, but that morning there was a storm with heavy rain. Eddington wrote: The rain stopped about noon and about 1.30 ... we began to get a glimpse of the sun. We had to carry out our photographs in faith. I did not see the eclipse, being too busy changing plates, except for one glance to make sure that it had begun and another half-way through to see how much cloud there was. We took sixteen photographs. They are all good of the sun, showing a very remarkable prominence; but the cloud has interfered with the star images. The last few photographs show a few images which I hope will give us what we need ... Eddington developed the photographs on Príncipe, and attempted to measure


id: eddington-experiment-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment-3.md
category: reference
title: Eddington experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:59.485048+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
The presentation of the results at the joint 6 November 1919 session of Royal Society and Royal Astronomical Society led to intensive press coverage first in Great Britain and a few days later in the US press, notably in The New York Times, and some days later still in the German press. While Einstein had been a moderately famous public figure in Germany for a few years by that time, the articles in question marked the beginning of his international celebrity status. A notable exception was Belgium, where the Eddington results were given the cold shoulder – partly because Einstein was seen as representing Germany, with the suffering of Belgium in World War I still very present in the country. The sudden popularity of Einstein's theories led to an "Einstein boom" of popular science books. While there is a later anecdote describing Einstein as unimpressed about the experimental results, and sure of his theory even in the absence of evidence (stating, when asked what he would have said if the results had been otherwise, "Then I would feel sorry for the dear Lord. The theory is correct anyway.") the evidence of Einstein's letters to other scientists indicates, on the contrary,


id: eddington-experiment-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment-4.md
category: reference
title: Eddington experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:10:59.485048+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: eddington-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
== Sources and further reading == Collins, Harry; Pinch, Trevor (1993). The Golem: What everyone should know about science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521477360. Cowen, Ron (May 2019). Gravity's Century: From Einstein's Eclipse to Images of Black Holes (Illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-97496-8. Crelinsten, Jeffrey (May 2006). Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12310-3. Gates, Sylvester J. Jr; Pelletier, Cathie (2019). Proving Einstein right: The daring expeditions that changed how we look at the universe (First ed.). New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1541762251. Kennefick, Daniel (2019). No Shadow of a Doubt: The 1919 Eclipse That Confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691183862. Popper, Karl (2002) [1935]. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Routledge. ISBN 0-203-99462-0. Stanley, Matthew (2019). Einstein's War: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I. Dutton. ISBN 978-1-5247-4541-7. == External links == Eclipse 1919, website about the eclipse, the expeditions and centenary events "Eddington's Eclipse and Einstein's Celebrity" Discovery (audio) episode (from BBC World Service) "The man who made Einstein world-famous" (BBC News, 24 May 2019) "Matthew Stanley and Einstein's War". Archived 2020-07-30 at the Wayback Machine (Clarke Center for Human Imagination, UCSD podcast) "100


id: empiricism-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-0.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes either only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiricists argue that empiricism is a more reliable method of finding the truth than relying purely on logical reasoning, because humans have cognitive biases and limitations which lead to errors of judgement. Empiricism emphasizes the central role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions. Empiricists may argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sensory experiences. Historically, empiricism was associated with the "blank slate" concept (tabula rasa), according to which the human mind is "blank" at birth and develops its thoughts only through later experience. Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation. Empiricism, often used by natural scientists, holds that "knowledge is based on experience" and that "knowledge is tentative and


id: empiricism-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-1.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
During the Middle Ages (from the 5th to the 15th century CE) Aristotle's theory of tabula rasa was developed by Islamic philosophers starting with Al Farabi (c. 872 – c. 951 CE), developing into an elaborate theory by Avicenna (c. 980 – 1037 CE) and demonstrated as a thought experiment by Ibn Tufail. For Avicenna (Ibn Sina), for example, the tabula rasa is a pure potentiality that is actualized through education, and knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning in which observations lead to propositional statements which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts". The intellect itself develops from a material intellect (al-'aql al-hayulani), which is a potentiality "that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-'aql al-fa'il), the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge". So the immaterial "active intellect", separate from any individual person, is still essential for understanding to occur. In the 12th century CE, the Andalusian Muslim philosopher and novelist Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebu Tophail" in the West) included the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment


id: empiricism-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-2.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
British empiricism, a retrospective characterization, emerged during the 17th century as an approach to early modern philosophy and modern science. Although both integral to this overarching transition, Francis Bacon, in England, first advocated for empiricism in 1620, whereas René Descartes, in France, laid the main groundwork upholding rationalism around 1640. (Bacon's natural philosophy was influenced by Italian philosopher Bernardino Telesio and by Swiss physician Paracelsus.) Contributing later in the 17th century, Thomas Hobbes and Baruch Spinoza are retrospectively identified likewise as an empiricist and a rationalist, respectively. In the Enlightenment of the late 17th century, John Locke in England, and in the 18th century, both George Berkeley in Ireland and David Hume in Scotland, all became leading exponents of empiricism, hence the dominance of empiricism in British philosophy. The distinction between rationalism and empiricism was not formally made until Immanuel Kant, in Germany, around 1780, who sought to merge the two views. In response to the early-to-mid-17th-century "continental rationalism", John Locke (1632–1704) proposed in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) a very influential view wherein the only knowledge humans can have is a posteriori, i.e., based upon experience. Locke is famously attributed with holding the proposition that the human mind


id: empiricism-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-3.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
Hume maintained that no knowledge, even the most basic beliefs about the natural world, can be conclusively established by reason. Rather, he maintained, our beliefs are more a result of accumulated habits, developed in response to accumulated sense experiences. Among his many arguments Hume also added another important slant to the debate about scientific method—that of the problem of induction. Hume argued that it requires inductive reasoning to arrive at the premises for the principle of inductive reasoning, and therefore the justification for inductive reasoning is a circular argument. Among Hume's conclusions regarding the problem of induction is that there is no certainty that the future will resemble the past. Thus, as a simple instance posed by Hume, we cannot know with certainty by inductive reasoning that the sun will continue to rise in the East, but instead come to expect it to do so because it has repeatedly done so in the past. Hume concluded that such things as belief in an external world and belief in the existence of the self were not rationally justifiable. According to Hume these beliefs were to be accepted nonetheless because of their profound basis in instinct and custom. Hume's lasting legacy, however,


id: empiricism-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-4.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
[Mill] claimed that mathematical truths were merely very highly confirmed generalizations from experience; mathematical inference, generally conceived as deductive [and a priori] in nature, Mill set down as founded on induction. Thus, in Mill's philosophy there was no real place for knowledge based on relations of ideas. In his view logical and mathematical necessity is psychological; we are merely unable to conceive any other possibilities than those that logical and mathematical propositions assert. This is perhaps the most extreme version of empiricism known, but it has not found many defenders. Mill's empiricism thus held that knowledge of any kind is not from direct experience but an inductive inference from direct experience. The problems other philosophers have had with Mill's position center around the following issues: Firstly, Mill's formulation encounters difficulty when it describes what direct experience is by differentiating only between actual and possible sensations. This misses some key discussion concerning conditions under which such "groups of permanent possibilities of sensation" might exist in the first place. Berkeley put God in that gap; the phenomenalists, including Mill, essentially left the question unanswered. In the end, lacking an acknowledgement of an aspect of "reality" that goes beyond mere "possibilities of sensation",


id: empiricism-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-5.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
Logical empiricism (also logical positivism or neopositivism) was an early 20th-century attempt to synthesize the essential ideas of British empiricism (e.g. a strong emphasis on sensory experience as the basis for knowledge) with certain insights from mathematical logic that had been developed by Gottlob Frege and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Some of the key figures in this movement were Otto Neurath, Moritz Schlick and the rest of the Vienna Circle, along with A. J. Ayer, Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenbach. The neopositivists subscribed to a notion of philosophy as the conceptual clarification of the methods, insights and discoveries of the sciences. They saw in the logical symbolism elaborated by Frege (1848–1925) and Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) a powerful instrument that could rationally reconstruct all scientific discourse into an ideal, logically perfect, language that would be free of the ambiguities and deformations of natural language. This gave rise to what they saw as metaphysical pseudoproblems and other conceptual confusions. By combining Frege's thesis that all mathematical truths are logical with the early Wittgenstein's idea that all logical truths are mere linguistic tautologies, they arrived at a twofold classification of all propositions: the "analytic" (a priori) and the "synthetic" (a posteriori). On this basis, they


id: empiricism-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism-6.md
category: reference
title: Empiricism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:00.706456+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: empiricism-20260505-0
summary:
In his Harvard "Lectures on Pragmatism" (1903), Peirce enumerated what he called the "three cotary propositions of pragmatism" (L: cos, cotis whetstone), saying that they "put the edge on the maxim of pragmatism". First among these, he listed the peripatetic-thomist observation mentioned above, but he further observed that this link between sensory perception and intellectual conception is a two-way street. That is, it can be taken to say that whatever we find in the intellect is also incipiently in the senses. Hence, if theories are theory-laden then so are the senses, and perception itself can be seen as a species of abductive inference, its difference being that it is beyond control and hence beyond critique—in a word, incorrigible. This in no way conflicts with the fallibility and revisability of scientific concepts, since it is only the immediate percept in its unique individuality or "thisness"—what the Scholastics called its haecceity—that stands beyond control and correction. Scientific concepts, on the other hand, are general in nature, and transient sensations do in another sense find correction within them. This notion of perception as abduction has received periodic revivals in artificial intelligence and cognitive science research, most recently for instance with the work of


id: history-of-energy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_energy-0.md
category: reference
title: History of energy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_energy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:01.906536+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-energy-20260505-0
summary:
In the history of physics, the history of energy examines the gradual development of energy as a central scientific concept. Classical mechanics was initially understood through the study of motion and force by thinkers like Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, the importance of the concept of energy was made clear in the 19th century with the principles of thermodynamics, particularly the conservation of energy which established that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. In the 20th century Albert Einstein's mass–energy equivalence expanded this understanding by linking mass and energy, and quantum mechanics introduced quantized energy levels. Today, energy is recognized as a fundamental conserved quantity across all domains of physics, underlying both classical and quantum phenomena. == Antiquity == The word energy derives from Greek word "energeia" (Greek: ἐνέργεια) meaning actuality, which appears for the first time in the 4th century BCE in various works of Aristotle when discussing potentiality and actuality including Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics and On the Soul. == Kinetic energy == The modern concept of kinetic energy emerged from the idea of vis viva (living force), which Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz defined over the period 1676–1689 as the product of the mass of an object


id: epistemic-cultures-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemic_cultures-0.md
category: reference
title: Epistemic cultures
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemic_cultures
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:03.032436+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: epistemic-cultures-20260505-0
summary:
Epistemic cultures (often used in plural form) is a concept developed in the nineties by anthropologist Karin Knorr Cetina in her book Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge. Opposed to a monist vision of scientific activity (according to which, would exist a unique scientific method), Knorr Cetina defines the concept of epistemic cultures as a diversity of scientific activities according to different scientific fields, not only in methods and tools, but also in types of reasonings, ways to establish evidence, and relationships between theory and empiry. Knorr Cetina's work is seminal in questioning the so-called unity of science. == Knorr Cetina's anthropology == In practice, Knorr Cetina compares two contemporary important scientific fields: High energy physics and molecular biology. She worked as an anthropologist within two laboratories, along the line of the laboratory anthropology work by Latour and Woolgar. Her anthropological work is comparative and the two chosen scientific fields are highly mediaticized and easily distinguishable. Epistemic cultures as a philosophical concept has been perused by numerous philosophical, anthropological or historical studies of science. == Two distinct publication regimes == High energy physics and molecular biology are very different as scientific fields belonging to two different epistemic cultures. They


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment. Maritime expeditions in the Age of Discovery were a means of expanding colonial empires, establishing new trade routes and extending diplomatic and trade relations to new territories, but with the Enlightenment scientific curiosity became a new motive for exploration to add to the commercial and political ambitions of the past. See also List of Arctic expeditions and List of Antarctic expeditions. == Maritime exploration in the Age of Discovery == From the early 15th century to the early 17th century the Age of Discovery had, through Portuguese seafarers, and later, Spanish, Dutch, French and English, opened up southern Africa, the Americas (New World), Asia and Oceania to European eyes: Bartholomew Dias had sailed around the Cape of southern Africa in search of a trade route to India; Christopher Columbus, on four journeys across the Atlantic, had prepared the way for European colonisation of the New World; Ferdinand Magellan had commanded the first expedition to sail across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to reach the Maluku Islands and


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
== Maritime exploration in the Age of Enlightenment == By the 18th century maritime exploration had become safer and more efficient with technical innovations that vastly improved navigation and cartography: improvements were made to the theodolite, octant, precision clocks, as well as the compass, telescope, and general shipbuilding techniques. From the mid-18th century through the 19th century scientific missions mapped the newly discovered regions, brought back to Europe the newly discovered fauna and flora, made hydrological, astronomical and meteorological observations and improved the methods of navigation. This stimulated great advances in the scientific disciplines of natural history, botany, zoology, ichthyology, conchology, taxonomy, medicine, geography, geology, mineralogy, hydrology, oceanography, physics, meteorology etc. – all contributing to the sense of "improvement" and "progress" that characterized the Enlightenment. Often these missions brought together diverse researchers of different ethnic and regional background, thus creating a "transnational culture of expertise". Artists were used to record landscapes and indigenous peoples, while natural history illustrators captured the appearance of organisms before they deteriorated after collection. Some of the world's finest natural history illustrations were produced at this time and the illustrators changed from informed amateurs to fully trained professionals acutely aware of the need for scientific accuracy.


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-2.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Captain: Thomas Adams (?–1770) Also aboard: Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Constantine Phipps. ==== 1766–69: La Boudeuse and L'Étoile ==== Ordered by Louis XV, it was the first trip around the world initiated by the French. The discovery and description of Tahiti by Louis Antoine de Bougainville in his trip influenced several Enlightenment philosophers including Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78). The expedition was organised by Louis Antoine de Bougainville and received the support of such prominent figures of the time as Charles de Brosses (1709–77), Comte de Buffon (1707–88), Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759) and Jérôme Lalande (1732–1807). The expedition aimed to discover new territories available for settlement, to open a new route to reach China, to found new outlets for the French East India Company and, finally, discover acclimatable spices for the Isle de France (now Mauritius). Captains: Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) Chief of expedition, Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot (Captain of La Boudeuse), François Chenard de la Giraudais (1727–1775) (Captain of L'Étoile) Naturalists: Philibert Commerçon (1727–73), Jeanne Baré (1740–1807) Astronomer: Pierre-Antoine Véron (1736–70) Cartographer: Charles Routier de Romainville (1742–92?) Publication: Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Journey Around the World by the Commander of the La Boudeuse and L'Étoile, in 1766, 1767, 1768


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-3.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Captain: Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (1741–1788) (on the Boussole) and Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle (1744–1787) (on the Astrolabe) Chief Engineer: Paul Mérault Monneron (1748–1788) Geologist: Robert de Lamanon (1752–1787) Artists: the uncle and nephew Prevost, Duché De Vancy Naturalists: Jean-André Mongez (1751 – c. 1788) Interpreter of Russian: Barthélemy de Lesseps (1766–1834) landed at Petropavlovsk, and in charge of bringing to France the log, maps and drawings of the trip. ==== 1785–88: King George ==== Global circumnavigation. Captain: Nathaniel Portlock ==== 1785–94: Slava Rossii ==== A Russian expedition commanded by the British Captain Joseph Billings, astronomer on Cook's third voyage. This expedition lasted more than ten years attempting, unsuccessfully, to find the Northwest Passage that had remained undiscovered after Cook's explorations. Captain: Joseph Billings (c. 1758 – 1806) Naturalists: Carl Heinrich Merck and Carl Krebs Surgeons-naturalists: Michael Robeck and Peter Allegretti Cartographer: Gavriil Sarytchev Publications: J. Billings, An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical expedition to the Northern parts of Russia. (1802), translated into French the same year under the title of Voyage made by order of Empress Catherine II Russia, in the North of the Asian Russian the icy sea, in the sea on the coasts


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-4.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
This expedition was organised to establish a permanent colonial presence in the South Seas before the British, concentrating on the mapping of the coast of the Australia and New Guinea. Nicolas Baudin died in Mauritius in 1803, another naturalist on the island of Timor, two other naturalists chose to stay on the island and two astronomers died of dysentery. Péron, assisted by his friend Lesueur, managed to gather a vast zoological collection. Naturaliste returned to France in 1803 with a part of the collections. Captain Baudin bought a schooner, the Casuarina, at the British settlement of Port Jackson in Australia. Baudin was replaced by Pierre Bernard Milius (1773–1829). Commanders: Nicolas Baudin (1754–1803) (Le Géographe) and Jacques Hamelin (1768–1839) (Le Naturaliste). Physician, surgeon (first doctor in the Navy) and biologist: Pierre François Keraudren (1769–1858) (Le Géographe). Naturalists: Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour (1773–1826), René Maugé Cely, Stanislas Levillain (1774–1801), François Péron (1775–1810), Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778–1846) (left the expedition to Mauritius), Désiré Dumont, André Michaux (1746–1803) Artist: Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1778–1846) assisted by Nicolas-Martin Petit (1777–1804) Astronomers: Pierre-François Bernier (1779–1803) and Frédéric de Bissy (1768–1803) Cartographer: Charles-Pierre Boullanger Geographer: Pierre Faure (1777–1855) Mineralogist: Louis Depuch, Joseph Charles Bailly Publications: F.


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-5.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Commander: lieutenant Louis Isidore Duperrey (1786–1865) Second: lieutenant Jules Dumont d'Urville, botanist (1790–1842) Physician-naturalist: the surgeon, pharmacist and zoologist René Primevère Lesson (1794–1849) and surgeon-major Prosper Garnot (1794–1838) Astronomer: Charles Hector Jacquinot (1796–1879) Illustrators: Jules Louis Lejeune (1804–1851), Jacques Arago (1790–1855) Hydrographer: Victor Charles Lottin (1795–1858) Publications: Lesson and Garnot, Voyage autour du monde exécuté par ordre du roi sur la corvette La Coquille (1828–32)/Journey around the world on the corvette La Coquille (Paris, six volumes, 1826–1830). ==== 1823–26: Predpriyatiye ==== An expedition of two ships of war, the main object of which was to take reinforcements to Kamchatka. There was, however, a staff of scientists on board the Russian sailing sloop Predpriyatiye (Russian: "Enterprise"), who collected much valuable information and material on geography, ethnography and natural history. The expedition, proceeding by Cape Horn, visited the Radak and Society Islands, and reached Petropavlovsk in July 1824. Many positions along the coast were mapped more accurately, the Navigator islands visited, and several discoveries made. The expedition returned by the Marianas, Philippines, New Caledonia and the Hawaiian Islands, reaching Kronstadt on 10 July 1826. Captain: Otto von Kotzebue (1787–1846) Physician-naturalist: Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1793–1831) and Dr. Lenz Publication: O. von Kotzebue,


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-6.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
==== 1826–29: Senyavin and Moller ==== A Russian circumnavigation on the ship Senyavin, sailing from Kronstadt and rounding Cape Horn, accompanied by Captain Mikhail Nikolaievich Staniukovich in command of the sloop Moller. During the voyage Litke and his team described the western coastline of the Bering Sea, the Bonin Islands off Japan, and the Carolines, and discovered 12 new islands. The expedition strengthened the Russian presence near Alaska. A large collection of natural history specimens was made including 1,000 new species of insects, fish, birds and other animals, and 2,500 plant specimens including algae and minerals. Captain: Fyodor Litke (1797–1882) Botanist-naturalist: Karl Heinrich Mertens (1796–1830) Naturalist: Heinrich von Kittlitz (1799–1874) Mineralogist: Alexander Philipov Postels (1801–1871) Published by: F. Litke, Trip around the world (1835–1836). ==== 1827–28: La Chevrette ==== The first French expedition to map the coast of India. Captain: Theodore Fabré (1795–1830) Surgeon-naturalist: Auguste Adolphe Marc Reynaud (1804–?) ==== 1828: Ms. Korvet Triton ==== Dutch exploration of New Guinea. The corvette Triton The brig Iris Expedition leader: Dr. H.C. Macklot Captain of Triton: J.J. Steenboom ==== 1829: La Cybèle ==== Scientific exploration was placed under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778–1846). Captain: Marie Antoine Chevalier de Robillard


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-7.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The second voyage of L'Astrolabe, this time accompanied by La Zélée, sailed on 7 September 1837 and at the end of November, the ships reached the Strait of Magellan. Dumont thought there was sufficient time to explore the strait for three weeks, taking into account the precise maps drawn by Phillip Parker King between 1826 and 1830, before heading south again but two weeks after seeing their first iceberg, the ships were encased in pack ice for a while. After reaching the South Orkney Islands, the expedition headed directly to the South Shetland Islands and the Bransfield Strait. Then located some land which was named Terre de Louis-Philippe (now called Graham Land), the Joinville Island group and Rosamel Island (now called Andersson Island). In poor shape the two ships headed for Talcahuano in Chile. Turning south they led for the first time some experiments to determine the approximate position of the South Magnetic Pole, discovered the Terre Adélie on 20 January 1840, and landed two days later on an islet of the Géologie Archipelago (66°36′19″S 140°4′0″E) 4 km from the mainland to take mineral and animal samples. Captains: Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790–1842) (L'Astrolabe), Charles Hector Jacquinot (1796–1879) (La Zélée) Physician-naturalist:


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-8.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Captains: Sir James Clark Ross (1800–1862) (Erebus) and Francis Crozier (1796–1848) (Terror) Physician-naturalist: Robert McCormick (1800–1890), Joseph Hooker (1817–1911), John Robertson, David Lyall (1817–1895) Publications: J.C. Ross, A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions. (1847), J.E. Gray and John Richardson, The zoology of the Voyage of HM Ships Erebus and Terror (1844–1875). J.D. Hooker, The botany of the Antarctic voyage of HM discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843 under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. Three volumes: I. Flora Antarctica (1844), II. Flora Novae Zelandiae (1853–1855), III. Flora Tasmaniae (1860). ==== 1841–44: La Favorite ==== A French scientific exploration in the China Sea and Indian Ocean. Captain: Théogène François Page (1807–1867) Surgeon-naturalist: Charles René Augustin Léclancher (1804–1857) ==== 1842–46: HMS Fly ==== During the early to mid-1840s, Fly charted numerous trade and other routes between many locations, primarily off Australia's north-east coast and nearby islands. Such islands included Whitsunday Island and the Capricorn Islands. After being discovered during the survey of the Gulf of Papua, New Guinea, the Fly River was named after HMS Fly. For the most of its seaworthy existence, Fly was captained by Francis Price Blackwood. Captain:


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-9.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
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parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
==== 1860: HMS Bulldog ==== An oceanographic survey in HMS Bulldog for the laying of a submarine telegraph cable in the North Atlantic. Captain: Francis Leopold McClintock (1819–1907) Naturalist: George Charles Wallich (1815–1899) Publication: The North Atlantic Sea – Bed; comprising a diary of the voyage on board H. M. S. Bulldog, in 1860, and observations on the presence of animal life, and the formation and nature of organic deposits, at great depths in the ocean. (1862). ==== 1862: Arctic expedition of Krusenstern ==== Arctic expedition of two ships, MV Iermak and MV Embrio in order to discover the Yenissei river delta, resulted in shipwreck in the Kara Sea. Captain: Paul Theodor von Krusenstern Publication: Naufrage du lieutenant Krusenstern dans les glaces de la mer de Kara (1863, in Le Tour du monde Volume 8 pp. 203–208) ==== 1865–68: Magenta ==== An Italian circumnavigation of the globe that made important scientific observations in South America. The purpose of the trip was also to establish diplomatic relations with China and Japan, but without success. De Filippi set out in 1866 on a government-sponsored scientific voyage to circumnavigate the globe. The ship, the Italian warship Magenta, sailed under the command of Vittorio


id: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration-10.md
category: reference
title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:04.350296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-and-american-voyages-of-scientific-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Albatross belonged to the Committee on Fisheries of the United States and it carried out numerous scientific expeditions under the direction of Alexander Emanuel Agassiz (1835–1910). The primary goal was an inventory of the Pacific fishery reserves but many other observations are carried out by Townsend and other scientists. Captain: Zera Tanner (1835–1906) Naturalist: Charles Haskins Townsend (1859–1944) ==== 1897–98: Lila and Mattie ==== Zoologist Walter Rothschild commissioned the Webster-Harris Expedition to the Galápagos Islands from June 1897 to February 1898. This expedition on the schooner Lila & Mattie is well-described in the 1983 book titled Dear Lord Rothschild by Miriam Rothschild. In the 1936 book Oceanic Birds of South America by Robert Cushman Murphy, Rollo Beck describes the seminal telegram from C.M Harris that started his long and important association with the Galápagos Islands. The original of this telegram is in the Rollo Beck Collection in the California Academy of Sciences Archives. There is also a photo from Beck's Sierra Nevada collecting trip in the archives of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology on the University of California, Berkeley campus. The story of buried treasure on Tower Island connected with this trip was apparently known to Captain Lindbridge during this


id: history-of-experiments-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments-0.md
category: reference
title: History of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:05.503097+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
The history of experimental research is long and varied. Indeed, the definition of an experiment itself has changed in responses to changing norms and practices within particular fields of study. This article documents the history and development of experimental research from its origins in Galileo's study of gravity into the diversely applied method in use today. == Ibn al-Haytham == The Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) used experimentation to obtain the results in his Book of Optics (1021). He combined observations, experiments and rational arguments to support his intromission theory of vision, in which rays of light are emitted from objects rather than from the eyes. He used similar arguments to show that the ancient emission theory of vision supported by Ptolemy and Euclid (in which the eyes emit the rays of light used for seeing), and the ancient intromission theory supported by Aristotle (where objects emit physical particles to the eyes), were both wrong. Experimental evidence supported most of the propositions in his Book of Optics and grounded his theories of vision, light and colour, as well as his research in catoptrics and dioptrics. His legacy was elaborated through the 'reforming' of his Optics by Kamal al-Din al-Farisi (d.


id: history-of-experiments-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments-1.md
category: reference
title: History of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:05.503097+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
The experiments of Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794), a French chemist regarded as the founder of modern chemistry, were among the first to be truly quantitative. Lavoisier showed that although matter changes its state in a chemical reaction, the quantity of matter is the same at the end as at the beginning of every chemical reaction. In one experiment, he burned phosphorus and sulfur in air to see whether the results further supported his previous conclusion (Law of Conservation of Mass). In this experiment, however, he determined that the products weighed more than the original phosphorus and sulfur. He decided to do the experiment again. This time he measured the mass of the air surrounding the experiment as well. He discovered that the mass gained in the product was lost from the air. These experiments provided further support for his Law of Conservation of Mass. One of Lavoisier's experiments connected the worlds of respiration and combustion. Lavoisier's hypothesis was that combustion and respiration were one and the same, and combustion occurs with every instance of respiration. Working with Pierre-Simon Laplace, Lavoisier designed an ice calorimeter apparatus for measuring the amount of heat given off during combustion or respiration. This machine consisted of


id: history-of-experiments-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments-2.md
category: reference
title: History of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:05.503097+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
The French biologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), regarded as the "Father of microbiological sciences and immunology", worked during the 19th century. He postulated - and supported with experimental results - the idea that disease-causing agents do not spontaneously appear but are alive and need the right environment to prosper and multiply. Stemming from this discovery, he used experimentation to develop vaccines for chicken cholera, anthrax and rabies, and developed methods for reducing bacteria in some food products by heating them (pasteurization). Pasteur's work also led him to advocate (along with the English physician Dr. Joseph Lister) antiseptic surgical techniques. Most scientists of that day believed that microscopic life sprang into existence from spontaneous generation in non-living matter. Pasteur's observations of tiny organisms under the microscope caused him to doubt spontaneous generation. He designed an experiment to test his hypothesis that life could not arise from where there is no life. He took care to control possible confounding factors. For example, he needed to make sure there was no life, even microscopic, in the flasks of broth he used as a test medium. He decided to kill any microscopic organisms already present by boiling the broth until he was confident that any


id: list-of-experiments-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments-0.md
category: reference
title: List of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:06.617061+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
The following is a list of historically important scientific experiments and observations demonstrating something of great scientific interest, typically in an elegant or clever manner. == Astronomy == Ole Rømer makes the first quantitative estimate of the speed of light in 1676 by timing the motions of Jupiter's satellite Io with a telescope Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detect the cosmic microwave background radiation, giving support to the theory of the Big Bang (1964) Kerim Kerimov launches Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188 as experiments on automatic docking eventually leading to the development of space stations (1967) The Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team discover, by observing Type Ia supernovae, that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating (1998) Galileo Galilei uses a telescope to observe that the moons of Jupiter appear to circle Jupiter. This evidence supports the heliocentric model, and weakens the geocentric model of the cosmos (1609) == Biology == Robert Hooke, using a microscope, observes cells (1665). Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovers microorganisms (1674–1676). James Lind, publishes 'A Treatise of the Scurvy' which describes a controlled shipboard experiment using two identical populations but with only one variable, the consumption of citrus fruit (1753). Edward Jenner


id: list-of-experiments-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments-1.md
category: reference
title: List of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:06.617061+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
== Chemistry == Robert Boyle uses an air pump to determine the inverse relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas. This relationship came to be known as Boyle's law (1660–1662). Joseph Priestley suspends a bowl of water above a beer vat at a brewery and synthesizes carbonated water (1767). Antoine Lavoisier determines that oxygen combines with materials upon combustion, thus disproving phlogiston theory (1783). Antoine Lavoisier determines that chemical reactions in a closed container do not alter total mass. From these observations he establishes the law of conservation of mass (1789). Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford demonstrates that the heat developed by the friction of boring cannon is nearly inexhaustible. This result was presented in opposition to caloric theory (1798). Humphry Davy uses electrolysis to isolate elemental potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium, and chlorine (1807–1810). Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac studies reactions among gases and determines that their volumes combine chemically in simple integer ratios (1809). Robert Brown studies very small particles in water under the microscope and observes Brownian motion which was later named in his honor (1827). Friedrich Wöhler synthesizes the organic compound urea using inorganic reactants, disproving the application of vitalism to chemical processes (1828). Thomas Graham


id: list-of-experiments-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments-2.md
category: reference
title: List of experiments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:06.617061+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-experiments-20260505-0
summary:
Inclined plane experiment (1602–07): Galileo Galilei uses rolling balls to disprove the Aristotelian theory of motion. Atmospheric pressure vs. altitude experiment (1648): Blaise Pascal carries a barometer up a church tower and a mountain to determine that atmospheric pressure is due to a column of air. Magdeburg hemispheres (1654): Otto von Guericke demonstrates atmospheric pressure using a pair of hollow copper hemisphere. Spring of air experiment (1660): Robert Boyle shows that the volume of a given amount of gas is inversely related to the pressure upon it. Kite experiment (1700s): Benjamin Franklin beginning in 1747 describes experiments in letters to Peter Collinson demonstrating electrical principles which were published in a book called Experiments and Observations on Electricity. Voltaic pile (1796): Alessandro Volta constructs a new source of electricity, the electrical battery. Cavendish experiment (1798): Henry Cavendish's torsion bar experiment measures the force of gravity in a laboratory. Double-slit experiment (c.1805): Thomas Young shows that light is a wave in his double-slit experiment. Arago spot (1819): Observation of circular diffraction by François Arago, validated a new wave theory of light by Augustin-Jean Fresnel disproving skeptics like Siméon Denis Poisson. Ørsted experiment (1820): Hans Christian Ørsted demonstrates the connection of electricity and


id: fermentation-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: Fermentation theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:07.762853+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fermentation-theory-20260505-0
summary:
In biochemistry, fermentation theory refers to the historical study of models of natural fermentation processes, especially alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation. Notable contributors to the theory include Justus Von Liebig and Louis Pasteur, the latter of whom developed a purely microbial basis for the fermentation process based on his experiments. Pasteur's work on fermentation later led to his development of the germ theory of disease, which put the concept of spontaneous generation to rest. Although the fermentation process had been used extensively throughout history prior to the origin of Pasteur's prevailing theories, the underlying biological and chemical processes were not fully understood. In the contemporary, fermentation is used in the production of various alcoholic beverages, foodstuffs, and medications. == Overview of fermentation == Fermentation is the anaerobic metabolic process that converts sugar into acids, gases, or alcohols in oxygen starved environments. Yeast and many other microbes commonly use fermentation to carry out anaerobic respiration necessary for survival. Even the human body carries out fermentation processes from time to time, such as during long-distance running; lactic acid will build up in muscles over the course of long-term exertion. Within the human body, lactic acid is the by-product of ATP-producing fermentation, which


id: fermentation-theory-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_theory-1.md
category: reference
title: Fermentation theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:07.762853+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fermentation-theory-20260505-0
summary:
Pasteur also experimented with the mechanisms of brewer's yeast in the absence of organic nitrogen. By adding pure brewer's yeast to a solution of cane sugar, ammonium salt, and yeast ash, Pasteur was able to observe the alcoholic fermentation process with all of its usual byproducts: glycerin, succinic acid, and small amounts of cellulose and fatty matters. However, if any of the ingredients were removed from the solution, no fermentation would occur. To Pasteur, this was proof that yeast required the nitrogen, minerals, and carbon from the medium for its metabolic processes, releasing carbonic acid and ethyl alcohol as byproducts. This also disproved Liebig's theory, since there was no albuminous matter present in the medium; the decomposition of the yeast was not the driving force for the observed fermentation. == Pasteur on spontaneous generation == Before the 1860s and 1870s—when Pasteur published his work on this theory—it was believed that microorganisms and even some small animals such as frogs would spontaneously generate. Spontaneous generation was historically explained in a variety of ways. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, theorized that creatures appeared out of certain concoctions of earthly elements, such as clay or mud mixing with water and sunlight. Later on,


id: golden-age-of-cosmology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_cosmology-0.md
category: reference
title: Golden age of cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:08.935846+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: golden-age-of-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
The golden age of cosmology is a term often used to describe the period from 1992 to the present in which important advances in observational cosmology have been made. Prior to the golden age of cosmology, the understanding of the universe was limited to what scientists could observe through telescopes and other instruments. Theories and models were developed based on limited data and observations, and there was much speculation and debate regarding the true nature of the universe. The golden age of cosmology has also seen the development of new observational techniques and technologies. For example, the use of telescopes in space has revolutionized our ability to observe the universe. Space-based observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope (launched in 1990) and the James Webb Space Telescope (launched in 2021) have provided stunning images and data that have expanded our understanding of the universe. In addition, ground-based telescopes have also undergone significant improvements in recent years. For example, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile is a revolutionary new telescope that is able to observe the universe in unprecedented detail. It has already made significant contributions to our understanding of star formation and the early universe. == Lambda-CDM model


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-0.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
Oktōēchos or Octoechos (Greek: ὁ Ὀκτώηχος pronounced in koine: okˈtóixos; from ὀκτώ 'eight' and ἦχος 'sound, mode' called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, Osmoglasie from о́смь 'eight' and гласъ 'voice, sound') is the name of the eight mode system used for the composition of religious chant in most Christian churches during the Middle Ages. In a modified form, the octoechos is still regarded as the foundation of the tradition of monodic Orthodox chant today (Neobyzantine Octoechos). The octoechos as a liturgical concept which established an organization of the calendar into eight-week cycles, was the invention of monastic hymnographers at Mar Saba in Palestine, at the Patriarchates of Antiochia and of Constantinople. It was officially announced as the modal system of hymnography at the Quinisext Council in 692. A similar eight-mode system was established in Western Europe during the Carolingian reform, and particularly at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD which decanonised the former iconoclastic council in 754 and confirmed earlier ones. Quite possibly this was an attempt to follow the example of the Eastern Church by an octoechos reform, even if it was rather a transfer of knowledge with an introduction of a new book called "tonary" which introduced into


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-1.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
==== 8 diatonic echoi of the Hagiopolitan Octoechos ==== Despite the late copies of the Greek Hagiopolites treatise, the earliest Latin description of the Greek system of eight echoi is an eleventh-century treatise compilation called Alia musica. Echos was translated as sonus by the anonymous compilator who commented with a comparison of the Byzantine octoechos: This Latin description about the octoechos used by Greek singers (psaltes) is very precise, when it says that each kyrios and plagios pair used the same octave, divided into a fifth (pentachord) and a fourth (tetrachord): D—a—d in protos, E—b—e in devteros, F—c—f in tritos, and C—G—c in tetartos. While the kyrioi had the finalis (final, and usually also base note) on the top, the plagioi had the finalis on the bottom of the pentachord. The intonation formulas, called enechema (gr. ἐνήχημα), for the authentic modes or kyrioi echoi, usually descend within the pentachord and turn back to the finalis at the end, while the plagal modes or plagioi echoi just move to the upper third. The later dialogue treatises (Gr. ἐρωταποκρίσεις, erotapokriseis) refer to the Hagiopolitan diatonic eight modes, when they use the kyrioi intonations to find those of the plagioi: Περὶ πλαγίων Ἀπο


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-2.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
In the edition of the treatise by Otto Gombosi, the four "elements" (α', β', γ', δ') were associated with certain colours—πρῶτος with black (all colours together), δεύτερος with white (no colour at all), τρίτος with yellow (an elementary colour), and τέταρτος with purple (a combination of elementary colours). These passages could be easily compiled with Zosimos of Panopolis' treatise about the process of bleaching. The system favoured 3 four tetrachord sets (either modes by themselves or simply degree of the modes with different functions), called κέντροι, ἷσοι, and πλάγιοι. Kέντρος would be probably an early name for μέσος, if it lay between the ἶσος and πλάγιος, it could be as well used as an early name for κύριος ἦχος, because it is mentioned here first, while ἶσος could mean "equivalent", or just basis notes. The exact point of reference concerning this 24 mode system was not clarified in the treatise, but it is evident, that there was a canonised wisdom which was connected with an ethical doctrine excluding certain passions (πάθη, pathe) as corruptions. Inside this wisdom, there was a Neoplatonic concept of an ideal and divine existence, which can be found and classified according to a modal scheme based


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-3.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
According to the Latin synthesis the plagal and authentic tones of protus, deuterus, tritus, and tetrardus did not use the same ambitus as in the Hagiopolitan octoechos, but authentic and plagal tones used both the finalis of the plagios, so that the finalis of the kyrios, the fifth degree of the mode, was no longer used as finalis, but as repercussa: the recitation tone of the authentic tone used in a simple form of psalmody which was another genuine invention by the Carolingian reformers. The ambitus of the authentic tones was made up the same way as used in the Greek octoechos, while the plagal tones used a lower ambitus: not the tetrachord above the pentachord, but below it. Hence, the hypodorian octave referred the tonus secundus and was constructed A—D—a, and the dorian as "tonus primus" D—a—d, both tones of the protus used D as finalis, the hypophrygian octave species was B—E—b and was the ambitus of the tonus quartus, and the phrygian octave species E—b—e was related to the tonus tertius and its finalis E belonged to the deuterus, the hypolydian octave species C—F—c was connected with the tonus sixtus, the lydian octave F—c—f with the tonus quintus


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-4.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
The earliest chant theory connected with the Carolingian octoechos was related to the book tonary. It played a key role in memorising chant and the earliest tonaries referred to the Greek names as elements of a tetrachord: πρῶτος, δεύτερος, τρίτος, and τέταρτος. They were translated into Latin as "protus", "deuterus", "tritus", and "tetrardus", but only the tetrachord D—E—F—G was supposed to contain the finales ("final notes") for the eight tones used in the Latin octoechos. Since the 10th century the eight tones were applied to eight simplified models of psalmody, which soon adopted in their terminations the melodic beginnings of the antiphons, which were sung as refrains during psalm recitation. This practice made the transitions smoother, and in the list of the antiphons which can be found since the earliest tonaries, it was enough to refer to the melodic beginnings or incipits of the text. In the earliest tonaries no models of psalmody had been given and incipits from all chant genres were listed, probably just for a modal classification (see the section for the Autentus protus of the Saint Riquier tonary). According to Michel Huglo, there was a prototype tonary which initiated the Carolingian reform. But in a later


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-5.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
== Question of intervals and their transposition == The exact proportions which divided a tetrachord, had never been a subject of Greek medieval treatises concerned about Byzantine chant. The separation between the mathematical science harmonikai ("harmonics") and chant theory gave space to various speculations, even to the assumption that the same division was used as described in Latin music theory, operating with two diatonic intervals like tonus (9:8) and semitonium (256:243). Nevertheless, some treatises referred the tetrachord division into three intervals called the "major tone" (ὁ μείζων τόνος) which often corresponded to the prominent position of the whole tone (9:8), the "middle tone" (ὁ ἐλάσσων τόνος) between α and β, and the "small tone" (ὁ ἐλάχιστος τόνος) between β and γ which was usually a much larger interval than the half tone, and this division was common among most divisions by different ancient Greek theorists that were mentioned by Ptolemy in his Harmonics. Before Chrysanthos' Theoretika (the Eisagoge was simply an extract, while the Theoretikon mega was published by his student Panagiotes Pelopides), exact proportions were never mentioned in Greek chant theory. His system of 68 commata which is based on a corrupt use of arithmetics, can be traced back


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-6.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
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=== Pitches and their tonal system === Although Chrysanthos did not mention his name, the first who mentioned precisely these proportions starting from the open string of the third or middle chord of the oud, was the Arab theorist Al-Farabi in his Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir which was written during the first half of the 10th century. His explicit references to Persian and Ancient Greek music theory were possible, because they had been recently translated into Arabic and Persian dialects in the library of Baghdad. Thanks to them Al-Farabi had also an excellent knowledge of Ancient Greek music theory. The method of demonstrating the intervals by the frets of the oud keyboard was probably taken from Al-Kindi. Here the intervals are not referred to the Byzantine phthongoi, but to the name of the frets. And the fret corresponding to β was called "ring finger fret of Zalzal" (wuṣtā Zalzal), named after the famous Baghdadi oud player Zalzal. It seems that the proportion of the Zalzal fret was a refined one in Bagdad using a large middle tone that came very close to the interval of the small tone, while the Mawsili school used 13:12 instead of 12:11. There is no indication


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-7.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
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=== Medieval use of transposition (μεταβολὴ κατὰ τόνον) === Latin cantors knew about the theoretical concept of the practice of transposition since Boethius' translation of Ptolemy. Very few can be said, if they ever understood the practical use of it. Nevertheless, there was a rudimentary knowledge which can be found in the Carolingian treatises Musica and Scolica enchiriadis. The Musica enchiriadis was also the only Latin treatise which documented a second tone system beside the systẽma teleion, but it does not explain at all, how these both systems worked together in practice. The Hagiopolites did neither explain it nor did it mention any tone system nor the metabolē kata tonon, but this was probably because the hymn reform of Jerusalem was mainly concerned with simple models exemplified by heirmoi or troparia. Greek protopsaltai used the transposition only in very few compositions of the stichẽrarion, for instance the compositions passing through all the modes of the octoechos, or certain melismatic elaborations of troparia in the psaltic style, the soloistic style of the Constantinopolitan cathedral rite. This might explain that Charles Atkinson discussed Carolingian theory in comparison with the later Papadikai, in which all possible transpositions were represented by the Koukouzelian wheel


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-8.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
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=== Latin treatises and tonaries (6th–12th century) === Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus. "Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 358, pp. 144-270". «Institutionis musicae id est armonicae» with glossae maior copied at the scriptorium of Einsiedeln (10th century). Edition: Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (1844–1904). "De institutione musica, liber IV". In Migne, Jacques-Paul (ed.). Patrologia cursus completus, series latina. Vol. 63. Paris: Garnier. pp. [col.1245–1286]. "Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale (F-VAL) Ms. 337 (olim 325, 359), fol. 42v-79v". Musica and Scolica enchiriadis in the treatise collection of the Abbey Saint-Amand (10th century). Retrieved 14 April 2012. Edition: Gerbert, Martin, ed. (1784). "Musica enchiriadis & Scholia enchiriadis de arte musica". Scriptores Ecclesiastici de Musica Sacra Potissimum. Vol. 1 (Hildesheim 1963 reprint ed.). St Blaise. pp. 152–212. Hucbald. "Prague, Národní knihovna (dríve Universitní knihovna), Ms. 273 olim XIX.C.26, fol. 19-28". Tonary "De harmonica institutione" with Lorrain neumes and Greek terminology in a treatise collection (ca. 1100). Retrieved 3 June 2019. Edition: Gerbert, Martin, ed. (1784). "Ubaldi seu Hucbaldi Monachi Elnonensis opuscula de musica". Scriptores Ecclesiastici de Musica Sacra Potissimum. Vol. 1 (Hildesheim 1963 reprint ed.). St Blaise. pp. 103–125. Aurelian of Réôme. "Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 148, fol. 57-89". "Musica disciplina" with intonations in later added Paleofrankish neumes, Abbey


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-9.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
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== Studies == Alexandru, Maria (2000). Studie über die 'großen Zeichen' der byzantinischen musikalischen Notation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Periode vom Ende des 12. bis Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts. University Copenhagen. Amargianakis, George (1977). "An Analysis of Stichera in the Deuteros Modes: The Stichera idiomela for the Month of September in the Modes Deuteros, Plagal Deuteros, and Nenano; transcribed from the Manuscript Sinai 1230 <A.D. 1365>" (PDF). Cahiers de l'Institut du Moyen-Âge Grec et Latin. 22–23: 1–269. Atkinson, Charles M. (2001). "Tonus in the Carolingian Era: A Terminal Spannungsfeld.". In Bernhard, Michael (ed.). Quellen und Studien zur Musiktheorie des Mittelalters (PDF). Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 19–46. ISBN 978-3-76-966008-1. Atkinson, Charles M. (2008). The critical nexus: Tone-System, Mode, and Notation in Early Medieval Music. Oxford, New York [etc.]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514888-6. Busse Berger, Anna Maria (2005), Medieval Music and the Art of Memory, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-19-514888-6. Chrysanthos of Madytos (1832), Θεωρητικὸν μεγὰ τῆς Μουσικῆς, Triest: Michele Weis, retrieved 11 April 2012. Floros, Constantin; Neil K. Moran (2009). The Origins of Russian Music - Introduction to the Kondakarian Notation. Frankfurt/Main etc.: Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-59553-4. Frøyshov, Stig Simeon R. (2007). "The


id: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos-10.md
category: reference
title: Hagiopolitan Octoechos
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiopolitan_Octoechos
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:13.278479+00:00
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parent: hagiopolitan-octoechos-20260505-0
summary:
== External links == Jeffery, Peter (4 December 2010). "At the Origins of the Byzantine Musical Tradition: The Eight Modes". White Plains: Axion Estin Foundation. Retrieved 29 January 2013. "Hesperinos psalm with the sticheron anastasimon «Νίκην ἔχον Χριστὲ» in echos plagios devteros". Music School «Ὁ ἅγιος Ἀχίλλιος» of Larissa. 2 October 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2024. Father Nektarios of the Skete Hagia Anna on Mount Athos. "Sticheron idiomelon «Σὲ τὸν ἐπὶ ὑδάτων» (Holy Saturday) in echos plagios devteros". YouTube. Retrieved 17 May 2024. Petros Peloponnesios (February 2018). "Katavasies (heirmologion argon) «Σταυρὸν χαράξας Μωσῆς» (odes 1, 7 and 9 of the canon) for the feast of the elevation of the cross (14 September) in echos plagios tetartos". Archon Protopsaltes Demosthenis Païkopoulos. Retrieved 17 May 2024. Meyer, Christian; et al. "Sources of Medieval Music Theory". Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften online. Retrieved 16 January 2012. "Thesaurus Musicarum Latinarum". Index for the 9th-11th century. Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405. Retrieved 19 December 2025. Ibn al-Munadjdjim (French)


id: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht-0.md
category: reference
title: Jennifer Michael Hecht
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:14.489664+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-0
summary:
Jennifer Michael Hecht (born November 23, 1965) is a teacher, author, poet, historian, and philosopher. She was an associate professor of history at Nassau Community College (1994–2007) and most recently taught at The New School in New York City. Hecht has seven published books, her scholarly articles have been published in many journals and magazines, and her poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Ms. Magazine, and Poetry Magazine, among others. She has also written essays and book reviews for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The American Scholar, The Boston Globe and other publications. She has written several columns for The New York Times online "Times Select." In 2010 Hecht was one of the five nonfiction judges for the National Book Award. Hecht is a longtime blogger for The Best American Poetry series web site and maintains a personal blog on her website. She resides in Brooklyn, New York. == Background == Born in Glen Cove, New York on Long Island, Hecht attended Adelphi University, where she earned a BA in history, for a time studying at the Université de Caen, and the Université d'Angers. She earned her PhD in the history


id: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht-1.md
category: reference
title: Jennifer Michael Hecht
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:14.489664+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-0
summary:
Hecht believes that, "the basic modern assumptions about how to be happy are nonsense." In a review of her book, The Happiness Myth for The New York Times, Alison McCulloch summed it up, "What you think you should do to be happy, like getting fitter and thinner, is part of a 'cultural code' — 'an unscientific web of symbolic cultural fantasies' — and once you realize this, you will perhaps feel a little more free to be a lot more happy." Similarly, in an interview on the Point of Inquiry podcast in 2007, she said "I'm not trying really to get somebody out of depression, but I sure am trying to get people to not be so worried, so anxious over things that really don't matter." She has written against agnosticism, calling "philosophically silly" the argument that because you can't prove a negative we have to allow for the possibility of God. "Either you doubt everything to the point where you can't speak, or you make reasoned decisions." Hecht is an anti-suicide advocate, writing an entire book (Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It) arguing against it. She believes not only that "Suicide is delayed homicide", but


id: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht-2.md
category: reference
title: Jennifer Michael Hecht
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Michael_Hecht
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:14.489664+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jennifer-michael-hecht-20260505-0
summary:
== Published works == Her debut poetry collection, The Next Ancient World, artfully mixes contemporary and ancient world views, histories, and myths. In 2002 it received the Tupelo Press Judge's Prize in Poetry, the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, as well as ForeWord Magazine's award for Poetry Book of the Year. Her second collection, Funny, explores the implications of the human love of humor and jokes. It won the 2005 Felix Pollak Prize from the University of Wisconsin Press. Her most recent collection, Who Said (Copper Canyon Press, 2013), playfully asks the title question of some of the most iconic English language poems. In 2003 Hecht published two books of history and philosophy with two different publishers. The first, Doubt: A History, is an epic, worldwide study of religious doubt throughout history. The other, The End of the Soul, is a profile of an unusual group of nineteenth-century French anthropologists who formed the Society of Mutual Autopsy to discover links between personality, ability and brain morphology. It received the prestigious Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for 2004 from Phi Beta Kappa society "for scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural


id: hellenophilia-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenophilia-0.md
category: reference
title: Hellenophilia
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenophilia
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:15.775753+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hellenophilia-20260505-0
summary:
Hellenophilia is the idea that all western science began in Greek tradition. This is discussed in length by David Pingree in his address to colleagues. Hellenophilia is a way of thought that allows those who look into the history of science to be blinded to science born in other cultures. Pingree states, in explanation of the term that "a Hellenophile suffers from a form of madness that blinds him or her to historical truth" He continues by explaining the main symptoms of Hellenophilia "the first of these is that the Greeks invented science; the second is that they discovered a way to truth, the scientific method, that we are now successfully following; the third is that the only real sciences are those that began in Greece; and the fourth (and last?) is that the true definition of science is just that which scientists happen to be doing now, following a method or methods adumbrated by the Greeks, but never fully understood or utilized by them". An anthropological etiology of Greek innovation in natural science is advanced by sociologist Michael G. Horowitz in "The Scientific Dialectic of Ancient Greece and the Cultural Tradition of Indo-European Speakers". Although Hellenophilia relates directly to


id: history-of-geology-and-mining-information-system-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Geology_and_Mining_(Information_System)-0.md
category: reference
title: History of Geology and Mining (Information System)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Geology_and_Mining_(Information_System)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:16.877164+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-geology-and-mining-information-system-20260505-0
summary:
Information System "History of Geology and Mining" (Russian: Информационная система «История геологии и горного дела») is a scientific information system (knowledge base, bibliographic database and non-commercial website) containing biographical, bibliographical data and documents about scientists, scientific organizations, and publications related to geological and mining sciences. It is a joint project of the Geological Institute and the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It represents the first attempt to systematize and provide access to a large array of data in the field of the history of geology and mining. It was created to support and facilitate scientific research in the history of science. == History == The information system is a continuation of the printed publications in the series “Materials on the History of Geology in the USSR”. Versions of the "History of Geology and Mining" information system: Test version on the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences website (2011—2015 — scirus.benran.ru/higeo. At the Geological Institute RAS: 2015–2025 at higeo.ginras.ru. New test version at https://higeo.ru == Description and structure == The system was created based on the customizable network software complex "SciRus" developed at the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy


id: history-of-geology-and-mining-information-system-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Geology_and_Mining_(Information_System)-1.md
category: reference
title: History of Geology and Mining (Information System)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Geology_and_Mining_(Information_System)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:16.877164+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-geology-and-mining-information-system-20260505-0
summary:
1961—1992 — Materials of the Commission for the Geological Study of the USSR. 1965—1973 — Biographies and bibliographies of scientists in the form of bibliographic dictionaries, edited for the first 7 issues by V. V. Tikhomirov. In 1991, the Department for the history of geology moved to the newly established Vernadsky State Geological Museum. Data collection began using Microsoft Access; by 2007, brief information on 1,700 scientists whose works were significant for the development of Earth sciences had been entered. The system was then planned to be integrated into the standard software complex "Scientific Institute of the RAS", in cooperation with the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre of the RAS. In 2008, the history of geology group began work under the Program of the RAS Presidium — the Electronic Library "Scientific Heritage of Russia", which united information resources of scientific institutes, archives, and libraries of the RAS. The library hosted publications of naturalists and geologists (up to 1945), their biographical essays, and portraits. A section "Natural History Collections" was created with descriptions of museum items from historical and monographic collections related to scientists. Therefore, the modern information system is integrated (links to scientific works, information about authors, etc.) with the "Scientific Heritage


id: history-of-scholarship-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_scholarship-0.md
category: reference
title: History of scholarship
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_scholarship
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:17.982038+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-scholarship-20260505-0
summary:
The history of scholarship is the historical study of fields of study which are not covered by the English term "science" (cf., history of science), but are covered by, for example, the German term "Wissenschaft" (i.e., all kinds of academic studies). Examples include the history of classical studies, philosophy, religion, biblical studies, historiography, music, art, and literature. It is a field which has recently undergone a complete renewal and is now a major branch of research. In 2015, the Society for the History of the Humanities was established, coinciding with the launch of the journal History of Humanities in 2016. Both developments reflect the field’s growing institutional presence and international scholarly collaboration. == Classical scholarship == Rudolph Pfeiffer (1968) describes the history of classical scholarship from its revival inspired by Petrarch to the achievements of the Italian humanists and the independent movement in Holland (including Erasmus) and the German scholar-reformers. Pfeiffer traces the development of classical scholarship in the countries of Western Europe through the next two centuries, with particular attention to sixteenth-century France and eighteenth-century England. Finally he provides an account of the new approach made by Winckelmann and his successors in Germany. == Philosophers, scholars, polymaths, and scientists


id: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body-0.md
category: reference
title: History of beliefs about the human body
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:20.435646+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-0
summary:
The human body has been subject of much debate. How people are defined, and what defined them – be it their anatomy or their energy or both – depends on culture and time. Culture not only defines how sex is perceived but also how gender is defined. Today gender, sex, and identity continue to be of much debate and change based on what place and people are being examined. The early modern idea of the body was a cultural ideal, an understanding and approach to how the body works and what place that body has in the world. All cultural ideals of the body in the early modern period deal with deficiencies and disorders within a body, commonly told through a male ideal. Ideas of the body in the early modern period form the history of how bodies should be and how to correct the body when something has gone wrong. Therefore, early modern conceptions of the body were not biological as there was not a restrictive biological view of the human body as established by modern science. Conceptions of the body are primarily either eastern, based in China and involving practices such as Traditional chinese medicine, or western, which


id: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body-1.md
category: reference
title: History of beliefs about the human body
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:20.435646+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-0
summary:
Greek philosophers separated the body and the energy of the body into separate but equal and interacting categories. Aristotle defined the energy which gives the body its movement as the soul. The soul and the body are therefore linked but can remain separate entities. This is in refutation of Dualists who view the body and mind as separate states and should be treated and examined differently and Materialists who view all parts of the body, even the soul as having a physical manifestation in the body. Aristotle finds the middle ground and accepts both of these views, that the soul has aspects that cannot be felt by normal methods, and physical manifestations that can be felt. "For even if one and being are spoken of in several ways, what is properly so spoken of is the actuality" — Aristotle in De Anima Aristotle forms the idea of Hylomorphism, that the soul and the body are not capable of being split apart without destroying both in the process. Despite this idea of the body and the soul Aristotle viewed disorder in what could be seen and felt. He was a proponent of the humoral theory that classified disorder as imbalances of


id: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body-2.md
category: reference
title: History of beliefs about the human body
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beliefs_about_the_human_body
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:20.435646+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-beliefs-about-the-human-body-20260505-0
summary:
=== Yellow Emperors body === The Yellow Emperor's Body is a term derived from the references to the Yellow Emperor within the Ancient Chinese book, the "book of change". The Term describes the references to both the physical body that can be touched, felt, and interact with the physical world, but also the sense of person and self that the body. The dualism of the body as both the physical self and the subjective consciousness is how Chinese defined the body. The Yellow Emperor's body is a metaphor to describe a body that focuses on the individual and not the general, focusing on disorder as not just a physical malady. The yellow emperor is revered in China and was the founder of acupuncture. The yellow emperor is said to of derived his medical practices from a conversation with a community physician. The manuscript is recorded in the Yellow Emperors Inner Cannon, and it being recorded in this way represents the attention to the individuals perspective in creating therapies like acupuncture to treat body ailments. The Inner Cannon was revised by natural Philosophers of the time and the approved version of the Han Court and became a foundational text for the


id: ice-age-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-0.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
An ice age is a period of time when the lower temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere results in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. The term is applied in several different senses to very long and comparatively short periods of cooling. Colder periods are called glacials or ice ages, and warmer periods are called interglacials. Earth's climate alternates between icehouse and greenhouse periods based on whether there are glaciers on the planet, and for most of Earth's history it has been in a greenhouse period with little or no permanent ice. Over the very long term, Earth is currently in an icehouse period called the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, which started 34 million years ago. There have been colder and warmer periods within this ice age, and the term is also applied to the Quaternary glaciation, which started 2.58 million years ago. Within this period, the Last Interglacial ended 115,000 years ago, and was followed by the Last Glacial Period (LGP), which gave way to the current warm Holocene, which started 11,700 years ago. The most severe cold period of the LGP was the Last Glacial Maximum, which reached its maximum between


id: ice-age-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-1.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
Only a few years later, the Danish-Norwegian geologist Jens Esmark (1762–1839) argued for a sequence of worldwide ice ages. In a paper published in 1824, Esmark proposed changes in climate as the cause of those glaciations. He attempted to show that they originated from changes in Earth's orbit. Esmark discovered the similarity between moraines near Haukalivatnet lake near sea level in Rogaland and moraines at branches of Jostedalsbreen. Esmark's discovery were later attributed to or appropriated by Theodor Kjerulf and Louis Agassiz. During the following years, Esmark's ideas were discussed and taken over in parts by Swedish, Scottish and German scientists. At the University of Edinburgh Robert Jameson (1774–1854) seemed to be relatively open to Esmark's ideas, as reviewed by Norwegian professor of glaciology Bjørn G. Andersen (1992). Jameson's remarks about ancient glaciers in Scotland were most probably prompted by Esmark. In Germany, Albrecht Reinhard Bernhardi (1797–1849), a geologist and professor of forestry at an academy in Dreissigacker (since incorporated in the southern Thuringian city of Meiningen), adopted Esmark's theory. In a paper published in 1832, Bernhardi speculated about the polar ice caps once reaching as far as the temperate zones of the globe. In Val de Bagnes, a valley


id: ice-age-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-2.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
== Evidence == There are three main types of evidence for ice ages: geological, chemical, and paleontological. Geological evidence for ice ages comes in various forms, including rock scouring and scratching, glacial moraines, drumlins, valley cutting, and the deposition of till or tillites and glacial erratics. Successive glaciations tend to distort and erase the geological evidence for earlier glaciations, making it difficult to interpret. Furthermore, this evidence was difficult to date exactly; early theories assumed that the glacials were short compared to the long interglacials. The advent of sediment and ice cores revealed the true situation: glacials are long, interglacials short. It took some time for the current theory to be worked out. The chemical evidence mainly consists of variations in the ratios of isotopes in fossils present in sediments and sedimentary rocks and ocean sediment cores. For the most recent glacial periods, ice cores provide climate proxies, both from the ice itself and from atmospheric samples provided by included bubbles of air. Because water containing lighter isotopes has a lower heat of evaporation, its proportion decreases with warmer conditions. This allows a temperature record to be constructed. This evidence can be confounded, however, by other factors recorded by isotope


id: ice-age-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-3.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
The evolution of land plants at the onset of the Devonian period caused a long term increase in planetary oxygen levels and reduction of CO2 levels, which resulted in the late Paleozoic icehouse. Its former name, the Karoo glaciation, was named after the glacial tills found in the Karoo region of South Africa. There were extensive polar ice caps at intervals from 360 to 260 million years ago in South Africa during the Carboniferous and early Permian periods. Correlatives are known from Argentina, also in the center of the ancient supercontinent Gondwanaland. Although the Mesozoic Era retained a greenhouse climate over its timespan and was previously assumed to have been entirely glaciation-free, more recent studies suggest that brief periods of glaciation occurred in both hemispheres during the Early Cretaceous. Geologic and palaeoclimatological records suggest the existence of glacial periods during the Valanginian, Hauterivian, and Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Ice-rafted glacial dropstones indicate that in the Northern Hemisphere, ice sheets may have extended as far south as the Iberian Peninsula during the Hauterivian and Aptian. Although ice sheets largely disappeared from Earth for the rest of the period (potential reports from the Turonian, otherwise the warmest period of the


id: ice-age-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-4.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
=== Positive === An important form of feedback is provided by Earth's albedo, which is how much of the sun's energy is reflected rather than absorbed by Earth. Ice and snow increase Earth's albedo, while forests reduce its albedo. When the air temperature decreases, ice and snow fields grow, and they reduce forest cover. This continues until competition with a negative feedback mechanism forces the system to an equilibrium. One theory is that when glaciers form, two things happen: the ice grinds rocks into dust, and the land becomes dry and arid. This allows winds to transport iron rich dust into the open ocean, where it acts as a fertilizer that causes massive algal blooms that pulls large amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. This in turn makes it even colder and causes the glaciers to grow more. In 1956, Ewing and Donn hypothesized that an ice-free Arctic Ocean leads to increased snowfall at high latitudes. When low-temperature ice covers the Arctic Ocean there is little evaporation or sublimation and the polar regions are quite dry in terms of precipitation, comparable to the amount found in mid-latitude deserts. This low precipitation allows high-latitude snowfalls to melt during the summer.


id: ice-age-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-5.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
=== Position of the continents === The geological record appears to show that ice ages start when the continents are in positions which block or reduce the flow of warm water from the equator to the poles and thus allow ice sheets to form. The ice sheets increase Earth's reflectivity and thus reduce the absorption of solar radiation. With less radiation absorbed the atmosphere cools; the cooling allows the ice sheets to grow, which further increases reflectivity in a positive feedback loop. The ice age continues until the reduction in weathering causes an increase in the greenhouse effect. There are three main contributors from the layout of the continents that obstruct the movement of warm water to the poles: A continent sits on top of a pole, as Antarctica does today. A polar sea is almost land-locked, as the Arctic Ocean is today. A supercontinent covers most of the equator, as Rodinia did during the Cryogenian period. Since today's Earth has a continent over the South Pole and an almost land-locked ocean over the North Pole, geologists believe that Earth will continue to experience glacial periods in the geologically near future. Some scientists believe that the Himalayas are a major


id: ice-age-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-6.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
The Milankovitch cycles are a set of cyclic variations in characteristics of Earth's orbit around the Sun. Each cycle has a different length, so at some times their effects reinforce each other and at other times they (partially) cancel each other. There is strong evidence that the Milankovitch cycles affect the occurrence of glacial and interglacial periods within an ice age. The present ice age is the most studied and best understood, particularly the last 400,000 years, since this is the period covered by ice cores that record atmospheric composition and proxies for temperature and ice volume. Within this period, the match of glacial/interglacial frequencies to the Milanković orbital forcing periods is so close that orbital forcing is generally accepted. The combined effects of the changing distance to the Sun, the precession of Earth's axis, and the changing tilt of Earth's axis redistribute the sunlight received by Earth. Of particular importance are changes in the tilt of Earth's axis, which affect the intensity of seasons. For example, the amount of solar influx in July at 65 degrees north latitude varies by as much as 22% (from 450 W/m2 to 550 W/m2). It is widely believed that ice sheets advance when


id: ice-age-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-7.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
The major glacial stages of the current ice age in North America are the Illinoian, Eemian, and Wisconsin glaciation. The use of the Nebraskan, Afton, Kansan, and Yarmouthian stages to subdivide the ice age in North America has been discontinued by Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists. These stages have all been merged into the Pre-Illinoian in the 1980s. During the most recent North American glaciation, during the latter part of the Last Glacial Maximum (26,000 to 13,300 years ago), ice sheets extended to about 45th parallel north. These sheets were 3 to 4 kilometres (1.9 to 2.5 mi) thick. This Wisconsin glaciation left widespread impacts on the North American landscape. The Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes were carved by ice deepening old valleys. Most of the lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin were gouged out by glaciers and later filled with glacial meltwaters. The old Teays River drainage system was radically altered and largely reshaped into the Ohio River drainage system. Other rivers were dammed and diverted to new channels, such as Niagara Falls, which formed a dramatic waterfall and gorge, when the waterflow encountered a limestone escarpment. Another similar waterfall, at the present Clark Reservation State Park near Syracuse, New


id: ice-age-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age-8.md
category: reference
title: Ice age
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:21.570677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ice-age-20260505-0
summary:
Based on past estimates for interglacial durations of about 10,000 years, there was some concern in the 1970s that the next glacial period would be imminent. Human impact is now seen as possibly extending what would already be an unusually long warm period. Ice ages go through cycles of about 100,000 years, but the next one may well be avoided due to human carbon dioxide emissions. According to Stephen Barker of Cardiff University, without human interference, the next glaciation of the Earth would "occur within the next 11,000 years, and it would end in 66,000 years' time." A 2015 report by the Past Global Changes Project says simulations show that a new glaciation is unlikely to happen within the next approximately 50,000 years, before the next strong drop in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation occurs "if either atmospheric CO2 concentration remains above 300 ppm or cumulative carbon emissions exceed 1000 Pg C" (i.e. 1,000 gigatonnes carbon). "Only for an atmospheric CO2 content below the preindustrial level may a glaciation occur within the next 10 ka. ... Given the continued anthropogenic CO2 emissions, glacial inception is very unlikely to occur in the next 50 ka, because the timescale for CO2 and temperature


id: ideonomy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideonomy-0.md
category: reference
title: Ideonomy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideonomy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:22.727593+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ideonomy-20260505-0
summary:
Ideonomy is a combinatorial "science of ideas" developed by American independent scholar Patrick M. Gunkel (1947–2017). Specifically, Ideonomy is concerned with the systematic organization of ideas and the discovery of the rules behind how ideas combine, diverge, and transform. Gunkel defined ideonomy as "the science of the laws of ideas and of the application of such laws to the generation of all possible ideas in connection with any subject, idea, or thing." In his 1992 book A History of Knowledge, Charles Van Doren compared ideonomy to a "mining operation" that excavates meanings and thought to discover treasures hidden deep within language. Sources from the 1980s and 1990s demonstrate that ideonomy was useful to academic researchers in fields including biology, toxicology, and nursing/patient care. Beginning in the 2010s, academics in a wide range of fields including machine learning, marketing, computational modeling, and cybersecurity have relied on materials generated for ideonomy to provide methodological support for their research. == Etymology and definition == The word "ideonomy" combines the Greek roots ideo- (from idea, meaning pattern or form) and -nomy (from nomos, meaning law or custom). The suffix -nomy suggests the laws concerning or the totality of knowledge about a given subject, as


id: ideonomy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideonomy-1.md
category: reference
title: Ideonomy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideonomy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:22.727593+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ideonomy-20260505-0
summary:
Edward Fredkin, former director of MIT's computer science laboratory, who praised Gunkel's "provocative ideas on artificial intelligence." Marvin Minsky, AI scientist and MIT professor, who described ideonomy as "perhaps the most extensive study of ways to generate ideas." Frederick Seitz, president emeritus of Rockefeller University, who noted Gunkel's "encyclopedic scope" Robert C. Clark, Harvard law professor, who called Gunkel "the most intelligent person I ever met" However, skeptics questioned whether ideonomy constituted a genuine science. Fredkin himself noted that Gunkel "pours out about 60 ideas a minute, and 59 of them are bad," though he added that "even with one good idea out of 60, it's still an amazing accomplishment." Douglas Lenat observed that brainstorming with Gunkel was "a bit like being hit over the head by the muse with a sledgehammer" and that "he puts people off." Gunkel himself acknowledged that ideonomy was in its infancy and might seem "absurdly utopian." His planned magnum opus on ideonomy remained incomplete, and was posted on an MIT website thanks to faculty advisor Whitman Richards. Gunkel wrote: "Pioneering in a completely new field, yes in a new science, is almost unreal. It is heartbreaking, it is pitiable, it is almost inhuman. Honestly,


id: indigenous-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Indigenous science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:23.915803+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: indigenous-science-20260505-0
summary:
Indigenous science is the application and intersection of Indigenous knowledge and science. This field is based on careful observation of the environment, and through experimentation. It is a holistic field, informed by physical, social, mental and cultural knowledge. When applied to ecology and the environment, it can be sometimes termed traditional ecological knowledge. Indigenous science involves the knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous peoples, which are rooted in their cultural traditions and relationships to their indigenous context. There are some similar methods of Western science including (but not limited to): observation, prediction, interpretation, and questioning. There are also some areas in which Western science and Indigenous science differ. Indigenous knowledge is place and case-specific and does not attempt to label or generalize natural processes. Western science strives to find commonalities and theories that can be applied to all areas, such as Newton's Laws of Physics. This is because most Indigenous knowledge stems from the relationship humans have with their environment, which is passed down through stories or is discovered through observation. Western knowledge takes a different approach by isolating targets to study, splitting them from their surroundings and making sets of assumptions and theories. Community is a larger aspect of


id: indigenous-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Indigenous science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:23.915803+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: indigenous-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Place based sciences == Indigenous science may offer a different perspective from what is traditionally thought of as "science". In particular, Indigenous science is tied to territory, cultural practices, and experiences/teachings in explicit ways that are often absent in normal scientific discourse. Place based Indigenous science also is common outside of the academic sphere. Climatology scientists in Alaska and the Artic commonly work with traditional knowledge (Qaujimajatuqangit) among the Inuit when studying long-term changes in sea ice, along with studying other aspects of biology. In the Canadian Arctic, large data organizations like the Inuvialuit Settlement Region Online Platform, Marxan, and Nunaliit Atlas Framework inform marine and coastal management practices by using Inuit knowledge. Many times, this information is passed down in Inuit communities by generation using oral tradition and informs the communities on harvesting, hunting, traveling, and living on the land. This information may apply to decisions on conservation of harvesting sties and mating sites of various animals in the Artic. Inuit knowledge of these areas includes seasonal variations, ecological dynamics, wind direction, and ice dynamics. This knowledge has been gained through historical memories, family and community relations, place names, and open water or sea ice routes. Place names


id: indigenous-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Indigenous science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:23.915803+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: indigenous-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Engineering === Many different Indigenous tribes in America have built homes from natural resources. One example can be found at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, or Anasazi, in Northwestern New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado. Ancestral Puebloans built houses on the ground near the cliffs of the Colorado Plateau, and carved others into the face of the cliff, ultimately spanning almost 10,000 square miles across Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon both have more than 600 rooms each, many of which were made from sandstone that was carved into rectangular blocks, and glued together with a mix of mud and water. In addition to physically building these homes, the Ancestral Puebloans used mathematical knowledge like the golden ratio - which has been used to make the Egyptian pyramids, Ancient Greek architecture and the Notre Dame - to construct a Sun Temple. Water management was critical as well in this area, and ancestral Pueblo people had early knowledge of hydrological theory, water transport and storage. This allowed them to create four main reservoirs that helped sustain the population. The Hohokam tribe in Arizona also managed their water resources up until 1450, and created irrigation networks that were


id: institute-for-the-history-of-natural-sciences-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_the_History_of_Natural_Sciences-0.md
category: reference
title: Institute for the History of Natural Sciences
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_the_History_of_Natural_Sciences
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:25.034617+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: institute-for-the-history-of-natural-sciences-20260505-0
summary:
The Institute for the History of Natural Sciences (IHNS CAS; Chinese: 中国科学院自然科学史研究所; pinyin: Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn Zìrán Kēxuéshǐ Yánjiūsuǒ) is a leading research institution in China dedicated to the study of the history of science, technology, and medicine. It is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). == History == The Institute for the History of Natural Sciences was founded in 1957 with the active involvement of the renowned British biochemist and historian of science Joseph Needham (Chinese: 李约瑟, Lǐ Yuēsè) and a group of Chinese scholars. Its establishment was initiated to systematically research China's rich scientific and technological heritage and its place in world history. Initially, the institute was located in the Gulou district of Beijing. == Research Focus == The institute's primary mission is to conduct fundamental and applied research on the history of science and technology in China and the world, and to promote the development of this discipline. Key research areas include: History of Science and Technology in China: Studying traditional Chinese science, technology, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and their interaction with society and culture. History of World Science: Comparative studies, history of scientific exchanges, study of the Scientific Revolution and the development of modern science. Theoretical


id: international-conference-on-cold-fusion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_on_Cold_Fusion-0.md
category: reference
title: International Conference on Cold Fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_on_Cold_Fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:29.133352+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: international-conference-on-cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
The International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF) (also referred to as Annual Conference on Cold Fusion in 1990-1991 and mostly as International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science since 2007) is an annual or biennial conference on the topic of cold fusion. An international conference on cold fusion was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA in 1989. However, the first ICCF conference (ICCF1) took place in 1990 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, under the title "First Annual Conference on Cold Fusion". Its location has since rotated between Russia, the USA, Europe, and Asia. It was held in India for the first time in 2011. The conferences have been criticized as events which attract "crackpots" and "pseudo-scientists". == Reception == The First Annual Conference on Cold Fusion was held in March 1990 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Robert L. Park of the American Physical Society derisively referred to it as a "seance of true believers." The conference was attended by more than 200 researchers from the United States, Italy, Japan, India and Taiwan and dozens of reporters from all over the U.S. and abroad. The Third International Conference on Cold Fusion was held in 1992 in Nagoya,


id: international-scientific-committee-on-price-history-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_scientific_committee_on_price_history-0.md
category: reference
title: International scientific committee on price history
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_scientific_committee_on_price_history
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:30.355302+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: international-scientific-committee-on-price-history-20260505-0
summary:
The International Scientific Committee on Price History was created in 1929 by William Beveridge and Edwin Francis Gay after receiving a five-year grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The national representatives were William Beveridge for Great Britain, Moritz John Elsas for Germany, Edwin Francis Gay for the United States, Earl J. Hamilton for Spain, Henri Hauser for France and Alfred Francis Pribram for Austria; later, Franciszek Bujak for Poland and Nicolaas Wilhelmus Posthumus for the Netherlands also joined; Arthur H. Cole was in charge of finances for the whole project. == Books by the committee == Hamilton (Earl J.), American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain (1501–1650), 1934. Hamilton (Earl J.), Money, Prices and Wages in Valencia, Aragon and Navarre (1351–1500), 1936. Hauser (Henri), Recherches et documents sur l’histoire des prix en France de 1500 à 1800, 1936. Elsas (Moritz John), Umriß einer Geschichte der Preise und Löhne in Deutschland vom ausgehenden Mittelalter bis zum Beginn des 19. Jarhunderts, 3 vol., 1936–1949. Přibram (Alfred Francis), Materialien zur Geschichte der Preise und Löhne in Österreich, 1938. Cole (Arthur Harrison), Wholesale Commodity Prices in the United States 1700–1861, 1938. Beveridge (William H.), Prices and Wages in England from the 12th to the


id: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)-0.md
category: reference
title: Isis (journal, 1816)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:31.596695+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
summary:
Isis was an encyclopedic journal that focused on articles on natural science, medicine, technology, economics as well as art and history. It also published important articles on science policy and the organization of science. Edited by Lorenz Oken and published by Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, Isis was the first interdisciplinary journal in the German-speaking world. The 41 volumes of the journal named after the Egyptian goddess Isis were nominally published from 1817 to 1848. However, the first issue appeared on August 1, 1816, while the printing of the last issue was delayed until February 1850. Until 1832, Isis bore the title Encyclopädische Zeitung. After the focus of the articles published in it had changed, Oken changed the title to Encyclopädische Zeitschrift, vorzüglich für Naturgeschichte, vergleichende Anatomie und Physiologie in 1833. Initially printed in Jena, the journal was banned in the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and from the summer of 1819 was produced in nearby Rudolstadt in the court printing works of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The magazine's original print run of 1,500 copies fell rapidly in the first few years of its existence and amounted to around 200 copies in the last few years. Originally conceived as a non-political journal, Oken


id: isis-journal-1816-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)-1.md
category: reference
title: Isis (journal, 1816)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:31.596695+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
summary:
Even before Isis was published, the classical philologist Abraham Eichstädt from Jena learned of the planned new journal. Eichstädt, who published the Jenaische allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, had held an exclusive right to publish reviews in Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach since 1803. As he feared for the financial security of his paper, Eichstädt turned to the President of the State Ministry in Weimar, Christian Gottlob Voigt, and obtained a renewal of this privilege on July 17, 1816. Oken saw this as a violation of the freedom of the press guaranteed in the Weimar Constitution of May 15, 1816 and sneered in the second issue of Isis: "Whether we really have freedom of the press, or whether it is to be mocked as a grimace through literary privileges and arbitrary interpretation and extension of the same, will be taught by the progress of Isis." Eichstädt filed a lawsuit against Oken and Isis on August 1, 1816. In a judgment dated August 23, Oken was ordered to refrain from publishing reviews and political articles. In the event of non-compliance, he was threatened with a fine of 50 thalers and a ban on Isis. Oken, who became aware of the verdict eight days later, protested against it to


id: isis-journal-1816-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)-2.md
category: reference
title: Isis (journal, 1816)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:31.596695+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
summary:
Before the end of 1816, Isis was banned in Austria. Meanwhile, Oken continued to campaign for freedom of the press and, for example, published a report on the meeting of the Dutch estates under the title "Against the Restriction of Freedom of the Press". In June 1817, the Prussian Minister of Police, Wilhelm Ludwig Georg Fürst zu Wittgenstein, complained to Carl August about a derogatory criticism of a Prussian decree of 1811 that had appeared in the Oppositions-Blatt and a small note in Isis, in which Oken complained about Prussia's presumption in wanting to interfere even in insignificant matters such as those of the Vienna Agricultural Society. Six days later, a serious warning was issued to the editor of the opposition journal Friedrich Justin Bertuch and Oken, stating "that in the event of further disregard of the sovereign's or authorities' orders, the suppression of this journal will be pursued". During the Wartburg Festival, which Oken and other professors from Jena attended, an auto-da-fé took place on the evening of October 18, 1817, during which parts of a Prussian Uhlan uniform, a Hessian soldier's braid and an Austrian corporal's baton, as well as several books by authors considered reactionary, including Karl


id: isis-journal-1816-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)-3.md
category: reference
title: Isis (journal, 1816)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:31.596695+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
summary:
=== Oken's dismissal === The attacks against Oken's Isis from the states of the Holy Alliance continued relentlessly. On January 29, 1819, Karl August von Hardenberg submitted a complaint to Grand Duke Karl August because of a derisive remark about the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III, which was printed in the twelfth issue of 1818, but this time without consequences for Oken and Isis. At the Aachen Congress in the fall of 1818, the Russian Tsar Alexander I distributed an anonymously written memorandum by Alexander Scarlatovich Sturdsa (1791–1854) entitled Memoire sur l'état actuel de l'Allemagne, in which Sturdsa commented on the dangerous activities at German universities. Oken's replies again caused a sensation. Under pressure from the Russian envoy to the Saxon court, Vasily Vasilyevich Chanykov (1759–1829), the Weimar state treasurer Carl August Constantin Schnauss (1782–1832) was forced to file charges against Oken on April 20, 1819. On May 11, Grand Duke Carl August of Weimar and Duke August of Gotha instructed the Senate of the University of Jena to give Oken the choice of either discontinuing Isis or resigning his professorship. The Senate tried to give in, but had to present Oken with this choice eleven days later. After three


id: isis-journal-1816-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)-4.md
category: reference
title: Isis (journal, 1816)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(journal,_1816)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:31.596695+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: isis-journal-1816-20260505-0
summary:
== Circulation == In the initial period from August 1816 to February 1817, the circulation of Isis, which cost eight thalers a year, was 1500 copies. On March 4, 1817, Brockhaus reduced the print run to 1100 copies due to a lack of sales and reduced it by a further 100 copies a week later. When the actual sales figures were known in June 1817, there was a further drastic reduction of 650 copies. In 1825/1826, only 400 copies were printed. This was followed by a slight increase to up to 500 copies for the next few years until 1830. After that, the circulation fell continuously and was around 200 copies in the last ten years of Isis' existence. This relatively low circulation was nothing unusual. For example, the circulation of the Jahrbücher für wissenschaftliche Kritik, one of the most important journals for scientific reviews, was around 500 copies in the years from 1827 to 1846 and that of the Medizinische Annalen, edited by Johann Friedrich Pierer, was 500 to 700 copies. == Research == In 2001, the German historian of science Dietrich von Engelhardt characterized Isis as "a first-rate scientific and cultural-historical document from that transitional epoch from idealism


id: islamic-scientific-manuscripts-initiative-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Scientific_Manuscripts_Initiative-0.md
category: reference
title: Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Scientific_Manuscripts_Initiative
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:32.769080+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: islamic-scientific-manuscripts-initiative-20260505-0
summary:
The Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative (ISMI) (Arabic: مبادرة المخطوطات العلمية الإسلامية) is an online database that supports research on mathematics history in the Islamic world to 1350 CE. The initiative aims to provide accessible information on all Islamic manuscripts in the exact sciences, including astronomy, mathematics, theories, mathematical geography, music, mechanics, and related subjects. It is an initiative of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), which is dedicated to advancing scientific knowledge and research. == References ==


id: languages-of-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
Languages of science are vehicular languages used by one or several scientific communities for international communication. According to the science historian Michael Gordin, scientific languages are "either specific forms of a given language that are used in conducting science, or they are the set of distinct languages in which science is done." These two meanings are different, since the first describes a distinct prose in a given language (i.e., scientific writing), while the second describes which languages are used in mainstream science. Until the 19th century, classical languages—such as Latin, Classical Arabic, Sanskrit, Classical Malay and Classical Chinese—were commonly used across Afro-Eurasia for international scientific communication. A combination of structural factors, the emergence of nation-states in Europe, the Industrial Revolution, and the expansion of colonization entailed the global use of three European national languages: French, German, and English. Yet new languages of science, such as Russian and Italian, had started to emerge by the end of the 19th century—to the point that international scientific organizations began promoting the use of constructed languages such as Esperanto as a non-national global standard. After the First World War, English gradually outpaced French and German; it became the leading language of science, but not


id: languages-of-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== European and auxiliary languages (1800–1920) === The gradual disuse of Latin opened an uneasy transition period, as more and more works were accessible only in local languages. Many national European languages held the potential to become a language of science within a specific research field: some scholars "took measures to learn Swedish so they could follow the work of [the Swedish chemist] Bergman and his compatriots." Language preferences and use across scientific communities were gradually consolidated into a triumvirate or triad of dominant languages of science: French, English, and German. While each language could be expected to be understood for international scientific communication, each also followed "different functional distributions evident in various scientific fields". French had been almost acknowledged as the international standard for European science in the late 18th century, and it remained "essential" throughout the 19th century. German became a major scientific language during the 19th century, since it "covered portions of the physical sciences, particularly physics and chemistry, in addition to mathematics and medicine." English was used largely by researchers and engineers because of the seminal contribution of English technology to the Industrial Revolution. In the years preceding the First World War, the linguistic diversity of


id: languages-of-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== English, competitors, and machine translation (1920–1965) === The two world wars had a lasting impact on scientific languages. A combination of political, economic, and social factors durably weakened the triumvirate of the three main languages of science in the 19th century; this combination paved the way for the predominance of English in the latter part of the 20th century. There is ongoing debate about whether the world wars accelerated a structural tendency toward English predominance or merely created the conditions for it. Ulrich Ammon wrote that "even without the World Wars the English language community would have gained economic and, consequently, scientific superiority and, thus, preference of its language for international scientific communication." By contrast, Michael Gordin emphasizes that the privileged status of English was far from settled until the 1960s. The First World War had an immediate impact on the global use of German in academic settings. For nearly a decade after this war, international scientific events boycotted German researchers. The German scientific communities had been compromised by nationalistic propaganda in favor of German science during the war, in addition to the exploitation of scientific research for war crimes. German was no longer acknowledged as a global scientific


id: languages-of-science-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-3.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
It seems wise to assume that in the long run the number of significant contributions to scientific knowledge by different countries will be roughly proportional to their populations, and that except where populations are very small contributions will normally be published in native languages. The expansion of Russian scientific publishing became a source of recurring tension in the United States during the decade of the Cold War. Very few American researchers were able to read Russian, which contrasted with a remaining widespread familiarity with the two oldest languages of science, French and German. "In a 1958 survey, 49% of American scientific and technical personnel claimed they could read at least one foreign language, yet only 1.2% could handle Russian." Science administrators and funders had recurring concerns about their ability to efficiently track the progress of academic research in the USSR. This ongoing anxiety became an overt crisis after the successful launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1958, as the decentralized American research system seemed for a time outpaced by the efficiency of Soviet planning. Although the Sputnik crisis was relatively brief, it had far-reaching consequences for linguistic practices in science—in particular, the development of machine translation. Research in this


id: languages-of-science-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-4.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
During the 1960s and 1970s, English was no longer a majority language of science, but a scientific lingua franca instead. The transformation had more wide-ranging consequences than the replacement of two or three main languages of science by a single language: it marked "the transition from a triumvirate that valued, at least in a limited way, the expression of identity within science, to an overwhelming emphasis on communication and thus a single vehicular language." Ulrich Ammon characterizes English as an "asymmetrical lingua franca", since it is "the native tongue and the national language of the most influential segment of the global scientific community, but a foreign language for the rest of the world." This paradigm is usually associated with the globalization of American and English-speaking culture in the latter part of the 20th century. No specific event accounts for the full shift, though numerous transformations highlight an accelerated conversion to English science in the later part of the 1960s. On June 11, 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson stated that the English language had become a lingua franca that opened "doors to scientific and technical knowledge" and whose promotion should be a "major policy" of the United States. In 1969,


id: languages-of-science-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-5.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== English standardization === Nearly all the scientific publications indexed on the leading commercial academic search engines are in English. As of 2022, this observation covers 95.86% of the 28,142,849 references indexed on the Web of Science platform, in addition to 84.35% of the 20,600,733 references indexed in the Scopus system. The minimal coverage of non-English languages creates a feedback loop—non-English publications can be considered less valuable because they are not indexed in international rankings and fare poorly in evaluation metrics. As many as 75,000 articles, book titles, and book reviews from Germany were excluded from Biological Abstracts between 1970 and 1996. In 2009, at least 6555 journals were published in Spanish and Portuguese on a global scale, and "only a small fraction are included in the Scopus and Web of Science indices." Criteria for inclusion in commercial databases not only favor English journals but also incentivize non-English journals to discontinue their local journals. They "demand that articles be in English, have abstracts in English, or at least have their references in English". In 2012, the Web of Science was explicitly committed to the anglicization (and Romanization) of published knowledge: English is the universal language of science. For this reason,


id: languages-of-science-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-6.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Persistence of linguistic diversity === Several languages have retained a secondary status as an international language of science, due to the extent of the local scientific production or to their continued use as a vehicular language in specific contexts. These languages generally include "Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish." Local languages have remained prevalent in major scientific countries: "most scientific publications are still published in Chinese in China". Empirical studies of the languages used in scientific publications have long been constrained by structural bias in the most readily accessible sources—commercial databases such as the Web of Science. Atypical access to a large corpus not covered by global indexes showed that multilingualism remains non-negligible, although little studied; as of 2022, there are "few examples of analyses at scale" for multilingualism in science. However, a 2026 study found that the proportion of English publications in Dimensions went down from 93.86% in 1990 to 85.52% in 2023, with Indonesian, Spanish and Portuguese expanding at a faster rate than English. In seven European countries with limited international reach for each local language, one third of researchers in social sciences and the humanities publish in two or more languages; "research is international,


id: languages-of-science-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-7.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Machine translation === Scientific publication has been the first major use case for machine translation, with early experiments dating back to 1954. Development in this area slowed after 1965, because of the increasing predominance of English, limitations in computing infrastructure, and the shortcomings of the leading approach—rule-based machine translation. By design, rule-based methods favored translation between a few major languages (English, Russian, French, German, ...), since a "transfer module" needed to be developed for "each pair of languages"; this situation led to a combinatorial explosion when more languages were considered. After the 1980s, the field of machine translation was revived as it underwent a "full-scale paradigm shift": explicit rules were replaced by statistical and machine learning methods applied to a large aligned corpus. By that time, most of the demand no longer came from scientific publishing, but instead from commercial documents such as technical and engineering manuals. A second paradigm shift occurred in the 2010s, with the development of deep learning methods, which can be partially trained on a non-aligned corpus (i.e., "zero-shot translation"). Requiring few supervision inputs, deep learning models make it possible to incorporate a wider diversity of languages, but also a wider diversity of linguistic contexts


id: languages-of-science-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-8.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Open science infrastructure === The development of open science infrastructure or "community-controlled infrastructure" has become a major policy issue in the open science movement. In the 2010s, the expansion of commercial scientific infrastructure led to major acknowledgment of the fragility of open scholarly publishing and open archives. The concept of open science infrastructure emerged in 2015 with the publication of the Principles for Open Scholarly Infrastructures. In November 2021, a UNESCO recommendation acknowledged open science infrastructure as one of the four pillars of open science, along with open science knowledge, open engagement of societal actors, and open dialogue with other knowledge systems. UNESCO called for sustained investment and funding: "open science infrastructures are often the result of community-building efforts, which are crucial for their long-term sustainability and therefore should be not-for-profit and guarantee permanent and unrestricted access to all public to the largest extent possible." Examples of open science infrastructure include indexes, publishing platforms, shared databases, and computer grids. Open infrastructures have supported linguistic diversity in science. The leading free software for scientific publishing, Open Journal Systems, is available in 50 languages; it is widespread among non-commercial open-access journals. A landscape study was conducted by the SPARC alliance in


id: languages-of-science-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-9.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Policies in favor of multilingualism === A new scientific and policy debate over linguistic diversity emerged after 2015: "in recent years, policies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Science call for increasing access to research, interaction between science and society and public understanding of science". The debate initially stemmed from wider discussions about the evaluation of open science and the limitations of commercial metrics. In 2015, the Leiden Manifesto included ten principles to "guide research evaluation", which included a call to "protect excellence in locally relevant research". Building on empirical data showing the persistence of non-English research communities in Europe, Gunnar Sivertsen (in 2018) theorized the need for a balanced multilingualism "to consider all the communication purposes in all different areas of research, and all the languages needed to fulfil these purposes, in a holistic manner without exclusions or priorities." In 2016, Sivertsen contributed to the "Norwegian model" of scientific evaluation: he proposed a flat hierarchy among a few large international journals, along with a wide selection of journals that would not discriminate against local publications, and he encouraged journals in the social sciences and the humanities to favor Norwegian publications. These local initiatives developed into a


id: languages-of-science-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-10.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Articles & chapters === "Rapport de l'Académie des sciences sur la langue française et le rayonnement de la science française" [Report from the Academy of Sciences on the French language and the influence of French science]. Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Sciences [Reports of the sessions of the Academy of Sciences] (in French). 295: 131–146. 8 November 1982. Ammon, Ulrich (2012-10-10). "Linguistic inequality and its effects on participation in scientific discourse and on global knowledge accumulation – With a closer look at the problems of the second-rank language communities". Applied Linguistics Review. 3 (2): 333–355. doi:10.1515/applirev-2012-0016. ISSN 1868-6311. Anglaret, Anne-Sophie; Sofio, Séverine (2021-12-27). "Écrire en langues. Entre traduction automatique et hégémonie globish, le multilinguisme comme horizon réaliste pour les revues de sciences humaines et sociales". Biens Symboliques / Symbolic Goods. Revue de sciences sociales sur les arts, la culture et les idées. 9 (9). doi:10.4000/bssg.832. ISSN 2490-9424. S2CID 245925363. Retrieved 2022-01-17. Aronova, Elena (September 2017). "Russian and the Making of World Languages during the Cold War". Isis. 108 (3): 643–650. doi:10.1086/694163. ISSN 0021-1753. S2CID 148831824. Cameron-Pesant, Sarah (2018). "Usage et diffusion des revues savantes québécoises en sciences sociales et humaines : analyse des téléchargements de la plateforme


id: languages-of-science-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-11.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
9 (1): 168–174. doi:10.1002/nop2.1115. ISSN 2054-1058. PMC 8685880. PMID 34725950. Zhang, Lin; Sivertsen, Gunnar (2020-05-12). "The New Research Assessment Reform in China and Its Implementation". Scholarly Assessment Reports. 2 (1): 3. doi:10.29024/sar.15. hdl:11250/2733873. ISSN 2689-5870. Retrieved 2023-09-10.


id: languages-of-science-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science-12.md
category: reference
title: Languages of science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:33.946594+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: languages-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Conferences === Shearer, Kathleen; Chan, Leslie; Kuchma, Iryna; Mounier, Pierre (2020-04-15). Fostering Bibliodiversity in Scholarly Communications: A Call for Action. Retrieved 2020-06-17. Beigel, Fernanda (2022). Research evaluation in the southern road to open science (PDF). OSEC 2022. Paris. === Other articles === Garfield, Eugene (1967). "English – An international language for science?" (PDF). Current Contents. Huttner-Koros, Adam (2015-08-21). "Why Science's Universal Language Is a Problem for Research". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-09-24. van Weijen, Daphne (November 2012). "The Language of (Future) Scientific Communication". Research Trends. No. 31. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2020-09-24. Gordin, Michael D. "How did science come to speak only English? – Michael D Gordin | Aeon Essays". Aeon. Retrieved 2020-09-24. Taşkın, Zehra; Dogan, Guleda; Kulczycki, Emanuel; Zuccala, Alesia Ann (2020-06-18). "Science needs to inform the public. That can't be done solely in English". LSE COVID-19. Retrieved 2022-01-21. Pölönen, Janne; Kulczycki, Emanuel; Mustajoki, Henriikka; Røeggen, Vidar (2021-12-07). "Multilingualism is integral to accessibility and should be part of European research assessment reform". Impact of Social Sciences. Retrieved 2022-01-20. === Declaration === Bundy, McGeorge. "Memorandum # 332, U.S. Government Policy on English Language Teaching Abroad, 6/11/1965" (June 11, 1965). National Security Files, Series: National Security Action Memorandums,


id: leith-agcm-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_AGCM-0.md
category: reference
title: Leith AGCM
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_AGCM
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:35.166225+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: leith-agcm-20260505-0
summary:
Leith AGCM is a climate model that was developed by Cecil Leith beginning in 1958; it is likely the oldest atmospheric general circulation model. Leith published videos of its model output, inspiring other scientists to do the same. Today it has been superseded by climate models developed from different base codes; as such, it is little known. == History and development == Efforts to calculate the behaviour of the weather system commenced in the 1920s with a seminal paper by Lewis Fry Richardson. By the 1950s and 1960s several groups were involved in making climate models, with major efforts taking place at several US universities that eventually gave rise to the well-known GFDL, UCLA, and NCAR models. Today climate models are an important enterprise with significant impact on public policy, where hundreds of scientists and institutions participate worldwide. The researcher Cecil E. “Chuck” Leith (1923–2016) is well-known for his research on fluid mechanics. After an initial career on the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the invention of nuclear bombs, he joined the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory after 1946 and in 1968 the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Beginning in 1958, he began to work on a climate model that was later


id: logical-positivism-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism-0.md
category: reference
title: Logical positivism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:36.284431+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: logical-positivism-20260505-0
summary:
Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism or neo-positivism, was a philosophical movement, in the empiricist tradition, that sought to formulate a scientific philosophy in which philosophical discourse would be, in the perception of its proponents, as authoritative and meaningful as empirical science. Logical positivism's central thesis was the verification principle, also known as the "verifiability criterion of meaning", according to which a statement is cognitively meaningful only if it can be verified through empirical observation or if it is a tautology (true by virtue of its own meaning or its own logical form). The verifiability criterion thus rejected statements of metaphysics, theology, ethics and aesthetics as cognitively meaningless in terms of truth value or factual content. Despite its ambition to overhaul philosophy by mimicking the structure and process of empirical science, logical positivism became erroneously stereotyped as an agenda to regulate the scientific process and to place strict standards on it. The movement emerged in the late 1920s among philosophers, scientists and mathematicians congregated within the Vienna Circle and Berlin Circle and flourished in several European centres through the 1930s. By the end of World War II, many of its members had settled in the English-speaking world and the


id: logical-positivism-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism-1.md
category: reference
title: Logical positivism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:36.284431+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: logical-positivism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Anglosphere === As the movement's first emissary to the New World, Moritz Schlick visited Stanford University in 1929, yet otherwise remained in Vienna and was murdered in 1936 at the University by a former student, Johann Nelböck, who was reportedly deranged. That year, A. J. Ayer, a British attendee at various Vienna Circle meetings since 1933, published Language, Truth and Logic, which imported logical positivism to the English-speaking world. In 1933, the Nazi Party's rise to power in Germany had triggered flight of intellectuals, which accelerated upon Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938. The logical positivists, many of whom were Jewish, were targeted and continued flight throughout the pre-war period. Their philosophy thus became dominant in the English-speaking world. By the late 1930s, many in the movement had replaced phenomenalism with Neurath's physicalism, whereby material objects are not reducible to sensory stimuli but exist as publicly observable entities in the real world. Neurath settled in England, where he died in 1945. Carnap, Reichenbach and Hempel settled permanently in America. === Post-war period === Following the Second World War, logical positivism—now referred to by some as logical empiricism—turned to less radical objectives in the philosophy of science. Led by Carl


id: logical-positivism-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism-2.md
category: reference
title: Logical positivism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:36.284431+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: logical-positivism-20260505-0
summary:
In theories of justification, a priori statements are those that can be known independently of observation, contrasting with a posteriori statements, which are dependent on observation. Statements may also be categorised into analytic and synthetic: Analytic statements are true by virtue of their own meaning or their own logical form, therefore are tautologies that are true by necessity but uninformative about the world. Synthetic statements, in comparison, are contingent propositions that refer to a state of facts concerning the world. David Hume proposed an unambiguous distinction between analytic and synthetic, categorising knowledge exclusively as either "relations of ideas" (which are a priori, analytic and abstract) or "matters of fact and real existence" (a posteriori, synthetic and concrete), a classification referred to as Hume's fork. Immanuel Kant identified a further category of knowledge: Synthetic a priori statements, which are informative about the world, but known without observation. This principle is encapsulated in Kant's transcendental idealism, which attributes the mind a constructive role in phenomena whereby intuitive truths—including synthetic a priori conceptions of space and time—function as an interpretative filter for an observer's experience of the world. His thesis would serve to rescue Newton's law of universal gravitation from Hume's problem of


id: logical-positivism-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism-3.md
category: reference
title: Logical positivism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:36.284431+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: logical-positivism-20260505-0
summary:
Carl Hempel was prominent in the development of the deductive-nomological (DN) model, then the foremost model of scientific explanation defended even among critics of neo-positivism such as Popper. According to the DN model, a scientific explanation is valid only if it takes the form of a deductive inference from a set of explanatory premises (explanans) to the observation or theory to be explained (explanandum). The model stipulates that the premises must refer to at least one law, which it defines as an unrestricted generalization of the conditional form: "If A, then B". Laws therefore differ from mere regularities ("George always carries only $1 bills in his wallet") which do not necessarily support counterfactual claims. Furthermore, laws must be empirically verifiable in compliance with the verification principle. The DN model ignores causal mechanisms beyond the principle of constant conjunction ("first event A and then always event B") in accordance with the Humean empiricist postulate that, though sequences of events are observable, the underpinning causal principles are not. Hempel stated that well-formulated natural laws (empirically confirmed regularities) are satisfactory in approximating causal explanation. Hempel later proposed a probabilistic model of scientific explanation: The inductive-statistical (IS) model. Derivation of statistical laws from other


id: logical-positivism-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism-4.md
category: reference
title: Logical positivism
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:36.284431+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: logical-positivism-20260505-0
summary:
=== Norwood Hanson === In 1958, Norwood Hanson's Patterns of Discovery characterised the concept of theory-ladenness. Hanson and Thomas Kuhn held that even direct observations are never truly neutral in that they are laden with theory, i.e. influenced by a system of theoretical presuppositions that function as an interpretative framework for the senses. Accordingly, individuals subscribed to different theories might report radically different observations even as they investigate the same phenomena. Hanson's thesis attacked the observation-theory distinction, which draws a dividing line between observational and non-observational (theoretical) language. More broadly, its findings challenged the central-most tenets of empiricism in questioning the infallibility and objectivity of empirical observation. === Thomas Kuhn === Thomas Kuhn's landmark book of 1962, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions—which discussed paradigm shifts in fundamental physics—critically undermined confidence in scientific foundationalism. Kuhn proposed in its place a coherentist model of science, whereby scientific progress revolves around cores of established, coherent ideas which periodically undergo abrupt revolutionary changes. Though foundationalism was often considered a constituent doctrine of logical positivism (and Kuhn's thesis an epistemological criticism of the movement) such views were simplistic: In the 1930s, Neurath had argued for the adoption of coherentism, famously comparing the progress of science


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-0.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
The materialism controversy (German: Materialismusstreit) was a public debate in the mid-19th century about how new developments in the natural sciences might affect existing worldviews. During the 1840s, a new form of materialism emerged, shaped by advances in biology and the decline of idealistic philosophy. This form of materialism sought to explain human beings and their behavior through scientific methods. The central question of the debate was whether scientific discoveries were compatible with traditional ideas such as the existence of an immaterial soul, a personal God, and human free will. The discussion also touched on deeper philosophical issues, such as what kind of knowledge a materialist or mechanical view of the world could offer. In his Physiologische Briefe from 1846, zoologist Carl Vogt argued that mental processes were entirely physical, famously stating that "thoughts stand in the same relation to the brain as bile does to the liver or urine to the kidneys." In 1854, the physiologist Rudolf Wagner criticized this view in a speech to the Göttingen Naturalists' Assembly. He argued that religious belief and science belonged to separate areas of understanding, and that natural science could not answer questions about God, the soul, or free will. Wagner’s comments


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-1.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
The materialism controversy was sparked in part by the writings of physiologist Carl Vogt, beginning in 1847. His commitment to materialism was shaped by the scientific and political reform movements of the time, as well as his own personal and political development. Vogt was born in Giessen in 1817, into a family with both scientific and revolutionary traditions. His father, Philipp Friedrich Wilhelm Vogt, was a professor of medicine who moved to Bern in 1834 after facing political persecution. On his mother’s side, political activism was also a strong influence: Louise Follen’s three brothers—Adolf, Karl, and Paul Follen—were all involved in nationalist and democratic causes and eventually went into exile. In 1817 Adolf Follen drafted a proposal for a future German constitution and was later arrested for his political activities. He avoided a 10-year prison sentence by fleeing to Switzerland. Karl Follen was suspected of encouraging the assassination of conservative writer August von Kotzebue and escaped to the United States, where he became a professor at Harvard University. The youngest brother, Paul Follen, helped found the Gießener Auswanderungsgesellschaft in 1833, which aimed to establish a German republic in the U.S. Though the plan failed, Paul settled in Missouri as a


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-2.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
During the summer of 1854, the 31st Naturalists' Meeting was held in Göttingen. A major topic of discussion was the existence of the soul and its compatibility with emerging materialist views in science. During the event, physiologist Rudolf Wagner gave a prominent lecture on human creation and the nature of the soul, in which he sharply criticized materialism. He argued that denying the existence of a soul created by God—and especially the rejection of free will—would undermine the moral foundations of society. Wagner claimed that materialist theories, such as those proposed by Carl Vogt, reduced human beings to passive machines without responsibility, which conflicted with the ethical duties of scientists. Later that year, Wagner published a second paper that expanded on his criticisms. He argued that science and faith occupy separate domains, and that science alone could neither prove nor disprove religious beliefs. He explained that while physiologists can describe the structure and function of physical organs, their findings can be interpreted in different ways. Materialists use these observations to argue that mental functions are based on physical processes, while dualists believe the body interacts with an immaterial soul. Wagner maintained that physiology cannot determine which interpretation is correct. He


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-3.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
== Reactions in the 19th century == === Philosophy of neo-Kantianism === Materialism, as promoted by scientists like Carl Vogt, Jakob Moleschott, and Ludwig Büchner, was presented as a direct consequence of empirical scientific research. Following the decline of German idealism, many saw academic philosophy—especially as taught in universities—as disconnected from reality and reduced to speculative thought. Even philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, once aligned with idealist traditions, placed his trust in the natural sciences to answer longstanding philosophical questions such as the relationship between body and soul. However, a strong philosophical critique of materialism did not emerge until the 1860s, with the rise of Neo-Kantianism. In 1865, Otto Liebmann published Kant und die Epigonen (Kant and His Followers), a work that sharply criticized major post-Kantian thinkers—from German idealists to Arthur Schopenhauer. Liebmann famously ended each chapter with the refrain: "So we must go back to Kant!". The following year,Friedrich Albert Lange published Geschichte des Materialismus (History of Materialism), in which he aligned himself with the Neo-Kantian position. Lange accused the scientific materialists of “philosophical dilettantism”, claiming that they overlooked central insights of Kantian thought. At the core of Kant’s philosophy, particularly in the Critique of Pure Reason, is the question: What


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-4.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
Even Ludwig Büchner, initially one of the most prominent advocates of materialism, eventually distanced himself from the term. In a letter to Haeckel dated 1875, he wrote:I ... have therefore never used the term 'materialism', which evokes a completely one-sided idea, for my school of thought and only accepted it here and there later out of necessity because the general public knew no other word for the whole movement ... . The term 'monism' that you suggest is very good in itself, but it is very doubtful whether it will be accepted by the general public. === Political and ideological impact === Although scientific materialism gained considerable popularity among the general public in 19th-century Germany, its proponents—Carl Vogt, Jakob Moleschott, and Ludwig Büchner—faced significant political opposition. All three lost their academic positions largely because of their outspoken advocacy of materialism. Vogt’s revolutionary materialism, in particular, failed to gain traction in the reactionary political climate following the revolutions of 1848. Scientific materialism also struggled to influence broader political movements, in part due to ideological conflicts with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marx disparaged Vogt as a “small-university beer bouncer and misguided Barrot of the Reich", and personal denunciations escalated between the


id: materialism-controversy-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy-5.md
category: reference
title: Materialism controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:37.526414+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: materialism-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Primary literature === Beiser, Frederick C. (2014). After Hegel: German philosophy 1840-1900. Princeton, NJ Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17371-9. Büchner, Ludwig (1932). Kraft und Stoff (in German) (Pocket ed.). Leipzig: Kröner Verlag. Du Bois-Reymond, Emil; Wollgast, Siegfried (1974). Vorträge über Philosophie und Gesellschaft. Philosophische Bibliothek. Hamburg: F. Meiner. ISBN 978-3-7873-0320-5. Daum, Andreas W. (2002). Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert. Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit 1848–1914 (in German) (2 ed.). Munich: Oldenbourg. Feuerbach, Ludwig (1967). Gesammelte Werke (in German). Vol. 3. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. Haeckel, Ernst (1908). Die Welträthsel (in German). Leipzig: Kröner. Helmholtz, Hermann (2003). "Ueber das Sehen des Menschen". Gesammelte Schriften (in German). Vol. 1. Hildesheim: Olms. Lange, Friedrich Albert (1920) [1866]. Geschichte des Materialismus und Kritik seiner Bedeutung in der Gegenwart (in German). J. Baedeker. Marx, Karl (1961). Herr Vogt. Marx-Engels-Werke (in German). Vol. 14. Berlin: Dietz. Vogt, Carl (1856). Köhlerglaube und Wissenschaft. Eine Streitschrift gegen Hofrasth Rudolph Wagner in Göttingen (in German) (4th ed.). Gießen: Rickersche Buchhandlung. Vogt, Carl (1874). Physiologische Briefe (in German) (14 ed.). Gießen: Rickersche Buchhandlung. Wagner, Rudolf (1854a). Menschenschöpfung und Seelensubstanz. Ein anthropologischer Vortrag (in German). Göttingen: G.H. Wigand. Wagner, Rudolf (1854b). Ueber Wissen und Glauben. Mit besonderer Beziehung


id: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials-0.md
category: reference
title: History of metamaterials
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:38.756621+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
summary:
The history of metamaterials begins with artificial dielectrics in microwave engineering as it developed just after World War II. Yet, there are seminal explorations of artificial materials for manipulating electromagnetic waves at the end of the 19th century. Hence, the history of metamaterials is essentially a history of developing certain types of manufactured materials, which interact at radio frequency, microwave, and later optical frequencies. As the science of materials has advanced, photonic materials have been developed which use the photon of light as the fundamental carrier of information. This has led to photonic crystals, and at the beginning of the new millennium, the proof of principle for functioning metamaterials with a negative index of refraction in the microwave- (at 10.5 Gigahertz) and optical range. This was followed by the first proof of principle for metamaterial cloaking (shielding an object from view), also in the microwave range, about six years later. However, a cloak that can conceal objects across the entire electromagnetic spectrum is still decades away. Many physics and engineering problems need to be solved. Nevertheless, negative refractive materials have led to the development of metamaterial antennas and metamaterial microwave lenses for miniature wireless system antennas which are more efficient


id: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials-1.md
category: reference
title: History of metamaterials
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:38.756621+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
summary:
=== Jagadish Chandra Bose === Jagadish Chandra Bose was a scientist involved in original microwave research during the 1890s. As officiating professor of physics at Presidency College he involved himself with laboratory experiments and studies involving refraction, diffraction and polarization, as well as transmitters, receivers and various microwave components. He connected receivers to a sensitive galvanometer, and developed crystals to be used as a receiver. The crystals operated in the shortwave radio range. Crystals were also developed to detect both white and ultraviolet light. These crystals were patented in 1904 for their capability to detect electromagnetic radiation. Furthermore, it appears that his work also anticipated the existence of p-type and n-type semiconductors by 60 years. For the general public in 1895, Bose was able to remotely ring a bell and explode gunpowder with the use of electromagnetic waves. In 1896, it was reported that Bose had transmitted electromagnetic signals over almost a mile. In 1897, Bose reported on his microwave research (experiments) at the Royal Institution in London. There he demonstrated his apparatus at wavelengths that ranged from 2.5 centimeters to 5 millimeters. == Early chiral media == In 1898, Jagadish Chandra Bose conducted the first microwave experiment on twisted


id: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials-2.md
category: reference
title: History of metamaterials
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:38.756621+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
summary:
Much of the historic research related to metamaterials is weighted from the view of antenna beam shaping within microwave engineering just after World War II. Furthermore, metamaterials appear to be historically linked to the body of research pertaining to artificial dielectrics throughout the late 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s. The most common use for artificial dielectrics throughout prior decades has been in the microwave regime for antenna beam shaping. The artificial dielectrics had been proposed as a low cost and lightweight "tool". Research on artificial dielectrics, other than metamaterials, is still ongoing for pertinent parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Pioneering works in microwave engineering on artificial dielectrics in microwave were produced by Winston E. Kock, Seymour Cohn, John Brown, and Walter Rotman. Periodic artificial structures were proposed by Kock, Rotman, and Sergei Schelkunoff. There is also an extensive reference list that is focused on the properties of artificial dielectrics in the 1991 book, Field Theory of Guided Waves by Robert E. Collin. Schelkunoff achieved notice for contributions to antenna theory and electromagnetic wave propagation. "Magnetic particles made of capacitively loaded loops were also suggested by Sergei Schelkunoff in 1952 (who was a senior colleague of Winston Kock at Bell


id: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials-3.md
category: reference
title: History of metamaterials
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:38.756621+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
summary:
=== Invention of the metamaterial === Historically, and conventionally, the function or behavior of materials can be altered through their chemistry. This has long been known. For example, adding lead changes the color or hardness of glass. However, at the end of the 20th century this description was expanded by John Pendry, a physicist from Imperial College in London. In the 1990s he was consulting for a British company, Marconi Materials Technology, as a condensed matter physics expert. The company manufactured a stealth technology made of a radiation-absorbing carbon that was for naval vessels. However, the company did not understand the physics of the material. The company asked Pendry if he could understand how the material worked. Pendry discovered that the radiation absorption property did not come from the molecular or chemical structure of the material, i.e. the carbon per se. This property came from the long and thin, physical shape of the carbon fibers. He realized rather than conventionally altering a material through its chemistry, as lead does with glass, the behavior of a material can be altered by changing a material's internal structure on a very fine scale. The very fine scale was less than the wavelength of


id: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials-4.md
category: reference
title: History of metamaterials
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metamaterials
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:38.756621+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-metamaterials-20260505-0
summary:
=== The super lens === The super lens or superlens is a practical structure based on John Pendry's work describing a perfect lens that can go beyond the diffraction limit by focusing all four fourier components. Pendry's paper described a theoretical novel lens that could capture images below the diffraction limit by employing the negative refractive index behavior. The super lens is a practical realization of this theory. It is a working lens that can capture images below the diffraction limit even though limitations occur due to the inefficiencies of conventional materials. This means that although there are losses, enough of an image is returned to show this work was a successful demonstration. === Invisibility cloak === Ulf Leonhardt was born in East Germany, and presently occupies the theoretical physics chair at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and is considered one the leaders in the science of creating an invisibility cloak. Around 1999, Leonhardt began work on how to build a cloaking device with a few other colleagues. Leonhardt stated that at the time invisibility was not considered fashionable. He then wrote a theoretical study entitled "Optical Conformal Mapping". The first sentence sums up the objective: "An invisibility


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-0.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
The history of the metric system began during the Age of Enlightenment with measures of length and weight derived from nature, along with their decimal multiples and fractions. The system became the standard of France and Europe within half a century. Other measures with unity ratios were added, and the system went on to be adopted across the world. The first practical realisation of the metric system came in 1799, during the French Revolution, after the existing system of measures had become impractical for trade, and was replaced by a decimal system based on the kilogram and the metre. The basic units were taken from the natural world. The unit of length, the metre, was based on the dimensions of the Earth, and the unit of mass, the kilogram, was based on the mass of a volume of water of one litre (a cubic decimetre). Reference copies for both units were manufactured in platinum and remained the standards of measure for the next 90 years. After a period of reversion to the mesures usuelles due to unpopularity of the metric system, the metrication of France and much of Europe was complete by the 1850s. In the middle of the 19th


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-1.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
=== Clocks and pendulums === In 1656, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock, with its pendulum marking the seconds. This gave rise to proposals to use its length as a standard unit. But it became apparent that the pendulum lengths of calibrated clocks in different locations varied (due to local variations in the acceleration due to gravity), and this was not a good solution. A more uniform standard was needed. In 1670, Gabriel Mouton, a French abbot and astronomer, published the book Observationes diametrorum solis et lunae apparentium ("Observations of the apparent diameters of the Sun and Moon") in which he proposed a decimal system of measurement of length for use by scientists in international communication, to be based on the dimensions of the Earth. The milliare would be defined as a minute of arc along a meridian (such as the Paris meridian) and would be divided into 10 centuria, the centuria into 10 decuria and so on, successive units being the virga, virgula, decima, centesima, and the millesima. Mouton used Riccioli's estimate that one degree of arc was 321,185 Bolognese feet. Mouton's experiments showed that a pendulum of length one virgula would beat 3959.2 times in half


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-2.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
In 1790, a panel of five leading French scientists was appointed by the Académie des sciences to investigate weights and measures. They were Jean-Charles de Borda, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Gaspard Monge, and Nicolas de Condorcet. Over the following year, the panel, after studying various alternatives, made a series of recommendations regarding a new system of weights and measures, including that it should have a decimal radix, that the unit of length should be based on a fractional arc of a quadrant of the Earth's meridian, and that the unit of weight should be that of a cube of water whose dimension was a decimal fraction of the unit of length. The proposals were accepted by the French Assembly on 30 March 1791. Following acceptance, the Académie des sciences was instructed to implement the proposals. The Académie broke the tasks into five operations, allocating each part to a separate working group: Measuring the difference in latitude between Dunkirk and Barcelona and triangulating between them Measuring the baselines used for the survey Verifying the length of the second pendulum at 45° latitude. Verifying the weight in a vacuum of a given volume of distilled water. Publishing conversion tables relating the new


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-3.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
Delambre used a baseline of about 10 km in length along a straight road, located close to Melun. In an operation taking six weeks, the baseline was accurately measured using four platinum rods, each of length two toises (about 3.9 m). Thereafter he used, where possible, the triangulation points used by Cassini in his 1744 survey of France. Méchain's baseline, of a similar length, and also on a straight section of road was in the Perpignan area. Although Méchain's sector was half the length of Delambre, it included the Pyrenees and hitherto unsurveyed parts of Spain. After the two surveyors met, each computed the other's baseline in order to cross-check their results and they then recomputed the metre as 443.296 lignes, notably shorter than the 1795 provisional value of 443.44 lignes. On 15 November 1798, Delambre and Méchain returned to Paris with their data, having completed the survey. The final value of the mètre was defined in 1799 as the computed value from the survey. Historical note: It soon became apparent that Méchain and Delambre's result (443.296 lignes) was slightly too short for the meridional definition of the metre. Méchain had made a small error measuring the latitude of Barcelona,


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-4.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
=== The first structured metric system: CGS === In 1861, a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) including William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), James Clerk Maxwell, and James Prescott Joule among its members was tasked with investigating the "Standards of Electrical Resistance". In their first report (1862), they laid the ground rules for their work—the metric system was to be used, measures of electrical energy must have the same units as measures of mechanical energy, and two sets of electromagnetic units would have to be derived—an electromagnetic system and an electrostatic system. In the second report (1863), they introduced the concept of a coherent system of units whereby units of length, mass, and time were identified as "fundamental units" (now known as base units). All other units of measure could be derived (hence derived units) from these base units. The metre, gram, and second were chosen as base units. In 1861, before a meeting of the BAAS, Charles Bright and Latimer Clark proposed the names of ohm, volt, and farad in honour of Georg Ohm, Alessandro Volta, and Michael Faraday respectively for the practical units based on the CGS absolute system. This was supported by


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-5.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
==== Quadrant–eleventhgram–second (QES) or International System of Electrical and Magnetic Units ==== The CGS units of measure used in scientific work were not practical for engineering, leading to the development of a more applicable system of electric units especially for telegraphy. The unit of length was 107 m (the hebdometre, nominally the Earth quadrant), the unit of mass was an unnamed unit equal to 10−11 g and the unit of time was the second. The units of mass and length were scaled incongruously to yield more consistent and usable electric units in terms of mechanical measures. Informally called the "practical" system, it was properly termed the quadrant–eleventhgram–second (QES) system of units according to convention. The definitions of electrical units incorporated the magnetic constant like the EMU system, and the names of the units were carried over from that system, but scaled according to the defined mechanical units. The system was formalised as the International system late in the 19th century and its units later designated the "international ampere", "international volt", etc. ==== Heaviside–Lorentz system of units ==== The factor 4 π {\displaystyle 4\pi } that occurs in Maxwell's equations in the gaussian system (and the other CGS systems) comes from


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-6.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
Conférence générale des poids et mesures (CGPM or General Conference on Weights and Measures), an intergovernmental conference of official delegates of member nations and the supreme authority for all actions; Comité international des poids et mesures (CIPM or International Committee for Weights and Measures), consisting of selected scientists and metrologists, which prepares and executes the decisions of the CGPM and is responsible for the supervision of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM or International Bureau of Weights and Measures), a permanent laboratory and world centre of scientific metrology, the activities of which include the establishment of the basic standards and scales of the principal physical quantities, maintenance of the international prototype standards, and oversight of regular comparisons between the international prototype and the various national standards. The international prototype of the metre and international prototype of the kilogram were both made from a 90% platinum, 10% iridium alloy which is exceptionally hard and which has good electrical and thermal conductivity properties. The prototype had a special X-shaped (Tresca) cross section to minimise the effects of torsional strain during length comparisons and the prototype kilograms were cylindrical in shape. The London firm Johnson


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-7.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
== Working draft of SI: Practical system of units == The 9th CGPM met in 1948, fifteen years after the 8th CGPM. In response to formal requests made by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and by the French government to establish a practical system of units of measure, the CGPM requested the CIPM to prepare recommendations for a single practical system of units of measurement, suitable for adoption by all countries adhering to the Metre Convention. The CIPM's draft proposal was an extensive revision and simplification of the metric unit definitions, symbols, and terminology based on the MKS system of units. Following astronomical observations, the second was set as a fraction of the year 1900. The electromagnetic base unit, as required by Giorgi, was accepted as the ampere. After negotiations with the CIS and IUPAP, two additional units—the degree kelvin and the candela—were also proposed as base units. For the first time, the CGPM made recommendations concerning derived units. At the same time, the CGPM adopted conventions for the writing and printing of unit symbols and numbers and catalogued the symbols for the most important MKS and CGS units of measure. === Time === Until the advent


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-8.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
=== New base and derived units === Over the ensuing years, the BIPM developed and maintained cross-correlations relating various measuring devices such as thermocouples, light spectra, and the like to the equivalent temperatures. The mole was originally known as a gram-atom or a gram-molecule—the amount of a substance measured in grams divided by its atomic weight. Originally chemists and physicists had differing views regarding the definition of the atomic weight—both assigned a value of 16 atomic mass units (amu) to oxygen, but physicists defined oxygen in terms of the 16O isotope whereas chemists assigned 16 amu to 16O, 17O and 18O isotopes mixed in the proportion that they occur in nature. Finally, an agreement between the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) brought this duality to an end in 1959/60, both parties agreeing to define the atomic weight of 12C as being exactly 12 amu. This agreement was confirmed by ISO and in 1969 the CIPM recommended its inclusion in SI as a base unit. This was done in 1971 at the 14th CGPM. === Start of migration to constant definitions === The second major trend in the


id: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system-9.md
category: reference
title: History of the metric system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metric_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:11:40.036698+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-metric-system-20260505-0
summary:
At its 23rd meeting (2007), the CGPM mandated the CIPM to investigate the use of natural constants as the basis for all units of measure rather than the artefacts that were then in use. The following year, this was endorsed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). At a meeting of the CCU held in Reading, United Kingdom, in September 2010, a resolution and draft changes to the SI brochure that were to be presented to the next meeting of the CIPM in October 2010 were agreed in principle. The CIPM meeting of October 2010 found that "the conditions set by the General Conference at its 23rd meeting have not yet been fully met. For this reason the CIPM does not propose a revision of the SI at the present time". The CIPM, however, presented a resolution for consideration at the 24th CGPM (17–21 October 2011) to agree to the new definitions in principle, but not to implement them until the details had been finalised. In the revision, four of the seven SI base units—the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole—were redefined by setting exact numerical values for the Planck constant (h), the elementary electric charge (e), the


id: mihi-itch-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihi_itch-0.md
category: reference
title: Mihi itch
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihi_itch
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:04.995529+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mihi-itch-20260505-0
summary:
Mihi itch or Mihisucht is the ambition to describe new species (or other taxa: subspecies, hybrids, genera, etc.) as a means to immortalize one's name. Mihi is the dative form of the Latin word ego, thus "mihi itch" means to satisfy one's egotistical impulses. The expression appeared in print as early as 1884. A consequence of the Mihi itch may be the unwarranted description of new taxa, differing only slightly from already established taxa, leading to taxonomic inflation. A more extreme case may be termed taxonomic vandalism when a large number of species are described with limited scientific evidence. == Examples == La "nouvelle école" in malacology, led by Jules René Bourguignat, was responsible for the description of hundreds of new species of molluscs in Europe at the end of the nineteen century. Harold St. John published 440 names in the genus Pandanus, which encompasses c. 600 accepted species, and 283 names in the genus Cyrtandra, which encompasses c. 700 accepted species. Between 2000 and 2011, Raymond Hoser published 582 species names, and 340 generic names of animals (mostly reptiles). == See also == Taxonomic vandalism Taxonomic inflation == References ==


id: natural-history-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history-0.md
category: reference
title: Natural history
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:06.102599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-history-20260505-0
summary:
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is called a naturalist or natural historian. Natural history encompasses scientific research but is not limited to it. It involves the systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms, so while it dates from studies in the ancient Greco-Roman world and the medieval Arab world, through to European Renaissance naturalists working in near isolation, today's natural history is a cross-discipline umbrella of many specialty sciences; e.g., geobiology has a strong multidisciplinary nature. == Definitions == === Before 1900 === The meaning of the English term "natural history" (a calque of the Latin historia naturalis) has narrowed progressively with time, while, by contrast, the meaning of the related term "nature" has widened (see also History below). In antiquity, "natural history" covered essentially anything connected with nature, or used materials drawn from nature, such as Pliny the Elder's encyclopedia of this title, published c. 77 to 79 AD, which covers astronomy, geography, humans and their technology, medicine, and superstition, as well as animals and plants. Medieval European


id: natural-history-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history-1.md
category: reference
title: Natural history
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:06.102599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-history-20260505-0
summary:
=== Prehistory === Prior to the advent of Western science, humans were engaged and highly competent in indigenous ways of understanding the more-than-human world that are now referred to as traditional ecological knowledge. 21st century definitions of natural history are inclusive of this understanding, such as this by Thomas Fleischner of the Natural History Institute (Prescott, Arizona): Natural history – a practice of intentional focused attentiveness and receptivity to the more-than-human world, guided by honesty and accuracy – is the oldest continuous human endeavor. In the evolutionary past of our species, the practice of natural history was essential for our survival, imparting critical information on habits and chronologies of plants and animals that we could eat or that could eat us. Natural history continues to be critical to human survival and thriving. It contributes to our fundamental understanding of how the world works by providing the empirical foundation of natural sciences, and it contributes directly and indirectly to human emotional and physical health, thereby fostering healthier human communities. It also serves as the basis for all conservation efforts, with natural history both informing the science and inspiring the values that drive these. === Ancient === As a precursor to Western


id: natural-history-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history-2.md
category: reference
title: Natural history
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:06.102599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-history-20260505-0
summary:
Natural history museums, which evolved from cabinets of curiosities, played an important role in the emergence of professional biological disciplines and research programs. Particularly in the 19th century, scientists began to use their natural history collections as teaching tools for advanced students and the basis for their own morphological research. == Societies == The term "natural history" alone, or sometimes together with archaeology, forms the name of many national, regional, and local natural history societies that maintain records for animals—including birds (ornithology), insects (entomology) and mammals (mammalogy)—fungi (mycology), plants (botany), and other organisms. They may also have geological and microscopical sections. Examples of these societies in Britain include the Natural History Society of Northumbria founded in 1829, London Natural History Society (1858), Birmingham Natural History Society (1859), British Entomological and Natural History Society founded in 1872, Glasgow Natural History Society, Manchester Microscopical and Natural History Society established in 1880, Whitby Naturalists' Club founded in 1913, Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society and the Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, founded in 1918. The growth of natural history societies was also spurred due to the growth of British colonies in tropical regions with numerous new species to be discovered. Many civil servants took an


id: natural-magic-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_magic-0.md
category: reference
title: Natural magic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_magic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:07.371711+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-magic-20260505-0
summary:
Natural magic is a tradition concerning the manipulation and development of the occult, or hidden, mechanisms within nature. Unlike ceremonial magic, it does not rely on a relationship with summoning spirits. Natural magic sometimes makes use of physical substances from the natural world such as stones or herbs. In the Medieval era, many theologians utilized the term natural magic when referring to the properties of the natural world that would operate within the realm of divinity. Natural magic worked to expose underlying mechanisms occurring in nature that cannot be explained through rational knowledge. The lack of concrete evidence results in these mechanisms being referred to as "occult properties". Natural magic so defined includes astrology, alchemy, and certain disciplines that would today be considered fields of natural science, such as astronomy and chemistry (divergently evolved from astrology and alchemy, respectively) or botany (from herbology). Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher wrote that "there are as many types of natural magic as there are subjects of applied sciences". Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa discusses natural magic in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533), where he calls it "nothing else but the highest power of natural sciences". The Italian Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who


id: natural-magic-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_magic-1.md
category: reference
title: Natural magic
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_magic
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:07.371711+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-magic-20260505-0
summary:
During the Scientific Revolution in the seventeenth century, the way science was viewed started to drastically change. The role of natural magic began to shift, but it did not disappear. Specifically, the idea of “occult properties” had an important role in the developing scientific worldview. The invisible forces in nature, which were previously thought of as magical concepts, came to be known as more rational and mathematical ones. For example, phenomena such as gravity and light were once thought to be mysterious, unknown forces, but during the Scientific Revolution, scientists began to explain them as rays or forces acting across a space. This transformation of thought is shown through figures like Isaac Newton, whose theory of gravity relied on a force at a distance, similar to earlier beliefs related to natural magic. While Newton and other scientists moved away from magical explanations, theories of natural magic helped to inspire their work. Despite beliefs and reasonings changing, “occult qualities” helped to establish ideas such as force interactions, which remain a central part of modern physics today. == See also == Kitāb al-nawāmīs – Arabic book of magic Giambattista della Porta – Italian polymath (1535–1615) Magia Naturalis – Book by Giambattista della


id: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy-0.md
category: reference
title: Natural philosophy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:08.564857+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
summary:
Natural philosophy, philosophy of nature (from Latin philosophia naturalis), or experimental philosophy, until the late modern period, was the systematic and research-based study of nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. Used since at least Aristotle (classical antiquity) until the 19th century, the term natural philosophy referred to a branch of philosophy—a broader term then, meaning all rational fields of study and contemplation—that explored topics now considered to fall under the purview of science, such as physics, biology, chemistry, and astronomy. Thus, natural philosophy served as the precursor to, and has been mostly supplanted by, modern science. The 19th century established the term science as distinct from philosophy in its rigorously empirical and experimental approach, along with its many modern sub-disciplines, plus the founding of various institutions and communities devoted to them. Isaac Newton's book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) (English: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) reflects the use of the term natural philosophy in the 17th century. Even in the 19th century, the work that helped define much of modern physics bore the title Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867), authored by Lord Kelvin and Tait. In the German tradition, Naturphilosophie (philosophy of nature) persisted into the


id: natural-philosophy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy-1.md
category: reference
title: Natural philosophy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:08.564857+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
summary:
Humankind's mental engagement with nature certainly predates civilization and the record of history. Philosophical, and specifically non-religious, thought about the natural world goes back to ancient Greece. These lines of thought began before Socrates, who turned his philosophical studies from speculations about nature to a consideration of man, or in other words, political philosophy. The thought of early philosophers such as Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Democritus centered on the natural world. In addition, three Presocratic philosophers who lived in the Ionian town of Miletus (hence the Milesian School of philosophy), Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, attempted to explain natural phenomena without recourse to creation myths involving the Greek gods. They were called the physikoi ("natural philosophers") or, as Aristotle referred to them, the physiologoi. Plato followed Socrates in concentrating on man. It was Plato's student, Aristotle, who, in basing his thought on the natural world, returned empiricism to its primary place, while leaving room in the world for man. Martin Heidegger observes that Aristotle was the originator of conception of nature that prevailed in the Middle Ages into the modern era: The Physics is a lecture in which he seeks to determine beings that arise on their own, τὰ φύσει ὄντα (ta


id: natural-philosophy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy-2.md
category: reference
title: Natural philosophy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:08.564857+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
summary:
=== In ancient Greece === Early Greek philosophers studied motion and the cosmos. Figures like Hesiod regarded the natural world as offspring of the gods, whereas others like Leucippus and Democritus regarded the world as lifeless atoms in a vortex. Anaximander deduced that eclipses happen because of apertures in rings of celestial fire. Heraclitus believed that the heavenly bodies were made of fire that were contained within bowls. He thought that eclipses happen when the bowl turned away from the earth. Anaximenes is believed to have stated that an underlying element was air, and by manipulating air someone could change its thickness to create fire, water, dirt, and stones. Empedocles identified the elements that make up the world, which he termed the roots of all things, as fire, air, earth, and water. Parmenides argued that all change is a logical impossibility. He gives the example that nothing can go from nonexistence to existence. Plato argues that the world is an imperfect replica of an idea that a divine craftsman once held. He also believed that the only way to truly know something was through reason and logic. Not the study of the object itself, but that changeable matter is a


id: natural-philosophy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy-3.md
category: reference
title: Natural philosophy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:08.564857+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Natural philosophy in the early modern period === The scientific method has ancient precedents, and Galileo exemplifies a mathematical understanding of nature, which is a hallmark of modern natural scientists. Galileo proposed that objects falling regardless of their mass would fall at the same rate, as long as the medium they fall in is identical. The 19th-century distinction of a scientific enterprise apart from traditional natural philosophy has its roots in prior centuries. Proposals for a more "inquisitive" and practical approach to the study of nature are notable in Francis Bacon, whose ardent convictions did much to popularize his insightful Baconian method. The Baconian method is employed throughout Thomas Browne's encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646–1672), which debunks a wide range of common fallacies through empirical investigation of nature. The late-17th-century natural philosopher Robert Boyle wrote a seminal work on the distinction between physics and metaphysics called, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature, as well as The Skeptical Chymist, after which the modern science of chemistry is named, (as distinct from proto-scientific studies of alchemy). These works of natural philosophy are representative of a departure from the medieval scholasticism taught in European universities, and anticipate in many


id: natural-philosophy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy-4.md
category: reference
title: Natural philosophy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:08.564857+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-philosophy-20260505-0
summary:
Environmental philosophy – Branch of philosophy Gentleman scientist – Financially independent scientistPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets History of science Natural environment – Living and non-living things on Earth Natural theology – Theology reliant on rational and empirical arguments Naturalism (philosophy) – Belief that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe Nature (philosophy) – Philosophical term Protoscience – Research field that may become a science == References == == Further reading == Adler, Mortimer J. (1993). The Four Dimensions of Philosophy: Metaphysical, Moral, Objective, Categorical. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-500574-X. E.A. Burtt, Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1954). Philip Kitcher, Science, Truth, and Democracy. Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. LCCN:2001036144 ISBN 0-19-514583-6 Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (1945) Simon & Schuster, 1972. Santayana, George (1923). Scepticism and Animal Faith. Dover Publications. pp. 27–41. ISBN 0-486-20236-4. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) David Snoke, Natural Philosophy: A Survey of Physics and Western Thought. Access Research Network, 2003. ISBN 1-931796-25-4.Natural Philosophy: A Survey of Physics and Western Thought


id: one-sex-and-two-sex-theories-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sex_and_two-sex_theories-0.md
category: reference
title: One-sex and two-sex theories
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sex_and_two-sex_theories
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:09.694090+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: one-sex-and-two-sex-theories-20260505-0
summary:
The one-sex and two-sex theories (also referred to as the one-sex and two-sex models) are historiographical concepts introduced by historian Thomas Laqueur in his 1990 book Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. Laqueur proposed that Western medical and philosophical thought underwent a fundamental shift in the 18th century: from a "one-sex model," in which female anatomy was understood as an inverted, inferior version of male anatomy, to a "two-sex model" treating men and women as anatomically distinct and opposite. While Making Sex has been highly influential in gender studies, literary criticism, and cultural history, its thesis has attracted substantial criticism from historians of medicine and science. Critics including Helen King, Joan Cadden, Katharine Park, and Michael Stolberg have argued that Laqueur oversimplifies the historical record, misreads primary sources, and imposes an artificial chronological divide where one-sex and two-sex understandings in fact coexisted throughout Western history. The historian Monica H. Green has called on scholars to move beyond the framework entirely. == Laqueur's thesis == === The one-sex model === According to Laqueur, Western medicine from antiquity through the early modern period operated under a "one-sex model" in which women were understood as imperfect or inverted versions


id: one-sex-and-two-sex-theories-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sex_and_two-sex_theories-1.md
category: reference
title: One-sex and two-sex theories
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sex_and_two-sex_theories
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:09.694090+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: one-sex-and-two-sex-theories-20260505-0
summary:
=== Calls to move beyond the framework === Critics have noted that Making Sex achieved widespread influence partly because its binary framework offered a conveniently simple narrative for scholars across disciplines. As historiographical surveys have observed, the neatness of Laqueur's story—one era, one model, replaced by another era, another model—made it highly exportable, even as specialists in the history of medicine increasingly found it inadequate. Monica H. Green's 2018 article in Eugesta titled "Let Go of Laqueur" called for scholars to move beyond the one-sex/two-sex framework entirely and develop more nuanced histories of how bodies have been understood as sexed across different times and cultures. === Laqueur's response === In a 2003 response to Stolberg, Laqueur argued that isolated pieces of evidence for sexual dimorphism in Renaissance anatomy do not undermine his thesis, since individual observations do not discredit prevailing worldviews. He maintained that the fundamental epistemological shift he described—from sex as reflecting metaphysical truths to sex as biological foundation for gender—remained valid regardless of when specific anatomical differences were first noted. == Influence and legacy == Despite the scholarly criticisms described above, Making Sex has remained widely cited, particularly in gender studies, literary criticism, and cultural history. The book


id: oral-history-of-british-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_History_of_British_Science-0.md
category: reference
title: Oral History of British Science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_History_of_British_Science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:10.816601+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: oral-history-of-british-science-20260505-0
summary:
An Oral History of British Science is an oral history project conducted by National Life Stories at the British Library. The project began in 2009 with funding from the Arcadia Fund, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and a number of other private donors and focuses on audio interviews with British science and engineering figures. == Project background == The project focused on 200 video interviews lasting 8–15 hours, with four themes: Made in Britain, A Changing Planet, Cosmologies and Biomedicine. The project Advisory Committee included Jon Agar, Alec Broers, Tilly Blyth, Georgina Ferry, Dame Julia Higgins, Maja Kominko, Sir Harry Kroto, John Lynch, Chris Rapley and Simone Turchetti. An Oral History of British Science was conducted by National Life Stories (NLS) at the British Library, and formed part of a wider institutional initiative to better document contemporary history of science and technology through the addition of audio visual sources as well as written sources. == Methodology == The oral history of British science follows the biographical, or life story, oral history approach with each audio interview averaging 8 to 15 hours in length. The interviews cover the individual’s career history, education, background and family. == Access to


id: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish-0.md
category: reference
title: Parable of the Sunfish
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:11.997351+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-0
summary:
"The Parable of the Sunfish" is an anecdote with which Ezra Pound opens ABC of Reading, a 1934 work of literary criticism. Pound uses this anecdote to emphasize an empirical approach for learning about art, in contrast to relying on commentary rooted in abstraction. While the parable is based on students' recollections of Louis Agassiz's teaching style, Pound's retelling diverges from these sources in several respects. The parable has been used to illustrate the benefits of scientific thinking, but more recent literary criticism has split on whether the parable accurately reflects the scientific process and calls into question Pound's empirical approach to literature. == The Parable == The text of the parable below is excerpted from Pound's ABC of Reading. == Context == === ABC of Reading === Pound opens ABC of Reading with the following pronouncement: The proper METHOD for studying poetry and good letters is the method of contemporary biologists, that is careful first-hand examination of the matter, and continual COMPARISON of one 'slide' or specimen with another. No man is equipped for modern thinking until he has understood the anecdote of Agassiz and the sunfish. In the parable, a graduate student is sent to noted biologist Louis


id: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish-1.md
category: reference
title: Parable of the Sunfish
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:11.997351+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-0
summary:
At length on the seventh day, came the question "Well?" and my disgorge of learning to him as he sat on the edge of my table puffing his cigar. At the end of the hour's telling, he swung off and away, saying "That is not right." Shaler concluded Agassiz was testing him to see if he was capable of "doing hard, continuous work without the support of a teacher" and redoubled his efforts, starting from scratch and, over the course of seven ten-hour days, managed to describe the specimen to Agassiz's satisfaction. === Scudder's "Look at your fish!" === Samuel Hubbard Scudder recorded a similar experience, first published in 1874 as "Look at Your Fish" in Every Saturday magazine. Agassiz again starts his new student off with a fish preserved in alcohol and instructs the student to "look at it", and promises "by and by I will ask what you have seen". As opposed to Pound's decomposing sunfish, Scudder's account emphasizes the care taken to keep the specimen in good condition: I was to keep the fish before me in a tin tray, and occasionally moisten the surface with alcohol from the jar ... In ten minutes I had seen


id: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish-2.md
category: reference
title: Parable of the Sunfish
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:11.997351+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: parable-of-the-sunfish-20260505-0
summary:
=== Pound === Pound, echoing Cooper, opens ABC of Reading by stating that the correct method for the study of poetry is "the method of contemporary biologists" and that "No man is equipped for modern thinking until he has understood the anecdote of Agassiz and the fish." Commentators have summarized Pound's position with the term empiricism, but have divided over whether the parable endorses or indicts the idea. The simplest interpretations in scientific writing, history of science, and literary criticism take the parable at face value, accepting empiricism and observation as legitimate techniques. For example, when writing about stellar atmospheres, Dimitri Mihalas states that "it is specimens, not facts, that are the ultimate empirical currency that we must use if we wish to purchase a valid theory" before beginning a discussion of Pound's sunfish. Moving from acceptance of empiricism to an understanding of its limitations, Christopher Tilley emphasizes in his comments on "scientific archeology" that Pound's student "was not simply learning about 'reality', the sunfish, but a way of approaching that reality – a discourse bound up in a particular thought tradition (empiricism)". Robert Scholes reaches a similar conclusion, noting that the student "seems to be reporting about a real


id: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature-0.md
category: reference
title: Patterns in nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:13.121366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
summary:
Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes. Early Greek philosophers studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles attempting to explain order in nature. The modern understanding of visible patterns developed gradually over time. In the 19th century, the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau examined soap films, leading him to formulate the concept of a minimal surface. The German biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel painted hundreds of marine organisms to emphasise their symmetry. Scottish biologist D'Arcy Thompson pioneered the study of growth patterns in both plants and animals, showing that simple equations could explain spiral growth. In the 20th century, the English mathematician Alan Turing predicted mechanisms of morphogenesis which give rise to patterns of spots and stripes. The Hungarian biologist Aristid Lindenmayer and the French American mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot showed how the mathematics of fractals could create plant growth patterns. Mathematics, physics and chemistry can explain patterns in nature at different levels and scales. Patterns in living things are explained by the biological processes of natural selection and sexual selection.


id: patterns-in-nature-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature-1.md
category: reference
title: Patterns in nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:13.121366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
summary:
Living things like orchids, hummingbirds, and the peacock's tail have abstract designs with a beauty of form, pattern and colour that artists struggle to match. The beauty that people perceive in nature has causes at different levels, notably in the mathematics that governs what patterns can physically form, and among living things in the effects of natural selection, that govern how patterns evolve. Mathematics seeks to discover and explain abstract patterns or regularities of all kinds. Visual patterns in nature find explanations in chaos theory, fractals, logarithmic spirals, topology and other mathematical patterns. For example, L-systems form convincing models of different patterns of tree growth. The laws of physics apply the abstractions of mathematics to the real world, often as if it were perfect. For example, a crystal is perfect when it has no structural defects such as dislocations and is fully symmetric. Exact mathematical perfection can only approximate real objects. Visible patterns in nature are governed by physical laws; for example, meanders can be explained using fluid dynamics. In biology, natural selection can cause the development of patterns in living things for several reasons, including camouflage, sexual selection, and different kinds of signalling, including mimicry and cleaning symbiosis. In


id: patterns-in-nature-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature-2.md
category: reference
title: Patterns in nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:13.121366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
summary:
Spirals are common in plants and in some animals, notably molluscs. For example, in the nautilus, a cephalopod mollusc, each chamber of its shell is an approximate copy of the next one, scaled by a constant factor and arranged in a logarithmic spiral. Given a modern understanding of fractals, a growth spiral can be seen as a special case of self-similarity. Plant spirals can be seen in phyllotaxis, the arrangement of leaves on a stem, and in the arrangement (parastichy) of other parts as in composite flower heads and seed heads like the sunflower or fruit structures like the pineapple and snake fruit, as well as in the pattern of scales in pine cones, where multiple spirals run both clockwise and anticlockwise. These arrangements have explanations at different levels – mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology – each individually correct, but all necessary together. Phyllotaxis spirals can be generated from Fibonacci ratios: the Fibonacci sequence runs 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13... (each subsequent number being the sum of the two preceding ones). For example, when leaves alternate up a stem, one rotation of the spiral touches two leaves, so the pattern or ratio is 1/2. In hazel the ratio is


id: patterns-in-nature-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature-3.md
category: reference
title: Patterns in nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:13.121366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
summary:
=== Bubbles, foam === A soap bubble forms a sphere, a surface with minimal area (minimal surface) — the smallest possible surface area for the volume enclosed. Two bubbles together form a more complex shape: the outer surfaces of both bubbles are spherical; these surfaces are joined by a third spherical surface as the smaller bubble bulges slightly into the larger one. A foam is a mass of bubbles; foams of different materials occur in nature. Foams composed of soap films obey Plateau's laws, which require three soap films to meet at each edge at 120° and four soap edges to meet at each vertex at the tetrahedral angle of about 109.5°. Plateau's laws further require films to be smooth and continuous, and to have a constant average curvature at every point. For example, a film may remain nearly flat on average by being curved up in one direction (say, left to right) while being curved downwards in another direction (say, front to back). Structures with minimal surfaces can be used as tents. At the scale of living cells, foam patterns are common; radiolarians, sponge spicules, silicoflagellate exoskeletons and the calcite skeleton of a sea urchin, Cidaris rugosa, all resemble


id: patterns-in-nature-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature-4.md
category: reference
title: Patterns in nature
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:13.121366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterns-in-nature-20260505-0
summary:
Alan Turing, and later the mathematical biologist James Murray, described a mechanism that spontaneously creates spotted or striped patterns: a reaction–diffusion system. The cells of a young organism have genes that can be switched on by a chemical signal, a morphogen, resulting in the growth of a certain type of structure, say a darkly pigmented patch of skin. If the morphogen is present everywhere, the result is an even pigmentation, as in a black leopard. But if it is unevenly distributed, spots or stripes can result. Turing suggested that there could be feedback control of the production of the morphogen itself. This could cause continuous fluctuations in the amount of morphogen as it diffused around the body. A second mechanism is needed to create standing wave patterns (to result in spots or stripes): an inhibitor chemical that switches off production of the morphogen, and that itself diffuses through the body more quickly than the morphogen, resulting in an activator-inhibitor scheme. The Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction is a non-biological example of this kind of scheme, a chemical oscillator. Later research has managed to create convincing models of patterns as diverse as zebra stripes, giraffe blotches, jaguar spots (medium-dark patches surrounded by dark broken


id: physica-speculatio-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physica_speculatio-0.md
category: reference
title: Physica speculatio
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physica_speculatio
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:14.303872+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physica-speculatio-20260505-0
summary:
Physica speculatio is a text of scientific character written by Alonso de la Vera Cruz in 1557 in the capital of New Spain. It was the first published work in the American continent that specifically addressed the study of physics, and was written to teach the students of the Real University of Mexico. It introduced the main theoretical concepts of geocentric astronomy and references the heliocentric model. Fray Alonso de la Vera Cruz published in the capital of New Spain a Course of Arts, constituted in three volumes in Latin. The first form in 1553 under the title of Recognitio Summularum, that had like purpose help to the students of the Real University of Mexico to understand the philosophy by means of the understanding of the formal logic. A year afterwards appeared the second called Dialectica Resolutio, that was a continuation of the previous. The last was Physica speculatio. They did four editions, the last 3 of which were for use of the salmantino students and were abbreviated versions of the Mexican one. == Subjects == The Physica speculatio has by object the study or "investigation" -speculatio- and the exhibition, in general, of subjects of physics on the nature -Physica-,


id: physics-aristotle-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)-0.md
category: reference
title: Physics (Aristotle)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:15.422292+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physics-aristotle-20260505-0
summary:
The Physics (Ancient Greek: Φυσικής ἀκρόασις, romanized: Physikḗs akróasis, or: Φυσικής ακροάσεως, Physikḗs akroáseōs; Latin: Physica or Naturales Auscultationes, possibly meaning "Lectures on nature") is a named text, written in ancient Greek, collated from a collection of surviving manuscripts known as the Corpus Aristotelicum, attributed to the 4th-century BC philosopher Aristotle. == The meaning of physics in Aristotle == It is a collection of treatises or lessons that deals with the most general (philosophical) principles of natural or moving things, both living and non-living, rather than physical theories (in the modern sense) or investigations of the particular contents of the universe. The chief purpose of the work is to discover the principles and causes of (and not merely to describe) change, or movement, or motion (κίνησις kinesis), especially that of natural wholes (mostly living things, but also inanimate wholes like the cosmos). In the conventional Andronicean ordering of Aristotle's works, it stands at the head of, as well as being foundational to, the long series of physical, cosmological and biological treatises, whose ancient Greek title, τὰ φυσικά, means "the [writings] on nature" or "natural philosophy". == Description of the content == The Physics is composed of eight books, which are


id: physics-aristotle-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)-1.md
category: reference
title: Physics (Aristotle)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:15.422292+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physics-aristotle-20260505-0
summary:
The necessary in nature, then, is plainly what we call by the name of matter, and the changes in it. Both causes must be stated by the physicist, but especially the end; for that is the cause of the matter, not vice versa; and the end is 'that for the sake of which', and the beginning starts from the definition or essence… In chapter 3, Aristotle presents his theory of the four causes (material, efficient, formal, and final). Material cause explains what something is made of (for example, the wood of a house), formal cause explains the form which a thing follows to become that thing (the plans of an architect to build a house), efficient cause is the actual source of the change (the physical building of the house), and final cause is the intended purpose of the change (the final product of the house and its purpose as a shelter and home). Of particular importance is the final cause or purpose (telos). It is a common mistake to conceive of the four causes as additive or alternative forces pushing or pulling; in reality, all four are needed to explain (7.198a22-25). What we typically mean by cause in the


id: physics-aristotle-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)-2.md
category: reference
title: Physics (Aristotle)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:15.422292+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physics-aristotle-20260505-0
summary:
=== Book VII (Η; 241a25–250b7) === Book VII briefly deals with the relationship of the moved to his mover, which Aristotle describes in substantial divergence with Plato's theory of the soul as capable of setting itself in motion (Laws book X, Phaedrus, Phaedo). Everything which moves is moved by another. He then tries to correlate the species of motion and their speeds, with the local change (locomotion, phorà) as the most fundamental to which the others can be reduced. Book VII.1-3 also exist in an alternative version, not included in the Bekker edition. === Book VIII (Θ; 250a14–267b26) === Book VIII (which occupies almost a fourth of the entire Physics, and probably constituted originally an independent course of lessons) discusses two main topics, though with a wide deployment of arguments: the time limits of the universe, and the existence of a Prime Mover — eternal, indivisible, without parts and without magnitude. Isn't the universe eternal, has it had a beginning, will it ever end? Aristotle's response, as a Greek, could hardly be affirmative, never having been told of a creatio ex nihilo, but he also has philosophical reasons for denying that motion had not always existed, on the grounds of


id: physics-aristotle-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)-3.md
category: reference
title: Physics (Aristotle)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:15.422292+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physics-aristotle-20260505-0
summary:
=== Classical and medieval commentaries on the Physics === A commentary differs from a note in being a distinct work analyzing the language and subsumed concepts of some other work classically notable. A note appears within the annotated work on the same page or in a separate list. Commentaries are typically arranged by lemmas, or quotes from the notable work, followed by an analysis of the author of the commentary. The commentaries on every work of Aristotle are a vast and mainly unpublished topic. They extend continuously from the death of the philosopher, representing the entire history of Graeco-Roman philosophy. There are thousands of commentators and commentaries known wholly or more typically in fragments of manuscripts. The latter especially occupy the vaults of institutions formerly responsible for copying them, such as monasteries. The process of publishing them is slow and ongoing. Below is a brief representative bibliography of published commentaries on Aristotle's Physics available on or through the Internet. Like the topic itself, they are perforce multi-cultural, but English has been favored, as well as the original languages, ancient Greek and Latin. === Some modern commentaries, monographs and articles === == Further reading == Books Die Aristotelische Physik, W. Wieland,


id: pictet-s-experiment-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictet's_experiment-0.md
category: reference
title: Pictet's experiment
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictet's_experiment
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:19.688874+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pictet-s-experiment-20260505-0
summary:
Pictet's experiment is the demonstration of the reflection of heat and the apparent reflection of cold in a series of experiments performed in 1790 (reported in English in 1791 in An Essay on Fire) by Marc-Auguste Pictet—ten years before the discovery of infrared heating of the Earth by the Sun. The apparatus for most of the experiments used two concave mirrors facing one another at a distance. An object placed at the focus of one mirror would have heat and light reflected by the mirror and focused. An object at the focus of the counterpart mirror would do the same. Placing a hot object at one focus and a thermometer at the other would register an increase in temperature on the thermometer. This was sometimes demonstrated with the explosion of a flammable mix of gasses in a blackened balloon, as described and depicted by John Tyndall in 1863. After "demonstrating that radiant heat, even when it was not accompanied by any light, could be reflected and focused like light", Pictet used the same apparatus to demonstrate the apparent reflection of cold in a similar manner. This demonstration was important to Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford who argued for the existence of


id: list-of-chemical-elements-named-after-places-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements_named_after_places-0.md
category: reference
title: List of chemical elements named after places
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements_named_after_places
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:20.813012+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-chemical-elements-named-after-places-20260505-0
summary:
Of the 118 chemical elements, 41 are named after, or have names associated with, places around the world or among astronomical objects. 32 of these have names tied to the Earth and the other 10 have names connected to bodies in the Solar System. The first table below lists terrestrial locations (excluding the entire Earth taken as a whole) and the last table lists astronomical objects which the chemical elements are named after. == Terrestrial locations == == Astronomical objects == * - The element mercury was named directly for the deity, with only indirect naming connection to the planet (see etymology of mercury). ** - Phosphorus was the Ancient Greek name for the planet Venus. (see history of phosphorus). == See also == List of chemical elements named after people List of chemical element name etymologies == References ==


id: history-of-science-policy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy-0.md
category: reference
title: History of science policy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:21.965426+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-science-policy-20260505-0
summary:
Through history, the systems of economic support for scientists and their work have been important determinants of the character and pace of scientific research. The ancient foundations of the sciences were driven by practical and religious concerns and or the pursuit of philosophy more generally. From the Middle Ages until the Age of Enlightenment, scholars sought various forms of noble and religious patronage or funded their own work through medical practice. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many disciplines began to professionalize, and both government-sponsored "prizes" and the first research professorships at universities drove scientific investigation. In the 20th century, a variety of sources, including government organizations, military funding, patent profits, corporate sponsorship, and private philanthropies, have shaped scientific research. == Ancient science == Most early advances in mathematics, astronomy and engineering were byproducts of more immediate and practical goals. Surveying and accounting needs drove ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, and Indian mathematics, while calendars created for religious and agricultural purposes drove early astronomy. Modern science owes much of its heritage to ancient Greek philosophers; influential work in astronomy, mechanics, geometry, medicine, and natural history was part of the general pursuit of philosophy. Architectural knowledge, especially in ancient Greece and Rome,


id: history-of-science-policy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy-1.md
category: reference
title: History of science policy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:21.965426+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-science-policy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Patronage === Most of the important astronomers and natural philosophers (as well as artists) in the 16th and 17th centuries depended on the patronage of powerful religious or political figures to fund their work. Patronage networks extended all the way from Emperors and Popes to regional nobles to artisans to peasants; even university positions were based to some extent on patronage. Scholarly careers in this period were driven by patronage, often starting in undistinguished universities or local schools or courts, and traveling closer or farther from centers of power as their fortunes rose and fell. Patronage, and the desire for more, also shaped the work and publications of scientists. Effusive dedications to current or potential patrons can be found in almost every scholarly publication, while the interests of a patron in a specific topic was a strong incentive to pursue said topic—or reframe one's work in terms of it. Galileo, for example, first presented the telescope as a naval instrument to military- and commerce-focused Republic of Venice; when he sought the more prestigious patronage of the Medici court in Florence, he instead promoted the astronomical potential of the device (by naming the moons of Jupiter after the Medicis). A


id: history-of-science-policy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy-2.md
category: reference
title: History of science policy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:21.965426+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-science-policy-20260505-0
summary:
== 1900–1945 == In the twentieth century, scientific and technological research became increasingly systematised, as corporations developed, and discovered that continuous investment in research and development could be a key element of success in a competitive strategy. It remained the case, however, that imitation by competitors—circumventing or simply flouting patents, especially those registered abroad—was often just as successful a strategy for companies focused on innovation in matters of organisation and production technique, or even in marketing. A classic example is that of Wilkinson Sword and Gillette in the disposable razor market, where the former has typically had the technological edge, and the latter the commercial one. Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's will directed that his vast fortune be utilized to establish prizes in the scientific fields of medicine, physics and chemistry as well as literature and peace. The Nobel Prize served to provide financial incentives for scientists, elevated leading scientists to unprecedented visibility, and provided an example for other philanthropists of the industrial era to provide private sources of funding for scientific research and education. Ironically, it was not an era of peace that followed, but rather wars fought on unprecedented international scale that led to expanded state interest in the


id: history-of-science-policy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy-3.md
category: reference
title: History of science policy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_policy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:21.965426+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-science-policy-20260505-0
summary:
=== State funding cuts === Starting with the first Oil shock, an economic crisis hit the western world which made it more difficult for the states to maintain their uncritical funding of research and teaching. In the United Kingdom, the University Grants Committee started to lower their annual block grant for certain universities as soon as 1974. This was compounded by the access to power of the Thatcher government in 1979, who pledged a radical reduction of public spending. Between 1979 and 1981, more cuts in the block grant threatened universities and became opportunities seized by certain actors (heads of departments, vice-chancellors, etc.) for radical reorganisation and reorientation of the university's research. In 1970 in the United States, the Military Authorization Act forbade the DOD to support research unless it had "direct or apparent relationship to a specific military function." This cut the ability of the government to fund basic research. === Selectivity === In order to administer severely depleted resources in a (theoretically) transparent manner, several selectivity mechanisms were developed through the 1980s and 1990s. In the United Kingdom, the funding cuts of 1984–1986 were accompanied by an assessment of the quality of research. This was done by estimating


id: protoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: Protoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:23.132251+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: protoscience-20260505-0
summary:
In the philosophy of science, protoscience (adj. protoscientific) is a research field that has the characteristics of an undeveloped science that may ultimately develop into an established science. Philosophers use protoscience to understand the history of science and distinguish protoscience from science and pseudoscience. The word "protoscience" is a hybrid Greek-Latin compound of the roots proto- + scientia, meaning a first or primeval rational knowledge. Examples of protoscience include alchemy, Wegener's original theory of continental drift and political economy (the predecessor to the modern economic sciences). == History == Protoscience as a research field with the characteristics of an undeveloped science appeared in the early 20th century. In 1910, Jones described the field of political economy as it began the transition to the modern field of economics: I confess to a personal predilection for some term such as proto-science, pre-science, or nas-science, to give expression to what I conceive to be the true state of affairs, which I take to be this, that economics and kindred subjects are not sciences, but are on the way to become sciences. Thomas Kuhn later provided a more precise description, protoscience as a field that generates testable conclusions, faces "incessant criticism and continually strive


id: protoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoscience-1.md
category: reference
title: Protoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:23.132251+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: protoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Science field === A science field is a research field that satisfies 12 conditions: 1) all components of the science field invariably change over time from research in the field, especially logical/mathematical tools and specific background/presuppositions from other fields; 2) the research community has special training, "hold strong information links", initiates or continues the "tradition of inquiry"; 3) researchers have autonomy to pursue research and receive support from the host society; 4) the researchers worldview is the real world as contains "lawfully changing concrete" objects, an adequate view of the scientific method, a vision of organized science achieving truthfull descriptions and explanations, ethical principles for conducting research, and the free search for truthful, deep and systematic understanding; 5) up-to-date logical/mathematical tools precisely determine and process information; 6) the domain of research are real objects/entities; 7) specific background knowledge is up-to-date, confirmed data, hypotheses and theories from relevant neighboring fields; 8) the set of problems investigated are from the domain of inquiry or within the research field; 9) the accumulated knowledge includes worldview-compatible, up-to-date testworthy/testable theories, hypotheses and data, and special knowledge previously accumlated in the research field; 10) the aims are find and apply laws and theories in the


id: history-of-pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pseudoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: History of pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:24.281319+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
The history of pseudoscience is the study of pseudoscientific theories over time. A pseudoscience is a set of ideas that presents itself as science, while it does not meet the criteria to properly be called such. Distinguishing between proper science and pseudoscience is sometimes difficult. One popular proposal for demarcation between the two is the falsification criterion, most notably contributed to by the philosopher Karl Popper. In the history of pseudoscience it can be especially hard to separate the two, because some sciences developed from pseudosciences. An example of this is the science chemistry, which traces its origins from the protoscience of alchemy. The vast diversity in pseudosciences further complicates the history of pseudoscience. Some pseudosciences originated in the pre-scientific era, such as astrology and acupuncture. Others developed as part of an ideology, such as Lysenkoism, or as a response to perceived threats to an ideology. An example of this is creationism, which was developed as a response to the scientific theory of evolution. Despite failing to meet proper scientific standards, many pseudosciences survive. This is usually due to a persistent core of devotees who refuse to accept scientific criticism of their beliefs, or due to popular misconceptions. Sheer popularity


id: history-of-pseudoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pseudoscience-1.md
category: reference
title: History of pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:24.281319+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
== 20th century == Among the most notable developments to pseudoscience in the 20th century are the rise of Creationism, the demise of Spiritualism, and the first formulation of ancient astronaut theories. Reflexology, the idea that an undetectable life force connects various parts of the body to the feet and sometimes the hands and ears, was introduced in the US in 1913 as 'zone therapy'. Creationism arose during the 20th century as a result of various other historical developments. When the modern evolutionary synthesis overcame the eclipse of Darwinism in the first half of the 20th century, American fundamentalist Christians began opposing the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools. They introduced numerous laws to this effect, one of which was notoriously upheld by the Scopes Trial. In the second half of the century the Space Race caused a renewed interest in science and worry that the USA was falling behind on the Soviet Union. Stricter science standards were adopted and led to the re-introduction of the theory of evolution in the curriculum. The laws against teaching evolution were now ruled unconstitutional, because they violated the separation of church and state. Attempting to evade this ruling, the Christian


id: history-of-randomness-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_randomness-0.md
category: reference
title: History of randomness
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_randomness
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:25.408997+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-randomness-20260505-0
summary:
In ancient history, the concepts of chance and randomness were intertwined with that of fate. Many ancient peoples threw dice to determine fate, and this later evolved into games of chance. At the same time, most ancient cultures used various methods of divination to attempt to circumvent randomness and fate. Beyond religion and games of chance, randomness has been attested for sortition since at least ancient Athenian democracy in the form of a kleroterion. The formalization of odds and chance was perhaps earliest done by the Chinese 3,000 years ago. The Greek philosophers discussed randomness at length, but only in non-quantitative forms. It was only in the sixteenth century that Italian mathematicians began to formalize the odds associated with various games of chance. The invention of modern calculus had a positive impact on the formal study of randomness. In the 19th century the concept of entropy was introduced in physics. The early part of the twentieth century saw a rapid growth in the formal analysis of randomness, and mathematical foundations for probability were introduced, leading to its axiomatization in 1933. At the same time, the advent of quantum mechanics changed the scientific perspective on determinacy. In the mid to late


id: history-of-randomness-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_randomness-1.md
category: reference
title: History of randomness
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_randomness
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:12:25.408997+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-randomness-20260505-0
summary:
For several centuries thereafter, the idea of chance continued to be intertwined with fate. Divination was practiced in many cultures, using diverse methods. The Chinese analyzed the cracks in turtle shells, while the Germans, who according to Tacitus had the highest regards for lots and omens, utilized strips of bark. In the Roman Empire, chance was personified by the Goddess Fortuna. The Romans would partake in games of chance to simulate what Fortuna would have decided. In 49 BC, Julius Caesar allegedly decided on his fateful decision to cross the Rubicon after throwing dice. Aristotle's classification of events into the three classes: certain, probable and unknowable was adopted by Roman philosophers, but they had to reconcile it with deterministic Christian teachings in which even events unknowable to man were considered to be predetermined by God. About 960 Bishop Wibold of Cambrai correctly enumerated the 56 different outcomes (without permutations) of playing with three dice. No reference to playing cards has been found in Europe before 1350. The Church preached against card playing, and card games spread much more slowly than games based on dice. The Christian Church specifically forbade divination; and wherever Christianity went, divination lost most of its old-time


