Lessons to be Learned from the Study of Indigenous Craft

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Noble
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Mark Twain ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Long Tail ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Naval Architect ◽  
Design Construction

By looking backwards we can often discover solutions that will allow forward progress. We see in the bible the idea that history repeats itself: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 But the author subscribes to the idea put forward by the American humorist, Mark Twain: History doesn’t repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes. The design and construction of water-borne craft using “scientific” methods is a relatively recent development in the context of the whole history of that activity, and is by no means universally applied even today Many traditional craft in current service still rely on the process akin to natural selection, as proposed by Darwin, that is, it is not the strongest, most intelligent nor the fittest that survive but those that best adapt. And the evolutionary process continues today. From Bangkok water taxis with “long-tail” propulsion systems, and from Haitian fishing boats with high performance new sails to whaling umiaks in NW Alaska covered with tensioned membrane skins made from walrus hide and equipped with outboard motors, there can be value in studying the design, construction and operational approaches of these craft. Such consideration can lead to insights for the modern naval architect. A number of well-researched publications (Tapan Adney, 1964) and (Haddon, 1975) give a wealth of information on indigenous craft. Sturgeon Nose Canoe USN ZUMWALT Class Destroyer. Noble Lessons to be learned from the study of indigenous craft 2 Lessons such as optimizing weight/strength ratios, minimizing resistance, utilizing materials in clever ways, developing repairable structures etc., can all be learned from the study of indigenous craft. The sense of continuity with a living past obtained by the study of the work of previous generations of designers and builders, realizing that many current problems were their problems too, is both valuable and satisfying. That said, not all examples given in this paper can be directly linked to designers actively seeking out past developments. Some examples have occurred by coincidence, some by accident and some by unwitting “reinvention of the wheel”. Many “new” ideas, however, have been tried before and it is very often possible to test a new idea against past experience. This paper builds on previous ethno-technical study, (Noble 1994) describing the author’s experience in this field and uses a number of specific examples to illustrate the premise.

The Use and Misuse of Religious Language: Zionism and the Palestinians

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wetherell
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Title Deed ◽  
History Of ◽  
Land Question

Every discipline which deals with the land question in Canaan-Palestine-Israel is afflicted by the problem of specialisation. The political scientist and historian usually discuss the issue of land in Israel purely in terms of interethnic and international relations, biblical scholars concentrate on the historical and archaeological question with virtually no reference to ethics, and scholars of human rights usually evade the question of God. What follows is an attempt, through theology and political history, to understand the history of the Israel-Palestine land question in a way which respects the complexity of the question. From a scrutiny of the language used in the Bible to the development of political Zionism from the late 19th century it is possible to see the way in which a secular movement mobilised the figurative language of religion into a literal ‘title deed’ to the land of Palestine signed by God.

How the Bible Feels

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorina Miller Parmenter
Keyword(s):  
Affect Theory ◽  
Material Object ◽  
Bodily Harm ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Christian Leaders ◽  
Christian History

Despite Christian leaders’ insistence that what is important about the Bible are the messages of the text, throughout Christian history the Bible as a material object, engaged by the senses, frequently has been perceived to be an effective object able to protect its users from bodily harm. This paper explores several examples where Christians view their Bibles as protective shields, and will situate those interpretations within the history of the material uses of the Bible. It will also explore how recent studies in affect theory might add to the understanding of what is communicated through sensory engagement with the Bible.

Applying analytical procedures for performance audit of customs authorities

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1035-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Pankova ◽  
V.V. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Distance Method ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Scientific Hypothesis ◽  
Financial Audit ◽  
Promising Area ◽  
History Of ◽  
Performance Audit ◽  
Analytical Procedures ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Customs Administration

Subject. The article considers the development of a set of methods and indicators of economic analysis, which can be used for performance audit of customs authorities, using the Volga Customs Administration case. Objectives. The aim is to justify the use of analytical procedures to rank the effectiveness of customs payments for the purpose of performance audit of customs authorities. Methods. We employ general scientific methods of research, i.e. dialectical and monographic methods, logical analysis, comparison, as well as the Euclidean distance method. Results. We reviewed works by Russian and foreign scholars on the history of customs audit development and internal financial control of customs authorities, gave scientific credence to attributing the system of customs payment and performance to the indicators of economic activity of customs authorities. Due to the lack of methods for assessing the performance of customs authorities, the use of analytical procedures during the performance audit seems to be a promising area. Conclusions. When verifying the scientific hypothesis put forward in the study, we established that the introduction and development of the ranking system for the performance of customs authorities related to the collection of customs duties can contribute to effective financial audit of customs authorities in general.

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE FORMER KETSKAYA VOLOST

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Sitnikova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Architectural Analysis ◽  
Tomsk Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Rural Architecture ◽  
The Village ◽  
Rich History

The article considers the historical and cultural heritage of villages of the former Ketskaya volost, which is currently a part of the Tomsk region. The formation of Ketsky prison and the architecture of large settlements of the former Ketskaya volost are studied. Little is known about the historical and cultural heritage of villages of the Tomsk region and the problems of preserving historical settlements of the country.The aim of this work is to study the formation and development of the village architecture of the former Ketskaya volost, currently included in the Tomsk region.The following scientific methods are used: a critical analysis of the literature, comparative architectural analysis and systems analysis of information, creative synthesis of the findings. The obtained results can be used in preparation of lectures, reports and communication on the history of the Siberian architecture.The scientific novelty is a study of the historical and cultural heritage of large settlements of the former Ketskaya volost, which has not been studied and published before. The methodological and theoretical basis of the study is theoretical works of historians and architects regarding the issue under study as well as the previous  author’s work in the field.It is found that the historical and cultural heritage of the villages of the former Ketskaya volost has a rich history. Old historical buildings, including religious ones are preserved in villages of Togur and Novoilinka. The urban planning of the villages reflects the design and construction principles of the 18th century. The rich natural environment gives this area a special touch. 

‘Limping, Yet Made to Climb a Mountain!’ Re-Reading the Vashti Character in the Hiv And Aids South African Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan’A Mphahlele)
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
External Factor ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
African Women ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Land Grabbing ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Context

The history of the Christian Bible’s reception in South Africa was part of a package that included among others, the importation of European patriarchy, land grabbing and its impoverishment of Africans and challenged masculinities of African men. The preceding factors, together with the history of the marginalization of African women in bible and theology, and how the Bible was and continues to be used in our HIV and AIDS contexts, have only made the proverbial limping animal to climb a mountain. Wa re o e bona a e hlotša, wa e nametša thaba (while limping, you still let it climb a mountain) simply means that a certain situation is being aggravated (by an external factor). In this chapter the preceding Northern Sotho proverb is used as a hermeneutical lens to present an HIV and AIDS gender sensitive re-reading of the Vashti character in the Hebrew Bible within the South African context.

The Paving Stone Theory of World Tectonics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Livermore
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Transform Faults ◽  
Plate Motions ◽  
Euler’S Theorem ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Entire History ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Tuzo Wilson introduces the concept of transform faults, which has the effect of transforming Earth Science forever. Resistance to the new ideas is finally overcome in the late 1960s, as the theory of moving plates is established. Two scientists play a major role in quantifying the embryonic theory that is eventually dubbed ‘plate tectonics’. Dan McKenzie applies Euler’s theorem, used previously by Teddy Bullard to reconstruct the continents around the Atlantic, to the problem of plate rotations on a sphere and uses it to unravel the entire history of the Indian Ocean. Jason Morgan also wraps plate tectonics around a sphere. Tuzo Wilson introduces the idea of a fixed hotspot beneath Hawaii, an idea taken up by Jason Morgan to create an absolute reference frame for plate motions.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk van Miert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
The Bible ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
History Of

In the conclusion, the intrinsic deconstructive power of philology is contrasted with external pressures moving philology in different political and religious directions. The positions of the main protagonists differed widely, but they show that the less they were institutionalized, the more freedom they had to present unorthodox theories. As in the case of natural science, biblical philology was a handmaiden of theology, but it could also be used against certain theologies. In the end, the accumulation of evidence regarding the history of the Bible and the transmission of its texts, could not fail to impinge on the authority of Scripture. The problems in the transmission of the biblical text were widely discussed in the decade leading up to the publication of the Theological-political Treatise. Readers of Spinoza were already familiar with the type of reasoning which Spinoza employed in the central chapters of his notorious work.

Presbyterian Preaching

2019 ◽  
pp. 506-523
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Long
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
New School ◽  
Intellectual Content ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Korean Presbyterian ◽  
Early Expression ◽  
History Of ◽  
School Conflict

Presbyterian preaching grew from roots in the Reformation, particularly the Calvinist wing. The fullest early expression of the character of Presbyterian preaching is in the Westminster Standards, documents produced in England by an assembly of Calvinist clergy and laymen in the mid-seventeenth century. These documents described the key qualities of Reformed, and thus Presbyterian, preaching: sermons grounded in the Bible, containing significant doctrinal content, and aimed at teaching and edifying congregants.The authors of the Westminster Standards prescribed preaching that was substantive and lively, filled with biblical and doctrinal content, and touched the hearts of hearers. Throughout the history of Presbyterian preaching, however, these twin goals were often difficult to attain. This tension between intellectual, content-centered preaching and more emotional, experience-centered preaching among Presbyterian is evident in such events as the Old Side–New Side controversy in the mid-1700s and the Old School–New School conflict from 1837 to 1869 (both in America), in Scottish Presbyterian preaching in the early nineteenth century, and in Korean Presbyterian preaching during the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twentieth century.Today as many Presbyterian preachers use digital media and conversational-style sermons, a strong desire continues for preaching that is clear, deeply theological and biblical, impassioned, and relevant.

Postcolonial Liberation: Decolonizing Biblical Studies in the South African Postcolony

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O. West
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
The South ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Black ◽  
History Of ◽  
Land Economics ◽  
The 1960S

Liberation biblical interpretation and postcolonial biblical interpretation have a long history of mutual constitution. This essay analyzes a particular context in which these discourses and their praxis have forged a third conversation partner: decolonial biblical interpretation. African and specifically South African biblical hermeneutics are the focus of reflections in this essay. The South African postcolony is a “special type” of postcolony, as the South African Communist Party argued in the 1960s. The essay charts the characteristics of the South African postcolony and locates decolonial biblical interpretation within the intersections of these features. Race, culture, land, economics, and the Bible are forged in new ways by contemporary social movements, such as #FeesMustFall. South African biblical studies continues to draw deeply on the legacy of South African black theology, thus reimagining African biblical studies as decolonial African biblical studies—a hybrid of African liberation and African postcolonial biblical interpretation.

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