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National Life Stories an Oral History of British
NATIONAL LIFE STORIES AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SCIENCE Professor Bob Dickson Interviewed by Dr Paul Merchant C1379/56 © The British Library Board http://sounds.bl.uk This interview and transcript is accessible via http://sounds.bl.uk . © The British Library Board. Please refer to the Oral History curators at the British Library prior to any publication or broadcast from this document. Oral History The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB United Kingdom +44 (0)20 7412 7404 [email protected] Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this transcript, however no transcript is an exact translation of the spoken word, and this document is intended to be a guide to the original recording, not replace it. Should you find any errors please inform the Oral History curators. © The British Library Board http://sounds.bl.uk British Library Sound Archive National Life Stories Interview Summary Sheet Title Page Ref no: C1379/56 Collection title: An Oral History of British Science Interviewee’s surname: Dickson Title: Professor Interviewee’s forename: Bob Sex: Male Occupation: oceanographer Date and place of birth: 4th December, 1941, Edinburgh, Scotland Mother’s occupation: Housewife , art Father’s occupation: Schoolmaster teacher (part time) [chemistry] Dates of recording, Compact flash cards used, tracks [from – to]: 9/8/11 [track 1-3], 16/12/11 [track 4- 7], 28/10/11 [track 8-12], 14/2/13 [track 13-15] Location of interview: CEFAS [Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science], Lowestoft, Suffolk Name of interviewer: Dr Paul Merchant Type of recorder: Marantz PMD661 Recording format : 661: WAV 24 bit 48kHz Total no. -
Karl Jordan: a Life in Systematics
AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Kristin Renee Johnson for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History of SciencePresented on July 21, 2003. Title: Karl Jordan: A Life in Systematics Abstract approved: Paul Lawrence Farber Karl Jordan (1861-1959) was an extraordinarily productive entomologist who influenced the development of systematics, entomology, and naturalists' theoretical framework as well as their practice. He has been a figure in existing accounts of the naturalist tradition between 1890 and 1940 that have defended the relative contribution of naturalists to the modem evolutionary synthesis. These accounts, while useful, have primarily examined the natural history of the period in view of how it led to developments in the 193 Os and 40s, removing pre-Synthesis naturalists like Jordan from their research programs, institutional contexts, and disciplinary homes, for the sake of synthesis narratives. This dissertation redresses this picture by examining a naturalist, who, although often cited as important in the synthesis, is more accurately viewed as a man working on the problems of an earlier period. This study examines the specific problems that concerned Jordan, as well as the dynamic institutional, international, theoretical and methodological context of entomology and natural history during his lifetime. It focuses upon how the context in which natural history has been done changed greatly during Jordan's life time, and discusses the role of these changes in both placing naturalists on the defensive among an array of new disciplines and attitudes in science, and providing them with new tools and justifications for doing natural history. One of the primary intents of this study is to demonstrate the many different motives and conditions through which naturalists came to and worked in natural history. -
Ron Numbers Collection-- the Creationists
Register of the Ron Numbers Collection-- The Creationists Collection 178 Center for Adventist Research James White Library Andrews University Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104-1400 1992, revised 2007 Ron Numbers Collection--The Creationists (Collection 178) Scope and Content This collection contains the records used as resource material for the production of Dr. Numbers' book, The Creationists, published in 1992. This book documents the development of the creationist movement in the face of the growing tide of evolution. The bulk of the collection dates from the 20th century and covers most of the prominent, individual creationists and pro-creation groups of the late 19th and 20th century primarily in the United States, and secondarily, those in England, Australia, and Canada. Among the types of records included are photocopies of articles and other publications, theses, interview tapes and transcripts, and official publications of various denominations. One of the more valuable contributions of this collection is the large quantity of correspondence of prominent individuals. These records are all photocopies. A large section contains documentation related to Seventh-day Adventist creationists. Adventists were some of the leading figures in the creationist movement, and foremost among this group is George McCready Price. The Adventist Heritage Center holds a Price collection. The Numbers collection contributes additional correspondence and other documentation related to Price. Arrangement Ron Numbers organized this collection for the purpose of preparing his book manuscript, though the book itself is not organized in this way. Dr. Numbers suggested his original arrangement be retained. While the collection is arranged in its original order, the outline that follows may be of help to some researchers. -
Biologie V Období Baroka a Osvícenství
Biologie v období baroka a osvícenství Historické pozadí Za mezník, stojící na počátku této historické epochy lze bezesporu pokládat anglickou buržoazní revoluci (1649 - 1660). Po krátkém období existence republiky, se na anglický trůn sice vrací stuartovská dynastie, ale zvrat k předrevolučním poměrům již nenastal. Oliver Cromwell Politická moc šlechty byla oslabena , což předznamenalo další hospodářský a politický vývoj země a její rozsáhlou koloniální expanzi v mimoevropském světě. Francie se za vlády Ludvíka XIV. stala nejsilnější mocností starého kontinentu a řadou válek rozšířila své území. Avšak ani tyto úspěchy, ani oslnivý lesk dvora "krále slunce", nemohly zakrýt narůstající rozpory v zemi. Na východě Evropy trvale rostl vliv a význam Ruska, které na cestu modernizace a dalšího rozvoje uvedl schopný a energický car Petr I. Veliký. Tlak, který stupňovali Britové ve svých osadách za oceánem, vedl k revolučnímu výbuchu. Výsledkem byl vznik prvního nezávislého státu v Novém Světě - Spojených států amerických (1776). Velká francouzská revoluce, jejíž význam přerostl rámec Francie, je mezníkem, který definitivně uzavřel epochu feudalismu. Školství základní V základním školství je v evropských zemích zaváděna povinná školní docházka. V Rakousku a tedy i u nás, 6. XII. 1774. Neexistovaly učitelské ústavy, takže na vsích běžně dělali kantory vysloužilí vojáci, kteří sotva uměli číst a psát; pokud dovedli násobit a dělit, byli již považováni za vysoce kvalifikované. V mnoha státech však postupně přechází základní školství ze správy obcí pod správu státu. Jako příklad struktury základního školství doby osvícenské může sloužit školství rakouské, zahrnující 3 typy základních škol. Školy triviální (1 nebo 2 třídní obvykle s jedním učitelem): zřízené všude, kde v dosahu žilo 80-100 dětí, tedy v městečkách, při vesnických farách i filiálních kostelích. -
The Early Life History of Fish
Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Cons. int. Explor. Mer, 191: 339-344. 1989 Johan Hjort - founder of modern Norwegian fishery research and pioneer in recruitment thinking P. Solemdal and M. Sinclair Solemdal, P., and Sinclair, M. 1989. Johan Hjort - founder of modern Norwegian fishery research and pioneer in recruitment thinking. - Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Cons. int. Explor. Mer, 191: 339-344. A description of some major scientific controversies prior to 1914 that influenced the development of Hjort's thinking is presented. Particular attention is given to the difficulties encountered with the migration theory (which explained interannual fluctuations in fisheries landings in the North Atlantic) and the debate on local populations, overfishing, and the role of hatcheries in increasing yields from marine fisheries. The steps leading to his classic 1914 paper are summarized and highlights of the 1914 paper are discussed. It is concluded that Hjort’s work between 1893 and 1917 led to a shift in emphasis from adult migration to early life history processes in the study of interannual fluctuations in yield. P. Solemdal: Institute o f Marine Fisheries Research, P.O. Box 1870, N-5024 Bergen, Norway. M. Sinclair: Department o f Fisheries and Oceans, Halifax Fisheries Research Laboratory, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 257, Canada. Introduction Problems in the 1890s The great fluctuations in the fisheries of northern The major scientific problem facing marine biologists Europe at the end of the last century had enormous and oceanographers in the latter half of the 19th century influence on the economy. It was at this time that was an explanation of the interannual fluctuations in the question of overfishing was formulated. -
Steller's Sea
eptember 1741. Captain-commander Vitus Bering’s ship, St. Peter, was stumbling somewhere among the long desolate string of Aleutian Islands in the far North Pacific. All on board recognized that it was unlikely they’d ever make it home. Scurvy had flattened several of the crew, two men had already died, and Captain Bering himself was terribly ill. The fresh water stored in barrels was mostly foul, and the storm-force winds and seas were constantly in their faces. Sailing aboard St. Peter and sharing the cabin with Captain Bering was a German physician and naturalist Snamed Georg Wilhelm Steller. On his first voyage, Steller was certain they were near to land because he saw floating seaweed and various birds that he knew to be strictly coastal. But no one listened to him, in part because he hadn’t been shy in showing that he thought them all idiots, and also because his idea of exactly where they happened to be was wrong. Bering’s expedition continued, blindly groping westward toward Siberia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The storms raged on, more men died, then eventually, somehow, they made it to a small protected harbor in the middle of the night. They hoped it was the mainland. Steller and his servant rowed several of the sickest men ashore the next morning. He thought the place was an island because of the shape of the clouds and how the sea otters carelessly swam over to the boat, unafraid of man. Once ashore, Steller noticed a huge animal swimming along the coast, a creature that he had never seen before and was unknown in cold, northern waters. -
In the Lands of the Romanovs: an Annotated Bibliography of First-Hand English-Language Accounts of the Russian Empire
ANTHONY CROSS In the Lands of the Romanovs An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of The Russian Empire (1613-1917) OpenBook Publishers To access digital resources including: blog posts videos online appendices and to purchase copies of this book in: hardback paperback ebook editions Go to: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/268 Open Book Publishers is a non-profit independent initiative. We rely on sales and donations to continue publishing high-quality academic works. In the Lands of the Romanovs An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of the Russian Empire (1613-1917) Anthony Cross http://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2014 Anthony Cross The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the text; to adapt it and to make commercial use of it providing that attribution is made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that he endorses you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Cross, Anthony, In the Land of the Romanovs: An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of the Russian Empire (1613-1917), Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/ OBP.0042 Please see the list of illustrations for attribution relating to individual images. Every effort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omissions or errors will be corrected if notification is made to the publisher. As for the rights of the images from Wikimedia Commons, please refer to the Wikimedia website (for each image, the link to the relevant page can be found in the list of illustrations). -
1. Canadian Marine SCIENCE from Before Titanic to the Establishment of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in 1962 Eric L. Mills
HISTORICAL ROOTS 1. CANADIAN MARINE SCIENCE FROM BEFORE TITANIC TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BEDFORD INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY IN 1962 Eric L. Mills SUMMARY Beginning in the early 1960s, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography consolidated marine sciences and technologies that had developed separately, some of them since the late 19th century. Marine laboratories, devoted mainly to marine biology, were established in 1908 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and Nanaimo, British Columbia, and it was in them that Canada’s first studies in physical oceanography began in the early 1930s and became fully established after World War II. Charting and tidal observation developed separately in post-Confederation Canada, beginning in the last two decades of the 19th century, and becoming united in the Canadian Hydrographic Service in 1924. For a number of scientific and political reasons, Canadian marine sciences developed most rapidly after World War II (post-1945), including work in the Arctic, the founding of graduate programs in oceanography on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the reorientation of physical oceanography from the federal Fisheries Research Board to the federal Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, increased work on marine geology and geophysics, and eventually the founding of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, which brought all these fields together. Key words: Canadian marine science, Atlantic and Pacific biological stations, charting, tides, hydrography, post-World War II developments, origin of BIO. E-mail: [email protected] The Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) opened formally in 1962 Europe decades before. The result, achieved with the help of university (Fig. 1), bringing together scientists and technologists who had worked in biologists, was an organizational structure, the Board of Management of fields as diverse as physical oceanography, hydrographic charting, marine the Biological Station (became the Biological Board of Canada in 1912), geology, and marine ecology. -
Evolutionary Steps in Ichthyology and New Challenges*
ISSN: 0001-5113 ACTA ADRIAT., UDC: 597(091) AADRAY 49(3): 201 - 232, 2008 Evolutionary steps in ichthyology and new challenges* Walter NELLEN 1* and Jakov DULČIĆ 2 1 Institut for Hydrobiology and Fisheries, University of Hamburg, Olbersweg 24, 22767 Hamburg, Germany 2 Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, P.O. Box 500, 21 000 Split, Croatia * Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] One may postulate that man’s interest in fish emerged as soon as he was able to express his thoughts and notions as fish, among other animals, were subject of early communications. These were transmitted first by drawings, later by inscriptions and in writings. It was but much later that fishes began to occupy man’s interest as objects of science. Aristotle’s treatises on “History of Ani- mals” is the first known document dealing with fish as a zoological object. No earlier than in the 16th century fish regained the interest of learned men, among these Olaus Magnus (1490 –1557), Gregor Mangolt (1498–1576), Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1557), Pierre Belon (1512–1564), Hip- polyto (Ippolito) Salviani (1513–1572) and, above all, Conrad Gesner (1516–1565). The 17th and more so the 18th century is known as the period of Enlightenment. Respect must be paid to three pioneers in this field, i.e. Francis Willughby (1635–1672), Peter Artedi (1705–1735), and Marc Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) who became clearly aware that the class of fish consists of species which may be classified and typically described as such. After the species concept had been embodied in the scientific way of thinking by Linné, a tremendous expansion of activities emerged in the field of ichthyology. -
1 Big History, the Big Bang, and the Big Book: the History of Science
Big History, the Big Bang, and the Big Book: The History of Science Meets the Tradition of Christianity Course Context In the 1980s, historian David Christian embarked on a delightfully daring journey: to narrate the entire history of the world from its origins to the present. Ignoring the sacred cow of academic specialization, in which academics are only encouraged to speak about their immediate areas of intellectual concentration, Christian coined the term “Big History” to refer to the history of the cosmos in all of its fourteen-billion years of glory. Even though he was an Australian historian of Russia, with little formal training in science, Christian began teaching history in a way that no one had quite done before. As David Christian was attempting to understand the evolution of history across fourteen billion years, many conservative Christians were actively vilifying the consensus of scientists when it came to the age of the universe, the age of earth, and the origins of human life. Kenneth Ham, an Australian like David Christian who is also around the same age, is at the forefront of creationist apologetics. Ham founded the Creation Museum and he is president of a highly influential organization that teaches young-earth creationism and rejects the methodologies and assumptions of mainstream science. Who is right, David Christian or Ken Ham? And what difference does it make anyway? Course Description In Big History, the Big Bang, and the Big Book, we will explore the intersection between the history of mainstream science and the beliefs of evangelical Christianity. As we look at each of the major branches of science, we will do so with an eye toward understanding how it impacts the thought and practice of Protestant evangelicalism. -
Bolles E.B. Einstein Defiant.. Genius Versus Genius in the Quantum
Selected other titles by Edmund Blair Bolles The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age A Second Way of Knowing: The Riddle of Human Perception Remembering and Forgetting: Inquiries into the Nature of Memory So Much to Say: How to Help Your Child Learn Galileo’s Commandment: An Anthology of Great Science Writing (editor) Edmund Blair Bolles Joseph Henry Press Washington, DC Joseph Henry Press • 500 Fifth Street, NW • Washington, DC 20001 The Joseph Henry Press, an imprint of the National Academies Press, was created with the goal of making books on science, technology, and health more widely available to professionals and the public. Joseph Henry was one of the founders of the National Academy of Sciences and a leader in early American science. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this volume are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences or its affiliated institutions. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bolles, Edmund Blair, 1942- Einstein defiant : genius versus genius in the quantum revolution / by Edmund Blair Bolles. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-309-08998-0 (hbk.) 1. Quantum theory—History—20th century. 2. Physics—Europe—History— 20th century. 3. Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955. 4. Bohr, Niels Henrik David, 1885-1962. I. Title. QC173.98.B65 2004 530.12′09—dc22 2003023735 Copyright 2004 by Edmund Blair Bolles. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. To Kelso Walker and the rest of the crew, volunteers all. -
Chao-Dyn/9402001 7 Feb 94
chao-dyn/9402001 7 Feb 94 DESY ISSN Quantum Chaos January Einsteins Problem of The study of quantum chaos in complex systems constitutes a very fascinating and active branch of presentday physics chemistry and mathematics It is not wellknown however that this eld of research was initiated by a question rst p osed by Einstein during a talk delivered in Berlin on May concerning Quantum Chaos the relation b etween classical and quantum mechanics of strongly chaotic systems This seems historically almost imp ossible since quantum mechanics was not yet invented and the phenomenon of chaos was hardly acknowledged by physicists in While we are celebrating the seventyfth anniversary of our alma mater the Frank Steiner Hamburgische Universitat which was inaugurated on May it is interesting to have a lo ok up on the situation in physics in those days Most I I Institut f urTheoretische Physik UniversitatHamburg physicists will probably characterize that time as the age of the old quantum Lurup er Chaussee D Hamburg Germany theory which started with Planck in and was dominated then by Bohrs ingenious but paradoxical mo del of the atom and the BohrSommerfeld quanti zation rules for simple quantum systems Some will asso ciate those years with Einsteins greatest contribution the creation of general relativity culminating in the generally covariant form of the eld equations of gravitation which were found by Einstein in the year and indep endently by the mathematician Hilb ert at the same time In his talk in May Einstein studied the