Carrying Capacity

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Hardin
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Sherlock Holmes ◽  
Night Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Population And Environment

An often quoted passage of Arthur Conan Doyle's story "Silver Blaze" makes the point that the absence of data can be a datum. When the mystery of the purloined racehorse seems insoluble, Police Inspector Gregory asks Sherlock Holmes:… "Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?" "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes…. The dog that does not bark attracts no attention to itself. It takes insight to recognize that a nonhappening can be an alarm. Herman Daly showed a Holmeslike insight when he called attention to the bark that was absent from a would-be authoritative study made by a group of economists reporting to the prestigious National Research Council in 1986 on population growth and economic development. In 108 pages of text there is not a single mention of carrying capacity, a concept that should be central to all discussions of population and environment. It is as though gravity were left out of a treatise on the dynamics of the solar system; or assets and liabilities were left out of a textbook on business accounting. If civilization survives another century, and if there are still economists, a history of what will then be called "modern economics" may well begin with a belittling account of the "premodern" economics of the twentieth century in which carrying capacity plays no role. Nothing shows so well the impermeability of the barriers between academic disciplines as the silence of economists about a concept that dominates discussions of game management, a discipline concerned with population and environment problems as they affect animals other than Homo sapiens. Economists, dealing only with human populations, probably unconsciously embrace the human exemptionist doctrine (Chapter 15), though their commitment is seldom no more than implicit in their statements (Box 20-1). Two serious criticisms can be leveled against most of the authors quoted in the box. First, it is obvious that they desperately yearn for a world without limits. This is particularly evident in the last quotation, by Gro Harlem Brundtland, who chaired the United Nations commission that issued this statement. One can praise the heart of the commission without agreeing with the head.

Hunter-gatherers on the best-seller list: Steven Pinker and the “Bellicose School's” treatment of forager violence

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lethal Violence ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Philosophical Debates

Purpose – The question of violence in hunter-gatherer society has animated philosophical debates since at least the seventeenth century. Steven Pinker has sought to affirm that civilization, is superior to the state of humanity during its long history of hunting and gathering. The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a series of recent studies that assert a baseline of primordial violence by hunters and gatherers. In challenging this position the author draws on four decades of ethnographic and historical research on hunting and gathering peoples. Design/methodology/approach – At the empirical heart of this question is the evidence pro- and con- for high rates of violent death in pre-farming human populations. The author evaluates the ethnographic and historical evidence for warfare in recorded hunting and gathering societies, and the archaeological evidence for warfare in pre-history prior to the advent of agriculture. Findings – The view of Steven Pinker and others of high rates of lethal violence in hunters and gatherers is not sustained. In contrast to early farmers, their foraging precursors lived more lightly on the land and had other ways of resolving conflict. With little or no fixed property they could easily disperse to diffuse conflict. The evidence points to markedly lower levels of violence for foragers compared to post-Neolithic societies. Research limitations/implications – This conclusion raises serious caveats about the grand evolutionary theory asserted by Steven Pinker, Richard Wrangham and others. Instead of being “killer apes” in the Pleistocene and Holocene, the evidence indicates that early humans lived as relatively peaceful hunter-gathers for some 7,000 generations, from the emergence of Homo sapiens up until the invention of agriculture. Therefore there is a major gap between the purported violence of the chimp-like ancestors and the documented violence of post-Neolithic humanity. Originality/value – This is a critical analysis of published claims by authors who contend that ancient and recent hunter-gatherers typically committed high levels of violent acts. It reveals a number of serious flaws in their arguments and use of data.

The history of science in the science classroom: The past is the key to the future in science education

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee M. Clary ◽  
James H. Wandersee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Science Education ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Research Council ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Understanding ◽  
Science Classrooms ◽  
History Of

In many science classes, students encounter ‘final form’ science (Duschl 1990, 1994) in which scientific knowledge is presented as a rhetoric of conclusions (Schwab 1962). Incorporation of the history of science in modern science classrooms combats this false image of linear science progression. History of science can facilitate student understanding of the nature of science, pique student interest, and expose the cultural and societal constraints in which a science developed, revealing science's ‘human side’ (Matthews 1994). Carefully selected and researched episodes from the history of science illustrate that scientists sometimes chose incorrect hypotheses, misinterpreted data, and argued about data analysis. Our research documented that historical vignettes can hook students' attention, and past controversies can be used to develop students' analysis and argumentation skills before turning class attention to modern controversial issues. Historical graphics also have educational potential, as they reveal the progression of a science and offer alternative vehicles for data interpretation. In the United States, the National Science Education Standards (United States National Research Council 1996) acknowledged the importance of the History and Nature of Science by designating it as one of eight science content strands. However, the new United States Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve 2013) no longer include this strand, although the importance of the nature of science is still emphasized in the science framework (United States National Research Council 2012). Therefore, it is crucial that science education researchers continue to research and implement the history of science via interdisciplinary approaches to ensure its inclusion in United States science classrooms for better student understanding of the nature of science.

scholarly journals Pioneras en la Paleontología española: María Teresa Rodríguez Mellado (1921-1985)

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-175
Author(s):  
Isabel Rábano
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Research Work ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Western Sahara ◽  
History Of ◽  
Siglo Xx ◽  
Intense Research

Resumen Se presentan algunos aspectos de la biografía de María Teresa Rodríguez Mellado (1921-1985), una pionera desconocida en la historia de la Geología española. El matrimonio y la maternidad la retiraron de la ciencia tras una breve pero intensa actividad investigadora. Licenciada en Ciencias, Sección de Ciencias Naturales, por la Universidad Central en 1946, obtuvo una beca del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas en el Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid para realizar su tesis doctoral sobre el Devónico en España, dirigida por Francisco Hernández-Pacheco. Colaboró con Manuel Alía Medina en algunas cuestiones paleontológicas de las investigaciones geológico-mineras del Sáhara Occidental. Asimismo, se muestra la evolución de la enseñanza de las materias geológicas durante la primera mitad del siglo XX en España. Abstra ct This paper deals with some aspects of María Teresa Rodríguez Mellado´s biography (1921-1985), an unknown pioneer in the history of Spanish Geology. Marriage and motherhood removed her from science after a brief but intense research work. She graduated in Natural Sciences in 1946, and got a Spanish National Research Council scholarship to carry out her Ph.D. thesis on the Devonian of Spain, supervised by Francisco Hernández-Pacheco. She collaborated with Manuel Alía Medina on some paleontological issues of the geology of Western Sahara. Also, the evolution of the teaching of geological subjects during the first half of the 20th century in Spain is shown.

Migration, U.S. Race Thinking, and Pan-American Anthropology

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-88
Author(s):  
Karin Alejandra Rosemblatt
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Biological Difference ◽  
Franz Boas ◽  
Cultural Anthropologist ◽  
New Institutions

This chapter explores US debates over immigration and race that took shape within new academic disciplines and new institutions, including the National Research Council and the Social Science Research Council. U.S. studies of Mexico and Latin America emerged as part of US domestic debates regarding Americanization and immigrant assimilation. These studies of Latin America were part of a comparative project aimed at understanding the ostensibly backward peoples within the United States and the biological and cultural processes of contact and mixing through which they might be assimilated into prevailing Euro-U.S. lifeways. As Mendelianism spread, race came to be defined as biological and inherited. Cultural anthropologists in turn drew on the work of Franz Boas to deny the importance of biological difference. These cultural anthropologist circumvented hierarchical evolutionary views through paradigms of cultural relativism and historical diffusion. They supported more pluralist policies.

Recovery From Disasters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Kushma
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Research Council ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Work Study ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Disaster Impacts ◽  
P Recovery

Recovery from disasters is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. The impacts of disasters are felt by individuals, families, business and industry, communities, regions, and countries. Many factors influence the quality and pace of recovery, and recovery processes will vary widely. Scholars from many academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology, economics, political science, public administration, geography, planning, psychology, sociology, social work) study various aspects of recovery, which makes the discovery, integration, synthesis, and application of findings more challenging. While research about recovery has been limited as compared to other phases of the disaster cycle, research has progressed to make analytic distinctions for various disaster impacts, recovery activities, and recovery outcomes (National Research Council, p. 147). This conceptual clarification has expanded the knowledge base for recovery in a number of important areas. As recovery scholarship has evolved, research has examined such areas as synthesis research and emphasized the connection between recovery policy and practice, but critical needs remain on the horizon.

Archaic Lineages in the History of Modern Humans

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 799-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Labuda ◽  
Ewa Ziętkiewicz ◽  
Vania Yotova
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
Dystrophin Gene ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Genetic Admixture ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract An important question in the ongoing debate on the origin of Homo sapiens is whether modern human populations issued from a single lineage or whether several, independently evolving lineages contributed to their genetic makeup. We analyzed haplotypes composed of 35 polymorphisms from a segment of the dystrophin gene. We find that the bulk of a worldwide sample of 868 chromosomes represents haplotypes shared by different continental groups. The remaining chromosomes carry haplotypes specific for the continents or for local populations. The haplotypes specific for non-Africans can be derived from the most frequent ones through simple recombination or a mutation. In contrast, chromosomes specific for sub-Saharan Africans represent a distinct group, as shown by principal component analysis, maximum likelihood tree, structural comparison, and summary statistics. We propose that African chromosomes descend from at least two lineages that have been evolving separately for a period of time. One of them underwent range expansion colonizing different continents, including Africa, where it mixed with another, local lineage represented today by a large fraction of African-specific haplotypes. Genetic admixture involving archaic lineages appears therefore to have occurred within Africa rather than outside this continent, explaining greater diversity of sub-Saharan populations observed in a variety of genetic systems.

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