Economic Sociology or Economic Imperialism? The Case of Gary C. Becker

The paper is devoted to a critical analysis of a number of key theories by Gary S. Becker. It is commonly believed that his main accomplishment lies in the extension of the scope of an economic analysis to include numerous traditionally considered as non-economic phenomena. This extension, however, is only feasible at the expense of another extension – this time of the scope of the concepts used. This over-inclusiveness , in turn, makes his theories impossible to falsify, thus calling into question their scientific quality. In the process of considering particular Becker’s conceptions, i.e. human and social capital, the family, marriage and household and the polity a host of other specific drawbacks of Becker’s economic approach to social processes, often related to his ideological bias are indicated.Becker, human capital, social capital, marriage, altruism, self-interest family

Dynamics of a quantum phase transition in the random Ising model

A quantum phase transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase is driven by a time-dependent external magnetic field. For any rate of the transition the evolution is non-adiabatic and finite density of defects is excited in the ferromagnetic state. The density of excitations has only logarithmic dependence on the transition rate. This is much weaker than any usual power law scaling predicted for pure systems by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.Comment: 4 pages and 2 figures; improved presentatio

Ab initio Evidence for Giant Magnetoelectric Responses Driven by Structural Softness

We show that inducing structural softness in regular magnetoelectric (ME) multiferroics -- i.e., tuning the materials to make their structure strongly reactive to applied fields -- makes it possible to obtain very large ME effects. We present illustrative first-principles results for BiFeO3 thin films.Comment: 4 pages with 3 figures embedded. More information at http://www.icmab.es/dmmis/leem/jorg

Stabilizing the Long-time Behavior of the Navier-Stokes Equations and Damped Euler Systems by Fast Oscillating Forces

The paper studies the issue of stability of solutions to the Navier-Stokes and damped Euler systems in periodic boxes. We show that under action of fast oscillating-in- time external forces all two dimensional regular solutions converge to a time periodic flow. Unexpectedly, effects of stabilization can be also obtained for systems with stationary forces with large total momentum (average of the velocity). Thanks to the Galilean transformation and space boundary conditions, the stationary force changes into one with time oscillations. In the three dimensional case we show an analogical result for weak solutions to the Navier- Stokes equations

Who is on guard for harmony? On harmony, phagocytes and immunological identity

The objective of this introduction is to outline certain historical and theoretical frames of modern immunology. Immunology as a discipline that has been shaped relatively recently attempts to explain all kinds of phenomena safeguarding the integrity of an organism. An organism is understood as a complex multi-system structure developed in the course of evolution. In the case of such a broad sense concept of immunity a penetrating discussion is required. Thus, biology philosophers as well as scientists – immunologists, for nearly 50. years have been analysing the basic definitions, which led them to interesting conclusions

Humberto Maturana’s view on the theory of evolution. From autopoiesis to natural drift metaphor

Today in the scientific circle Humberto Romensin Maturana is considered the creator of the so-called Santiago School of Biology (also known as Biology of Cognition). Biology of Cognition is a research programme seeking an explanation of the phenomenon of cognitive functions of living organisms through the concepts of self-organization (from dynamical systems theory) and structural coupling (from cybernetics). Maturana’s novel view is based upon research conducted with such prominent scientists like Warren McCulloch, Francisco J. Varela or Heinz von Foerseter. After many years of study of complex organic systems the research resulted in formulation of the following theories: autopoiesis of living systems (with F. J. Varela) and the evolutionary metaphor of natural drift (with J. Mpodozis). Theory of autopoiesis (self-production) shows how organic cells organize themselves in producing inner organic self components needed for maintaining homeostatis, natural barriers and remaining cognitive at the molecular level. By contrast, the metaphor of natural drift can be understood as the history of diversification and adaptation of species in relation to many structural levels of the environment. The following article constitutes a brief introduction to a critical way of thinking of the said Chilean theoretical biologist and philosopher, established during his long-lasting research. The paper will outline the basic concepts and theoretical implications relevant to modern biological sciences, with particular emphasis on the classical theory of evolution