Historical Contingency and the Impact of Scientific Imperialism

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian James Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Scientific Imperialism ◽  
The Impact

Genealogy and Governmentality

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Biebricher
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Measuring Device ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
History Of ◽  
Governmentality Studies ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe essay aims at an assessment of whether and to what extent the history of governmentality can be considered to be a genealogy. To this effect a generic account of core tenets of Foucauldian genealogy is developed. The three core tenets highlighted are (1) a radically contingent view of history that is (2) expressed in a distinct style and (3) highlights the impact of power on this history. After a brief discussion of the concept of governmentality and a descriptive summary of its history, this generic account is used as a measuring device to be applied to the history of governmentality. While both, the concept of governmentality and also its history retain certain links to genealogical precepts, my overall conclusion is that particularly the history of governmentality (and not necessarily Foucault's more programmatic statements about it) departs from these precepts in significant ways. Not only is there a notable difference in style that cannot be accounted for entirely by the fact that this history is produced in the medium of lectures. Aside from a rather abstract consideration of the importance of societal struggles, revolts and other forms of resistance, there is also little reference to the role of these phenomena in the concrete dynamics of governmental shifts that are depicted in the historical narrative. Finally, in contrast to the historical contingency espoused by genealogy and the programmatic statements about governmentality, the actual history of the latter can be plausibly, albeit unsympathetically, read in a rather teleological fashion according to which the transformations of governmentality amount to the unfolding of an initially implicit notion of governing that is subsequently realised in ever more consistent ways. In the final section of the essay I turn towards the field of governmentality studies, arguing that some of the more problematic tendencies in this research tradition can be traced back to Foucault's own account. In particular, the monolithic conceptualisation of governmentality and the implicit presentism of an excessive focus on Neoliberalism found in many of the studies in governmentality can be linked back to problems in Foucault's own history of governmenality. The paper concludes with suggestions for a future research agenda for the governmentality studies that point beyond Foucault's own account and its respective limitations.

Philo of Alexandria

2019 ◽  
pp. 299-316
Author(s):  
Gregory E. Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Community ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Foregone Conclusion

The largest corpus of Jewish writings from the Second Temple period was preserved not by Jews, but by Christians. This chapter explores the transmission of the writings of Philo of Alexandria by using “historical contingency” to address why Christians preserved the works of Philo. It identifies four major contingencies: the destruction of the Alexandrian Jewish community in 115–117 CE, Origen’s move from Alexandria to Caesarea c. 232 CE and the impact on the Episcopal library, Philo’s role in the embassy of 38 CE and the later Latin translation of some of his works, and the adoption of a selection of Philo’s texts in the curriculum at Constantinople and the translation of selections from his work into Armenian. The preservation of Philo’s corpus was not a foregone conclusion in the first century CE. If any of these events had turned out differently, we would have lost the bulk or a significant portion of his writings.

scholarly journals Widespread Historical Contingency in Influenza Viruses

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Claude Nshogozabahizi ◽  
Jonathan Dench ◽  
Stéphane Aris-Brosou
Keyword(s):  
Drug Resistance ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Influenza A Viruses ◽  
Correlated Evolution ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn systems biology and genomics, epistasis characterizes the impact that a substitution at a particular location in a genome can have on a substitution at another location. This phenomenon is often implicated in the evolution of drug resistance or to explain why particular ‘disease-causing’ mutations do not have the same outcome in all individuals. Hence, uncovering these mutations and their locations in a genome is a central question in biology. However, epistasis is notoriously difficult to uncover, especially in fast-evolving organisms. Here, we present a novel statistical approach that replies on a model developed in ecology and that we adapt to analyze genetic data in fast-evolving systems such as the influenza A virus. We validate the approach using a two-pronged strategy: extensive simulations demonstrate a low-to-moderate sensitivity with excellent specificity and precision, while analyses of experimentally-validated data recover known interactions, including in a eukaryotic system. We further evaluate the ability of our approach to detect correlated evolution during antigenic shifts or at the emergence of drug resistance. We show that in all cases, correlated evolution is prevalent in influenza A viruses, involving many pairs of sites linked together in chains, a hallmark of historical contingency. Strikingly, interacting sites are separated by large physical distances, which entails either long-range conformational changes or functional tradeoffs, for which we find support with the emergence of drug resistance. Our work paves a new way for the unbiased detection of epistasis in a wide range of organisms by performing whole-genome scans.

Formation of Lunar Craters and Bright Rays as a Result of Meteorite Impacts

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 415-418
Author(s):  
K. P. Stanyukovich ◽  
V. A. Bronshten
Keyword(s):  
Explosive Charge ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Meteorite Impacts ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Craters ◽  
The Impact

The phenomena accompanying the impact of large meteorites on the surface of the Moon or of the Earth can be examined on the basis of the theory of explosive phenomena if we assume that, instead of an exploding meteorite moving inside the rock, we have an explosive charge (equivalent in energy), situated at a certain distance under the surface.

The Geosciences Applied to Lunar Exploration

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 169-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Green
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Surface ◽  
Probable Mechanism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Lunar Exploration ◽  
Geological Model ◽  
Apply Geophysics ◽  
Surface Features ◽  
The Impact

The term geo-sciences has been used here to include the disciplines geology, geophysics and geochemistry. However, in order to apply geophysics and geochemistry effectively one must begin with a geological model. Therefore, the science of geology should be used as the basis for lunar exploration. From an astronomical point of view, a lunar terrain heavily impacted with meteors appears the more reasonable; although from a geological standpoint, volcanism seems the more probable mechanism. A surface liberally marked with volcanic features has been advocated by such geologists as Bülow, Dana, Suess, von Wolff, Shaler, Spurr, and Kuno. In this paper, both the impact and volcanic hypotheses are considered in the application of the geo-sciences to manned lunar exploration. However, more emphasis is placed on the volcanic, or more correctly the defluidization, hypothesis to account for lunar surface features.

Asteroid and Comet Impact Speeds upon Mars: Significance for Panspermia and the Supply of Organics

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 197-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Steel
Keyword(s):  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Regions Of Interest ◽  
Significant Fraction ◽  
Organic Chemicals ◽  
Impact Speed ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWhilst lithopanspermia depends upon massive impacts occurring at a speed above some limit, the intact delivery of organic chemicals or other volatiles to a planet requires the impact speed to be below some other limit such that a significant fraction of that material escapes destruction. Thus the two opposite ends of the impact speed distributions are the regions of interest in the bioastronomical context, whereas much modelling work on impacts delivers, or makes use of, only the mean speed. Here the probability distributions of impact speeds upon Mars are calculated for (i) the orbital distribution of known asteroids; and (ii) the expected distribution of near-parabolic cometary orbits. It is found that cometary impacts are far more likely to eject rocks from Mars (over 99 percent of the cometary impacts are at speeds above 20 km/sec, but at most 5 percent of the asteroidal impacts); paradoxically, the objects impacting at speeds low enough to make organic/volatile survival possible (the asteroids) are those which are depleted in such species.

Organic Syntheses During the Impact of a Comet with a Gaseous Planet

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 189-195
Author(s):  
Cesare Guaita ◽  
Roberto Crippa ◽  
Federico Manzini
Keyword(s):  
Polymeric Material ◽  
Molecular Form ◽  
Parent Compound ◽  
Blue Filter ◽  
Organic Syntheses ◽  
The Impact

AbstractA large amount of CO has been detected above many SL9/Jupiter impacts. This gas was never detected before the collision. So, in our opinion, CO was released from a parent compound during the collision. We identify this compound as POM (polyoxymethylene), a formaldehyde (HCHO) polymer that, when suddenly heated, reformes monomeric HCHO. At temperatures higher than 1200°K HCHO cannot exist in molecular form and the most probable result of its decomposition is the formation of CO. At lower temperatures, HCHO can react with NH3 and/or HCN to form high UV-absorbing polymeric material. In our opinion, this kind of material has also to be taken in to account to explain the complex evolution of some SL9 impacts that we observed in CCD images taken with a blue filter.

Hydrogen Cyanide Polymers from the Impact of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Clifford N. Matthews ◽  
Rose A. Pesce-Rodriguez ◽  
Shirley A. Liebman
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Hydrogen Cyanide ◽  
Nitrogen Heterocycles ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Heterogeneous Solids ◽  
The Many ◽  
Comet Halley ◽  
The Impact ◽  
By Products

AbstractHydrogen cyanide polymers – heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black – may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orangebrown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia, the color observed depending on the concentration of HCN involved. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. Black polymers and multimers with conjugated ladder structures derived from HCN could also be formed and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, observed after pyrolysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter might therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized directly from HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.

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