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Explanation in biology has long been characterized as being different from explanation in other scientific disciplines, in particular from explanation in physics. One of the reasons was the existence in biology of explanation types that were unheard of in the physical sciences: teleological and functional explanations, historical and evolutionary explanations. More recently, owing in part to the rise of molecular biology, biological explanations have been depicted as mechanisms. This profusion of explanatory patterns is typical of biology. The aim of the present volume Explanation in Biology. An Enquiry into the Diversity of Explanatory Patterns in the Life Sciences is to shed some new light on the diversity of explanation models in biology. In this introductory chapter, we recall the general philosophical context of scientific explanation as it has unfolded in the past seven decades, and highlight the specific issues that models of explanation have faced in biology. We then show how the different essays gathered in this collective volume tackle aspects of this important debate.

This chapter opens with a discussion on the importance of reading to science and to scientists. The claim is made that the empirical basis of science is well-canvassed in the school curriculum but that the basis of science in literacy is almost totally neglected. We explore the implications of this situation for students’ science learning and understanding. The remainder of the chapter deals in one way or another with the structure of scientific text. First, we delineate three ways in which the structure of text can be understood and illustrate these distinctions by drawing upon published scientific work. Second, we examine how the structure of scientific texts varies within and between scientific disciplines. The upshot of the analysis is that structure varies considerably both within and between disciplines and that perceived patterns likely have more to do with the overall purpose of the research and with scientists’ personal styles and communicative preferences. Third, we examine the epistemology underlying scientific texts and conclude, using examples to illustrate, that scientific writings are underlain by fallible rationality. Finally, we look at meta-scientific language that is found in scientific texts, and show how scientists use such language to, in a sense, provide the perspective of an outsider so that they can deal critically with their own work.

Despite the bad press, modified Malthusian theories constitute a promising bid for grounding the study of resource management on science integration, not only between various social scientific disciplines but also between the social and the physical sciences. The main impediment is a refusal of social scientists to appreciate how deeply the societal sphere is embedded in wider biophysical and social-ecological systems. Physical scientists are more open to Malthusian hypotheses, but their social theorizing often lacks sophistication and is therefore duly criticized. To overcome this unproductive state of affairs, I start from the classical Malthusian framework and gradually add complexity to it. After an introduction and discussion of classical Malthusianism I show how, despite the failing of Malthusian predictions, its logical structure is reproduced by simple neo-Malthusian theories that have been developed to account for contemporary global challenges. Subsequently, I show the potential of more sophisticated neo-Malthusian models. I conclude by pondering the prospects of modified Malthusian theories contributing to better science integration.

Forests play a major role in the global carbon cycle. Deforestation is a major source of carbon to the atmosphere, and forest regrowth is a major sink for carbon from the atmosphere. This understanding comes from several decades of intense research focusing on explaining patterns of variation in atmospheric CO2 over time and space. The observed patterns reflect the influences of industrial humanity, ocean processes and ecosystem dynamics and understanding these patterns required pooling the techniques of many scientific disciplines. Understanding the role of forests in the global carbon cycle required the expertise of atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, remote sensing pioneers, as well as the full range of forest science disciplines, from biometrics to history. Atmospheric measurements, satellite images and automated sensors have become part of the standard tools of forest scientists, leading to the inclusion of forest dynamics in models of the global system. These Earth System models suggest that the future of our planet is inextricably connected to the fate of its forests.

The five-part structure of research papers (Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion plus Abstract) serves as the conceptual basis for the content. The structure can be considered an “hourglass” or a “conversation” with predictable elements. Each section of the paper has its own common internal structure and linguistic features. The structures and features are explained with examples from published papers in a range of scientific disciplines. Exceptions to the four-part structure are also discussed.

The authors analyze the concept of marginality from an ecological perspective and provide examples of some mechanisms of marginalization. Marginalization cannot solely be described as an ecological phenomenon, but rather occurs via the interplay of ecological and social aspects of complex arrangements. Hence the use of socio-ecological systems as a conceptual unit is proposed. One way to combat marginalization is to increase the resilience and adaptability of these systems. However, multiple needs must be considered simultaneously, including: food security, income generation, or ecosystem services. Research on marginality in the context of interlinked socio-ecological, complex, and dynamic systems demands paradigm shifts in scientific disciplines that are beginning to merge.

Society-nature interaction is an inherently complex process the analysis of which requires inter- and transdisciplinary efforts. Integrated socio-ecological modelling is an approach to synthesize concepts and insights from various scientific disciplines into a coherent picture and thereby better understand the interrelations between various drivers behind the trajectories of socio-ecological systems. We here discuss insights gained in developing the integrated model SERD (Simulation of Ecological Compatibility of Regional Development) for the municipality of Reichraming in the centre of the Austrian LTSER platform Eisenwurzen. The model includes an agent-based actor module coupled with a spatially explicit land use module and a biophysical stock-flow module capable of simulating socio-ecological material flows (C and N). The model was developed, implemented and used in a transdisciplinary research process together with relevant stakeholders. We conclude that the development of such models is highly attractive for LTSER due to their ability to integrate contributions from various scientific disciplines and stakeholders and support learning on interactions in complex socio-ecological systems. Integrated socio-ecological models can therefore also support the study of sustainability-related issues in land-change science.

For the last few decades, decline in fertility and mortality have resulted in population ageing and have raised many concerns among demographers. Their uncertainty about the performance of certain public institutions (e.g. pension systems and labour markets) gave way to much consideration of what might reverse the current trends in the development of the size and structure of populations. Seemingly, one solution is the concept of replacement migration—the idea implying that international migration might be a tool to offset population ageing and its negative effects. This chapter outlines the concept and its development, and evaluates its usefulness from the point of view of different scientific disciplines. The evaluation leads to the conclusion that for the time being the concept is purely theoretical and may be used to measure the scale of the ongoing population imbalances. However, it should not be used as a planning tool as it did not consider the economic, social and political aspects of population migration.

Evolutionary, ecological and ethical studies are, at the same time, specific scientific disciplines and, from an historical point of view, structurally linked domains of research.

Engineering design competencies and the role of scientific disciplines in engineering curricula form the background for this chapter. Engineering ­knowledge as produced in the context of engineering education at large is seen as the key to understanding the dominant strategies of machination in engineering practice. At the same time, there is a need to bring new perspectives to engineering design and to the understanding of engineering knowledge. The crowding of engineering ­education with an exploding number of new specialities and disciplines has ­rendered problematic the broad ‘polytechnics’ education prominent in the ­traditions of engineering education. While the idea that engineering is building on a natural science base is still dominant as the common model for the education and identity building of engineering, the growth in specialties and required competencies are blurring the claims by engineering schools and institutions of a common ­engineering identity. Social sciences and humanities primarily have functioned as an add-on to the rather diverse engineering curricula at the same time as new ways of ­understanding technologies as hybrids constructed through historical and situated actors associations have created a new ground for interdisciplinary integration. In design engineering education, these new types of knowledge have become f­oundational for their approach to technology.

An attribute of amorphous/glassy state is that it is a solid state in which the atoms or molecules are not arranged in any long-range regular order. A glass is traditionally understood as the product obtained from a melted material that has been cooled at a sufficiently high cooling rate to obtain a rigid material without crystallization. The term amorphous is more general and encompasses not only the glasses but also non-crystalline substances prepared by other routes such as precipitation from solution, etc. Most solid materials can be prepared in the glassy/amorphous state, so that many branches of science are touched with the problem of amorphous-state properties, such as glass science, polymer science, metallurgy, biology, pharmaceutical science, and many other scientific disciplines.

The paper tries to put the conflict of the natural and the human sciences into its historical context. It describes the changes in classification of scientific disciplines that accompany a scientific revolution, and offers an alternative to Kuhns theory.Instead of a conflict between the proponents and opponents of the new paradigm it interprets the revolution as a conflict between the mixed disciplines and the metaphorical realm of the old paradigm.

Machines are motors of the economy. This domain of the theory of machines and mechanisms may be regarded to be a determinant of the development of technology. The developed study of mechanisms and machines is characterized as an interdisciplinary science with the possibility of motion-controlled programming. The dynamic development of many disciplines of technical sciences and nanotechnology has led to activities inspired by various bases of knowledge. Such an interaction has led to creating in the past neomechanics, the present mechatronics and in the future may be neuromechanics. Mechatronics, which was first created out of mechanical engineering as a theory of controlled motion, can be regarded as a discipline, the paradigm of which is apparent from the imposition of formalism, rights and principles of scientific disciplines, in particular principles of the science of mechanisms and machines. In this meaning the science of mechanisms and machines is dominant in formulating and solving engineering problems, and this is a key factor formulating twenty-first century civilization. Intelligent machines operate on the principle of the synergistic interaction of mechanical subsystems, hydraulic, electronic and optical computing.

The scientific disciplines of forest hydrology and forest biogeochemistry have contributed greatly to our understanding of the natural world even though they are relatively young disciplines. In this chapter, the historical origins, developments, and major advancements of these disciplines will be presented. The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES) will serve as a case study to illustrate the development, integration, and new research directions of these disciplines. Finally, this chapter on the historical roots and evolution of forest hydrology and biogeochemistry sets the stage for the remaining chapters of this volume by providing a conceptual framework in which most hydrological and biogeochemical work is conducted. Excellent reviews on forest hydrology and biogeochemistry are given by Sopper and Lull (1967), Bormann and Likens (1979), Lee (1980), Waring and Schesinger (1985), Likens and Bormann (1995), Schlesinger (1997), Ice and Stednick (2004a), de la Cretaz and Barten (2007), NRC (2008), and DeWalle (2011).

The EcoCyc database integrates information about the E. coli genome, its metabolic pathways, and its regulatory network. EcoCyc is in use by scientists from a variety of disciplines. Experimental biologists use it as a reference source on E. coli, and to leverage information about E. coli to the study of other microbes. Because the E. coli genome has the largest number of experimentally characterized genes of any organism, EcoCyc is used in the annotation of other microbial genomes by sequence similarity. EcoCyc has also been used in a number of global biological studies by computational biologists, and to provide training and validation datasets for the development of new bioinformatics algorithms. EcoCyc serves as a reference source for metabolic engineers, and it is used in microbiology education. The software behind EcoCyc, called Pathway Tools, has been used to develop EcoCyc-like databases for many other organisms. Pathway Tools provides powerful query and visualization capabilities, including tools to analyze high-throughput datasets by painting those datasets onto genome-scale diagrams of the metabolic network, the transcriptional regulatory network, and the complete genome map.

Environmental sciences comprise the scientific disciplines, or parts of them, that consider the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the environment (Allaby 1996). Environmental sciences are possibly the largest grouping of sciences, drawing heavily on life sciences and earth sciences, both of which are relatively large groupings themselves. Life sciences deal with living organisms and include (among others) agriculture, biology, biophysics, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, medicine, taxonomy and zoology. Earth sciences deal with the physical and chemical aspects of the solid Earth, its waters and the air that envelops it. Included are the geologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric sciences. The latter are concerned with the structure and dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere and include meteorology and climatology. The field of environmental science is very interdisciplinary. It exists most obviously as a body of knowledge on its own right when a team of specialists assembles to address a particular issue (Allaby 1996). For instance, a comprehensive study of a particular stretch of a river would involve determining the geological composition of the riverbed (geology), determining the chemical and physical properties of the water (chemistry, physics), as well as sampling and recording the species living in and near the water (biology). Environmental sciences are highly relevant to environmental management, which is concerned with directing human activities that affect the environment.

Since its inception at the turn of the 20th century, vocational psychology has thrived as a result of empirical research and theoretical advances. Early studies identifying the nature of educational and career interests (Strong, 1936) and their relation to abilities (Hartman & Dashiell, 1919), and career outcomes (DiMichael, 1949) are just a few examples of how early vocational psychologists applied research methods and measurement in an effort to promote effective career decision-making. Early theories of career counselling and development often guided these research efforts and were, in turn, informed and modified by empirical findings. In the last century, our discipline has amassed a considerable volume of research. Surprisingly, however, we continue to ask similar questions with respect to the nature of educational and vocational interests (Darcy & Tracey, 2007), and their relation to abilities (Tracey & Hopkins, 2001) and important academic and career outcomes (Tracey & Robbins, 2006). One of the biggest challenges faced by scientific disciplines is that of synthesising and summarising a large number of individual studies in such a way that researchers, theoreticians, and practitioners can draw meaningful conclusions. The statistical techniques of meta-analysis permit researchers to rise to this challenge and it is this topic that will be the focus of this chapter. The goals of this chapter are twofold. First, this chapter will provide the reader with a fundamental understanding of the family of statistical analyses collectively referred to as meta-analysis. This will include an overview of the procedure, and a brief review of the steps involved in conducting a meta-analysis. Discussion of this topic will be conceptual rather than mathematical. As such, this chapter is not a comprehensive review of current issues in meta-analyses nor will it provide sufficient procedural guidance for the reader to actually conduct an analysis. Those wishing a more comprehensive coverage of current conceptual and procedural issues should refer to Hedges and Pigott (2004), Hunter and Schmidt (1990), Kline (2004), Lipsey and Wilson (2001), and Quintana and Minami (2006). The second goal of this chapter is to summarise several recent meta-analyses in the area of educational and vocational guidance in an effort to describe how researchers are applying this methodology in both traditional and novel ways to

Teaching the use of models in scientific research requires a description, in general terms, of how scientists actually use models in their research activities. This paper aims to arrive at defining common characteristics of models that are used in present-day scientific research. Initially, a list of common features of models and modelling, based on the literature was compiled. Next, a questionnaire was developed, which consisted of ten statements with which the common features of models were probed. A sample of 77 research papers from ‘hard science’ journals was drawn. The questionnaire was sent to the first author of the selected articles. The useful response was 24 (31%). From an analysis of the results, it was concluded that although the respondents more or less agreed with all the common features of models, some characteristics were perceived differently, or formulated in different terms. This has led us to revise some of the features in our list, and suggest recommendations for the use of models in science curricula and science text books. In particular, more attention should be paid to modern uses of models and to aspects related to the nature of models

Prof. Dr. Pieter Hendrik (Piet) Nienhuis worked for almost 40 years in all aspects of aquatic ecology and environmental science and retired on 31 October 2003. He can be characterised as a distinguished scientist, shaped in an applied estuarine and aquatic research ambience of the former Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research (DIHO) in Yerseke in the Netherlands. His appointment as a full professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen offered him a challenging step from monodisciplinarity in ecology, via multidisciplinarity in the application of ecological knowledge in river science to interdisciplinarity in environmental science and management. This paper describes his education, teaching activities, research, scientific publications, science management, and significance for various scientific disciplines. He made important contributions to biosystematics of angiosperms and algae, the ecology of seagrasses, nutrient cycling and eutrophication in estuarine ecosystems, and the integrated modelling of the ecological functioning of estuaries. Subsequently, he paid much attention to environmental problems in river basins, ecological rehabilitation and sustainable development. His work influenced the view of ecologists, aquatic scientists and water managers in the Netherlands as well as abroad, in particular regarding the drawbacks of compartmentalization of the estuaries and the importance of connectivity and morphodynamics in river systems. In hindsight, it appears as a logical line that he gradually moved from estuarine ecological research that became increasingly driven by societal and environmental problems to the field of environmental science and management.

The term “biocentrism” is polysemicinas far asit has, at least, three different meanings. One of them is to be found in the field of Philosophy, another in the Environmental Sciences, and a third interpretation is also provided in the area of astrobiology. In the field of philosophy, the term “biocentrism”isused to describe that ethical theory which denies that human beings occupy a privileged position with respect to other living creatures, as well as humankind’s centrality as a source of universal values. Life at large is taken as the only source and holder of any value by biocentrism, which implies that humanity is displaced from its central position, and so biocentrism is anti-anthropocentric. This is the usage the term is given in the “deep ecology” and conservation movement, based on the theories developed by Aldo Leopold and Paul W. Taylor. The second use of “biocentrism” is opposed to that of “functionalism”. In this sense, these two designations refer to opposing views in the study and management of the environment, which, in turn, have generated two distinct scientific disciplines: population ecology and system ecology, respectively. Bearing this difference in mind, biocentrism is best characterized as focusing on organisms and taking the “biota” as its basic component. Besides, biocentrism relies on natural selection as its explanatory paradigm and defends biodiversity.

This paper recommends we keep a close eye on what is going on around our planet as all improvements brought on ground in terms of light pollution could be quickly ruined by undesired luminous objects put in Earth orbit. A “pessimistic” approach would have it that, in the current global market context, if a company realizes that the technology is at hand and that the corresponding RoI is appealing, we could have advertising from space rather quickly. The “optimistic view” would moderate this by saying that things are not so simple even if it would be difficult to counter some preliminaries such as luminaries put in Earth orbit for humanitarian purposes. Beyond developing ties with other scientific disciplines concerned with environmental impact and disruption of circadian cycles in living beings, appropriate strategies would be to secure public support by ad hoc information and education. Astronomy is in need of a “cosmic Cousteau”.

Phenology as a scientific discipline has a very long history. Many local, regional, and national networks exist (see Chapters 2.1–2.6), and the number of disciplines that deal with phenological processes in their own profession is large and diverse (see, for example, the diversity of topics in this book). The phenological community, however, faces a number of problems: — There is insufficient cooperation and communication between the existing regional and national phenological monitoring networks in Europe. — There is a lack of access to and integration of data. This is partly caused by the lack of information on what datasets are available, the different definitions and techniques used, and the quality of the data. — There is inefficient use and exchange of existing knowledge within and between the different scientific disciplines on tools and techniques already available for monitoring, data storage, and data analysis.

There are different conceptions of time in different scientific disciplines. Apart from millennia of philosophical discussions of time [1], a particularly outstanding discrepancy persists between the concepts of time used in fundamental physical theories on the one hand and psychological theories of perception and cognition on the other.

In this account it is my aim to write about some of the ideas which have made possible the science of X-ray crystallography as we know it today. X-Ray crystallography, since its birth in 1912, has undergone an explosive development. This rapid growth is no doubt due in part to the fact that this science lies at the intersection of many scientific disciplines: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Materials Science, Biology, and the other life sciences. Not only have these sciences benefited from the rapid development of crystallography in the twentieth century but the phenomenal growth of the science of X-ray crystallography in turn was made possible through its interactions with these diverse scientific disciplines.

Mathematical models of the science and technology (S&T) system have a long tradition in scientometrics. They entail models of statistical properties such as the cumulative advantage model for citation patterns by Derek de Solla Price (1976) or models of scientific processes such as the epidemics of scientific ideas by William Goffman (1966). Frequently, new modeling attempts ‘‘echo’’ major breakthroughs in mathematical modeling. For example, models developed in physics, economics, or the social sciences are frequently applied to the science system itself, validated using S&T data, and interpreted by the authors of these models and their collaborators. This special issue aims to establish models of the science system as a promising area of research in scientometrics enabled by high-quality and high-coverage data, advanced data mining and modeling approaches, and new means to visualize the structure and dynamics of science at multiple levels. Models of science aim to answer questions regarding the basic mechanisms behind emergent structures such as scientific disciplines, scientific paradigms and cross-disciplinary research fronts, or the career trajectories of researchers. The issue comprises six selected contributions, resulting from presentations at the workshop ‘‘Modeling Science—Understanding, Forecasting and Communicating The Science System,’’ held in Amsterdam October 6–9, 2009.

Cosmic ray research has developed as one of the most spectacular and vital contributors to science in the Twentieth Century. From a humble beginning early in this Century, the quest for an understanding of this radiation and the challenges confronting investigators led to the rise of new scientific disciplines, technologies and astrophysical concepts. Particle and high energy physics, radiocarbon dating and magnetic fields and plasmas of astrophysical origin are representative of the many research fields born from cosmic ray research. Examples of technological contributions include radiation instruments and balloon and space flight concepts required to reach the cosmic radiation beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

The International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is the independent, non-governmental, scientific organization, comprising all essential scientific disciplines, which is qualified to assess health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields together with the WHO. ICNIRP uses the results of this assessment to draft health based exposure guidelines. This assessment is free from vested interest. The paper describes the criteria used for this assessment, the classes of guidance (basic restrictions and reference levels) and the applied dosimetric models. Since the reference levels are given for the condition of maximum coupling of the fields to the exposed individual, they provide maximum protection. For a less conservative assessment, basic restrictions on the induced current density, whole-body average and localized SAR should be used. The determination of these quantities is a complicated function of various exposure parameters, the biophysical properties of the exposed object, design of the specific equipment and the field coupling to the body. Mainly due to these reasons the ICNIRP guidelines do not address product performance standards or guidance concerning computational methods or measurements techniques. It is the opinion of the ICNIRP that technical standards bodies should perform the provision of technical advice concerning the practical implementation of standards. There is a clear need to analyze systematically the general classes of equipment in order to decide whether the application of the equipment meet the basic restrictions and to determine whether additional protective measurements are necessary.

My considerations on the progress of mathematical knowledge arose from historical investigations of the emergence of modern systems of formal logic in the 19th century. Because of the radical changes these processes of development effected, they have been called revolutionary (Gillies 1992). Those portions of formal logic that operated symbolically were removed from the domain of philosophy and inserted into mathematics, where they were utilized in foundations. The fact that today the term “logic” is often identified with “mathematical logic” shows how radical this change has been, as mathematical logic was at first only a further development of a part of traditional logic.

On behalf of all my colleagues on the International Council and Executive Board of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), I have great pleasure in welcoming you to this important conference of the Division that has been consistently one of the most active in IUFRO. Some of you may not be aware that IUFRO is 106 years old and one of the oldest non-governmental international organizations; it has approximately 700 member institutions in over 100 countries with some 15,000 scientists. These scientists work in 276 Research Groups and Working Parties whose networks cover virtually all the scientific disciplines relevant to forests and forestry; some of these are species-specific, others are topic-specific and some have very narrow geographic themes, but all seek to gain the benefits of collaboration and to bring the results of their research to a wider audience of peer scientists, government and international policy makers, and the public in general.

The intent of this chapter is to recover the grounds underlying the D-N model of scientific explanation by examining C G Hempel’s writings (1948; 1952; 1958; 1964; 1965a; 1966; 1970; 1988). Together with the concept of “scientific law” that it incorporates, the model had been used for a long time as the standard according to which one can assess an actual developmental stage of a given branch of scientific knowledge and, therefore, identify whether the discipline under scrutiny has or has not reached the level of a true science. Now, as an example of a concrete science whose explanatory procedures conform to the D-N model and whose scientific laws are in line with the concept of scientific law in this model, one would commonly refer to classical mechanics Classical mechanics, then, may be set forth as the pattern for other scientific disciplines to follow. I shall begin by briefly outlining the problems and paradoxes illustrative of the D-N model. Next, I will reconstruct the Humean conception of scientific laws as one of pivotal points of the D-N model tacitly employed by the latter. By analyzing some scientific laws and explanatory procedures contained within classical mechanics, I will expose the paradoxes and problems of the D-N model and demonstrate that these problems stem from a Humean construal of scientific laws.

The philosophy of nature has always been considered one of the most controversial and obscure parts of what is usually referred to as Hegel’s system. Very often the reader is struck by the awkwardness of certain passages, or by the overall intentions of Hegel, which sometimes are quite hard to make out to begin with. And yet Hegel seems to have devoted many of his efforts to this part. The additions to the philosophy of nature are among the longest, most intricate and exhaustive in the whole Encyclopaedia. His knowledge of the contemporary accomplishments in most scientific disciplines was thorough and his discussion thereof quite detailed.

The concept ‘action’ is a generally familiar and on the whole understandable concept of everyday language. Highly controversial and not at all unproblematical, however, is the scientific explication of this concept, whose central position in many scientific disciplines and in the world-view of philosophy is something most modern thinkers are aware of. However, there is not a standard concept, no fundamental and undisputed definition of this concept, just as the picture presented by the “logic” and methodology of action theory is a far cry from a uniform one.

HAZARDS-93 brought together scientists and government officials from 20 countries for the purpose of engaging in a free exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas regarding the scientific and socio-economic aspects of mitigating losses from natural and man-made disasters. Over 175 papers presented a broad range of scientific disciplinary and disaster management based issues. The objective of the Concluding Plenary session was to capture the main conference themes and engage the conferees in discussion to identify action recommendations for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and hazard management community. The Plenary Committee Members presented synoptic discussions of themes drawn from the conference. Discussions were focussed on the need to unify government programs, improve education and communication, and exchange information and data. Specific action recommendations were addressed to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural and ManMade Hazards, national governments, and scientific disciplines.

We are coming to better understand that philosophy is indeed as much tied into the technologistics of our age as are other academic and scientific disciplines. Heidegger’s critique of technologistics (“Gestell”) suggests, nonetheless, that we should search continually for ways of turning out of it, and that our philosophy has to keep trying to bend away from being fully caught up in the technical and formal lines endemic to our traditional philosophical practices. I have tried to resist this tendency to float away into our contemporary “heaven of ideas” by localizing and concretizing my writing, not only in artworks, but in the contingencies of the situations wherein they are communicated. However, it is extremely hard to treat a book or journal as a locale, as both so greatly ensconce the lines of our academic age and its professionalism. For example, I try to break and disrupt these contemporary flows and tonalities that rule a book (but with difficulty as we must all find them to be almost irresistible) by locating initially some of its chapters in non-technical and non-specialist contexts and situations. In that spirit, this chapter was initially written for a lecture series in a graduate school of art rather than for a philosophical forum (1988), and subsequently condensed for the Merleau-Ponty Circle.

There are various origins for the development of the ideas of Constructive Realism — they are coming from philosophical as well as (natural) scientific disciplines. CR, thus, does not stand in a certain philosophical tradition. Its uniqueness and strength are founded in the fact that its theses are the result of a process of establishing relations between very different sources and information. Of course there a multitude of points of reference can be found; they acted, however, rather as a stimulating instance for the development of Constrictive Realism. The view of CR is influenced by: (a) the ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein which played an important role in the development of the function of Constructive Realism in respect to the sciences; (b) the second point was the experience with interdisciplinary cooperation and research in the (natural) sciences — by discussing and investigating the process of science we learned about the implicit and in most cases unspoken needs of the scientists and sciences of our time.

Our ultimate aim as astronomers or space scientists is to contribute to a better understanding of the universe and consequently to a better comprehension of the place and role of man in it. To this purpose, together with theoretical studies, we carry out observations to obtain data that will undergo treatments and studies leading to the publication of results1. The whole procedure can include several internal iterations or interactions between the various steps as well as with external fields (instrumental technology, etc.), scientific disciplines and information handling methodologies. The trend is also clearly towards panchromatic astronomy as opposed to ‘photonic provincialism’ (Wells, 1992).

The current interest in artificial neural networks can be attributed, in part, to the development of the modern computer. Since the advent of inexpensive, efficient, highstorage capacity computers, there has been an information explosion in many scientific disciplines as researchers are able to acquire larger and more comprehensive data sets. The interpretation of much of these data often requires manual inspection by scientists, especially when traditional methods of analysis do not appear to find the important relationships in the data. Manual inspection of data can be repetitive, time consuming, and difficult when many variables are involved simultaneously. Several novel processing schemes have been devised that attempt to supplement traditional signal processing techniques in difficult applications. One such approach for finding interesting relationships in multivariate data is the field of artificial neural networks (ANN).

Our aim in this paper is to theorize the relationship of international migration to the more general internationalization of scientific disciplines and specialties. We take account of the existing literature on intellectual migration, but draw especially on our case studies of the spread to English-speaking countries of “German” theoretical physics and the Vienna Circle’s “unified science.” The most obvious role for scientific migration is that of an import-export mechanism: ideas are carried by migrants from one place to another, resulting in their presence in both places. This simple model is insufficient to describe the actual complexities, either practical or conceptual. We consider conceptual issues first, especially those involved in the idea of internationalization.

The design and manufacture of sports equipment is based on several engineering and scientific disciplines. These include mechanical engineering design, biomechanics, fracture mechanics, materials science and many aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the participant. The design philosophy of sports equipment has nowadays two main objectives: to improve sporting performance; and to maintain freedom from injury. In this chapter we search for clues as to how these objectives may be achieved in practice.

The subject of immunology belongs to the biological and medical sciences. The relationship between immunology and other areas of science is schematically depicted in Fig. 3.1. This scheme shows that contemporary immunology is a true interdisciplinary science. Modern immunology studies cellular and molecular reactions of the human and animal organism, which occur after foreign antigens have been recognized by the immune system. A complex of these reactions represents an immune response which can, as for as the Open image in new window Fig. 3.1 Relationship of immunology to other scientific disciplines. organism is concerned, be useful, indifferent, or harmful. The specific defence (immunity) against infectious diseases is an example of an advantageous immune response, whereas the harmful type of immune response is represented, for example, by various allergic reactions (hypersensitivity). The immune response can be induced not only by foreign antigens, but also by self, antigenically altered cells and molecules that are subsequently recognized as foreign. Even in this latter case the reaction may by useful (immunity against tumours) or harmful (autoimmune diseases).

Systematic attempts to use chemotherapy as a primary method of cancer treatment began in the late 1940s, with the use of nitrogen mustard to treat leukaemias and lymphomas1, and, from that time, the search for effective small-molecule anticancer drugs has been one of the significant goals of medicinal chemistry. The history of this endeavour has an important theme running through it: the changing relative importance of different scientific disciplines and how they have influenced the philosophy behind the medicinal chemistry of anticancer drug discovery.

Environmental research is a growth industry for many scientific disciplines. There are few fields of investigation that are being explored from so many theoretical perspectives. The relevant disciplines belong mainly to the sphere of the natural sciences. Economics plays an important role, too. So far, however, the contribution from political science has been remarkably modest. The question arises why this is so.