Med. Dr. Adalbert Wraný (1836–1902) – doctor of medicine, mineral collector and donor to the National Museum in Prague

2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-146
Author(s):  
Martin Bohatý ◽  
Dalibor Velebil

Adalbert Wraný (*1836, †1902) was a doctor of medicine, with his primary specialization in pediatric pathology, and was also one of the founders of microscopic and chemical diagnostics. He was interested in natural sciences, chemistry, botany, paleontology and above all mineralogy. He wrote two books, one on the development of mineralogical research in Bohemia (1896), and the other on the history of industrial chemistry in Bohemia (1902). Wraný also assembled several natural science collections. During his lifetime, he gave to the National Museum large collections of rocks, a collection of cut precious stones and his library. He donated a collection of fossils to the Geological Institute of the Czech University (now Charles University). He was an inspector of the mineralogical collection of the National Museum. After his death, he bequeathed to the National Museum his collection of minerals and the rest of the gemstone collection. He donated paintings to the Prague City Museum, and other property to the Klar Institute of the Blind in Prague. The National Museum’s collection currently contains 4 325 samples of minerals, as well as 21 meteorites and several hundred cut precious stones from Wraný’s collection.

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Shan Zhang

By applying the concept of natural science to the study of music, on the one hand, we can understand the structure of music macroscopically, on the other, we can reflect on the history of music to a certain extent. Throughout the history of western music, from the classical period to the 20th century, music seems to have gone from order to disorder, but it is still orderly if analyzed carefully. Using the concept of complex information systems can give a good answer in the essence.


Author(s):  
R.R. Ismagilova ◽  
G.Kh. Akhmetshina

The humanitarian potential of school mathematics and natural science disciplines for the education of a person who has a unified representation of the modern picture of the world, its scope and content require more and more study. The humanities-oriented teaching of mathematics and natural sciences at school is implemented in the learning process within the framework of traditional academic disciplines and has the full means for the comprehensive and harmonious development of the student's personality. The use of components of literature, language, history of the native land in the implementation of programs of mathematical, natural science education contributes to the development of interest in learning, the formation of personal values of students. Cognitive interest is created and maintained through the design of problem situations in the classroom, through the development of the ability to solve, develop plot problems that form functional (mathematical and natural science) literacy. The combination of natural science and humanitarian approaches in the representation and assessment of the world in the process of mastering the content of educational disciplines will spiritually enrich every student.


1930 ◽  
Vol 76 (315) ◽  
pp. 764-771
Author(s):  
A. Wohlgemuth

Psychology was for centuries a part of philosophy, the happy, undisputed hunting-ground of the speculative metaphysician. With the beginning of the nineteenth century a new era dawned gradually for psychology. Anatomists, physiologists and physicists began to invade this reserve of the metaphysician. These early attempts of Gall and Spurzheim, Johannes Müller, E. H. Weber, Du Bois Reymond, Helmholtz, Lotze, Fechner, Thomas Young and many others are too well known to detain us. They lead up to the work of Wilhelm Wundt and the establishment of psychology as one of the natural sciences, from speculation without facts to speculation allied with experiment. However, as usually happens, the swing of the pendulum goes from one extreme to the other. For whilst the metaphysical psychologist would ignore physiology and neurology, maintaining that what is not itself a phase of consciousness cannot be used to explain consciousness, some of the physiological psychologists would overshoot the mark and attempt a psychology without consciousness. Thus we find the behaviourists (Watson) and the objective psychologists (Bechterew). Pavlov appears to belong to the latter school. But as Prof. Brett, in his History of Psychology, rightly says: “Modern psychology lies between two points: it emerges from anatomy and physiology, and terminates in a region where those sciences cease to guide.”


1989 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-104
Author(s):  
Kim Arne Pedersen

Grundtvig’s conception of Nature.By Kim Arne Pedersen.In this paper Grundtvig’s view on non-human nature and natural science is examined with the contemporary Danish discussion about theology and natural sciences (Viggo Mortensen) as a starting-point. It is argued against the use of Grundtvig’s ideas as a model for a dialogue between these fields of scholarship.Earlier researchers’ (C. I. Scharling) denial of Grundtvig having a view on nature is rejected, and Kaj Thaning’s conception of the autonomy of natural sciences in Nordens Mythologi 1832 is modified.Grundtvig’s conception of nature is defined as rooted in the Western European theological tradition’s Neo-platonic oriented cosmological interpretation of Genesis. Grundtvig takes up the understanding of natural objects as images of the invisible, spiritual world, but he shows his awareness of the rational, scientific interpretation of this tradition.The article points out 4 phases in Grundtvig’s elaboration of his view on nature after 1810, connected with the years after Kort Begreb af Verdens Krønike 1812, the magazine Danne-Virke 1816-1819, the years after Nordens Mythologi 1832 and the period from 1855 to 1860-1865. In the first phase Grundtvig rejects the independence of natural sciences as a tool of Antichrist in the final battle of the near future. In Danne-Virke nature is understood as a tool used in man’s symbolic knowledge of God. The main tool is man’s knowledge of himself because of his exceptional position inside creation as a creature with self-consciousness and language, and therefore the natural sciences are subordinated research on the history of man. Grundtvig’s thesis of femininity as representing nature and man’s body as a microcosm both in a rational, scientific and in a symbolic way is connected with this leading idea. In the years after Nordens Mythologi Grundtvig gives nature and natural sciences a much more independent position, but at the same time he stresses nature’s connection with man because of the state of man’s body as a microcosm. Grundtvig also attacks the Copernican picture of the universe.In the years after 1855 Grundtvig’s attitude towards natural science is sharpened. Apocalyptic motives return, and now Antichrist is connected with the rejection of God’s omnipotence and man’s exceptional position inside creation. As an alternative to the natural sciences Grundtvig emphasizes the interpretation of nature as a symbolic image of God.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Izabela Krzeptowska-Moszkowicz

Celem pracy jest przedstawienie sylwetki Seweryna Józefa Krzemieniewskiego, jednego z pionierów polskiej mikrobiologii, jako uczonego o zainteresowaniach humanistycznych i interdyscyplinarnych. Jego twórczość w tym obszarze objęła przede wszystkim historię botaniki wniosła ważny wkład w rozwój tej dyscypliny w Polsce, w okresie międzywojennym. Krzemieniewski jest autorem prac analizujących badania przyrodnicze misjonarza Michała Boyma, a także artykułu przedstawiającego historię botaniki w ośrodku lwowskim. Opracował również biogramy botaników polskich, nie wszystkie jednak zostały wydane drukiem. Ponadto uczony przez kilka lat angażował się w intensywne prace na rzecz ochrony przyrody, co pozwala zaliczyć go w tym okresie do grupy czołowych działaczy na tym polu w Polsce i wpisuje na karty historii ochrony przyrody. U podstaw humanistycznej działalności Krzemieniewskiego wydaje się leżeć jego przekonanie o podstawowym znaczeniu edukacji dla rozwoju świadomego i wrażliwego przyrodniczo społeczeństwa, co znajduje wyraźne odbicie w opublikowanych przez niego pracach. Ta idea ma również odzwierciedlenie w działaniach uczonego jako popularyzatora wiedzy przyrodniczej oraz wykładowcy.   Study of the interest of Seweryn Józef Krzemieniewski (1871–1945) in the nature conservation, the history of botany in Poland, and his passion for popularizing the natural sciences The aim of this paper is to present one of the pioneers of Polish microbiology, Seweryn Józef Krzemieniewski, as a scholar with humanistic and interdisciplinary interests. His work covered primarily the history of botany and was an important contribution to the development of this discipline in the interwar period in Poland. Krzemieniewski is the author of works analyzing the research of Michał Boym, a missionary in China, as well as of an article presenting the history of botany in Lviv. He also prepared biographies of Polish botanists, but not all of them were published. Additionally, the scientist was involved for several years in intensive work in nature conservation, which makes it possible to include him in the group of leading activists in this field in Poland of that period. Krzemieniewski’s belief in the fundamental importance of education for the development of conscious and environmentally sensitive society seems to be at the root of his humanistic activities, which is clearly visible in his published works. This idea is also reflected in his activities as a popularizer of natural science and a lecturer.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Westermann

As highlighted by the post-Cartesian discourse across philosophical schools, Western thought had been struggling for a long time with conceiving interconnectedness. The problematic of Western dualism is most apparent with the so-called mind-body problem, but the issue does not only relate to the separation of body and mind but also the separation of living beings from their environments. Asian philosophy, on the other hand, has had a long history of thinking relations. The paper argues that an architectural philosophy that is open for a dialogue with Asian views would allow for a new approach to conceptualising the interconnectedness of minds, bodies, environments, and cultures. Linking Asian and Western aesthetics with a discourse on ecology, and setting it into dialogue with contemporary theories of architecture, the paper also refers torecent research on embodiment that is engaging from a new point of view with the natural sciences, and that appears to confirm positions of traditional Chinese philosophy. Reconsidering traditional Chinese art and aesthetics, the paper suggests, could initiate a new eco-poetic way of thinking the built environment and its design in favour of a future that is more than smart.


2021 ◽  
pp. 26-47
Author(s):  
Kirk A. Denton

Chapter 1 focuses on three museums that treat Taiwan’s premodern history: the National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館‎, NMH), the National Taiwan Museum of Prehistory (國立台灣史前博物館‎), and the Shihsanhang Museum (十三行博物館‎). The NMH was the first museums established by the KMT after its move to Taiwan in 1949. Until recently, it has stood firmly in the sinocentric historical narrative, which implicitly links Taiwan to the dynastic history of mainland China. The other two museums, both established in the early 2000s, are in the “nativist” mode, forging an origins narrative that traces Taiwan’s historical roots not to China but to Taiwan’s prehistoric peoples and their present-day descendants—the aboriginal groups of Taiwan.


1937 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-178
Author(s):  
William Duncan Strong

Celebrating its one hundred and twenty-fifth birthday, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia assembled a remarkable scientific congress in that city, from Wednesday, March 17, until late Saturday, March 20, 1937. Rarely, if ever, in the history of American natural science has there been such a happy combination of scientific discussion, presentation of new evidence, and the gathering of exhibits, all bearing on the worldwide problem of man's origin and early development. Even more appreciated was the unlimited hospitality of the Academy which transmuted what might have been merely a stimulating scientific symposium into a gracious international social event.


1958 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 634-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Shklar

Politicaltheory is not an independent realm of thought. Ultimately it must always refer back to some metaphysical presuppositions ofWeltanschauungthat is not in itself political. This does not imply that every metaphysical position entails logically necessary political consequences. But it does mean that implicitly or explicitly political theories depend on more general religious, epistemological, and moral considerations. This condition of political thinking serves to explain much of the narrowness of contemporary political theory. For the dominant currents of philosophy neither can, nor wish, to provide a basis for political speculation, which is increasingly regarded as an undisciplined form of self-expression. On the other hand, the naive hope that political studies might fruitfully emulate the methods of the natural sciences, and so share their success, has all but evaporated. The result is that political theory is now concerned to insist on its own limitations, to be critical and even negative in character. This is not a new thing. The lack of philosophical inspiration combined with the decline of “scientific” aspirations has plagued politically sensitive minds at least since the very beginning of the present century. And, from the first, one of the responses to this frustration has been the effort to escape philosophical difficulties by grasping at intuitive short-cuts to truth. The most remarkable of these flights to intuition was political Bergsonism. Moreover, this is not an entirely closed chapter in the history of ideas. Even if Bergson no longer enjoys his earlier popularity, he is still widely read, especially in America. Again, the recent vogue of existentialist “politics” points to an analogous trend, while the penchant for “action,” which is inherent in intuitive politics, is as strong as ever among French intellectuals.


Author(s):  
Ernan McMullin

Galileo Galilei, one of the most colourful figures in the long history of the natural sciences, is remembered best today for two quite different sorts of reason. He has often been described as the ’father’ of modern natural science because of his achievements in the fields of mechanics and astronomy, and for what today would be called his philosophy of science, his vision of how the practice of science should be carried on and what a completed piece of natural science should look like. While none of the elements of that philosophy was entirely new, the way in which he combined them was so effective that it did much to shape all that came after in the sciences. In the popular mind, however, as a continuing stream of biographies attest, it is his struggle with Church authority that remains the centre of attention, symbolic as it is of the often troubled, but always intriguing, relationship between science and religion.


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