"natural theology > notes > 2017

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Allen, Richard Hinckley, Star Names: Their Lore and their Meaning, Dover 1963 Jacket: 'From his studies of the writings of scores of ancient astronomers, the author has come up with a fascinating history of the names various cultures have given the constellations, the literary and folkloristic uses that have been made of the stars through the centuries, and the often incredible associations that ancient people established with the stars. . . . The book is the only complete coverage of its kind in English. It is completely non-technical, hence accessible to etymologists, anthropologists and amateur star-gazers. But it contains so much unique reading material on early astronomical theory, so many delightful accounts drawn from the pages of books almost impossible to find today, that even the practicing astronomer will finds its pages refreshingly new and instructive.'
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Chadan, K, and P C Sabatier, Inverse Problems in Quantum Scattering Theory, Springer-Verlag 1989 Foreword: 'The normal business of physicists may be schematically thought of as predicting the motions of particles on the basis of knwon forces ... The inverse problem is to conclude what the forces ... are on the basis of the observed motion. A large part of our sensory contact with the world around us depends upon an intuitive notion of such an inverse problme: we infer the shape, size and surface texture of external objects from the scattering and absorption of light as detected by our eyes.'
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Damasio, Antonio, Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, Avon Books 1995 Amazon Customer Review: 'Ever since the Renaissance roughly two different camps have existed. One (still the predominant paradigm today) is the rationalistic school represented by Descartes et al., the other represented by Hume, Rousseau et al. The latter group postulated a great many things about how emotions and feelings were important, but no proof could be produced at the time. With Antonio Damasio's book, however, we finally have the proof we have waited 400 years for! Emotions are indeed important, and the body and mind are not seperate entities but rather a united whole. This is not just a philosophical matter now, but a scientific theory corroborated by clinical evidence. Damasio even describes accurately just how these emotions and feelings influence and guide us. ... ' Jesper,
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Feynman, Richard P, and Albert P Hibbs, Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals, McGraw Hill 1965 Preface: 'The fundamental physical and mathematical concepts which underlie the path integral approach were first developed by R P Feynman in the course of his graduate studies at Princeton, ... . These early inquiries were involved with the problem of the infinte self-energy of the electron. In working on that problem, a "least action" principle was discovered [which] could deal succesfully with the infinity arising in the application of classical electrodynamics.' As described in this book. Feynam, inspired by Dirac, went on the develop this insight into a fruitful source of solutions to many quantum mechanical problems.
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Feynman, Richard, QED: The Strange Story of Light and Matter, Princeton UP 1988 Jacket: 'Quantum electrodynamics - or QED for short - is the 'strange theory' that explains how light and electrons interact. Thanks to Richard Feynmann and his colleagues, it is also one of the rare parts of physics that is known for sure, a theory that has stood the test of time. . . . In this beautifully lucid set of lectures he provides a definitive introduction to QED.'
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Meade, Marion , Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This, Penguin USA 1989 Jacket: 'Wasn't the Yale Prom wonderful? "If all the girls present were laid end to end, I wouldn't be at all surprised."' 'Dorothy Parker was known as the wittiest woman in America during the 1920s and 1930s. In this lively, absorbing biography, Meade illuminates both the dark side of Parker and her days of wicked wittiness at the Alguonquin Round Table with the likes of William Faulkner. Photos.' Amazon
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Veltman, Martinus, Diagrammatica: The Path to the Feynman Rules, Cambridge University Press 1994 Jacket: 'This book provides an easily accessible introduction to quantum field theory via Feynman rules and calculations in particle physics. The aim is to make clear what the physical foundations of present-day field theory are, to clarify the physical content of Feynman rules, and to outline their domain of applicability. ... The book includes valuable appendices that review some essential mathematics, including complex spaces, matrices, the CBH equation, traces and dimensional regularization. ...'
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Weinberg, Steven, The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume I: Foundations, Cambridge University Press 1995 Jacket: 'After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and then the properties of particles that follow from these principles. Quantum field theory then emerges from this as a natural consequence. The classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics are presented in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. The account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories. The book's scope extends beyond quantum elelctrodynamics to elementary partricle physics and nuclear physics. It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. '
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Zee, Anthony, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, Princeton University Press 2003 Amazon book description: 'An esteemed researcher and acclaimed popular author takes up the challenge of providing a clear, relatively brief, and fully up-to-date introduction to one of the most vital but notoriously difficult subjects in theoretical physics. A quantum field theory text for the twenty-first century, this book makes the essential tool of modern theoretical physics available to any student who has completed a course on quantum mechanics and is eager to go on. Quantum field theory was invented to deal simultaneously with special relativity and quantum mechanics, the two greatest discoveries of early twentieth-century physics, but it has become increasingly important to many areas of physics. These days, physicists turn to quantum field theory to describe a multitude of phenomena. Stressing critical ideas and insights, Zee uses numerous examples to lead students to a true conceptual understanding of quantum field theory--what it means and what it can do. He covers an unusually diverse range of topics, including various contemporary developments,while guiding readers through thoughtfully designed problems. In contrast to previous texts, Zee incorporates gravity from the outset and discusses the innovative use of quantum field theory in modern condensed matter theory. Without a solid understanding of quantum field theory, no student can claim to have mastered contemporary theoretical physics. Offering a remarkably accessible conceptual introduction, this text will be widely welcomed and used.
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Papers

Tribus, Myron, Edward G. McIrvine, "Energy and Information", Scientific American, 224, 3, September 1971, page 179-188. 'The traditional separation [into the] branches of physics is due to historical reasons rather than the nature of the subject matter. A logical development of science must lead inevitably to the unification of those fields, and such a unification has yet to come about only because the century-old traditional outer trappings adorning the queen of the sciences, classical thermodynamics, have been defended with particular zeal. Apparently a large part of this defence has been based on the authority of the geniuses who brought this queen of science into existence.' [A. I. Veinik, at p 188]. back

Links

Alice Vincent, Inside Kew's tropical nursery - the secret greenhouse where the world's rarest plant life begins, 'But this is the beating, climate-controlled heart of Kew Gardens. It is here that the rarest plants in the world are brought from far-flung climes; mysterious specimens are gently coaxed into flower and seed over the course of decades and new plants are grown to fill the displays in the public glasshouses.' back

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples - Wikipedia, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Latin: Congregatio pro Gentium Evangelizatione) in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is perhaps better known by its former title, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide).' back

George P. Schults and Lawrence H. Summers, This is one climate solution that is best for the environment - and for business, 'Our carbon dividend strategy has four interrelated elements that account for its strength: a gradually rising and revenue-neutral carbon tax; carbon dividend payments made equally to all Americans, to be funded using all the carbon-tax revenue; rollback of costly command-and-control regulations that were implemented because the environmental costs of carbon fuels have not been incorporated into their price; and border adjustment to ensure a level playing field and U.S. competitiveness.' back

Hanion Abou Salem, Why is Netanyahu trying to disband the UNRWA>, 'Netanyahu wants to dismantle the UNRWA because the agency allows Palestinian refugee men to transmit their refugee status from one generation to another. This transmission of refugee status keeps the right of return for Palestinian refugees alive - it ensures that their hopes for returning to their ancestral homeland do not perish with the death of the original 1948 refugees.' back

Quanta cura - Wikipedia, Quanta cura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Quanta cura was a papal encyclical that was prompted by the September Convention of 1864 agreement between the then newly emerging Kingdom of Italy and the Second French Empire of Napoleon III.' back

Ishtar - Wikipedia, Ishtar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Ishtar . . . was the Mesopotamian goddess of love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, combat, and political power, the East Semitic (Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian) counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna, and a cognate of the Northwest Semitic goddess Astarte and the Armenian goddess Astghik. Ishtar was an important deity in Mesopotamian religion from around 3500 BCE, until its gradual decline between the 1st and 5th centuries CE with the spread of Christianity.' back

James Campbell, Malcolm Turnbull tells Gautam Adani native title problems with his Carmichael coal mine will be fixed, 'Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Indian billionaire Mr Andani and his senior executives that the native title problems with his Carmichael coal mine “need to be fixed and will be fixed”. Mr Turnbull said this morning he expects legislative changes to overturn the decision will be made when parliament gets back in May. back

Jared Diamond, Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication, 'Domestication interests us as the most momentous change in Holocene human history. Why did it operate on so few wild species, in so few geographic areas? Why did people adopt it at all, why did they adopt it when they did, and how did it spread? The answers to these questions determined the remaking of the modern world, as farmers spread at the expense of hunter–gatherers and of other farmers.' back

Jean Ensminger, The Political Economy of Religion: An Economic Anthropologist's Perspective, 'Finally I wish to take up two issues . . . : 1) the role of religious ideology or moral authority more generally, in creating self-enforcement or cooperation, and 2) the role of religion as a source of supply of new norms in society. Most of the examples I use for illustration betray my background as an Africanist who works with a recently converted Muslim population, the Orma of Kenya.' back

Julie Myerson, My Cousin Rachel: Daphne de Maurier's take on the sinister power of sex, 'And though My Cousin Rachel – written in 1951 when Du Maurier was, arguably, at the height of her confidence and powers – might appear to be a simple did-she-didn’t-she thriller about Cornish estates and poisonings, it is absolutely and inescapably a novel about sex. Most specifically female sexuality: its ambiguity, its mystery and its potentially fatal – as perceived by men – power.' back

Louise Pryke, Friday essay: the legend of Ishtar, first goddess of love and war, back

Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani, The blockade on Qatar is a smokescreen. Here's what's behind it., 'Behind the smokescreen, we believe that the blockading nations are seeking to isolate and punish Qatar for our independence and to retaliate against us for supporting the true aspirations of people against tyrants and dictators. There must always be a doorway to end discord, and Qatar has always believed that dialogue, negotiation and compromise are solutions to violence and conflict. We have fostered those discussions through an “open-door” foreign policy throughout our history.' back

Morgan Brigg, John Quiggin and Kristen Lyons, The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani's land deal, 'These amendments, while validating existing Iluas that could have been brought into question, are also widely acknowledged as a fix for Adani. In April, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reassured senior Adani executives in India that the native title situation would be fixed.' back

Patrick Malone and R Jeffrey Smith, Safety lapses undermine nuclear warhead work at Los Alamos, 'A criticality accident is an uncontrolled chain reaction involving a fissionable material such as plutonium that releases energy and generates a deadly burst of radiation. Its prevention has been an important challenge for the nuclear weapons program since the 1940s. Criticality accidents have occurred 60 times at various nuclear sites in the last half-century, causing a total of 21 agonizing deaths.' back

Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors Condemned by Pius IX, 'Venerable Brethren, you see clearly enough how sad and full of perils is the condition of Catholics in the regions of Europe which We have mentioned. . . .. Venerable Brothers, it is surprising that in our time such a great war is being waged against the Catholic Church. But anyone who knows the nature, desires and intentions of the sects, whether they be called masonic or bear another name, and compares them with the nature the systems and the vastness of the obstacles by which the Church has been assailed almost everywhere, cannot doubt that the present misfortune must mainly be imputed to the frauds and machinations of these sects. It is from them that the synagogue of Satan, which gathers its troops against the Church of Christ, takes its strength.' back

Prudence L. Gourguechon, Op-Ed Is Trump mentally fit to be president? Lets consult the U.S. Army's field manual, 'The Army’s field manual on leadership is an extraordinarily sophisticated document, founded in sound psychological research and psychiatric theory, as well as military practice. It articulates the core faculties that officers, including commanders, need in order to fulfill their jobs. From the manual’s 135 dense pages, I have distilled five crucial qualities: Trust . . . Discipline and self-control . . . Judgement and critical thinking . . . Self-awareness . . . Empathy . . . ' back

Sean Mcmeekin, Was Lenin a German Agent?, 'Because he returned home by way of Germany — and with the obvious cooperation of the German High Command — which was then at war against Russia and her Entente allies (France, Britain and, from April 6, the United States), allegations that Lenin was a German agent were immediately hurled by his opponents, a charge that remains controversial to this day.' back

Somini Sengupta, A Saudi Woman Who Got Behind the Wheen and Never Looked Back, 'She had bought a car. She was allowed to drive inside the Aramco compound. One morning in May 2011, she decided it was time to take it for a spin outside. A friend sat in the passenger seat and recorded the drive on her phone. By afternoon, it was a YouTube sensation. International news coverage followed, and, eventually, a knock on the door in the middle of the night by Saudi authorities. Ms. al-Sharif was thrown in a women’s prison, crawling with cockroaches.' back

Vatican.va, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, 'The task of the Congregation has always been the transmission and dissemination of the faith throughout the whole world. It was given the specific responsibility of coordinating and guiding all the Church's diverse missionary efforts and initiatives. These include: the promotion and the formation of the clergy and of local hierarchies, encouraging new missionary institutes, and providing material assistance for the missionary activity of the Church. Thus, the newly established Congregation became the ordinary and exclusive instrument of the Holy Father and of the Holy See in its exercise of jurisdiction over all of the Church's missions and over missionary cooperation.' back

vol VII: Notes

2017

Notes

Sunday 18 June 2017

Monday 19 June 2017

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Wednesday 21 June 2017

Thursday 22 June 2017

Friday 23 June 2017

Saturday 24 June 2017

Further reading

Books

Papers

Links