Don't know if the link will work, but on topic of Physics, interesting BBC radio 4 discussion today, on 'States of Matter':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl marilyn On 3/4/14 02:02, "Alan Sondheim" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Physics > > http://www.alansondheim.org/sig6.jpg > > signal masts on Citadel Hill > > The history of physics is endless in depth and breadth, as are > verification procedures and legitimations of hypotheses. Here > I'm interested in the phenomenology of physics, in particular > what occurs before a turn towards the subatomic and quantum > mechanics. I've been reading Natural Philosophy for General > Readers and Young People, translated and edited from Ganot's > Cours Elementaire de physique by E. Atkinson, 8th edition, 1896; > this is one of numerous similar books that form the basis for > both popular and university texts. The experiments described, in > particular those associated with electrical phenomena, tend to > operate on the level of the anecdotal, much as early psychology > emphasized the patient's narrative, through Freud and beyond. > Fundamental principles are rarely described, although they > appear as frames; thus there are sections on various aspects of > Morse's telegraph, but only a mention of Maxwell. Experiments > might include a vibrating wire and Faraday's wheel; engineering > and physics are entangled, and demonstration replaces the > mathematical basis of electromagnetic elements. Even with a > limited mathematical apparatus, it's clear that the text must > operate on the level of the everyday; atomic and molecular > models are described, but the former seem to possess little if > any structure. The everyday asserts itself continually; > experiments with batteries and various forms of capacitors > involve the hand touching one or another wire, grounding the > structure, or applying current. Out of a book of 730 pages, > atoms are mentioned only on pp. 4 and 8; the rest occurs on the > level of the aural or visible. In other words, the physics > described here is body-centric, much as language, in Lakoff and > Lakoff, functions; the world may not appear anthropocentric, but > remains subtlely so. The idea of a basic alienness to the world > remains distant, and the troubling of the ether, for example, is > replaced by the curiosity. I should note this position is also > that of the religious fundamentalist, for whom the alien > threatens to shatter everything. The experiments described are > but one step from the parlor game or presentation, and indeed in > earlier texts there are examples of young ladies connected by > wire, or the electrocution of a dog by means of Leyden jars > coupled together. Further, all these phenomena in general are > seen, not as instances of principles, but as peculiarities that > indeed connect to the wonder of the world. Today, when every- > thing is simultaneously up for question and taken for granted, > when a malaise manifests itself in relation to the 'latest and > greatest,' it's difficult to realize that the nineteenth century > was, among other things, the last century of marvels, which > retain something of the mythic imagination. > > Doesn't the signal mast itself operate among these worlds? On > one hand, it presents flags and flag-codes, which operate in the > register of the visible; on the other, it carries wireless > antennas already portending a new and uncomfortable era. It's of > interest that Halifax announces every noon hour with the firing > of a cannon, which simultaneously asserts nineteenth-century > temporality, and a tourist destination; everyone gathers around > for the precipitous event! > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
