Sci&Tech History

Lately my readings was dominated with knowledge and society, especially how knowledge was influenced by the society. One book tells about influence of religion in the science history, and why modern science failed to occur in Islam and China tradition. For me the word failure is a little bit dramatic, or at least, failure in [...]

Robert K. Merton, a science sociologist, proposed four elements which became ethos of science, which are(Huff, 1995): Universalism: this norm suggest two imperatives: first, that knowledge claims should be judged impersonally according to standard criteria and without regard to the personal characteristics of the researcher; and second, that all persons, regardless of [...]

In 1887, US President Grover Cleveland signed the Hatch Act. The act provided some public support of science through the establishment of agricultural research station in each state, the founding of the National Academy of Sciences during the Civil War, and the 1898 appropriation by Congress, with some daring and much criticism, of $50 thousand [...]

The main defects of Chinese mathematical and scientific thought were both substantive and logical. In regard to logic, Chinese thought lacked the logic of proof as well as the concepts of mathematical proof as constructed in Euclid’s Elements. It likewise lacked Hindu-Arabic numerals and the zero until about the thirteenth century. Perhaps most important, the [...]

In Mathematical vs Experimental Traditions, Thomas Kuhn points out that practitioners of Baconian and classical traditions can be found on the Continent and in England. England was home to Baconian sciences, while the Continent, especially France was the home of the mathematical sciences. Furthermore, Kuhn showed that the French Academy of Sciences did not have [...]

In Newtonian physics space was held to be uniform and three-dimensional, obeying the geometrical laws of Euclid. It was physically inert, infinite in extent, continuous and infinitely divisible. For Newton it had an absoluteness which he thought of as God-given. These premises were overthrown by Einstein, with the possible exception of its infinity and infinity [...]

Here are some points about method of investigation proposed by Nietzsche: 1. The distinguishing feature of our nineteenth century is not the triumph of science, but the triumph of the scientific method over science. 2. The most valuable knowledge is always discovered last: but the most valuable knowledge consists of methods. 3. All methods, all the hypotheses on [...]

What is the purpose of life on earth? Many philosophers have said that God created the earth as a school for souls. Some say human souls are created throughts of God. God may have invented and created each body and mind as the temporary shell to the house a soul during its childhood. Rev. Charles Neal, [...]

I’ve got the picture when I followed a seminar presented by Dr. Premana. The title which follows the picture is “Where are we?” Do you ever wondering about the universe, the creation, how small our galaxy is, and by the end our humanity? For me, it’s a never ending question.