Project MUSE®: Perspectives on Science - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/163
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Perspectives on Science.daily12026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 6 (1998) through current issueLatest Articles: Perspectives on ScienceTWOProject MUSE®Perspectives on Science1530-92741063-6145Latest articles in Perspectives on Science. Feed provided by Project MUSE®The Non-Spherical Universe and Elliptical Orbits: Bīrūnī’s Perspective on Phenomenal Reality vs. Hypothetical Cosmology
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/987233
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In On the Heavens II.4, Aristotle presents two primary arguments in favor of a spherical universe: (i) the observable circular movement of the universe as a whole—i.e., the apparent daily east-west rotation of the sky—, as well as of the celestial bodies between the circumference and the center—i.e., from the sphere of fixed stars through the Sun, Moon, and planets down to the sphere of water enveloping the Earth’s spherical surface. This argument is emphasized at three points (287a). (ii) Since no void or place exists beyond the universe’s outermost boundary, its shape must allow it to rotate without requiring an external space. The Stagirite argues that such nonspherical configurations as lentiform or oviform
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/163/image/coversmallThe Non-Spherical Universe and Elliptical Orbits: Bīrūnī’s Perspective on Phenomenal Reality vs. Hypothetical Cosmology2026-04-07text/htmlen-USThe Non-Spherical Universe and Elliptical Orbits: Bīrūnī’s Perspective on Phenomenal Reality vs. Hypothetical Cosmology2026-04-072026TWOProject MUSE®2181752026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-04-07Constitutive Control: How Experimental Control Strategies Co-Evolved with Biological Knowledge in 19th-Century Physiology
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/987234
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Why do experiments generate more compelling evidence than other forms of empirical investigation? What distinguishes experimentation from mere observation in producing reliable knowledge about natural phenomena? The answer that I will explore in this paper points to experimental control, understood broadly as the systematic management of conditions which enables reliable causal inference.1 To unpack this intuitive idea I will examine the epistemic functions that experimental control has played in concrete historical scientific contexts and how specific control strategies have developed over time.In contemporary science, finding a control is often treated as “equivalent with figuring out what the experiment is
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/163/image/coversmallConstitutive Control: How Experimental Control Strategies Co-Evolved with Biological Knowledge in 19th-Century Physiology2026-04-07text/htmlen-USConstitutive Control: How Experimental Control Strategies Co-Evolved with Biological Knowledge in 19th-Century Physiology2026-04-072026TWOProject MUSE®1408472026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-04-07What TMT Cannot See: Scientific Objectivity and Knowledge Prioritization
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/987235
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The construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Maunakea, a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi and a sacred place for Native Hawaiians, has been hotly debated over the years, primarily because of the colonialist implications of its construction. Here, I want to examine the role that conceptions of scientific objectivity have played in these debates.Using TMT as a case study, I will be looking at how incorrect perceptions of Western science can allow for the deprioritization of non-scientific, Indigenous knowledge and concerns. In this case, a reliance on the objective nature of scientific knowledge is used to deprioritize Native claims to the mountain. Because of this reliance on an objective
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/163/image/coversmallWhat TMT Cannot See: Scientific Objectivity and Knowledge Prioritization2026-04-07text/htmlen-USWhat TMT Cannot See: Scientific Objectivity and Knowledge Prioritization2026-04-072026TWOProject MUSE®1237862026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-04-07Merton and Kuhn: The Relationship That Shaped Science Studies
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/987236
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Robert K. Merton (1910–2003) and Thomas S. Kuhn (1922–1996) are two of the most influential scholars of the twentieth century. While each made foundational contributions to the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, collectively known as science studies, their intellectual relationship remains underexplored. Their collaboration over a period of forty years played a crucial role in the development of science studies as an interdisciplinary field. Emerging in the twentieth century, science studies examines the creation, development, and implications of scientific knowledge by integrating historical, philosophical, and sociological perspectives on science. It goes beyond the content of scientific discoveries
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-12T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/163/image/coversmallMerton and Kuhn: The Relationship That Shaped Science Studies2026-04-07text/htmlen-USMerton and Kuhn: The Relationship That Shaped Science Studies2026-04-072026TWOProject MUSE®1315112026-05-12T00:00:00-05:002026-04-07