Some philosophical implications of behaviorism.

Psychology is the middle ground between philosophy and science. Philosophy deals with the interpretation of facts, with, a view to determining their ultimate cause. It is the search for knowledge of general principles--elements, powers, causes and laws--as explaining facts and existences. Science is systematized knowledge of facts, laws and proximate causes, gained and verified by exact observation. Science is the effort to show how laws operate, and how certain facts affect other facts. Philosophy seeks to show why laws operate as they do, and to discern what is the first fact. Science deals with the sequence of events and effects and their immediate causes. Philosophy seeks to go back through a process of reasoning to the first cause, the uncaused cause, and in terms of that to explain all the series of effects, all the consequent facts and factors. Science goes into the laboratory and experiments. Philosophy goes to the reason and theorizes and then seeks proof of those theories through processes of logic. Science is primarily objective in its method. Philosophy is primarily subjective. Science takes phenomena and seeks to discern the facts and factors involved. Philosophy takes a basic fact, or type-phenomenon and builds a system around it, or it begins with concrete facts and seeks to gain from them a philosophic truth. It may safely be said that philosophy is the parent, science the offspring. Between these two great fields of knowledge and partaking of both is psychology. Its tendency has been from the philosophical in method and material to the scientific. In that it deals with the mind it is philosophical. Because it is objective it is scientific. When it analyzes the states and phases of consciousness and passes judgment upon the nature and functions of the soul it is philosophical. When it explains the workings of the neural, glandular and muscular systems of the human organism it is scientific. Psychologists in general prefer to call their field a science, and such it is in the main, but as evidence of the fact that it has always been considered philosophical the average college or university curriculum may be noted

Vector Analysis

[no abstract

Interview with J. Harold Wayland

An interview in six sessions, December 1983–January 1985, with J. Harold Wayland, professor emeritus of engineering science in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Wayland received a BS in physics and mathematics from the University of Idaho, 1931, and became a graduate student at Caltech in 1933, earning his PhD in 1937. After graduation he taught at the University of Redlands while working at Caltech as a research fellow with H. Bateman until 1941. Joins Naval Ordnance Laboratory as head of the magnetic model section for degaussing ships; War Research Fellow at Caltech 1944-45; heads Navy’s Underwater Ordnance Division. In 1949, joins Caltech’s faculty as associate professor of applied mechanics, becoming professor of engineering science in 1963; emeritus in 1979. He describes his early education and graduate work at Caltech under R. A. Millikan; courses with W. R. Smythe, F. Zwicky, M. Ward, and W. V. Houston; teaching mathematics; research with O. Beeck. Fellowship, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen; work with G. Placzek and M. Knisely; interest in rheology. On return, teaches physics at the University of Redlands meanwhile working with Bateman. Recalls his work at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory and torpedo development for the Navy. Discusses streaming birefringence; microcirculation and its application to various fields; Japan’s contribution; evolution of Caltech’s engineering division and the Institute as a whole; his invention of the precision animal table and intravital microscope. Involvement with the Athenaeum. Friendship with Sidney Weinbaum; Weinbaum’s trial. In the last two sessions, conducted by his daughter Ann, he reminisces about growing up in Boise, Idaho; living conditions as a Caltech graduate student. Further comments on Copenhagen, colleagues there, meeting Niels Bohr, and his career at the University of Redlands

QUANTITATION OF HUMAN RED BLOOD CELL FIXATION BY GLUTARALDEHYDE

The uptake of glutaraldehyde by human red blood cells has been measured as a function of time by a freezing point osmometer. The rate of attachment of glutaraldehyde to the cell proteins is high over the first hour, declining to zero over a period of a few days. The number of glutaraldehyde molecules cross-linking with each hemoglobin molecule is of the order of 200, in reasonable agreement with the calculated number of attachment sites. The cell membrane is immediately highly permeable to glutaraldehyde. Selective permeability to ions is lost during fixation. Ionic equilibrium is obtained only after a few hours. An optimum fixation technique for shape preservation is suggested

Acute changes in peritoneal morphology and transport properties with infectious peritonitis and mechanical injury

Acute changes in peritoneal morphology and transport properties with infectious peritonitis and mechanical injury. Peritoneal clearance studies were performed in rats undergoing acute peritoneal dialysis. Some of these animals were then exposed to laparotomy and mechanical drying of the peritoneum. Peritoneal clearance studies were repeated at intervals up to 11 days. Another group of rats was placed on daily peritoneal dialysis and allowed to spontaneously develop peritonitis which was not treated. These rats underwent peritoneal transport studies at differing durations of infection. In all groups, animals were sacrificed at the time of the last transport studies for morphological assessment of the peritoneum by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed similar decreases in drainage volume and increases in glucose absorption and protein losses with both infection and drying. Both types of injury resulted in extensive mesothelial structural changes. While drying caused mainly denudation of the mesothelial surface, infectious peritonitis was associated with separation of mesothelial cells, and the appearance of numerous white blood cells between and on mesothelial cells. Exposure to peritoneal dialysis alone had no obvious effects on anatomy. Although changes in the peritoneal microcirculation and deeper structures cannot be excluded as contributing to peritoneal transport alterations, the findings suggest that alterations of mesothelium might explain some of the changes in peritoneal transport properties under the conditions of these studies.Modifications aiguës de la morphologie et des propriétés de transport du péritoine par péritonite infectieuse et lésion mécanique. Des études de clearance péritonéale ont été entreprises chez des rats en dialyse péritonéale aiguë. Certains de ces animaux étaient soumis à une laparotomie et à un séchage mécanique du péritoine. Les études de clearance péritonéale étaient répétées à des intervalles allant jusqu'à 11 jours. Un autre groupe de rat était placé en dialyse péritonéale journalière, et il pouvait développer spontanément une péritonite qui n'était pas traitée. Chez ces rats ont été effectuées des études de transport péritonéal à différents stades d'infection. Dans tous les groupes, les animaux étaient sacrifiés lors de la dernière étude de transport afin d'étudier morphologiquement le péritoine par microscopie optique, microscopie électronique à balayage, et microscopie électronique par transmission. Les résultats ont montré des diminutions du volume de drainage et des augmentations de l'absorption du glucose et des pertes protéiques identiques avec l'infection ou le séchage. Les deux types de lésions ont entrainé des modifications structurelles mésothéliales importantes. Tandis que le séchage entrainait principalement une dénudation de la surface mésothéliale, la péritonite infectieuse était associée à une séparation des cellules mésothéliales, et à l'apparition de nombreux globules blancs entre et sur les cellules mésothéliales. L'exposition à la dialyse péritonéale seule n'avait pas d'effets anatomiques évidents. Bien que la contribution aux altérations du transport péritonéal de modifications de la micro-circulation péritonéale et des structures plus profondes ne puisse être exclue, ces résultats suggèrent que les altérations du mésothélium pourraient expliquer certaines des modifications des propriétés de transport péritonéal dans les conditions de ces études

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 17

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs