De Gravitatione Reconsidered: The Changing Significance of Empirical Evidence for Newton's Metaphysics of Space

I argue that Isaac Newton's _De Gravitatione_ should not be considered an authoritative expression of his thought about the metaphysics of space and its relation to physical inquiry. I establish the following narrative: In _De Gravitatione_ (circa 1668--1684), Newton claimed he had direct experimental evidence for the work's central thesis: that space had ``its own manner of existing'' as an affection or emanative effect. In the 1710s, however, through the prodding of both Roger Cotes and G. W. Leibniz, he came to see that this evidence relied on assumptions that his own _Principia_ rendered unjustifiable. Consequently, he (i) revised the conclusions he explicitly drew from the experimental evidence, (ii) rejected the idea that his spatial metaphysics was grounded in experimental evidence, and (iii) reassessed the epistemic status of key concepts in his metaphysics and natural philosophy. The narrative I explore shows not only that _De Gravitatione_ did not constitute the metaphysical backdrop of the _Principia_ as Newton ultimately understood it, but that it was the _Principia_ itself that ultimately lead to the demise of key elements of _De Gravitatione_. I explore the implications of this narrative for Andrew Janiak's and Howards Stein's interpretations of Newton's metaphysics

Newton’s Regulae Philosophandi

Newton’s Regulae philosophandi — the rules for reasoning in natural philosophy — are maxims of causal reasoning and induction. This chapter reviews their significance for Newton’s method of inquiry, as well as their application to particular propositions within the Principia. Two main claims emerge. First, the rules are not only interrelated, they defend various facets of the same core idea: that nature is simple and orderly by divine decree, and that, consequently, human beings can be justified in inferring universal causes from limited phenomena, if only fallibly. Second, the rules make substantive ontological assumptions on which Newton’s argument in the Principia relies

The Certainty, Modality, and Grounding of Newton’s Laws

Newton began his Principia with three Axiomata sive Leges Motus. We offer an interpretation of Newton’s dual label and investigate two tensions inherent in his account of laws. The first arises from the juxtaposition of Newton’s confidence in the certainty of his laws and his commitment to their variability and contingency. The second arises because Newton ascribes fundamental status both to the laws and to the bodies and forces they govern. We argue the first is resolvable, but the second is not. However, the second tension shows that Newton conceives laws as formal causes of bodies and forces. This neo-Aristotelian conception goes missing in Kantian accounts of laws, as well as accounts that stress laws’ grounding in powers and capacities

The Unity of Science in Early-Modern Philosophy: Subalternation, Metaphysics and the Geometrical Manner in Scholasticism, Galileo and Descartes

The project of constructing a complete system of knowledge---a system capable of integrating all that is and could possibly be known---was common to many early-modern philosophers and was championed with particular alacrity by René Descartes. The inspiration for this project often came from mathematics in general and from geometry in particular: Just as propositions were ordered in a geometrical demonstration, the argument went, so should propositions be ordered in an overall system of knowledge. Science, it was thought, had to proceed `more geometrico'. I offer a new interpretation of `science emph{more geometrico}' based on an analysis of the explanatory forms used in certain branches of geometry. These branches were optics, astronomy, and mechanics; the so-called subalternate, subordinate, or mixed-mathematical sciences. In Part I, I investigate the nature of the mixed-mathematical sciences according to Aristotle and some `liberal Jesuit' scholastic-Aristotelians. In Part II, the heart of the work, I analyze the metaphysics and physics of Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy" (1644, 1647) in light of the findings of Part I and an example from Galileo. I conclude by arguing that we must broaden our understanding of the early-modern conception of `science more geometrico' to include concepts taken from the mixed-mathematical sciences. These render the geometrical manner more flexible than previously thought

Hydraulic Traits as Determinants of Epiphyte Distribution in Mid-Elevation Rainforest in Puerto Rico.

Ferns are the dominant epiphytic flora of the neotropical forests of Puerto Rico. The goal of this study is to identify anatomical features associated with species distribution among epiphytic ferns inhabiting the first three meters of a tree trunk, targeting eighteen of the most common species identified from a 2012 survey at El Yunque National Park, Puerto Rico. We collected an adult specimen of each species during our 2015 field work at El Verde Station, Luquillo LTER. At the field station, we dissected each specimen into leaf, stipe, and rhizome sections, photographed the largest leaf, measured the major dimensions (length and width) of each organ, and preserved them for transport to GVSU. To add statistical power to the 2012 distribution data, we also conducted a “blast” survey of the occurrence of the target (18) species on the first, second, or third meter of 300 trees. At GVSU, the preserved organ sections were macerated to separate conductive cells, permanent slides produced, and up to ten replicates of each cell type found were photographed for measurement of key hydraulic traits (e.g., conduit length and width, pit area, pit aperture, and pit frequency) that we suspect determine occurrence along the vertical moisture and exposure gradient on a tree. At the time of this report all species have been macerated at least once and approximately 60% of the 540 (anticipated) cell (including both type and replicate) have been successfully macerated, mounted on slides, and photographed. Some species have presented unexpected problems such as obstructive carbohydrate-protein clouding of slides and dehydration of the mounting medium (which is a product flaw). These problems were solved during Fall 2015 and we expect to complete the remainder of data collection during Winter 2015

Core values driving sustained elite performance cultures

Organizational culture within sport has an important influence on the performance and well-being of the group and individuals. Often, cultural descriptions are based on teams' results (e.g., winning teams have strong cultures and losing teams have poor cultures). However, these after-the-fact cultural labels ignore the myriad underlying factors that contribute to the group's culture. The preponderance of organizational culture research in sport has tended to either focus on culture at the macro level (e.g., cultures of national governing bodies or athletic departments) or focus on culture change (essentially the mechanisms and processes through which poorly performing cultures changed their fortunes). However, there has been limited research looking at the cultures of programs who have sustained high-level performance for long periods of time. Moreover, there is even less research looking into the core values of such programs, one of the three levels of Schein's (Schein, 1990; Schein and Schein, 2017) culture analysis model. Therefore, this phenomenological study aimed to understand the perceptions and experiences of head coaches in leading and developing their sustained elite-performing cultures; specifically, this study targeted the role of core values within these cultures' development, an area lacking sufficient research (Wagstaff and Burton-Wylie, 2018). Analysis of experienced championship coaches' responses (n=5) revealed that core values focused on growth and development within sport and beyond, as well as the ways in which group members treat each other. Coaches also revealed that bringing these values off the page required consistent, daily, intentional effort, with values serving as touchstones when actions deviated from them.Includes bibliographical reference

PREPs Surveillance: Summary of Cognitive Interviews and Recommendations for PREPs Surveillance Measures

A review of existing research on population awareness of potentially reduced exposure tobacco products (PREPs) as well as results of cognitive interviews suggest that awareness of PREPs is quite low at this time, except in active test-markets. In order to monitor changes in awareness and perceptions of, and receptivity to these products over time, we have proposed using a set of questions as well as coding conventions that appear to result in reasonably accurate estimates of awareness of a particular group of products. The recommended items, which performed will in cognitive interviews, are presented in Appendix D of this report. It must be acknowledged that this report is limited by the need to restrict the number of respondents and by the fact that those included were of relatively high socio-economic status. Prior to any large scale use of these survey items, we recommend that further pre-tests be done using other survey modes (telephone and self-administered), and that an effort be made to include respondents with lower levels of education, and with greater cultural diversity

Probing subtle fluorescence dynamics in cellular proteins by streak camera based Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy

We report the cell biological applications of a recently developed multiphoton fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy system using a streak camera (StreakFLIM). The system was calibrated with standard fluorophore specimens and was shown to have high accuracy and reproducibility. We demonstrate the applicability of this instrument in living cells for measuring the effects of protein targeting and point mutations in the protein sequence which are not obtainable in conventional intensity based fluorescence microscopy methods. We discuss the relevance of such time resolved information in quantitative energy transfer microscopy and in measurement of the parameters characterizing intracellular physiology