Keuzes en patronen in de techniekgeschiedenis van Nederland in de twintigste eeuw

Choices and patterns in the history of technology in the Netherlands during the 20th centuryTechniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw (TIN 20) is an impressive work. However, the voluntaristic picture of the modernisation process that it paints requires, in our opinion, some qualification. This essay argues that the authors of TIN-20 have failed to adopt a clear and consistent position on who was making the choices about technological development and how far the key actors really had any room for choice at all. Moreover, when the time frame is extended to include the entire period from c. 1500 onwards, the degree of continuity and repetition in the technological development of the Netherlands turns out to have been higher than the authors of TIN-20 suggest

River control and the evolution of knowledge: A comparison between regions in China and Europe, c.1400-1850

This article examines the similarities and divergences in the evolution of knowledge concerning river control in China and Europe, between about 1400 and 1850. The analysis concentrates on four densely populated and relatively prosperous regions, which were faced with comparable problems caused by unruly rivers: the coastal plains of the Yellow River, the basin of the middle Yangzi, the coastal area of Northern Italy, and the Rhine delta in the Netherlands. During the period under discussion, Northern Italy was the first region to witness a 'cognitive leap' in knowledge of river hydraulics. The author analyses why this particular transformation in the body of knowledge took place in Northern Italy, rather than in any of the regions in China. He also examines why the Netherlands, in contrast to regions in China, offered a receptive environment to this new approach in river hydraulics from c. 1770. He suggests that differences in the development of knowledge can be explained primarily in terms of underlying socio-political structures. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2006

Coupling of giant resonances to soft E1 and E2 modes in B-8

The dynamic coupling between giant resonance states and "soft", low-energy excitation, modes in weakly-bound nuclei is investigated. A coupled-channels calculation is reported for the reaction 8B + Pb --> p + 7Be + Pb at 83 MeV/nucleon. It is shown that the low-energy response is only marginally modified by transitions to the isovector giant dipole and isoscalar giant quadrupole resonances.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Breakup of the weakly bound 17F nucleus

The breakup of the radioactive 17F nucleus into a proton and 16O is studied for the reaction 17F + 208Pb --> p + 16O + 208Pb at 65 MeV/nucleon. The possibility of using this reaction as a test case for studying dynamical Coulomb reacceleration effects is assessed. It is shown that the reaction is dominated by elastic nuclear breakup (diffraction dissociation).Comment: 17 figures and 8 figure