Haiku for Mendeleev #005 — Boron
three-leggèd hatchling seeks bond
heat-defying grip
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
inspired mysteries, mysterious inspirations
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
In the production of knowledge, is ingenuity always needed but never enough? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
How might it benefit an area of knowledge to sever ties with its past? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
To what extent do you agree that there is no significant difference between hypothesis and speculation? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
In the production of knowledge, are we too quick to dismiss anomalies? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
In the pursuit of knowledge, what is gained by the artist adopting the lens of the scientist and the scientist adopting the lens of the artist? Discuss with reference to the arts and the natural sciences.
Labels: Odd Questions
How can we reconcile the opposing demands for specialization and generalization in the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
Nothing is more exciting than fresh ideas, so why are areas of knowledge often so slow to adopt them? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Do we underestimate the challenges of taking knowledge out of its original context and transferring it to a different context? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Do we need custodians of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Labels: Odd Questions
1. Are facts alone enough to prove a claim? Discuss with reference to any two areas of knowledge.
2. If “the mathematician’s patterns, like the painter’s and the poet’s, must be beautiful” (G.H. Hardy), how might this impact the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to mathematics andthe arts.
3. In the acquisition of knowledge, is following experts unquestioningly as dangerous as ignoring them completely? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
4. Is it problematic that knowledge is so often shaped by the values of those who produce it? Discuss with reference to any two areas of knowledge.
5. Is it always the case that “the world isn’t just the way I is, it is how we understand it – and in understanding something, we bring something to it” (adapted from Life of Pi by Yann Martel)? Discuss with reference to history and the natural sciences.
6. Faced with a vast amount of information, how do we select what is significant for the acquisition of knowledge? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Labels: Odd Questions
1. Is replicability necessary in the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
2. For artists and natural scientists, which is more important: what can be explained or what cannot be explained? Discuss with reference to the arts and the natural sciences.
3. Does it matter if our acquisition of knowledge happens in “bubbles” where some information and voices are excluded? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
4. Do you agree that it is “astonishing that so little knowledge can give us so much power” (Bertrand Russell)? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
5. Are visual representations always helpful in the communication of knowledge? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and mathematics.
6. To what extent is the knowledge we produce determined by the methodologies we use? Discuss with reference to history and one other area of knowledge.
Labels: Odd Questions
1. Within an area of knowledge is it more important to have credibility or power? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
2. If pushed too far, can open-mindedness itself become restrictive? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
3. Is it better to "have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned" (adapted from Richard Feynman)? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
4. Why do we seek indisputable evidence when it is so often unattainable? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
5. To what extent do you agree with the directive to "measure what is measurable and make measurable what is not so" (Galileo Galilei)? Answer with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
6. If the artist has freedom to interpret past events in ways that are denied to the historian, is this an asset or an obstacle to our understanding of the past? Discuss with reference to the arts and history.
Labels: Odd Questions
1. Can there be knowledge that is independent of culture? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
2. To what extent do you agree with the claim that “there’s a world of difference between truth and facts” (Maya Angelou)? Answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.
3. Is there solid justification for regarding knowledge in the natural sciences more highly than knowledge in another area of knowledge? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
4. How do historians and human scientists give knowledge meaning through the telling of stories? Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.
5. How can we distinguish between good and bad interpretations? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge.
6. If we conclude that there is some knowledge we should not pursue on ethical grounds, how can we determine the boundaries of acceptable investigation within an area of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Labels: Odd Questions
peacock eye of jinn
in the eternal city
no more deadly dust
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
Labels: Odd Questions
The questions change as the times change. Syllabus, thy name is mutability. Maybe to be caught between Syllabus and Curriculum is the modern equivalent of Scylla and Charybdis.
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
Labels: Odd Questions
Labels: Alchemy, Chemistry, Haiku, Periodicity, Poetry
Cloudless Caramel Coloring (I): When it is perfectly understood that in the manufacture of caramel, sugar is to be deprived of the one molecule of its water of constitution, it will be apparent that heat must not be carried on to the point of carbonization. Cloudy caramel is due to the fact that part of the sugar has been dissociated and reduced to carbon, which is insoluble in water. Hence the cloudiness. Caramel may be made on a small scale in the following manner: Place 4 or 5 ounces of granulated sugar in a shallow porcelain-lined evaporating dish and apply either a direct heat or that of an oil bath, continuing the heat until caramelization takes place or until tumescence ceases and the mass has assumed a dark-brown color. Then carefully add sufficient water to bring the viscid mass to the consistence of a heavy syrup. Extreme care must be taken and the face and hands protected during the addition of the water, owing to the intensity of the heat of the mass, and consequent sputtering.— Henley's 20th Century Formulas &c, 146 (1914 edition)