The life and work of the Prussian geographer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt continues to fascinate, even today. This is partly because his figure concentrates and synthesises the movements, ideas, and even the great contradictions of the time of profound change that was nineteenthcentury Europe. One of these great contradictions is the relationship between science and power. While on the one hand science was demanding its autonomy and universal value, its purity», and objectivity more than ever before, on the other, the field was often entangled in questions of political and economic power. In an era in which European countries were intensifying their race for world control, information and knowledge about nature gave them a vanguard position when it came to managing this control. Here, we situate Alexander von Humboldt’s innovative geographical work in this context.
{"title":"Nature as a political question: Alexander von Humboldt and power networks","authors":"Bernat Lladó i Mas","doi":"10.7203/METODE.8.10438","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.8.10438","url":null,"abstract":"The life and work of the Prussian geographer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt continues to fascinate, even today. This is partly because his figure concentrates and synthesises the movements, ideas, and even the great contradictions of the time of profound change that was nineteenthcentury Europe. One of these great contradictions is the relationship between science and power. While on the one hand science was demanding its autonomy and universal value, its purity», and objectivity more than ever before, on the other, the field was often entangled in questions of political and economic power. In an era in which European countries were intensifying their race for world control, information and knowledge about nature gave them a vanguard position when it came to managing this control. Here, we situate Alexander von Humboldt’s innovative geographical work in this context.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"16-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41605952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent paleoanthropological evidence from the early Pleistocene site of Dmanisi in Georgia has revealed that the first hominins out of Africa were more archaic than the coeval African and Asian Homo erectus . More evidence suggests that these archaic hominins were forest dwellers rather than savannah inhabitants. Between 1.8 and 1.6 million years ago a climate crisis caused a new spread of savannah and arid zones across large parts of Africa. As a consequence, early Homo populations splitted, with some populations becoming adapted to the new ecological conditions and others following woodland areas in their regression.
{"title":"Out of Africa: An alternative scenario for the first human dispersal in Eurasia","authors":"J. Agustí, D. Lordkipanidze","doi":"10.7203/METODE.8.10171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.8.10171","url":null,"abstract":"Recent paleoanthropological evidence from the early Pleistocene site of Dmanisi in Georgia has revealed that the first hominins out of Africa were more archaic than the coeval African and Asian Homo erectus . More evidence suggests that these archaic hominins were forest dwellers rather than savannah inhabitants. Between 1.8 and 1.6 million years ago a climate crisis caused a new spread of savannah and arid zones across large parts of Africa. As a consequence, early Homo populations splitted, with some populations becoming adapted to the new ecological conditions and others following woodland areas in their regression.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42026913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In a few years, the field of ancient DNA has changed from an anecdotal and artisanal discipline to one of the most dynamic scientific fields, generating massive genomic data about hundreds of individuals from the past. These include from extinct hominins such as Neanderthals or Denisovans to prehistoric humans that inform us about the recent settlement of continents. Palaeogenomics provides direct information about time and space, adaptive and demographic aspects of human populations, and manifests complex patterns of past migrations that help us to understand the current diversity. The development of the discipline is a unique opportunity to establish collaborative links with archaeologists and anthropologists and create a truly multidisciplinary view of the study of the past
{"title":"A brief history of palaeogenomics: How a young discipline revolutionised the study of the past","authors":"C. Lalueza-Fox","doi":"10.7203/METODE.8.9226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.8.9226","url":null,"abstract":"In a few years, the field of ancient DNA has changed from an anecdotal and artisanal discipline to one of the most dynamic scientific fields, generating massive genomic data about hundreds of individuals from the past. These include from extinct hominins such as Neanderthals or Denisovans to prehistoric humans that inform us about the recent settlement of continents. Palaeogenomics provides direct information about time and space, adaptive and demographic aspects of human populations, and manifests complex patterns of past migrations that help us to understand the current diversity. The development of the discipline is a unique opportunity to establish collaborative links with archaeologists and anthropologists and create a truly multidisciplinary view of the study of the past","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47601103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I write this article in the midst of a controversy among Spanish scientists regarding an alleged fraud in the works of one of them. If the accusations were true, published works, allegedly manipulated, passed the most rigorous scientific excellence tests for years. Fraud and plagiarism in science deserve another reading as well: if in this day and age we see counterfeit euros, handbags, drugs, electronic components... Why not scientific works? Javier Tejada Palacios. Full Professor of Fundamental Physics of the University of Barcelona (Spain).
{"title":"Publishing science: a chronic problem","authors":"J. Palacios","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.10504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.10504","url":null,"abstract":"I write this article in the midst of a controversy among Spanish scientists regarding an alleged fraud in the works of one of them. If the accusations were true, published works, allegedly manipulated, passed the most rigorous scientific excellence tests for years. Fraud and plagiarism in science deserve another reading as well: if in this day and age we see counterfeit euros, handbags, drugs, electronic components... Why not scientific works? Javier Tejada Palacios. Full Professor of Fundamental Physics of the University of Barcelona (Spain).","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"223-224"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48235893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The European University Association (EUA) highlighted in its document Ambitious funding for excellent research in Europe post-2020 that «education, research and innovation are central to the development and growth of any society». And they added: «Universities remain critical to safeguarding a democratic, tolerant and progressive society.» Undoubtedly, reaching a knowledge-based society is a challenge with many responsible agents. Among them, universities play a fundamental role. It looks like Spain has finally beaten Unamuno’s paradox: «Let them invent»; according to current data, we occupy the ninth or tenth position in the world in scientific production. But we still need to increase the impact of our science in the international field and, essentially, to make it serve society as indicated by the EUA. Pilar Campins . Vice-principal for Research and Science Policy of the University of Valencia (Spain).
{"title":"The value of knowledge","authors":"Pilar Campins","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.10503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.10503","url":null,"abstract":"The European University Association (EUA) highlighted in its document Ambitious funding for excellent research in Europe post-2020 that «education, research and innovation are central to the development and growth of any society». And they added: «Universities remain critical to safeguarding a democratic, tolerant and progressive society.» Undoubtedly, reaching a knowledge-based society is a challenge with many responsible agents. Among them, universities play a fundamental role. It looks like Spain has finally beaten Unamuno’s paradox: «Let them invent»; according to current data, we occupy the ninth or tenth position in the world in scientific production. But we still need to increase the impact of our science in the international field and, essentially, to make it serve society as indicated by the EUA. Pilar Campins . Vice-principal for Research and Science Policy of the University of Valencia (Spain).","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46032384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Riemann hypothesis is an unproven statement referring to the zeros of the Riemann zeta function. Bernhard Riemann calculated the first six non-trivial zeros of the function and observed that they were all on the same straight line. In a report published in 1859, Riemann stated that this might very well be a general fact. The Riemann hypothesis claims that all non-trivial zeros of the zeta function are on the the line x = 1/2. The more than ten billion zeroes calculated to date, all of them lying on the critical line, coincide with Riemann’s suspicion, but no one has yet been able to prove that the zeta function does not have non-trivial zeroes outside of this line.
{"title":"The Riemann hypothesis: The great pending challenge","authors":"P. Bayer","doi":"10.7203/METODE.0.8903","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.0.8903","url":null,"abstract":"The Riemann hypothesis is an unproven statement referring to the zeros of the Riemann zeta function. Bernhard Riemann calculated the first six non-trivial zeros of the function and observed that they were all on the same straight line. In a report published in 1859, Riemann stated that this might very well be a general fact. The Riemann hypothesis claims that all non-trivial zeros of the zeta function are on the the line x = 1/2. The more than ten billion zeroes calculated to date, all of them lying on the critical line, coincide with Riemann’s suspicion, but no one has yet been able to prove that the zeta function does not have non-trivial zeroes outside of this line.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42771233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Millennium Problems stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute became a stimulus for mathematical research. The aim of this article is to show some previous challenges that were also a stimulus to prove interesting results. With this pretext, we present three moments in the history of mathematics that were important for the development of new lines of research. We briefly analyse the Tartaglia challenge, which allowed experts to discover a formula for third degree equations; Johan Bernoulli’s problem of the curve of fastest descent, which originated the calculus of variations; and the incidence of the problems posed by David Hilbert in 1900, focusing on the first problem in the list: the continuum hypothesis.
{"title":"Old mathematical challenges: Precedents to the millennium problems","authors":"S. S. D. León","doi":"10.7203/METODE.0.9076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.0.9076","url":null,"abstract":"The Millennium Problems stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute became a stimulus for mathematical research. The aim of this article is to show some previous challenges that were also a stimulus to prove interesting results. With this pretext, we present three moments in the history of mathematics that were important for the development of new lines of research. We briefly analyse the Tartaglia challenge, which allowed experts to discover a formula for third degree equations; Johan Bernoulli’s problem of the curve of fastest descent, which originated the calculus of variations; and the incidence of the problems posed by David Hilbert in 1900, focusing on the first problem in the list: the continuum hypothesis.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"26-33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43925258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Poincare conjecture is a topological problem established in 1904 by the French mathematician Henri Poincare. It characterises three-dimensional spheres in a very simple way. It uses only the first invariant of algebraic topology – the fundamental group – which was also defined and studied by Poincare. The conjecture implies that if a space does not have essential holes, then it is a sphere. This problem was directly solved between 2002 and 2003 by Grigori Perelman, and as a consequence of his demonstration of the Thurston geometrisation conjecture, which culminated in the path proposed by Richard Hamilton.
{"title":"Poincaré conjecture: A problem solved after a century of new ideas and continued work","authors":"María Teresa Lozano Imízcoz","doi":"10.7203/METODE.0.9265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.0.9265","url":null,"abstract":"The Poincare conjecture is a topological problem established in 1904 by the French mathematician Henri Poincare. It characterises three-dimensional spheres in a very simple way. It uses only the first invariant of algebraic topology – the fundamental group – which was also defined and studied by Poincare. The conjecture implies that if a space does not have essential holes, then it is a sphere. This problem was directly solved between 2002 and 2003 by Grigori Perelman, and as a consequence of his demonstration of the Thurston geometrisation conjecture, which culminated in the path proposed by Richard Hamilton.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"59-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42341819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
En aquest article apliquem un enfocament epidemiologic per exposar els trets tipics de la pseudociencia i la popularitat tan persistent de que gaudeix. L�epidemiologia de la pseudociencia intenta explicar per que algunes creences assoleixen una amplia distribucio mentre que d�altres no, i per tant mira d�identificar quins factors exerceixen un efecte causal en aquesta configuracio. Assenyalem i debatem diversos factors que promouen la difusio de creences pseudocientifiques. En particular, sostenim que si aquestes creences arriben a difondre�s tan ampliament es perque el seu caracter intuitiu les fa atractives, aconsegueixen apropiar-se de l�autoritat cientifica i s�immunitzen amb exit contra les critiques.
{"title":"D'on sorgeixen les pseudociències?: un enfocament epidemiològic sobre la qüestió","authors":"Stefaan Blancke, Maarten Boudry, Johan Braeckman","doi":"10.7203/METODE.8.10007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.8.10007","url":null,"abstract":"En aquest article apliquem un enfocament epidemiologic per exposar els trets tipics de la pseudociencia i la popularitat tan persistent de que gaudeix. L�epidemiologia de la pseudociencia intenta explicar per que algunes creences assoleixen una amplia distribucio mentre que d�altres no, i per tant mira d�identificar quins factors exerceixen un efecte causal en aquesta configuracio. Assenyalem i debatem diversos factors que promouen la difusio de creences pseudocientifiques. En particular, sostenim que si aquestes creences arriben a difondre�s tan ampliament es perque el seu caracter intuitiu les fa atractives, aconsegueixen apropiar-se de l�autoritat cientifica i s�immunitzen amb exit contra les critiques.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"62-69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71307481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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