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Ce que Newton connut sans sortir de chez lui : Maupertuis et la forme de la terre dans les années 1730
No full textRob Iliffe. What Newton knew without having to go out : Maupertuis and the shape of the Earth in the 1730's. The expeditions organised by the Academy in Peru and Lapland were designed to provide a better measure of the meridian than that of the Cassinis, showing that the Earth was an oblate spheroid and not a prolate one. The Lapland expedition lead by Maupertuis (who had established fruitful contacts with Bernouilli and Celsius) was carefully prepared : the groundwork had to be made in difficult conditions, new instruments had to be built in London. Moreover, the experience was based upon principles put forward by foreign and protestant scholars such as Newton and Huyghens, and was due to collide with those of the cartographers of the King of France, such as the Cassinis ; it was also a professional challenge by the astronomers of the efficiency and reliability of the cartographers. Opposition from Cassini led Maupertuis to devise a sophisticated strategy for the diffusion of his results, which were far from being above criticism, and ensure them an acceptable scientific status, especially by establishing links with the practices of other disciplines and in exploiting to the full Newton's autorithy ; in the end, Maupertuis was even nicknamed « Sir Isac ».Rob Iliffe. Ce que Newton connut sans sortir de chez lui : Maupertuis et la forme de la Terre dans les années 1730. Les expéditions organisées par l'Académie au Pérou et en Laponie étaient destinées à obtenir, en partant des théories de Newton, une mesure du méridien terrestre meilleure que celle des Cassini et à montrer que la terre était « aplatie » et non « allongée ». L'expédition en Laponie, montée et dirigée par Maupertuis qui avait noué de fructueux contacts avec Bernouilïi et Celsius, fut soigneusement préparée : le
terrain était difficile, et il fallait obtenir des instruments spéciaux à Londres. Surtout, il fallait vaincre des réticences idéologiques : l'expérience n'était-elle pas fondée sur les principes de savants étrangers et
protestants comme Newton et Huyghens, et ne heurtait-elle pas direc- tement ceux des cartographes du roi de France, tels les Cassini ? C'était aussi un défi des astronomes aux cartographes. L'hostilité de Cassini obligea Maupertuis à mettre au point une stratégie raffinée pour diffuser ses résultats, qui étaient loin d'être inattaquables, et leur assurer un statut scientifique acceptable, notamment en établissant des liens avec les pratiques d'autres disciplines et en exploitant l'autorité de Newton, au point que Maupertuis fut surnommé « Sir Isac ».Iliffe Rob. Ce que Newton connut sans sortir de chez lui : Maupertuis et la forme de la terre dans les années 1730. In: Histoire & Mesure, 1993 volume 8 - n°3-4. La mesure de la terre. pp. 355-386
The relationship between science and religion in Kang Youweiâs Confucianism
Get PDFIn this thesis I analyse the relationship between science and religion in a non-Western and specifically Chinese context through an examination of the writings of Kang Youwei (康æç²1858â1927), a prominent reformer and Confucian thinker of the period of transition from Imperial to Republican China. Described by his followers as the âMartin Luther of Confucianismâ, Kang envisioned a central social role for Confucianism as a state religion, championing the restoration of a âpristineâ religion of Confucius (Kongjiaoåæ), by both modelling it after Christian practices and revitalizing the ancient Chinese belief in Shangdi ä¸å¸ (as a universal concept, equated with âGodâ). He upheld the unitary nature of the concept of jiao (æ) or âreligionâ, manifested in a variety of religions united by their shared moral aim and in their teachings on reverence for Divinity, the soulâs immortality, and compassion.
My research reveals that, before the rise of radical materialism and scientism, fully one generation before the acceptance by Chinese intellectuals of the âConflict Thesisâ, Kang had already sought to conceptualize the relationship between what are now generally categorized as science and religion. Expounding a holistic world-view founded upon a belief in the oneness of knowledge, Kang appropriated Western scientific concepts such as the âetherâ in his re-interpretation of the Confucian Classics. He saw no conflict between modern science and Confucian Religion, whose quintessential doctrines, in his view, contained the origins of scientific thought. Acknowledging that conflict with science might occur with other religions like Christianity, he admitted that certain religious doctrines required correction when scientific evidence made it imperative; no matter how far science advanced, however, it could never disprove the existence of God, whose infinite nature he believed lay beyond the grasp of finiteâeven if brilliantâscientific minds. Closer analysis of Kangâs conception of the complementary relationship between science and religion, I suggest, can contribute to a richer picture of Kangâs thought, a better understanding of the field of science and religion in China, and a more global account of the subject.</p
Prophecy, history and method: how and why Isaac Newton studied chronology
Get PDFIsaac Newton spent forty years of his life studying the chronology of ancient civilizations. The manuscript record that bears the fruits of these writings is in significant disarray, which has led to many misinformed conclusions about the nature of his research and his motivations for studying the topic in the first place. By devoting ample attention to Newtonâs reading, note-taking, writing, and ordering practices, this thesis makes use both of evidence drawn from Newton's surviving books and of Newtonâs digitised manuscripts and transcriptions to reconstruct the evolution of his chronological writings. Originally just an eight-page treatise on the origins of idolatry, âTheologiae Gentilis Origines Philosphicaeâ (mid-1680s), Newton started expanding and revising it to eventually arrive at the posthumously published Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728). I show that most of the writings he composed in the interval were all part of a single treatise, the âOriginalsâ (1702â06), in which he built on his original research.
In truth, Newtonâs chronological studies began even before the âOriginesâ, with his studies of the prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation. In order to correctly identify the four monarchies from Daniel and their role in past, present, and future, he needed a reliable timeframe. From Greek and Roman sources he derived a timeline of the kings that reigned over Babylon during the Jewish Exile, which he subsequently collated with the Scriptural record, not shunning to amend the chronological books of Ezra and Nehemiah where necessary. With the ââOriginesââ and âOriginalsâ, Newton constructed a timeframe from Greek history using methods from genealogy and astronomy that allowed him to incorporate all of sacred and profane history. Posthumous editorial projects and the scattered manuscript record have obscured much of the connections between Newtonâs chronological and prophetic writings, yet for Newton they were part of one and the same project.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Compte rendu de Rob Iliffe : «Priest of Nature : the Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton»
No full textIliffe (Rob), Priest of Nature : The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton. – Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017. – 522 p. – 1 vol. broché de 24 × 16,5 cm. – 26,00 €. – isbn 978-0-19-999535-6
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Remedies for the Empire : the eighteenth century Spanish botanical expeditions to the new world
Get PDFUnder the reign of Carlos III the Spanish government set up ambitious expeditions to the New World in order to investigate the medical virtues of the tropical vegetation. The explorers remained in America for several years collecting numerous new species, and they brought back to Europe large collections of dried plants, botanical drawings, samples and descriptions of useful plants. The case of quinine (Cinchona) is an outstanding instance of the medical, scientific and commercial issues involved in the exploration of the New World, and is one of the several discussed in detail in the dissertation. The investigation shows how colonial mercantile policies motivated the development of pharmacy during the eighteenth century and how knowledge in particular areas of natural history such as medicine and botany was shaped by economic, political and religious interests. Scientific exploration and natural history are described as forms of appropriation. Classifying and naming plants were essential practices for the displacement and accumulation of natural objects. The elaboration and central role of visual representations as well as the publication of floras are also examined in detail. The legitimation of botanical and medical knowledge involved a process of translation from folk experience into enlightened science. In this process of certification Linnaean taxonomy and eighteenth century pharmacy had central roles. My investigation provides an analysis of these practices and of the social and political interests which made them possible. Finally, my research is concerned with the influence of scientific exploration upon the nations in which the expeditions took place. The creation of scientific traditions in the Spanish America and the practice of European science by an elite of creoles had an important effect on the history of Latin America
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