Login

Filter by section: Article

Browse all Publications
  • Sep 21, 2002 Article

    The difficulties of Biocommunication

    by Eugenio Borrelli

    Communicating modern biotechnologies is certainly no easy task. To tackle such a complex and future-oriented assignment, help may arrive, paradoxically, from the past, from ancient rhetorical tradition, and in particular from Aristotle, the most renowned rhetoric teacher of all time. In his Rhetoric, Aristotle suggested that to be persuasive speakers should make use of widely accepted opinions (endoxa), i.e. the common sense shared by all. Common sense is expressed in common truths and value-laden maxims. Common sense, however, is not flat but dialectical, in that it includes contrasting subjects. While reasoning, orators do not just passively report a conception of an unchanging world, but they reproduce the contrasting conceptions included in common sense. In the case of the debate about Biotechnologies, the contrasting conceptions can be found in the Natural/Artificial dualism, in the dichotomy between an attitude marked by obscurantism and suspicion of scientific and technological innovation and that of a scientistic attitude.

    Volume 1Issue 032002

  • Sep 21, 2002 Article

    From the Golem to Artificial Intelligence: science in the theatre for an existential reflection

    by Silvana Barbacci

    This work analyses how the theme of the creation of thinking machines by man, particularly through artificial intelligence, is dealt with on stage, with reference to three plays addressing different topics and characterised by different types of performance. This analysis reveals the particular effectiveness of plays dealing with scientific topics, when the relationship between theatre and science results in reflections transcending the boundaries of its contents to address man and his essence and gives voice to the ancient question of the sense of the world.

    Volume 1Issue 032002

  • Sep 21, 2002 Article

    How computers affected the humanities

    by Emanuele Salerno

    This paper is concerned with the interactions between information technology and the humanities, and focuses on how the humanities have changed since adopting computers. The debate among humanists on the subject initially focuses on the alleged methodological changes brought about by the introduction of computing technology. It subsequently analyses the changes in research that were caused by IT not directly but indirectly, as a consequence of the changes effected on society as a whole. After briefly summarising the history of the interactions between information technology and the humanities, the paper draws on literature to examine the way humanists have perceived the evolution of their disciplines. The paper concludes by fitting the phenomenon into a model of scientific revolution.

    Volume 1Issue 032002

  • Jun 21, 2002 Article

    Leopardi and the ancient Greek mathematics

    by Annalisa Reggi

    "I consider Leopardi's poetry and pessimism to be the best expression of what a scientist's credo should be". This quotation is from Bertrand Russell, no less. With these very emblematic words, the greatest man of letters, the supreme icon of the Italian Parnasse, the author of such collections of poems as Canti (Poems) and Operette Morali (The Moral Essays) and philosophical thoughts as Zibaldone (Miscellany) has been associated to the world of science. This relationship, very intense and to a certain extent new, was greatly emphasised on the occasion of the poet's birth bicentenary. During the celebration in 1996, an exhibition with the name of Giacomo and Science was organized in his birthplace to underline the close connection between the poet and the scientific culture of his epoch. This point has also been stressed recently.

    Volume 1Issue 022002

  • Jun 21, 2002 Article

    Telling time

    by Ivan Pupolizio

    According to Einstein's renowned declaration, for those who believe in physics ­ or, more precisely, in its capability to offer a "scientific" representation of the world ­ the distinction between present, past and future is just "an illusion, though obstinate". If we consider an effective analogy by Mauro Dorato, we can state that those who agree with the famous German scientist will recognize in the present, past and future a relationship very similar to that between "here" and "somewhere else" ­ in other words, the present is just a located moment and has no privileged status.

    Volume 1Issue 022002

  • Mar 21, 2002 Article

    The theatrical communic-action of science

    by Francesca E. Magni

    Theatrical action can bring out the value of the exhibits of a museum, while creating a new way of experiencing the exhibitions. Theatrical actions link education and entertainment, consequently becoming a highly effective didactic instrument. The advantages of theatre are briefly outlined, considering it as an interpretative technique to communicate science from the point of view of the goals pursued by museums, of epistemology and of theatrical research.

    Volume 1Issue 012002

  • Mar 21, 2002 Article

    Labanotation: a universal movement notation language

    by Silvana Barbacci

    This paper describes how a universal language for notating dance and, more generally, movement was elaborated, known as "Kinetography Laban", or rather "Labanotation". It was devised by choreographer and movement theorist Rudolf von Laban, who outlined it for the first time in 1928, in the journal Schrifttanz. His system differs from precedent notation systems in that Labanotation is rigorous and universal, as it is based not on one particular style or technique but on the general

    Volume 1Issue 012002

  • Mar 21, 2002 Article

    Mathematicians and the perfect language: Giuseppe Peano's case

    by Daniele Gouthier , Nico Pitrelli , Ivan Pupolizio

    Ever since Galileo's time, scientists have been interested in how to create a perfect language capable of supporting communication at a horizontal level i.e. within the scientific community, and at a vertical level, i.e. between scientists and the public. Special attention will be spent on the mathematicians' role, especially Giuseppe Peano's. The Italian mathematician played a leading role in the creation of a perfect language, both at a horizontal and a vertical level. On the one hand, there is his successful attempt to introduce a standard logical and symbolic system of notation, which became essential for communication among mathematicians. On the other hand, there is the complete failure of his ambitious Latino sine flexione (Latin without inflection), a perfect language which died with its creator.

    Volume 1Issue 012002

  • Mar 21, 2002 Article

    Electrodynamic metaphors: communicating particle physics with Feynman diagrams

    by Massimo Pietroni

    The aim of this project is to communicate the basic laws of particle physics with Feynman diagrams - visual tools which represent elementary particle processes. They were originally developed as a code to be used by physicists and are still used today for calculations and elaborations of theoretical nature. The technical and mathematical rules of Feynman diagrams are obviously the exclusive concern of physicists, but on a pictorial level they can help to popularize many concepts, ranging from matter and the antimatter; the creation, destruction and transformation of particles; the role of "virtual" particles in interactions; the conservation laws, symmetries, etc.

    Volume 1Issue 012002

Total: 601 records