Cosmos, Chaos and Order: Mapping as Knowing

Observation and experiment are seen as the cornerstones of empirical science. Astronomy, an inherently observational science, affords a case study of a discipline in which controlled experiments cannot be performed. The author argues that in such disciplines maps and mapping serve to interpolate intellectually between observation and experiment. This is particularly noticeable in the early conceptions of cosmos and changes in worldview wherein major cognitive shifts are encoded in maps. With historical advances in map-making techniques, the epistemic purposes served by maps have also evolved significantly. Maps in astronomy today are deployed as powerful visual devices that record and transmute observational data to support theoretical ideas underpinning our current understanding of the cosmos. One example is dark matter maps, which offer compelling indirect evidence for the existence of the elusive dominant matter component that shapes our universe: dark matter.

Black Holes and Quantum Gravity

The search for a quantum theory of gravitation is considered one of the most important problems in theoretical physics. Might black holes provide a key? Researchers are beginning to think that the emergence of a true black hole astronomy based on the measurement of gravitational waves and radio interferometry could bring quantum gravity into the field of experimental or observational science.

The Fate of the Universe

The Big Freeze: The end of cosmology as an observational science in a cosmological-constant dominated universe. Eternal expansion? Big Crunch?

Igneous Rock Associations 22. Experimental Petrology: Methods, Examples, and Applications

Experiments are an important source of basic information in petrology, from thermodynamic data used to develop predictive models to physical property data used to understand magma ascent and eruption. Since we all use experimental data in our work as geoscientists, it is important that we have a basic understanding of the methods used to prepare and perform experiments on rocks and minerals and their synthetic analogues. In this review I examine how the observational science of geology changed in the late 1800’s with the development of the interdisciplinary science of physical chemistry. The second part of the paper discusses what factors need to be considered in designing an experimental study; it focuses particularly on the problems of reaching equilibrium on the short timescales available in the laboratory. In the final section, I give four examples of geological problems that have been solved using experimental methods and make some suggestions about the directions that future experimental campaigns might take.RÉSUMÉL’expérimentation est une source importante d’information de base en pétrologie, qu’il s’agisse de données thermodynamiques pour développer des modèles prédictifs, ou des propriétés physiques utilisés pour comprendre la montée et l’éruption d’un magma. Puisque nous utilisons tous des données expérimentales dans notre travail de géoscientifique, il est important que nous ayons une compréhension minimale des méthodes utilisées pour préparer et réaliser des expériences sur les roches, les minéraux et leurs analogues de synthèse. Dans la présente étude, je me suis penché sur les changements survenus en science d’observation qu’est la géologie, à la fin des années 1800, avec le développement de la science interdisciplinaire de la chimie physique. La deuxième partie de l’article traite des facteurs à prendre en compte dans la conception d’une étude expérimentale; elle porte en particulier sur les problèmes d’atteinte d’un équilibre sur les temps courts du laboratoire. Dans la dernière section, je donne quatre exemples de problèmes géologiques qui ont été résolus à l’aide de méthodes expérimentales, et je fais des suggestions sur des orientations qui pourraient être adoptées lors de campagnes expérimentales à venir.

Disruptive photon technologies for chemical dynamics

A perspective of new and emerging technologies for chemical dynamics is given, with an emphasis on the use of X-ray sources that generate sub-picosecond pulses. The two classes of experimental techniques used for time-resolved measurements of chemical processes and their effects are spectroscopy and imaging, where the latter includes microscopy, diffractive imaging, and crystallography. X-Ray free-electron lasers have brought new impetus to the field, allowing not only temporal and spatial resolution at atomic time and length scales, but also bringing a new way to overcome limitations due to perturbation of the sample by the X-ray probe by out-running radiation damage. Associated instrumentation and methods are being developed to take advantage of the new opportunities of these sources. Once these methods of observational science have been mastered it should be possible to use the new tools to directly control those chemical processes.

Extending the Gaze: The Temporality of Astronomical Paperwork

ArgumentKeeping records has always been an essential part of science. Aside from natural history and the laboratory sciences, no other observational science reflects this activity of record-keeping better than astronomy. Central to this activity, historically speaking, are tools so mundane and common that they are easily overlooked; namely, the notebook and the pencil. One obvious function of these tools is clearly a mnemonic one. However, there are other relevant functions of paperwork that often go unnoticed. Among these, I argue, is the strategic use made of different procedures of record keeping to prolong observational time with a target object. Highlighting this function will help us to appreciate the supporting role played by the notebook and the pencil to extend the observational time spent with a target object. With objects as delicate, faint, and mysterious as the nebulae, the procedures used to record their observations helped nineteenth-century observers overcome the temporal handicaps and limitations of large and clumsy telescopes, mounted in the altazimuth manner. To demonstrate the importance of paper and pencil, I will closely examine the observing books, the drawings found therein, and the telescopes of three nineteenth-century observers of the nebulae: Sir John F. W. Herschel, Lord Rosse, and William Lassell.

Multi-band optical light-curve behavior of core-collapse supernovae

We present survey results obtained from the UBVRI optical photometric follow-up of 19 bright core-collapse SNe during 2002-2012 using 1-m class optical telescopes operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science (acronym ARIES), Nainital India. This homogeneous set of data have been used to study behavior of optical light/color curve, and to gain insight into objet-to-object peculiarity. We derive integrated luminosities for types IIP, Ibc and luminous SNe. Two peculiar type IIP events having photometric properties similar to normal IIP and spectroscopic properties similar to sub-lumnious IIP have been identified.