Thing Knowledge

Thing Knowledge PDF

Author: Davis Baird

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2004-02-10

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0520928202

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Western philosophers have traditionally concentrated on theory as the means for expressing knowledge about a variety of phenomena. This absorbing book challenges this fundamental notion by showing how objects themselves, specifically scientific instruments, can express knowledge. As he considers numerous intriguing examples, Davis Baird gives us the tools to "read" the material products of science and technology and to understand their place in culture. Making a provocative and original challenge to our conception of knowledge itself, Thing Knowledge demands that we take a new look at theories of science and technology, knowledge, progress, and change. Baird considers a wide range of instruments, including Faraday's first electric motor, eighteenth-century mechanical models of the solar system, the cyclotron, various instruments developed by analytical chemists between 1930 and 1960, spectrometers, and more.

Building Scientific Apparatus

Building Scientific Apparatus PDF

Author: John H. Moore

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-06-25

Total Pages: 663

ISBN-13: 0521878586

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Unrivalled in its coverage and unique in its hands-on approach, this guide to the design and construction of scientific apparatus is essential reading for every scientist and student of engineering, and physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Covering the physical principles governing the operation of the mechanical, optical and electronic parts of an instrument, new sections on detectors, low-temperature measurements, high-pressure apparatus, and updated engineering specifications, as well as 400 figures and tables, have been added to this edition. Data on the properties of materials and components used by manufacturers are included. Mechanical, optical, and electronic construction techniques carried out in the lab, as well as those let out to specialized shops, are also described. Step-by-step instruction supported by many detailed figures, is given for laboratory skills such as soldering electrical components, glassblowing, brazing, and polishing.

Nineteenth-century Scientific Instruments

Nineteenth-century Scientific Instruments PDF

Author: Gerard L'Estrange Turner

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1983-01-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 9780520051607

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Examines the variety of instruments and equipment used in scientific research in fields such as chemistry, mechanics, meteorology, and electricity

Instruments of Science

Instruments of Science PDF

Author: Robert Bud

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 740

ISBN-13: 9780815315612

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With over 300 entries from the ancient abacus to X-ray diffraction, as represented by a ca. 1900 photo of an X- ray machine as well as the latest research into filmless x- ray systems, this tour of the history of scientific instruments in multiple disciplines provides context and a bibliography for each entry. Newer conceptions of "instrument" include organisms widely used in research: e.g. the mouse, drosophila, and E. coli. Bandw photographs and diagrams showcase more traditional instruments from The Science Museum, London, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Scientific Instruments and Apparatus CD-ROM and Book

Scientific Instruments and Apparatus CD-ROM and Book PDF

Author: Jim Harter

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 0486997758

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Selected from hard-to-find 19th-century sources, these 436 black-and-white engravings cover the spectrum of scientific study: prisms, gyroscopes, barometers, pendulums, astrolabes, telescopes, microscopes, and many other instruments."

How Scientific Instruments Speak

How Scientific Instruments Speak PDF

Author: Bas de Boer

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-01-14

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1793627851

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Science is highly dependent on technologies to observe scientific objects. For example, astronomers need telescopes to observe planetary movements, and cognitive neuroscience depends on brain imaging technologies to investigate human cognition. But how do such technologies shape scientific practice, and how do new scientific objects come into being when new technologies are used in science? In How Scientific Instruments Speak, Bas de Boer develops a philosophical account of how technologies shape the reality that scientists study, arguing that we should understand scientific instruments as mediating technologies. Rather than mute tools serving pre-existing human goals, scientific instruments play an active role in shaping scientific work. De Boer uses this account to discuss how brain imaging and stimulation technologies mediate the way in which cognitive neuroscientists investigate human cognitive functions. The development of cognitive neuroscience runs parallel with the development of advanced brain imaging technologies, drawing a lot of public attention—sometimes called “neurohype”—because of its alleged capacity to demystify the human mind. By analyzing how the objects that cognitive neuroscientists study are mediated by brain imaging technologies, de Boer explicates the processes by which human cognition is investigated.

Scientific Instruments on Display

Scientific Instruments on Display PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-08-14

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 900426440X

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During their active lives, scientific instruments generally inhabit the laboratory, observatory, classroom or the field. But instruments have also lived in a wider set of venues, as objects on display. As such, they acquire new levels of meaning; their cultural functions expand. This book offers selected studies of instruments on display in museums, national fairs, universal exhibitions, patent offices, book frontispieces, theatrical stages, movie sets, and on-line collections. The authors argue that these displays, as they have changed with time, reflect changing social attitudes towards the objects themselves and toward science and its heritage. By bringing display to the center of analysis, the collection offers a new and ambitious framework for the study of scientific instruments and the material culture of science. Contributors are: Amy Ackerberg-Hastings, Silke Ackermann, Marco Beretta, Laurence Bobis, Alison Boyle, Fausto Casi, Ileana Chinnici, Suzanne Débarbat, Richard Dunn, Inga Elmqvist-Söderlund, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Peggy A. Kidwell, Richard Kremer, Mara Miniati, Richard A. Paselk, Donata Randazzo, Steven Turner.

Failed Historical Scientific Instruments

Failed Historical Scientific Instruments PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-06-20

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9004689109

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Can a scientific instrument be regarded as a failure? Why and how? By shedding light on the complexity of these questions, the volume marks a step forward in the way historical scientific instruments can be analysed and displayed. The essays show how diverse failures can be, and how the assessment of scientific devices may change over time — some surprisingly becoming more successful. In addition to studies of how technical features led to failure, the authors examine the roles played by social bias and behaviour, commercial and economic circumstances, and political factors.