Waves of infinity in the goblet of the imagination

The article was submitted on 23.05.2016.In this article, the poetic worlds of Fyodor Tyutchev and William Blake are analysed in terms of their comprehension of infinity. Both of them combine their notion of infinity with an understanding that the divine is manifested in the tangible world. The article demonstrates that Tyutchev talks about two infinities – the daily one, which establishes the divine unity of existence, and the nightly one, which leads everything into chaos. They can be easily recognised as the actual and potential infinities in the philosophy of Aristotle. Blake recognises infinity as the procedural deployment of the Universe and, at the same time, as the divine foundation of everything: this allows all things to be part of unified universal space. For him, the infinite and eternal essence of each thing (taking into account that everything is infinite and eternal at every point in space and time) fills things with their inner light and allows them to witness God. The opportunity to perceive nature like this is given by the loving heart and a vivid imagination, but is closed to both human and universal reason. The infinity perceived by reason is just a dark void, which closes worlds and separates them from each other.Анализируются поэтические миры Федора Тютчева и Уильяма Блейка с точки зрения их понимания бесконечности. Оба поэта связывают свое понятие бесконечности с тем, как Божественное проявляется в материальном мире. Показано, что Ф. Тютчев говорит о двух бесконечностях – дневной, которая манифестирует Божественное единство бытия, и ночной, которая ведет все к хаосу. Они вполне соответствуют понятиям актуальной и потенциальной бесконечности в философии Аристотеля. У. Блейк понимает бесконечность как процессуальное развертывание Вселенной и в то же время как Божественную основу всего. Это позволяет всем вещам быть частью единого вселенского пространства. Для него бесконечная и вечная сущность каждой вещи (учитывая, что все оказывается бесконечным и вечным в каждой точке пространства и времени) заполняет все своим внутренним светом и позволяет им свидетельствовать о Боге. Это дает возможность воспринимать природу так, как это дано любящему сердцу и живому воображению, но такое восприятие закрыто для разума, будь он человеческий или вселенский. Бесконечность воспринимается разумом лишь как темная пустота, которая закрывает миры и отделяет их друг от друга

Emergence of Spacetime

Starting from a background Zero Point Field (or Dark Energy) we show how an array of oscillators at the Planck scale leads to the formation of elementary particles and spacetime and also to a cosmology consistent with latest observations.Comment: Latex, 39 page

The discovery of superfluidity

Superfluidity is a remarkable manifestation of quantum mechanics at the macroscopic level. This article describes the history of its discovery, which took place at a particularly difficult period of the twentieth century. A special emphasis is given to the role of J.F. Allen, D. Misener, P. Kapitza, F. London, L. Tisza and L.D. Landau. The nature and the importance of their respective contributions are analyzed and compared. Of particular interest is the controversy between Landau on one side, London and Tisza on the other, concerning the relevance of Bose-Einstein condensation to the whole issue, and also on the nature of thermal excitations in superfluid helium 4. In order to aid my understanding of this period, I have collected several testimonies which inform us about the work and attitude of these great scientists.Comment: 30 page

Differential rotation of relativistic superfluid in neutron stars

It is shown how to set up a mathematically elegant and fully relativistic superfluid model that can provide a realistic approximation (neglecting small anisotropies due to crust solidity, magnetic fields, et cetera, but allowing for the regions with vortex pinning) of the global structure of a rotating neutron star, in terms of just two independently moving constituents, one of which represents the differentially rotating neutron superfluid, while the other part represents the combination of all the other ingredients, including the degenerate electrons, the superfluid protons in the core, and the ions in the crust, whose electromagnetic interactions will tend to keep them locked together in a state of approximately rigid rotation. Order of magnitude estimates are provided for relevant parameters such as the resistive drag coefficient and the maximum pinning force.Comment: 35 pages, Latex, no figure, submitted to M.N.R.A.

Yeats considered as the Archetypal Fool

I argue a case for interpreting Yeats through the metaphysics of The Order of the Golden Dawn and the human/cosmic life cycle of their Rider-Waite tarot deck. In doing so, I will explain how the metaphysics of Indian and Egyptian sacred geometry inform his poetry, and his plays, in particular, ‘A Vision’ (1925) and ‘The Herne’s Egg’ (1938)

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

Science and Religion: Stepping Toward the Light at the Mouth of the Cave

In analyzing the dialogue between science and religion, the author finds that it is hampered by three semantic problems. The first denies, or at least undervalues, the two modes of knowing most apropos to religion: the emotional and the intuitive/mystical modes. Secondly, the uncritical use of language causes considerable confusion. The third problem limits discussion to what Stephan Schwartz has called the \"Grand Material Paradigm.\" As the conclusion of the essay, a precis of an alternate cosmology is presented