Via Láctea: Ilha Isolada?

Em 26 de abril de 1920, dois astrônomos norte-americanos, Harlow Shapley e Heber Curtis apresentaram, no evento anual da Academia Nacional de Ciências, seus resultados e teorias a respeito do tamanho do Universo, natureza das nebulosas espirais e existência de outras galáxias. Neste artigo, exploramos a apropriação pela imprensa norte-americana dessa disputa sobre o nosso lugar no Universo através do artigo “Existem outros universos além do nosso?”, publicada em 1922 na revista ``Popular Science''. A reportagem baseou-se em argumentos de Shapley e Curtis expostos num artigo do Boletim do Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa, em 1921. Além de informar seu público sobre as questões abordadas no artigo do Boletim por meio do uso de metáforas, infográficos e conjecturas, a reportagem transcendeu a astronomia através da imaginação, propondo, inclusive, um mapa para a Via Láctea com base no padrão espiral observado nas nebulosas. Este estudo evidencia a historicidade das discussões científicas do lugar da humanidade no universo e a maneira como tais acontecimentos podem sensibilizar a imaginação, ressaltando o papel e a importância da divulgação científica no processo de formação de uma cultura sobre ciências.

Ant mazes and astronomy: Harlow Shapley's entomological experiments at Mount Wilson observatory and Pasadena, California

This article explores the entomological research of American astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885–1972). The focus is 1914–1921, the time that Shapley worked as a staff astronomer at Mount Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains of California. The years 1919–1920 receive particular attention because they were the most active period for Shapley's ant experiments. During these years, Shapley undertook two primary programmes of study in ant physiology, each centred on a specific species native to Southern California—the velvety tree ant and the California harvester ant. Shapley's ant research was dependent upon the scientific environment of Mount Wilson Observatory because of several benefits and opportunities that the location offered him. The section ‘Observatory ants’ discusses the details of Shapley's research programme as well as the advantages given him by his location. The subsequent section, ‘Indoor ants’, discusses a change in environment for Shapley's ant experiments and how that change, from an outdoor to an indoor setting, changed the scope and nature of his research. This section also discusses the influences that Shapley's work came to have in the disciplines of entomology, ecology, general physiology, and behavioural science. The final section, ‘Living and non-living?’, discusses the impacts that Shapley's ant research came to have on his own later work concerning cosmic evolution and interdisciplinary co-operation among the sciences. In conclusion, we are left with evidence suggesting that Shapley's work in entomology was highly location-dependent while also possessing far-reaching consequences.

Some remarks and documents concerning the emigration of Polish mathematicians during the 1930s and early 1940s

The history of the sufferings and the emigration of mathematicians under Nazi influence would be very incomplete without considering the perhaps most vibrant and at the same time most victimized European mathematical school of the 1930s, namely the Polish one. Polish mathematical emigration contributed – similarly to German-speaking emigration – considerably to the development of mathematics in the host countries, particularly in the United States. The paper contributes to the discussion with some archival documents from two specific sources, which have so far found relatively little attention among historians of mathematics. These are the files of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL) at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, UK, and the files related to the Asylum Fellowship Planorganized by the Astronomer at Harvard University Harlow Shapley, now in possession of the Harvard University Archives. Kilka uwag i dokumentów dotyczących emigracji polskich matematyków w latach 30. i 40. XX wieku Abstrakt Historia cierpień i emigracji matematyków wywołanych przez nazistów jest bardzo niekompletna, jeśli nie weźmiemy pod uwagę szkoły polskiej, chyba najbardziej tętniącej życiem, a zarazem najbardziej prześladowanej europejskiej szkoły matematycznej lat trzydziestych XX wieku. Polska emigracja matematyczna przyczyniła się – podobnie jak emigracja niemieckojęzyczna – do rozwoju matematyki w krajach przyjmujących, szczególnie w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Artykuł jest przyczynkiem do dyskusji na temat niektórych dokumentów archiwalnych z dwóch konkretnych źródeł, które jak dotąd stosunkowo mało interesowały historyków matematyki. Są to akta Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL) w Bodleian Library w Oxfordzie w Wielkiej Brytanii oraz akta związane z Asylum Fellowship Plan organizowanym przez Harlowa Shapleya, astronoma z Harvard University, obecnie w posiadaniu Harvard University Archives.

Making Knowledge Whole: Genres of Synthesis and Grammars of Ignorance

This essay examines genres of synthesis, by which I mean different modes for synthesizing the branches of knowledge through appeal to different representations (images, figures, framing devices, etc.) orienting scientific labor/research. These genres emerge simultaneously as concrete representations of the synthesis of knowledge on the one hand and organizational schemes for the achievement of that synthesis on the other. The article focuses on the synthetic work of two prolific scientists, astronomer Harlow Shapley and physicist George Gamow, attempting to give a sense of common aspects of their synthesizing visions and efforts. Extended attention is given to two central synthesizing genres operating within Gamow and Shapley’s long-standing projects, the scalar and the historical, demonstrating the changing importance of these schemes and their relation to historical contexts. Emphasis on their mid-century interest in “grammars of nature” allows comparison of their synthetic and historical commitments with the work of other synthetic efforts, in particular those of the Unity of Science movement. This history allows us to refine the concept of genres of synthesis further tying it to conceptions of the unknown, of popularization, and of meaning-making while at the same time providing an overview of Shapley and Gamow’s consonant network-building practices.