How Scientific Theories are Confirmed: A History of Atomic Theories of Matter. This project addresses the question of how scientific theories are confirmed by experiment - a fundamentally important aspect of philosophy of science and science itself - that has yet to be definitively answered.
The research will explore the evolution of atomic theories of matter, from speculation in the seventeenth century to precise versions that were confirmed by experiment in the twentieth.
This research r ....How Scientific Theories are Confirmed: A History of Atomic Theories of Matter. This project addresses the question of how scientific theories are confirmed by experiment - a fundamentally important aspect of philosophy of science and science itself - that has yet to be definitively answered.
The research will explore the evolution of atomic theories of matter, from speculation in the seventeenth century to precise versions that were confirmed by experiment in the twentieth.
This research represents a much-needed combining of history and philosophy in this field. It will advance the understanding of how theories in the physical sciences are confirmed in a way that is anchored in an investigation of actual scientific practice.Read moreRead less
The Emergence of a Scientific Culture in Early Modern Europe. The shaping of cognitive values around scientific ones was one of the most lasting and radical effects of the Scientific Revolution, and it is one of the most distinctive features of modernity in the West. This dominance of scientific values is absent from other scientific cultures (e.g. from Greek, medieval or Chinese science) and there is nothing intrinsic to the kinds of theories and results we find in the Scientific Revolution tha ....The Emergence of a Scientific Culture in Early Modern Europe. The shaping of cognitive values around scientific ones was one of the most lasting and radical effects of the Scientific Revolution, and it is one of the most distinctive features of modernity in the West. This dominance of scientific values is absent from other scientific cultures (e.g. from Greek, medieval or Chinese science) and there is nothing intrinsic to the kinds of theories and results we find in the Scientific Revolution that would explain this development. The project looks at the particular legitimatory problems that science faced in the 17th and 18th centuries, and investigates how this reshaping came about.Read moreRead less
The Eureka! Myth: Discourses of Discovery and Invention in Modern Societies. The advances in understanding made through this project will assist in reinterpreting the value of different institutional forms of provision for scientific work, will illuminate the process of commercialisation of research, and will help in assessing many unspoken assumptions behind intellectual property and patent law.
The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly enga ....The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly engage questions of value in a novel and revealing way, and how its connection with 'hard' sciences was not merely to provide a methodological gloss on these, but went to the core of what scientific explanation consisted in.Read moreRead less
At the crossroads of mathematics, navigation and exploration: A scientific biography of Henry Briggs (1561-1630). My project, a scientific biography of Henry Briggs (1561-1630), will investigate an important scholar who was at the centre of interacting networks of prominent mathematicians, colonists, and explorers. A study of Briggs's career will shed valuable light on the beginnings of mathematics as a viable profession in England, on the relationship between mathematics and scientific ideas c ....At the crossroads of mathematics, navigation and exploration: A scientific biography of Henry Briggs (1561-1630). My project, a scientific biography of Henry Briggs (1561-1630), will investigate an important scholar who was at the centre of interacting networks of prominent mathematicians, colonists, and explorers. A study of Briggs's career will shed valuable light on the beginnings of mathematics as a viable profession in England, on the relationship between mathematics and scientific ideas concerning magnetism, and on the interactions between mathematics, exploration, and colonisation. Such an examination is increasingly important due to recent arguments concerning the role of mathematics in the Scientific Revolution.Read moreRead less
Postgenomic perspectives on human nature. The rapid growth of biological knowledge and the need for societal reflection on this knowledge and its applications in Australia and overseas make it increasingly urgent that the humanities and social sciences draw on a biologically credible vision of human nature. We will study how non-scientists understand human nature and compare their ideas to those of scientists from a range of different disciplines. We will examine what current biology reveals abo ....Postgenomic perspectives on human nature. The rapid growth of biological knowledge and the need for societal reflection on this knowledge and its applications in Australia and overseas make it increasingly urgent that the humanities and social sciences draw on a biologically credible vision of human nature. We will study how non-scientists understand human nature and compare their ideas to those of scientists from a range of different disciplines. We will examine what current biology reveals about the biological basis of human characteristics and develop an account of human nature that is defensible in the light of that knowledge.Read moreRead less
Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930 in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as ....Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930 in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as well as the often unstated basic agreements that occurred across a range of disciplinary, social, and national boundaries to examine the roots of what neuroscience is today.Read moreRead less
Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930, in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as ....Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930, in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as well as the often unstated basic agreements that occurred across a range of disciplinary, social, and national boundaries, in order to get to the core of what neuroscience is today.Read moreRead less
Interdisciplinarity in the Sciences of Memory: cognition, culture, and complexity. Memory is studied in many disciplines, at a bewildering variety of levels. Is there any sense in which memory theorists - from neurobiologists to narrative psychologists - are studying the same phenomena? This project constructs a positive framework for understanding diverse research on memory in both cognitive and social sciences. We clarify the conceptual foundations of dynamical systems theory in the sciences o ....Interdisciplinarity in the Sciences of Memory: cognition, culture, and complexity. Memory is studied in many disciplines, at a bewildering variety of levels. Is there any sense in which memory theorists - from neurobiologists to narrative psychologists - are studying the same phenomena? This project constructs a positive framework for understanding diverse research on memory in both cognitive and social sciences. We clarify the conceptual foundations of dynamical systems theory in the sciences of memory. We develop methods for understanding complex interactions and collaborations between brain and environment; and we test naturalistic accounts of autobiographical memory, social memory, and external memory through case studies in cognitive psychology, history, and media theory.Read moreRead less
Nature and Nation: Science, Environment and National Identity in Australia. Nature and Nation combines interviews and archival research to explore the intersection of three worlds in Australia:
· the natural world
· the scientific world that speaks for nature in settler society, and
· the cultural world that fosters and constrains science and other ways of knowing about nature.
The primary focus is the workings of science in northern Australia, where the frontier has never closed. The a ....Nature and Nation: Science, Environment and National Identity in Australia. Nature and Nation combines interviews and archival research to explore the intersection of three worlds in Australia:
· the natural world
· the scientific world that speaks for nature in settler society, and
· the cultural world that fosters and constrains science and other ways of knowing about nature.
The primary focus is the workings of science in northern Australia, where the frontier has never closed. The aim is to elucidate the past, present and future roles of environment and science in Australia's nation-building. Outcomes will include public lectures, journal articles and a major book for a general audience.
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