Some Remarks About Rationality

This article is an abbreviated version of a talk titled The Limitations of Rationality

A Note on Professor Edel’s Paper

Professor Edel’s conclusions are excessively mild. We are often frighteningly ignorant of the consequences of scientific and technological innovations. This ignorance requires a much greater degree of caution in science than Professor Edel has admitted

L’identité des indiscernables

A. Le principe de l’identité des indiscernables me semble de toute évidence vrai. Et je ne vois pas comment nous pourrions définir l’identité ou établir la connexion entre les mathématiques et la logique si nous ne l’utilisons pas. B. Quant à moi, il me semble de toute évidence faux. Tes difficultés de logicien mathématicien sont hors de propos. Si le principe est faux, tu n’as pas le droit de l’utiliser. A. Tu ne fais que dire qu’il est faux — et même si tu le disais trois fois de suite, cel..

Clinical and morphological findings on mustard gas [bis (2-chloroethyl) sulfide] poisoning

n 1984 and 1985, a total of eleven Iranian patients were transferred to hospitals in Munich, Germany, after a reported gas attack in the Iran-Iraq war. The initial symptoms and pretreatment in Teheran, Iran, as well as the admittance examination data, the clinical courses of the patients, and the clinical laboratory data in Germany, are reported. The main injuries were to the skin, the eyes, and the respiratory tract. One patient stopped breathing suddenly on the third day of treatment (eight days after the exposure). A large piece of mucous membrane blocking a bronchus was removed during an immediate bronchoscopy, but attempts at resuscitation failed. The most important autopsy findings in this case were severe pseudomembranous inflammation of the trachea and the bronchial tubes. The histological findings are reported. Chemical proof of the poison (mustard gas) was established. A review of the history of chemical warfare, the physical and chemical properties of mustard gas, and a literature survey of clinical findings (including, especially, experiences from World Wars I and II) contribute to the understanding of the actual cases

High-stakes examinations to support policy: design, development and implementation

How can we help policy makers choose better exams? This question was the focus of the Assessment Working Group at the 2010 ISDDE Conference in Oxford. The group brought together high-level international expertise in assessment. It tackled issues that are central to policy makers looking for tests that, at reasonable cost, deliver valid, reliable assessments of students’ performance in mathematics and science with results that inform students, teachers, and school systems. This paper describes the analysis and recommendations from the group’s discussions, with references that provide further detail. It has contributed to discussions, in the US and elsewhere, on “how to do better”. We hope it will continue to be useful both to policy makers and to assessment designers