分类：History of Science & Scholarship

Lecture 42 of the Science Forum: Science Matters (November 9)

History of Science & Scholarship2007.11.09
Lecture 42 of the Science Forum: Science Matters (November 9)
Science Forum Lecture No. 42: Science Matters (November 9) 2007.11.07 Peking University Forum on the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Lecture No. 42 Time: Friday, November 9, 2007, 2:00–4:00 p.m. Venue: Academic Lecture Hall, Center for the Study of Science and Society, Chengzeyuan Speaker: Lin Lei (Professor, Department of Physics, San Jose State University, California, USA) Topic: Science Matters: The Newest and Largest Interdisciplinary Field Commentator: Wu Guosheng Brief introduction to the talk: What is science? The answer is: “everything in the natural world is part of science.” What are generally called the “natural sciences” are in fact sciences of simple systems; the humanities/social sciences—fields of learning related…
science philosophy of science history humanities
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2007年11月9日
Keke Forum Lecture 41: Two Kinds of Local Knowledge (November 2)

History of Science & Scholarship2007.11.03
Keke Forum Lecture 41: Two Kinds of Local Knowledge (November 2)
The task of activating KKBBS begins… Last week I tried testing the waters by posting a report, only to discover that there isn’t just a shortage of water there—it’s a complete desert! Where on earth am I supposed to begin………… Let’s be a little honest first and finish the basic task of reporting on each instance of the KeKe Forum~ But this post of mine doesn’t seem to be a news report; rather, it’s a discussion. I think news copy is pretty dull anyway, and besides, I’m not good at writing it. So I might as well keep hurling bricks and see whether I can stir up even a tiny…
philosophy culture science knowledge
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2007年11月3日
Mathematics Is a Technical Craft… Some Additional Notes on Learning High School Mathematics

History of Science & Scholarship2007.10.28
Mathematics Is a Technical Craft… Some Additional Notes on Learning High School Mathematics
Last year I wrote a piece, “On Learning Middle School Mathematics”; the discussion below can be taken as a supplement to it. In the ending of that piece, I gave the so-called very “origin” kind of math problem, and this discussion picks up right from there. What follows is an excerpt from my chat log with UNIC. I’m too lazy to rewrite it all over again, so I’ll just file it away here as a record. The only help I can offer you is this sort of empty talk, because since mathematics is a kind of technical art, the mathematics “coach” really has to teach hands-on, step by step; teaching…
technology science mathematics Wittgenstein
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2007年10月28日
[English] John Lloyd, John Mitchinson: The Book of General Ignorance — 200 Questions People Commonly Overlook

History of Science & Scholarship2007.10.28
[English] John Lloyd, John Mitchinson: The Book of General Ignorance — 200 Questions People Commonly Overlook
[UK] John Lloyd and John Mitchinson: *Quips and Quibbles——200 Questions People Generally Overlook*, translated by Wang Zhanghua, Li Jian, Yang Yu, Wu Wenzhong, Shen Xianyun, and Chen Jie, Guangxi Science and Technology Publishing House, August 2007, 24.8 yuan Another book of entertaining popular-science questions, or rather, one could call this sort of book “popular-science 8g.” Still, compared with the other books of this kind I’ve read, including *Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze?* and the previous *Who Says Men Can’t Get Pregnant?*, this one is much more exciting. No wonder even Teacher Wu actually “jointly recommended” this book… (Joining him in the recommendation were also Academician Zhu Zuoyan of the Chinese…
book reading notes Wu Guosheng science communication
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2007年10月28日
[Canada] Sergio Sismondo: An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies

History of Science & Scholarship2007.10.21
[Canada] Sergio Sismondo: An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies
[Canadian] Sergio Sismondo: Introduction to Science and Technology Studies, translated by Xu Weimin, Meng Qiang, Cui Hailing, and Chen Haidan, Shanghai Century Publishing Group, Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press, August 2007, 25.5 yuan It is a rare introduction to “science and technology studies” (Science and Technology Studies, or, alternatively, scientific and technological studies, science and technology metrology, and so on; since this concept sometimes refers to a transdisciplinary field of study, and sometimes also denotes a certain stance or camp, while its boundaries are fuzzy, it is really hard to pin down… the translators also discuss this in the postface). Because there are still very few comparable Chinese-language books…
book reading science notes philosophy of science
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2007年10月21日
On Jiang Jinsong’s Lecture 39 of the Science Forum, “The Experimental Scientific Tradition as the Root of Environmental Problems”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.10.20
On Jiang Jinsong’s Lecture 39 of the Science Forum, “The Experimental Scientific Tradition as the Root of Environmental Problems”
Although Teacher Wu didn’t come, this time the Keke Forum had far more listeners than usual. Many familiar senior students also went, and the atmosphere of discussion was unprecedentedly lively (a group from Peking University bullying one person from Tsinghua), which really showed Peking University’s distinctive style~~ In real life I’m usually rather timid; with so many teachers and senior students raising such good questions, I simply didn’t ask anything, especially since the teachers and senior students had already brought up everything that should have been said. But online I can be a bit more unrestrained, and I can still offer a few thoughts. I’ve already posted my comments on…
science environment experiment Jiang Jinsong
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2007年10月20日
Peddling Philosophy of Science and Technology (III)

History of Science & Scholarship2007.10.03
Peddling Philosophy of Science and Technology (III)
The previous two “sales pitches,” as my senior brother put it, attacked only and defended not at all. In fact, philosophy of science and technology of course has its fatal weaknesses. What I want to emphasize is that anyone “can,” “may as well,” and “might as well” do philosophy of science and technology; however, I have not said that it is the most suitable choice for everyone. In fact, if a certain kind of work can be done well by anyone, then it is probably mediocre. The advantage of philosophy of science and technology is precisely its most fatal flaw—being too miscellaneous. Philosophy of science and technology runs through all…
science philosophy of science Kuhn Wittgenstein
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2007年10月3日
Pitching Philosophy of Science and Technology (II)

History of Science & Scholarship2007.09.22
Pitching Philosophy of Science and Technology (II)
Last time, my sales pitch was mainly that any branch discipline of philosophy can come to do philosophy of science and technology. This time, why not go one step further, because what philosophy of science and technology covers is not just the sum of the other seven branches~ Saying that the territory of philosophy of science and technology is bigger than the combined territory of the other seven second-level disciplines is a bit too much, but it is not entirely empty boasting either. That is because the division into the eight second-level disciplines of philosophy is itself unreasonable. Philosophy is not a science—not a “discipline of divisions.” The differentiation and…
science history of science philosophy of science sociology
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2007年9月22日
Peddling the Philosophy of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2007.09.18
Peddling the Philosophy of Science
I am scheming how to sell philosophy of technology to that junior female student. In previous years my sales tactic was just to lend them a few books and let them browse freely. I hoped that if they were interested in those books, they would borrow more books to read, or ask me about information on related books; the best possible outcome would be that they would come find me to discuss them. So far, though, the best case has been only that a junior said to me that that book was very interesting—nothing more. More often, after half a year or a year, they would come and say to…
science scholarship philosophy of science Introduction to Philosophy of Science
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2007年9月18日
Doing Philosophy Is Like Building a House

History of Science & Scholarship2007.09.11
Doing Philosophy Is Like Building a House
Different philosophers build different kinds of architecture—some are magnificent and luxurious, some solemn and quiet, some plain and simple; some can provide people with a place to settle down, while others are made for revelry; some are towering spires for people to gaze up at, some are labyrinths buried deep underground waiting to be explored, and some are merely foundations laid in the hope that later generations will carry the project forward,…… The architects of those new buildings, each with a style all its own, are the philosophers. But they either build upon the foundations laid by their predecessors, or else innovate by imitating and blending earlier thinkers; if one…
philosophy scholarship
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2007年9月11日