The Discovery of Things

The Discovery of Things PDF Author: Wolfgang-Rainer Mann
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691221596
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Get Book

Book Description
Aristotle's Categories can easily seem to be a statement of a naïve, pre-philosophical ontology, centered around ordinary items. Wolfgang-Rainer Mann argues that the treatise, in fact, presents a revolutionary metaphysical picture, one Aristotle arrives at by (implicitly) criticizing Plato and Plato's strange counterparts, the "Late-Learners" of the Sophist. As Mann shows, the Categories reflects Aristotle's discovery that ordinary items are things (objects with properties). Put most starkly, Mann contends that there were no things before Aristotle. The author's argument consists of two main elements. First, a careful investigation of Plato which aims to make sense of the odd-sounding suggestion that things do not show up as things in his ontology. Secondly, an exposition of the theoretical apparatus Aristotle introduces in the Categories--an exposition which shows how Plato's and the Late-Learners' metaphysical pictures cannot help but seem inadequate in light of that apparatus. In doing so, Mann reveals that Aristotle's conception of things--now so engrained in Western thought as to seem a natural expression of common sense--was really a hard-won philosophical achievement. Clear, subtle, and rigorously argued, The Discovery of Things will reshape our understanding of some of Aristotle's--and Plato's--most basic ideas.

Amazing Rare Things

Amazing Rare Things PDF Author: David Attenborough
Publisher: Kales Press
ISBN: 9780979845628
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book

Book Description
Filmmaker Attenborough provides an introductory survey of the artistic representation of plants and animals through human history, beginning with Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and continuing on through the mid-1700s.

Making Things

Making Things PDF Author: Ann Sayre Wiseman
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
ISBN: 9780316947565
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book

Book Description
Presents art, craft, and needlework activities to develop children's learning skills through creative self-expression

Disruptive Discovery: Uncovering the Stuff That Really Matters

Disruptive Discovery: Uncovering the Stuff That Really Matters PDF Author: Geoff Snavely
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781737957102
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
In his thought-provoking, revelatory work Disruptive Discovery, entrepreneur and self-indoctrinated rookie philosopher Geoff Snavely distinguishes the nice to know from the we can do something with that. He has developed a compelling model that can get people to a better place by helping them focus on what really matters. Whether you're a business leader, sales professional, consultant, coach, or anyone who advises others about life or work, Snavely invites you to join this community of disruptors-he refers to them as Facilitators of Betterment-motivated to make a meaningful impact. By exploring his experience-based 10 Questions That Matter and other concepts, he provides you with the tools needed for digging deeper, below Surface Discovery and into the process of Disruptive Discovery. Are you ready for some disruption? If so, maybe you can invent your own version of pumpkin pie and serve it up for the world to enjoy.

Cradle of Life

Cradle of Life PDF Author: J. William Schopf
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691237573
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book

Book Description
One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed. Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field. He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start.

The Greatest Science Stories Never Told

The Greatest Science Stories Never Told PDF Author: Rick Beyer
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061626961
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
100 tales of invention and discovery to astonish, bewilder, & stupefy Meet the angry undertaker who gave us the push-button phone. Discover how modesty led to the invention of the stethoscope. Find out why Albert Einstein patented a refrigerator. Learn how a train full of trumpeters made science history. Did you know about: The frustrated fashion designer who created the space suit? The gun-toting newspaperman who invented the parking meter? The midnight dreams that led to a Nobel Prize? They're so good, you can't read just one!

Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries

Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries PDF Author: Rodney Carlisle
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 0470306920
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 711

Get Book

Book Description
A unique A-to-Z reference of brilliance in innovation and invention Combining engagingly written, well-researched history with the respected imprimatur of Scientific American magazine, this authoritative, accessible reference provides a wide-ranging overview of the inventions, technological advances, and discoveries that have transformed human society throughout our history. More than 400 entertaining entries explain the details and significance of such varied breakthroughs as the development of agriculture, the "invention" of algebra, and the birth of the computer. Special chronological sections divide the entries, providing a unique focus on the intersection of science and technology from early human history to the present. In addition, each section is supplemented by primary source sidebars, which feature excerpts from scientists' diaries, contemporary accounts of new inventions, and various "In Their Own Words" sources. Comprehensive and thoroughly readable, Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries is an indispensable resource for anyone fascinated by the history of science and technology. Topics include: aerosol spray * algebra * Archimedes' Principle * barbed wire * canned food * carburetor * circulation of blood * condom * encryption machine * fork * fuel cell * latitude * music synthesizer * positron * radar * steel * television * traffic lights * Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

Reinventing Discovery

Reinventing Discovery PDF Author: Michael Nielsen
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691202842
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
"Reinventing Discovery argues that we are in the early days of the most dramatic change in how science is done in more than 300 years. This change is being driven by new online tools, which are transforming and radically accelerating scientific discovery"--

Discovery of Our Galaxy

Discovery of Our Galaxy PDF Author: Charles A. Whitney
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307817091
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Get Book

Book Description
This is a book about the mystery and the passion, the imagination, religion, and poetry, the philosophy, the intellectual flights—and, above all, the people—that have created the science of astronomy, from Thales of Miletus predicting eclipses in the sixth century B.C. to today’s scientists probing the cosmic significance of the mysterious “black holes” discovered in 1970. With authority and charm, the distinguished Harvard astronomer Charles A. Whitney here re-creates the lives and temperaments of the great astronomers and retraces the ingenious arguments, the feats of observation and deduction, and the leaps of intuition by which they have gradually unveiled a picture of the universe and have brought us to an understanding of our own planet’s place in it. Among them: KEPLER, searching the solar system for visible evidence of the transcendent order he believed in GALILEO, constructing the first telescope and proposing the concept of universal gravitation NEWTON, paragon of logic, paradoxically driven by an unshakable belief in himself as God’s appointed prophet to create a world of mathematical certainty and thus expose the wonder of his Father in Heaven WILLIAM HERSCHEL, the nineteenth-century German who may well be considered the father of modern astronomy, first man to chart the nebulae EDWIN HUBBLE, in the present century, discovering and exploring galaxies beyond our own Finally, Professor Whitney makes clear for the layman the fascinating problems astronomers wrestle with today: the mysterious nature of quasars, strange cosmic bodies discovered in 1963; the unknown forces behind cataclysmic explosions recently glimpsed in other galaxies; the elusive nature of “interstellar dust”; the eternal question of how it all began.

Continuous Discovery Habits

Continuous Discovery Habits PDF Author: Teresa Torres
Publisher: Product Talk LLC
ISBN: 1736633317
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Get Book

Book Description
"If you haven't had the good fortune to be coached by a strong leader or product coach, this book can help fill that gap and set you on the path to success." - Marty Cagan How do you know that you are making a product or service that your customers want? How do you ensure that you are improving it over time? How do you guarantee that your team is creating value for your customers in a way that creates value for your business? In this book, you'll learn a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that will help you answer each of these questions, giving you the confidence to act while also preparing you to be wrong. You'll learn to balance action with doubt so that you can get started without being blindsided by what you don't get right. If you want to discover products that customers love-that also deliver business results-this book is for you.