Collective invention during the British industrial revolution: the case of the Cornish pumping engine’,

ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that together with individual inventors and firms, what Robert C. Allen (1983) has termed as collective invention settings (that is settings in which rival firms freely release each other pertinent technical information), were also a crucial source of innovation in the industrial revolution period. Until now, this has been very little considered in the literature. This paper focuses on one of these cases: the Cornish mining district. In Cornwall, during the early nineteenth century, a notable collective invention setting, gradually emerged. This case is particularly remarkable because it was capable of generating a continuous and sustained flow of improvements in steam pumping technology which in the end greatly contributed to improve the thermodynamic efficiency of the steam engine. In this paper we study in detail the specific economic circumstances that led to the formation of this collective invention setting and we analyses its consequences for the rate of technological innovatio

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

The impact of a community-based food skills intervention on cooking confidence, food preparation methods and dietary choices - an exploratory trial

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of undertaking a food skills intervention study in areas of social deprivation aimed at altering cooking confidence, food preparation methods and dietary choices. Design A standardised skills programme was implemented in community-based settings. Pre- (T1) and post-intervention (T2) and 6-month follow-up (T3) measures (7-day diaries and self-administered questionnaires) were undertaken in intervention and comparison groups. Setting Eight urban communities in Scotland. Subjects One hundred and thirteen adults living in areas of social deprivation. Results It was clear that many subjects led fragmented lives and found commitment to intervention classes problematic. Sixty-three subjects completed the final (T3) assessments. The response to each component varied due to inability to attend sessions, illness, study requirements, employment, moving out of the area, change in circumstances, loss of interest and loss of postal questionnaires. At baseline, reported consumption of fruit and vegetables was low (mean frequency 8.1 ± 4.78 times per week). Fruit intake increased significantly (P < 0.05) between T1 and T2 in the intervention group (1.7 ± 2.36 to 2.7 ± 3.28 times per week) only. Between T1 and T3, there was a significant increase (P < 0.05) in intervention subjects who reported confidence in following a recipe (67–90%,). Conclusions This exploratory trial shows that a food skills intervention is likely to have a small but positive effect on food choice and confidence in food preparation. A full-scale randomised controlled trial in this hard-to-reach group would require a range of flexible approaches rather than a fully defined intervention, and presents challenges for trial design

Celebrating the Social in Soccer: Spectators’ Experiences of the Forgotten (Blind) Football World Cup

Sporting spaces draw together distinct social assortments. Football (in various forms), for example, generates specific types of spectators and spectator behaviours. Cognizant of this work, our paper examines the 2010 World Blind Football Championships (WBFC) and its spectatorship. We conducted semi-structured interviews, orientated around perceptions of disability/disability sport, with 285 spectators. The thrust of our paper is that the event affords spectators opportunities to better understand, appreciate and engage with the experiences of athletes with a disability. We argue that the unique context of blind football competitions (characterized here as an unthreatening, convivial, often familial-like, and somewhat parochial space) resulted in positive spectator experiences. We conclude that within the framework of bridging social capital, this unique sporting space afforded the creation of relationships between the athletes (and the sport) and the spectators, two groups previously separated by social distance