Elusive Phenomena Unwieldy Things

This open access book provides a historical treatment of scientific control in experimentation in the longue durée. The introduction distinguishes four related strands in the history of experimental control: the development of practices to stabilize experimental conditions; the career of the comparative design; the unfolding of methodological discussions about control practices and designs; and the history of the term “control”. Each chapter brings these distinctions to bear on specific historical episodes. The focus is on experiments with complex, elusive phenomena such as perception and learning, irregular movements, and unobservable elements. Such experiments bring control issues to the fore because they are difficult to design and stabilize and often controversial. Together, the chapters show that the local context shapes what exactly is controlled, how control can be accomplished, and how controls are justified. They also show that control strategies and methodological ideas often remain stable for a long time and change only gradually. This book, as well as the volume on analysis and synthesis in experimentation by the same editors, contains contributions by an array of experts from multiple disciplines, making it suitable for historians and philosophers of science and students alike.

The Phenomenon of Architecture in Cultures in Change focuses on the study of architectural design and its impact in the developing world. The book first elaborates on architectural function and problems and building problems. Discussions focus on a unified form of classification to characterize building context, architecture and society, development process and the building process, understanding of architectural form, and exploring architecture. The text then ponders on economy, intentions, ideas, and method in design. Topics include method in design work, formal articulation and architectural expression, synthesis of critical approaches, architectural ideas, search for system in design work, and economy and the design process. The manuscript examines education and architecture and community, as well as urbanizing rural region, residential urban renewal, and town design service. The book is a dependable source of data for architects and researchers interested in the phenomenon of architecture.

The Hippocratic Epidemics and Galen’s Commentary on them constitute milestones in the development of clinical medicine. However, they also illustrate the rich exegetical traditions that existed in the post-classical Greek world. The present volume investigates these texts from various and diverse vantage points: textual criticism; Greek philology; knowledge transfer through translations; and medical history. Especially the Syriac and Arabic traditions of the Epidemics come under scrutiny.

This alphabetical guide to language and mind gives an up-to-date introduction to the key topics of speech comprehension, speech production and child language. Written by a well-known author in the field, the entries are concise and lucid, and provide an easy-to-read overview of an area of linguistics which lies at the core of the human ability to use language.

Argues that, for Aristotle, scientific inquiry is governed both by a domain-neutral erotetic framework and by domain-specific norms.

Scientists’ views on what makes an experiment successful have developed dramatically throughout history. Different criteria for proper experimentation were privileged at different times, entirely new criteria for securing experimental results emerged, and the meaning of commitment to experimentation altered. In About Method, Schickore captures this complex trajectory of change from 1660 to the twentieth century through the history of snake venom research. As experiments with poisonous snakes and venom were both challenging and controversial, the experimenters produced very detailed accounts of their investigations, which go back three hundred years—making venom research uniquely suited for such a long-term study. By analyzing key episodes in the transformation of venom research, Schickore is able to draw out the factors that have shaped methods discourse in science. About Method shows that methodological advancement throughout history has not been simply a steady progression toward better, more sophisticated and improved methodologies of experimentation. Rather, it was a progression in awareness of the obstacles and limitations that scientists face in developing strategies to probe the myriad unknown complexities of nature. The first long-term history of this development and of snake venom research, About Method offers a major contribution to integrated history and philosophy of science.

Neuroscience and psychoanalysis initially appear as two fundamentally different, incompatible approaches to human experience and behavior. However, from the very beginning of the development of psychoanalysis, there have been repeated efforts to ground psychoanalytic concepts and processes in neuroscience. On the other hand, psychoanalysis provides a comprehensive model of the human psyche in all its complexity and dynamics, which could help to understand the diverse and often highly specialized findings of modern brain research in their entirety. This book summarizes the current state of research in this area of intersection between depth psychology and brain research and elaborates how both practitioners and basic researchers can benefit from a fruitful exchange between the two disciplines.