Earth Sciences

It is true that work in the philosophy of technology predates the founding of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT), and probably would have managed to struggle on even if SPT never came into existence. Philosophers and social thinkers did think and write about technology prior to 1975. Plato directed attention to crafts, Galileo to the media scientia, Heidegger to whatever. But I am not so sure that work in this area would have developed in the way it has without SPT. The Society for Philosophy and Technology has contributed in significant ways to the field known as the philosophy of technology, but not always positively. Further, today, work in the philosophy of technology is at a crossroads. The direction SPT takes will make the difference between seeing the philosophy of technology flourish or seeing it become marginalized. The marginalization of the philosophy of technology is a theme I have articulated on a number of occasions. I will rehearse some of the old concerns below. But my old worries are not the main worry addressed here. What I want to direct our attention to is the fact that philosophers of science are moving rapidly into our territory, and they are doing so without the baggage we in SPT have carried for so long. If we don't get our act together, we may find that we have been scooped in a fundamental way, one which removes from our purview an area of research we should be moving into, leaving us with only the irrelevant leftovers of our past efforts. But before I play Cassandra, let me give some of my personal perspective on the developments of the last twenty years, good and bad.

Anaxagoras [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Anaximander [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Anaximenes [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Empedocles [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Heraclitus (WSU) Melissos [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Parmenides [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Thales [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Xenophanes [Hanover Historical Texts Project)
Zeno [Hanover Historical Texts Project)

Each biographical study here consists of a brief summary of the person's life and work, including, as may be appropriate and available, a photographic or other image, list of publications, and links. In the case of the New Harmony naturalists, there are quite a number of onsite links to species named by them or named in their honor. Many professional photographers have kindly given permission for the use of their work in these links.

These pages are mainly intended to be a repository of historical material relating to the fossil Archaeopteryx lithographica.

The pages are divided into four parts, which can be navigated by using the menu bar above:

- In the Archaeopteryx section, there are some articles about Archaeopteryx, historical sources, and a few links to useful sites.
- A second part of the site is devoted to the Danish artist-cum-paleontologist Gerhard Heilmann, whose famous book The Origin of Birds became the common opinion about the origin of birds for over forty years after its appearance in 1926.
- Thirdly, some space (albeit not much at the moment) is reserved for information about the Argentinian paleontologist Florentino Ameghino.
- Finally, there is a section about my Ph.D. Project, "Scientific Societies in the Second Golden Age of Dutch Science, 1850-1914".

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a non-profit organization run by the editors. The Encyclopedia receives no funding, and operates through the volunteer work of the editors, authors, and technical advisors. (See the IEP Statement of Purpose).
Articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are currently from three sources (1) original contributions by specialized philosophers around the internet, (2) adaptations of material written by the editors for classroom purposes, and (3) adaptations from public domain sources (typically from two or more sources for per article). Articles of types 2 and 3 are designated as "proto articles," and over time we wish to replace all of these with original contributions by specialized philosophers (see submission guidelines). Proto articles are identifiable by the inclusion of the initials IEP at the foot of the article. By contrast, specialized articles are identifiable by the author's name at the close.

If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching the Sciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has discovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the Human Soul, which are the foundations of his Metaphysic; in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he has investigated, and, in particular, the explication of the motion of the heart and of some other difficulties pertaining to Medicine, as also the difference between the soul of man and that of the brutes; and, in the last, what the Author believes to be required in order to greater advancement in the investigation of Nature than has yet been made, with the reasons that have induced him to write.

The American Museum of Natural History is a nonprofit research institution chartered as a Museum and Library by the State of New York in 1869. Since that time the Library has grown into the largest natural history library in the Western Hemisphere. The Library's primary function is to serve and support the work of the Museum's scientific staff. The Library also serves scholars in natural history from around the world, as well as interested members of the general public. The Library's holdings are comprised of a research collection, special collections, and digital collections.

History
April 22, 1941
Establishing meet at Gakushi Kaikan in Tokyo
1941
Founded Kagakushi Kenkyu
1945
Discontinued any activities under World War II
April 24, 1948
First genaral meeting after the war at Nihon Ishi Kaikan (JMA), Tokyo
August, 1962
Founded Japanese Studies in the History of Science
1974
International Conference

Most people probably think of salt as simply that white granular food seasoning found in a salt shaker on virtually every dining table.
It is that, surely, but it is far more. It is an essential element in the diet of not only humans but of animals, and even of many plants. It is one of the most effective and most widely used of all food preservatives (and used to preserve Egyptian mummies as well). Its industrial and other uses are almost without number. In fact, salt has great current as well as historical interest, underlying geopolitics and even the subject of humorous cartoons and poetry and useful in film-making. Sometimes, however, we need to separate the salt to get the history. And there's a lot of history to get ( 1 2 3 ). There's even a new (2002) book by Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History.