The Gospel of Eve: Francis Bacon, Genesis and the telos of modern science

At the dawn of the scientific revolution, Francis Bacon declared its goal: to recover the estate of Adam and restore man's prelapsarian dominion over nature. Bacon's analogy makes little sense as a rationale for scientific inquiry, however, since Adam's distinguishing virtue in the opening verses of Genesis was his incurious obedience. The animating spirit of science has always been the impudent curiosity of Eve, who conversed with the serpent and dared, in defiance of the threat of death, to taste the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. As we apply the fruits of scientific inquiry to the creation of new technologies, this contrast between the mythical mother and father of our species takes on a fatal significance. If we aim to recover the estate of Adam we put science in the service of complacent comfort and an incurious domination of nature that will end in catastrophe. When we embrace the gospel of Eve, we engage in a conversation with nature that is inspired by that transcendent curiosity which Einstein identified as "the cosmic religious sense." Informed by this ethos, the fundamental goal of science is not to reclaim an impossible mastery over nature nor to banish death, but to deepen our engagement with life itself.Accepted manuscrip

Beyond HIPC: Secure Sustainable Debt Relief for Poor Countries

In 1999, the United States and other major donor countries supported an historic expansion of the heavily indebted poor country (HIPC) debt relief initiative. HIPC had two primary goals: reduce poor countries’ debt burdens to levels that would allow them to achieve sustainable growth; and promote a new way of assisting poor countries focused on home-grown poverty alleviation and human development. Three years after the initiative came into existence, we are beginning to see the apparent impact that HIPC is having, particularly on recipient countries' ability and willingness to increase domestic spending on education and HIV/AIDS programs. Yet it has also become clear that the HIPC program is not providing a sufficient level of predictability or sustainability to allow debtor countries (and donors) to reap the larger benefits, particularly in terms of sustained growth and poverty reduction, originally envisioned. An adequate amount of predictable debt relief can be an extremely efficient way of transferring resources to poor countries with reasonable economic management (indeed, more effective than traditional aid). But the full benefits of the transfer, in improved capacity to manage their economies, and in increased investor confidence in an economy's future, require that creditors, investors and committed recipient government officials have confidence that the improved debt situation will be sustained over the medium term. After reviewing some of the main critiques and proposals for change, we offer here a new way forward -- a proposal to deepen, widen, and most importantly insure debt relief to poor countries. We focus on the insurance aspect of our proposal, that would safeguard countries against external shocks for a decade, and on the advantages of financing such insurance by limited mobilization of IMF gold. We see this proposal as a practical way to make debt relief more predictably sustainable in HIPC countries, and a proposal around which international donors could consolidate their efforts in the near term.heavily indebted poor country (HIPC), debt relief, poverty, sustained development

Thermodynamic properties of UF6 at high temperatures

The equilibrium composition and the thermodynamic properties of the mixture resulting from the decomposition of uranium hexafluoride is calculated for temperatures ranging from 600 K to 4000 K at pressures from 0.01 atmospheres to 10 atmospheres

Analysis of plasmas generated by fission fragments

A kinetic model is developed for a plasma generated by fission fragments and the results are employed to study helium plasma generated in a tube coated with fissionable material. Because both the heavy particles and electrons play important roles in creating the plasma, their effects are considered simultaneously. The calculations are carried out for a range of neutron fluxes and pressures. In general, the predictions of the theory are in good agreement with available intensity measurements. Moreover, the theory predicts the experimentally measured inversions. However, the calculated gain coefficients are such that lasing is not expected to take place in a helium plasma generated by fission fragments. The effects of an externally applied electric field are also considered

Euler/Navier-Stokes calculations of transonic flow past fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft configurations

Computational fluid dynamics has an increasingly important role in the design and analysis of aircraft as computer hardware becomes faster and algorithms become more efficient. Progress is being made in two directions: more complex and realistic configurations are being treated and algorithms based on higher approximations to the complete Navier-Stokes equations are being developed. The literature indicates that linear panel methods can model detailed, realistic aircraft geometries in flow regimes where this approximation is valid. As algorithms including higher approximations to the Navier-Stokes equations are developed, computer resource requirements increase rapidly. Generation of suitable grids become more difficult and the number of grid points required to resolve flow features of interest increases. Recently, the development of large vector computers has enabled researchers to attempt more complex geometries with Euler and Navier-Stokes algorithms. The results of calculations for transonic flow about a typical transport and fighter wing-body configuration using thin layer Navier-Stokes equations are described along with flow about helicopter rotor blades using both Euler/Navier-Stokes equations

The electron Boltzmann equation in a plasma generated by fission fragments

A Boltzmann equation formulation is presented for the determination of the electron distribution function in a plasma generated by fission fragments. The formulation takes into consideration ambipolar diffusion, elastic and inelastic collisions, recombination and ionization, and allows for the fact that the primary electrons are not monoenergetic. Calculations for He in a tube coated with fissionable material show that, over a wide pressure and neutron flux range, the distribution function is non-Maxwellian, but the electrons are essentially thermal. Moreover, about a third of the energy of the primary electrons is transferred into the inelastic levels of He. This fraction of energy transfer is almost independent of pressure and neutron flux but increases sharply in the presence of a sustainer electric field

A Proposal for Mandatory National Service: Developing Cross-Cultural Empathy To Combat Social Division and Political Polarization

The United States’ democracy has been losing empathy at an alarming rate. Both sides of the political aisle have lost respect and the ability to have constructive conversations about the future of our country. The polarization we have seen in this country has largely been a result of the limited ways in which we can develop empathy across cultures and regions in the United States. These limitations are related to trends in civic engagement and social bubbles that have grown in the United States over the last 30 years. A solution to this problem is a mandatory national service program. By creating an environment where people will need to immerse themselves in a new culture and engage in regular conversations with people from different regions and cultures, empathy can be developed. There are also many external benefits associated with national service that will make the project both viable and worthwhile. Through this program, polarization in the coming generations of voters will likely be alleviated. By breaking down social divisions, national service can revitalize American democracy

Testing an Extension of the Job Demands-Resources Model :The Addition of Personal Resources as Mediators to the Resources - Engagement Relationship

I review the construct of work engagement and discuss the Job demands-Resources (JD-R) model, a theory to describe the causes of engagement. The study investigates the inclusion of personal resources in the JD-R model. This research tests the hypothesis that personal resources (self-efficacy, optimism, and self-esteem) will mediate the relationship between organizational resources (method control and social support) and engagement. The hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal design with a sample of nurses from the Northwestern United States (N = 428). Method control significantly predicted self-esteem, and coworker support significantly predicted selfefficacy. Further, supervisor support and self-efficacy predicted dedication, and self-efficacy predicted vigor. This study contributed to the literature by providing an extensive theoretical explanation of the resource-engagement processes, testing the mechanisms with a longitudinal design, and providing possible directions for an environmental intervention to enhance personal strengths

Chaotic advection and mixing in a western boundary current-recirculation system : laboratory experiments

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2001I study the exchange between a boundary current and flanking horizontal recirculations in a 'sliced-cylinder' rotating tank laboratory experiment. Two flow configurations are investigated: a single recirculation and a double, figure-8, recirculation. The latter case involves a hyperbolic point, while the former does not. I investigate the stirring and mixing under both steady and unsteady forcing. I quantify the mixing in each case using effective diffusivity, Keff, and a corollary effective length, Leff, as derived by Nakamura (1995, 1996). This approach involves diagnosing the geometric complexity of a tracer field. Geometric complexity is indicative of advective stirring. Because stirring creates high gradients, flows with high advective stirring also have high diffusion, and stronger overall mixing. I calculate effective length from images of dye in the tank and find much higher values of Leff in the unsteady hyperbolic cases than in the other cases. Slight unsteadiness in flows involving hyperbolic points gives rise to a chaotic advection mechanism known as 'lobe dynamics'. These lobes carry fluid in and out of the recirculations, acting as extremely effective stirring mechanisms. I demonstrate the existence of these exchange lobes in the unsteady hyperbolic (figure-8) flow. The velocity field in the tank is calculated utilizing particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques and a time series U(t) demonstrates the (forced) unsteadiness in the flow. Images of dye in the tank show exchange lobes forming at this same forcing period, and caring fluid in and out of the recirculation. Based on the results of these experiments, I am able to confirm that, at least in this controlled environment, basic geometry has a profound effect on the mixing effectiveness of a recirculation. I demonstrate radically increased stirring and mixing in the unsteady hyperbolic flow as compared to steady flows and flows without hyperbolic points. Recirculations are ubiquitous in the world ocean; they occur on a variety of scales, in many different configurations, and at all depths. Some of these configurations involve hyperbolic points, while others do not. Chaotic advection via lobe exchange may be an important component of the mixing at multiple locations in the ocean where hyperbolic recirculation geometries exist.I am grateful for funding provided by a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and for funding from ONR #N00014-99-1-0258 and NSF #OCE-961694