al-mofhariz

The Library of Congress now hosts a fascinating set of photographs taken by University of Chicago ecologists (and their students), most prominently Henry C. Cowles (no relation to our dear Hank). On a personal note, I love the images of Lake Michigan dunes. As an undergraduate at Michigan State, I did my best to escape every year to explore these enormous white-sand oddities and feel a bit of wonder. I did not realize at the time that those same dunes had inspired Cowles' theory of ecological succession, beginning with his 1898 dissertation "The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan." In that seminal work, Cowles explained: "Ecology, therefore, is a study in dynamics. For its most ready application, plants should be found whose tissues and organs are actually changing at the present time in response to varying conditions. Plant formations should be found which are rapidly passing into other types by reason of a chan...

Errol Morris---in an odd lecture--- claims that Tom Kuhn threw an ashtray at him after an argument over incommensurability turned personal. Weird. Check it out here ( video ) ( audio ). According to Morris, he approached Kuhn with a certain indignation over Kuhn's apparent abnegation of the search for Truth in science and the history of science. We can only guess how (if?) the conversation turned violent. But like all conflicts, this one pleads for analysis. Morris takes Kuhn's idea of incommensurability to make the accumulation of knowledge impossible. I've always favored a reading of Structure that allows for the accumulation of knowledge, even as paradigms come and go. I guess I presume a sort of translation can and does take place across paradigms. I'm fascinated by Morris' passionate response. Is this an example of a reformist Liberal's fear of creeping relativism? I think I (we?) too often forget that the culture wars were not simply left-right. Liberals ...

Or who knows, maybe it does. At any rate, our History of Science blogging friends at Ether Wave Propaganda are on vacation. That provides us the perfect opportunity to point back to a terrific, recent post on the history of science in America that you might of missed. Will Thomas offers a vivid and engaging reading of Paul Lucier's 2009 Isis article, "The Professional and Scientist in Nineteenth Century America." I recall my own astonishment at learning (as a fresh graduate student) the recent origin of the label "scientist"---who could imagine a world without scientists, as such, I wondered. As Thomas relates in his post, Lucier gives us plenty more material about the recent origins of apparently natural labels and distinctions that should similarly astonish our students in years to come. Historians of Science in America have probably already taken note of Lucier's 2008 book, Scientists and Swindlers . Forum steering committee member David Spanagel wr...

Seriously, laserfest ! I'm digging this fantastic history of the laser , courtesy of the American Institute of Physics . You should too. Lets Amplify the press for this Stimulating feature on Emitting coherent beams of Radiation for 50 years.

Thomas Edison may have only come in ninth on the Atlantic's list of the top 100 most influential Americans , but amongst Victorians enshrined with their own museums or historical sites he takes the cake. Five North American sites, including Vienna, Ontario, lay claim to Edison's memory. Check the full list of "shrines" , which may serve many purposes, but clearly would serve well a geek planning her summer vacation.

The Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati has posted a wonderful little exhibit full of illustrations from ornithological illustrators. It isn't unusual to see images from Audubon or Catesby, but it's refreshing to see a panoply of images of a single species from a variety of popular observers and illustrators. I think it would be a wonderful use of internet-space to construct a database of changing bird images over time. Check out the feature on the passenger pigeon for a hint of what I'm imagining. Be sure to check out the " Birds for Children " section too. After all, as one steadfast supporter of the Forum could certainly remind us, a key to understanding science in America is understanding how it came to be taught. Also, the pictures look neat.