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Theater of Man: J. L. Vives on Society (Transaction 88-2)

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Transaction 88 No. 2
Born in Spain and long-time resident of Bruges, Juan Luis Vives is one of the keenest, and most neglected, minds of the northern Renaissance. A many-sided intellect and critical observer of the contemporary scene, Vives' contribution includes treatises on metaphysics, psychology, education, rhetoric, logic, religion, and social reform. And it is precisely the central premise of this monograph that what links these diverse works together and turns Vives literary production into a whole larger than the sum of its parts is the author's single-minded commitment to the Socratic dictum that an unexamined life is not worth living. But because man's Fall caused him to lose his pristine ability to accomplish that task as an individual, he must now do it in the context of a God-mandated, man-created institution: society, whose origins and evolution Vives explains in Stoic terms. Building on a foundation of Socratic/ Aristotelian optimism and Augustinian pessimism, he concludes that social man can indeed reach the bonitas which alone makes beatitude possible. But at a price, for Vives the Skeptic insists that man must forego the use of that ratio speculativa which seduces him into thinking that he can probe into nature's being and understand his own divine nature.

18th Century Climate of Jamaica Derived from the Journals of Thomas Thistlewood

18th Century Climate of Jamaica Derived from the Journals of Thomas Thistlewood, 1750-1786 (Transaction 93-2)

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Transactions 93 No. 2
Thomas Thistlewood is known for his daily records of life on a slave plantation in eighteenth-century Jamaica. Thistlewood's previously unexamined weather journal is shown here to be the most important written record from the Earth's tropical regions available. His observation methods are superior to most of his contemporaries & provide a high-quality daily record of more than 35 years. Comparison of his records with modern weather records indicates that Thistlewood's Jamaica was a much cooler & moister place than in modern times. A 252-year record of tropical storm & hurricane frequency in Jamaica reveals that the late 20th-century minimum in storm frequency is unprecedented.

Steno on Muscles: Introduction, Texts and Translation (Transaction 84-1)

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Transaction 84 No. 1
A main work on muscular action, the �Elements of Myology,� by the Danish anatomist Niels Stensen (1638-1686) was written at a time when the teachings of Hippocrates, Erasistratus, Aristotle, & Galen were still the foundations upon which scholarly learning on the human body were built. In this work as in several other areas of research, Stensen described a structure vs. time relation as a dynamic process. From macroscopic observations of a number of muscles in several animal species, he described the contraction of compound muscles arranged in unipennate structures with an angle between muscle fibers & tendons. He found that the observed swelling of a muscle during contraction was not an argument for an expansion of its volume. Contents of this study: (1) Stensen�s Myology in HIsotrical Perspective, by Troels Kardel, M.D.; & (2) Translations of Niels Stensen�s �New Structure of the Muscles & Heart� (1663) & �Specimen of Elements of Myology� (1667) with Facsimile of First Editions� annotated by Harriet Hansen, M.A., & Aug. Ziggelaar, S.J., Ph.D. Reprint. Illus.

First I Find the Center Point: Reading the Text of Hugh of Saint Victor's �The Mystic Ark� (Transaction 94-4)

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Transaction 94 No. 4
During his explanation of both the painting made by Hugh for the school of Saint Victor & the text that describes it, Conrad Rudolph addresses �The Mystic Ark� in the two senses of the word �Ark.� First, he speaks of the iconographical component of the Ark proper in the image of �The Mystic Ark,� & �The Ark,� a shortened title he sometimes uses when referring to either the image or the text of �The Mystic Ark.� Created between 1125 & 1130, �The Mystic Ark� is a work that was conceived at a moment of previously unrivaled controversy over art & of perceived threat by science to theology. Rudolph recognizes, in his own text, the significance of the painting & text in understanding medieval visual culture & its polemical context. Color & black & white illus.

Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants, Shaping Knowledge

Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants, Shaping Knowledge: Natural History in North America, 1730-1860 (Transaction 93-4)

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Transaction 93 No. 4
The Curatorial Department of the American Philosophical Society presents a catalogue of the exhibition being held in Philosophical Hall from June 2003 through December 2004. The exhibit focuses on the blending of art & science in the study of natural history in North America. It explores the cultural assumptions that governed the practice of natural history on the North American continent in the 18th & early 19th centuries. Focusing on the study of living things -- plants, animals, & indigenous peoples -- it looks at how & why Euro-Americans of the Enlightenment & post-Enlightenment periods went about explaining the world the way they did. Exhibit items include historical specimens, manuscript materials, first-edition books, & art work.

Confucian Feminist: Memoirs of Zeng Baosun

Confucian Feminist: Memoirs of Zeng Baosun (1893-1978) (Transaction 92-1)

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Transaction 92 No. 1
The autobiographical memoirs of Zeng Baosun, an extraordinary Chinese woman who was a pioneer in promoting education for girls & Christian values, are expertly translated & adapted by Thomas Kennedy. The commentary recounts Zeng Baosun's life & education, from her studies abroad, to her experiences through two world wars, to her exile in Taiwan. She emphasized the feminist commitment to leadership and improvement in the condition of women, but always within an established social and economic order.

Shortest and Most Convenient Route (Transaction 94-5)

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Transaction 94 No. 5
Based on papers delivered at the Bicentennial Conference for Lewis & Clark, held in Philadelphia in Aug. 2003, these essays gapple in different ways with the motives underlying the Corps of Discovery & the impact on American culture. The question of failure is used by the authors as a means of interrogating the intellectual & cultural context in which the expedition was framed & in which its results were distributed. Contributors include Robert S. Cox (also the Ed. of the vol.), Domenic Vitiello, S.D. Kimmel, John W. Jengo, Brett Mizelle, & Andrew J. Lewis. Illus.

Paradoxes of Free Will (Transaction 92-6)

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Transaction 92 No. 6
Driving human reason too far in the analysis of deep problems often leads to irresolvable inconsistencies and contradictions. In this 2002 J.F. Lewis Award-winning monograph, Gunther Stent traces the origins and development of the paradoxes of free will in this well-crafted introduction to philosophical debates regarding freedom of will. Free will poses one of the oldest and most vexatious philosophical problems, dating back to the beginnings of moral philosophy in ancient Greece. Pure theoretical reason implies that our actions are determined, while practical theoretical reason tells us that our will is free. Stent examines the arguments of moral responsibility versus determinism, from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, Niels Bohr, and Max Planck.

From Elements to Atoms: A History of Chemical Composition (Transaction 92-4)

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Transaction 92 No. 4
Seeking to enlarge an understanding of the nature of chemical science & explain how the concepts being taught in the classroom came to be, Siegfried presents a simple, readable account of how in the 18th cent. chemical composition slowly abandoned the centuries- long tradition of metaphysical elements of earth, air, fire, & water. Through the work of such scientist as Lavoisier, Dalton, & Davy, chemical theory moved from metaphysical elements to operationally functional atoms. The book is based on chemical writings of 17th- & 18th-cent. chemists; references to recently published secondary works are intended for the benefit of readers who wish to enlarge their perspectives on the development of early chemical thinking.

Specialist Control: The Publications Committee of the Academie Royale des Sciences (Paris), 1700-1793 (Transasction 93-3)

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Transaction 93 No. 3
The Comite du Librairie of the Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris & its influence on modern scientific refereeing are examined in this 2003 J. F. Lewis award-winning monograph. James McClellan investigates the development & growth of the Comite du Librairie in the late 18th century, & its influence in establishing international norms for processing, modifying, & authorizing books & papers for publication. Pointing out that �historians of the Academie Royale des Science have known about the Comite de Librairie & had logged the existence of its registers, but no one had studied them in detail,� he presents a comprehensive & authoritative history of the Comite.