al-mofhariz

Five hundred years ago, it was possible for one human brain to contain all the world’s scientific knowledge . Since then, the number of scientific papers has been doubling every decade—and it’s barely possible for an individual to master his or her own field of study. In the Information Age—when tens of millions of “answers” are at your fingertips—sometimes it’s the questions that we need to pursue. “Knowledge is a big subject,” says neuroscientist Stuart Firestein . “But ignorance is bigger.”  Chair of the department of biological sciences at Columbia University, director of the Firestein Lab which researches the vertebrate olfactory system and its role in perception and memory, and author of the new book Ignorance , Stuart Firestein asks: What do humans have absolutely no clue about? How can acknowledging the unknown make us smarter? How will ignorance drive science and exploration forward? Before & After  --Saturate yourself in our cerebral grooves   ...

When talking about the history of science and technology here on American Science, I've referred to it as HOST. This is nice. HOST has overtones of hospitality, gift-giving, amiability, and helpfulness, but maybe it's a bit too cozy. On the other hand, it could also be read as a parasitic host, which is more thrilling. Yet, it might be better for marketing purposes to call it HOTS, as in "I have the HOTS for research on paleontology and capitalism." Perhaps, it is even more advisable to talk about the history of technology, environment, and science, or HOTeES. Because, let's face it, who doesn't want to be one of the HOTeES? The things we think about on planes. I returned a few weeks ago from the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians. This year's theme was "Frontiers of Capitalism and Democracy." I'd like to share some various and scattered thoughts on the conference's theme, with an eye as always towards (implications...