al-mofhariz

It's all in your head . . .  One hundred billion neurons . One hundred trillion neural connections. The architecture of the human brain is more complex than any super computer. In fact, neuroscientists recently calculated that one single human brain contains more “switches” than all the computers on Earth combined. And yet . . .   we still know so little about what makes the mind tick. Partha Mitra of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is seeking to change all that, embarking on a bold new project to map the brain’s architecture. Dr. Mitra asks: What is the brain circuitry that underlies human behavior and emotion? How many basic emotions do we have, and what causes them? How can we fundamentally expand our knowledge of the brain’s systems and interconnections in order to better treat neurological conditions and  diseases of the mind? A neuroscientist and theoretical physicist , Dr. Mitra is the Crick-Clay Professor of Biomathematics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The aut...

Last April, the Sixth Annual UK Workshop on Integrated History and Philosophy of Science was held at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. The workshop's title was “Revisiting the Aims and Methods of Integrated HPS," and the account of its proceedings (written up by attendees) suggests that the title was an accurate one. While I wasn't able to make it to Free School Lane for the big show, I was happy to be able to peruse the e-version. Because I wasn't there, I can't say whether the summaries offered on the web are accurate to the actual conversations; still, the blend of nostalgia and optimism that rings through them can't be far off.  Hasok Chang's opening remarks set the tone. Nostalgia for "an earlier heyday of integrated HPS" is central: "These were the days of N. R. Hanson, Imre Lakatos, Gerd Buchdahl and Mary Hesse, the now-forgotten Herbert Dingle, and the up-and-coming Thomas Kuhn, Paul F...

Exciting news : Graduate Students presenting papers on American topics (broadly defined) at the History of Science Society Annual Meeting are invited to apply for travel assistance funding from the Forum for the History of Science in America. The Forum will be awarding one grant of $250.00 (USD) to assist with the cost of traveling to and attending the meeting. To apply, please submit the following: The title/panel/abstract for the paper being presented.  A brief statement indicating: whether or not the applicant has additional or alternative sources of travel funds ( e.g. departmental support);  whether the applicant has presented papers at previous HSS meetings;  estimated cost of transportation to the meeting (e.g. airfare).   The successful candidate will be presented with the award at the Forum's Annual Business meeting normally held during the lunch hour on the Friday of the Conference.  Please send your application materials via email to Professor Gw...