`The moloch of details'? cycles of criticism and the meaning of history now

In a recent review of Tim Blanning’s The Pursuit of Glory: Europe, 1648– 1815 (2007), Keith Thomas marvelled at the author’s range, given that ‘the volume of specialised writing has grown immeasurably since the 1950s’ and because ‘the subject matter of history has expanded and its younger practitioners are intensely specialised.’1 Such observations are not new. More than a century ago, William Milligan Sloane offered a similar sentiment, but more colourfully, when lamenting that history had been ‘immolated by the Moloch of details’.2 The specialization which Sloane inveighed against increased in the subsequent years, with the expansion of the university-based history and the growing emphasis upon specialist knowledge. At the same time, the discipline fractured into more and more sub-specialisms, thus amplifying the problems which Sloane encountered in the 1890s. As historians strengthened their dogged faith in the power of the sources and in their powers of scientific deduction, many of the works they produced became divorced from a general reading population

Quantum Information Dynamics and Open World Science

One of the fundamental insights of quantum mechanics is that complete knowledge of the state of a quantum system is not possible. Such incomplete knowledge of a physical system is the norm rather than the exception. This is becoming increasingly apparent as we apply scientific methods to increasingly complex situations. Empirically intensive disciplines in the biological, human, and geosciences all operate in situations where valid conclusions must be drawn, but deductive completeness is impossible. This paper argues that such situations are emerging examples of {it Open World} Science. In this paradigm, scientific models are known to be acting with incomplete information. Open World models acknowledge their incompleteness, and respond positively when new information becomes available. Many methods for creating Open World models have been explored analytically in quantitative disciplines such as statistics, and the increasingly mature area of machine learning. This paper examines the role of quantum theory and quantum logic in the underpinnings of Open World models, examining the importance of structural features of such as non-commutativity, degrees of similarity, induction, and the impact of observation. Quantum mechanics is not a problem around the edges of classical theory, but is rather a secure bridgehead in the world of science to come

Natural Disasters Aren\u27t the Problem: Poverty and Environmental Degradation in Rural Coastal Tanzania

This paper examines how two theoretical frameworks, systems and resilience thinking, provide differing understandings of natural disasters, poverty and environmental degradation in rural coastal Tanzania. Both frameworks aim to expand the scope of reductionist thinking, in order to better understand the complex interrelationships between various actors, which may have not otherwise been considered. Although both theories have their individual strengths and weaknesses, neither have been able to catalyze effective solutions to these problems. As a result, I propose a hybrid version of systems and resilience thinking, as a means to best examine poverty and environmental degradation in rural coastal Tanzania. Ultimately, this re-framing would contextualize this problem within a greater network of issues, and more appropriate solutions could be offered

Implications of Intra-Family and External Ownership Transfer Of Family Firms: Short Term and Long Term Performance

We contrast the performance consequences of intra-family vs. external ownership transfers. Investigating a sample of all private family firms in Sweden that went through ownership transfers during ten years, we find family firms transferred to external owners outperforming those transferred within the family, but that survival is higher among intra-family transfers. We attribute these performance differences to the long-term orientation of family firms passed on to the next generation and to the entrepreneurial willingness of acquirers to bear uncertainty. Based on distinct ownership transition routes and theoretical mechanisms explaining performance differences, we outline implications for family business and entrepreneurship research.long-term orientation; succession; ownership transfer; family firms; performance

A Multimodal Approach to Metadiscourse as an Organizational Tool in Lectures

This thesis explores the uses of organizational metadiscourse in lectures from a multimodal perspective, thus providing a holistic view of its use. Moreover, this study explores how the use of organizational metadiscourse, both at a linguistic and at non-verbal level, is influenced by the lecturing style chosen by the lecturers (conversational, rhetorical or reading styles).Esta tesis explora los usos del metadiscurso organizativo en clases universitarias desde una perspectiva multimodal que permite obtener una visión holística del mismo. Además, se describe como el discurso organizativo es influenciado tanto a nivel lingüístico como a nivel no verbal por el estilo de enseñanza del profesorado (conversacional, retórico o lector).Programa de Doctorat en Llengües Aplicades, Literatura i Traducci

Entrepreneurial orientation and international performance: the moderating effect of decision-making rationality

This research examines how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) influences international performance (IP) of the firm taking into account the moderating effect of decision-making rationality (DR) on the EO–IP association. Such an investigation is significant because it considers the interplay of strategic decision-making processes supported by the bounded rationality concept in the entrepreneurship field. Drawing from a study on activities of 216 firms in the United States and United Kingdom, the evidence suggests that DR positively moderates the EO–IP association. The findings suggest that managers can improve IP by combining EO with rational (analytical) processes in their strategic decisions