The Progress of Science (storms)
No commentsBy Marcel Lafaoe
Progress consists in the reconciling of apparent contradictions. Unity and differentiation, heredity and variability, are apparently opposed. Yet a mammal is more truly a unit than an organism that suffers little from being cut in two because each part can do the work of all. A civilised state with interdependent specialised interests suffers from the incapacity or rapacity of its classes more than a company of Fuegans, each of whom can supply all his own wants.
Science is progressing in this way. Biology cannot advance without chemistry, geology leans on physics, and this interdependence is due to specialisation, to differentiation. In organisms and states intercommunication is essential to preserve this corporate life. Without nerves and blood-vessels an amoeba may possibly get on fairly well. Fuegans do not require railways or telephones. Science requires its blood-vessels and nerves, its railways and telephones. Each member requires what is elaborated by others to be collected and sorted and distributed for its use. It is most important that’ the work done in physical science in innumerable laboratories should be collected, digested, distributed for the information of the biologist, the chemist, the geologist.
The study of the properties of each kind of matter as related to energy and the ether has bearings on every department of science and on every kind of practice ; on agriculture and medicine the practical applications of biology, and on manufactures and engineering the practical application of physics and chemistry. Whether we are using the ether to transmit energy to ploughs, or measuring the irregular energy of the tissues of a patient by a thermometer, or taking nails out of wheat with magnets, or determining the physical changes produced in materials by small amounts of impurities, we require to understand physical science, and any day some advance in it may be of service in practice.
The connections, the railways, the nerves, in this department, are fairly well supplied by the technical journals, but on the purely scientific side there is risk that an undue development of specialisation, without sufficient nourishment and communication from other parts, may lead to local turgescence and inflammation, to the injury of the system and the ultimate atrophy of the parts.
In treating of the connections of physical science with other branches of science, we may either divide physical science in some systematic way, and study the connections of each division with other sciences, or begin by consideringthe other branches of science and see how each is connected with physical science. Without some systematic and rational method, we are sure to omit outlying and unfamiliar parts of any subject of investigation.
It is possible in the compass of a short article to go over only a very small number of the various connections between physical science and science in general, and no one individual could do justice to the theme ; it is only possible here to make some suggestions as to methods of systematic division of the subject, and to point out a very few of the connecting links that at present cry for strength. Physical science may generally be described as the study of the properties of matter, energy, and ether. It is divided from chemistry by being the study of each kind of matter by itself, while chemistry studies the actions of different kinds of matter upon one another. Of course no real line can be drawn, and the enumeration of the objects of physical study is for the purpose of dividing the subject itself rather than for the purpose of dividing it from other subjects.
The properties of matter and energy, of energy and ether, and of ether and matter, are the subjects of investigation in physical science. The matter and energy region is subdivided into (1) pure dynamics of solids and fluids, that branch where mathematics reigns supreme, whether we study the motions of the planets, or of vortex rings, where we deal with regular and reversible kinetic and potential energy ; and (2) the study of irregular motions of heat and turbulence, the kinetic theory of gases and the turbulent motion of a liquid, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, the laws of specific and latent heats, of temperature and entropy, viscosity, and the limits of elasticity.
This subdivision into energy as regular and irregular is fundamental, and pervades the whole of science ; it bears on cosmology when we study the action of tide production and tidal retardation of rotation, the circulation of water up the air and down the mountains and its erosions and grindings ; it bears on chemistry when we study chemical equilibrium and heat of chemical action ; it bears on biology when we study the regular production of mechanical work, of electric currents, of nervous stimuli, and when we study the production of heat, the viscous resistance to Mow of fluids. The relations of ether and energy are comprised in the study of electro-magnetism and light. As yet we know little about the relations of irregular energy and ether, and still less how this bears on cosmology, chemistry and biology. The bearings of electro-magnetism and light on the other branches of science are too many to enumerate and too familiar to be worth enumerating.
We are yet only on the threshold of what is to be known. The connections of matter and ether are even more obscure. Why do most vegetable substances turn the plane of polarisation of light one way and animal substances the other way ? Why is terrestrial magnetism so irregular, so variable ?
Marcel is interested in the sciences, and likes to share his knowledge with others.
How Do Telescopes Help Scientists?
By Koz Huseyin
Astronomy is one of the oldest of sciences. Since the dawn of time, men and woman have looked up at the heavens for answers. So, how does a telescope help scientists today? In this article, we will look at how does telescopes help scientists.
Science is made up of many legs. For example, we have biology, which deals with life, while engineering is designed to look into the mechanics of things. And we have astronomy, telescopes, and astrophysicists, all in a great work of taking humanity forward.
Now, we need to look at the question how does telescopes help scientists and science? The real answer we seek is how telescopes and astronomy helps humanity, because we have seen that astronomy is a science, and telescopes are scientific instruments.
So, how does telescopes help scientists, and ultimately humanity? Since the dawn of time, one of the first things that man must have done was to look up at the heavens. For centuries people have always wanted to know what the future holds. Here astronomy has been the basis of astrology. Though, some people may disagree, with this point. In either case, you likely have heard of astrology, and likely even know your own star sign!
On a practical note, telescopes have helped scientists in many ways. For example, telescopes are helping with monitoring the meteors and asteroids, which potentially could pose a threat to Earth. Here is a very practical application, because advanced knowledge may allow us to do something!
Another way is with the Sun. At times our Sun emits Solar flares, and these flares are so powerful, that they can cause problems on Earth. It has happened where the Solar flares have cause brownouts in some areas.
Some scientists have said that some asteroids and meteors may contain precious items, such as gold, diamonds, etc. These could be very valuable for humanity, and our progress forward. The telescopes help scientists find this information out, however, not with normal telescopes.
A telescope is used to see objects far away, but we often think of telescopes as scientific instruments, we look through and get an image, through some optics. As an example, the Hubble Space Telescope, though it is a telescope, it has no optical parts, people can look through. Instead images are taken and transmitted back for viewing.
A more practical way where people are benefiting from astronomy, and telescopes, is with the knowledge of how to put a satellite into space. This has made a big impact, and you almost likely have a cell phone, which utilizes satellites.
Another is with GPS technology, which allows you to know where you are. And now, we have technology, such as a Tom-Tom, which allows you to drive without the need of looking at a map in a book!
Visit this link to find out more about how does telescopes help scientists. Another link to visit is buy binocular telescopes - astronomy binoculars - Meade telescope binoculars. Or click this link to find the best telescopes - Meade telescopes - buy Meade telescopes
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