The Prism of Science

This is the second volume of Proceedings of the Israel Colloquium for the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science. At the time that this preface is being written, the fourth annual series of lectures within the framework of the Israel Colloquium is already behind us and the fifth is underway. The Israel Colloquium thus has now not only a future to look forward to but also a past which is a source ,of pride and pleasure for those who take part in this venture. The Israel Colloquium has, I believe, struck roots in the Israeli scientific and intellectual life, while drawing on the ever-increasing readiness of the international scientific and intellectual community for continuous support. As in the first volume, here too the papers presented, taken together, attempt a threefold representation of science and of the scientific activity: the historical, the social, and the systematic. A novel focal point in this volume is the treatment of some case studies illuminating historical, social, and philosophical aspects of medicine. Another center of gravity here is the Eddington Centennial Symposium which was a main event in the Collo­ quium activity of the 1982-83 series. This is a fitting place for me to report with sorrow the untimely death in the summer of 1984 of Solly G. Cohen, one of Israel's leading scientists, who is among the contributors to this volume.

Inhalt

Metamorphoses of the Scientist in Utopia.- Metamorphoses of the Scientist in Utopia: A Comment.- The Third Force in Seventeenth-Century Thought: Skepticism, Science and Millenarianism.- The Third Force in Seventeenth-Century Thought: A Comment.- Restricted and Inclusive Historical Materialism.- Restricted and Inclusive Historical Materialism: A Comment.- Practical Reasoning.- Practical Reasoning - The Bottom Line: A Comment.- Medicine and the Boer War: Social and Political Consequences.- Medicine and the Boer War: A Comment.- Koch's Bacillus: Was There a Technological Fix?.- Koch's Bacillus: A Comment.- Can Genetics Explain Development?.- Eddington Centennial Symposium.- Opening Remarks.- The Nature of the Physical World Revisited.- Eddington and the Large Numbers.- The Fine-Structure Constant: From Eddington's Time to Our Own.- Eddington and Einstein.