SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Here " 21,143 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Is the ‘Verity’ cast Team Letter or Team Manuscript? Anne Hathaway weighs in on debate
Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett explain to EW where they stand on the shocking ending of their new movie ‘Verity.’
Apple to replace iPhone 18 Pro Max facing AT&T glitch
Apple (AAPL) offers to replace some of the iPhone 18 Pro Max devices after customers on the AT&T (T) network faced a cellular connectivity issue. Read more here.
Dodgers notes: Attention to detail, Russell Martin, Zach Ehrhard
It’s the start of the Dodgers postseason on Saturday, but here are some related and adjacent stories that aren’t necessarily about the National League Division Series. Andy McCullough at The Athletic wrote about the Dodgers’ place in baseball heading into the postseason, and their role as the main antagonist for many about two months before […]
Top Stories: Apple Smart Home Launch on October 13, iPhone Duo Production Issues, and More
Things are getting crazy in the Apple rumor world, as even though the iPhone 18 Pro and several other products have only just launched and the iPhone Duo is right around the corner, there's even more to come imminently. October 13 looks to be the date for an introduction of Apple's revamped smart home portfolio, including the home hub device we've been hearing about for ages.
Why 'East of Eden' Star Mike Faist Looks Familiar
Mike Faist stars as Charles Trask in the Netflix limited series adapatation. Here's where you may have recognized him before.
Rain or shine, Out 4 Business’s picnic goes with the flow
Many students of all identities gathered for a picnic Wednesday, Sept. 30 set up by Out 4 Business (O4B), a Registered Student Organization (RSO) at Western Michigan University dedicated to
Getting More REM Sleep May Reduce Your Risk of 83 Different Diseases, Study Suggests
There’s a growing body of evidence linking quality sleep to overall health.
Apple weekend deals: MacBook Pro $500 off, AirTag 2, Prime Day HomeKit discounts, MagSafe chargers, more
While we are still awaiting some of the big fall Prime Day deals on some Apple products, there are already...
Ocean chemistry on ancient Earth could help scientists search for life on alien worlds
A new look at ancient rocks suggests that a self-sustaining nutrient cycle in ancient oceans helped keep Earth's atmosphere rich in oxygen for millions of years.
Israeli strike kills five in Gaza, including four women, health officials say
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu AlkasCAIRO/GAZA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike killed at least five Palestinians, including four women, in an apartment building in Gaza City early on Saturday, health and civil defence service officials said.Among the dead were a Christian mother, Maisa Abu Dawoud, and her daughter Mary, medics and the church said.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.The strike destroyed the apartment building and started a fire.
Dont @ Me, But These 6 Shows Were Rightfully Canceled After 1 Season
So many great TV shows get canceled too soon, like 'The Boroughs' and 'PONIES.' But some shows that get the axe after just one season are, sorry to say, deserving of the cancelation. Here, an entertainment editor's 6 picks for shows rightfully canceled after 1 season.
Jets at Bears: Final injury reports for both teams
Here are the final injury report for the Jets and Beas ahead of their Week 4 game.
Bills vs. Patriots: Final injury reports for both teams
Here are the final injury reports for both the Bills and Patriots ahead of their Week 4 clash.
White Sox vs. Guardians: Two Keys to Winning the ALDS
The White Sox face a familiar rival in Cleveland as they look to keep their magical postseason run alive and advance to the ALCS. Here’s how they can do it.
Friendly defeat in the international break
2-1 loss to FC Blau-Weiß LinzAs part of the opening of a new sports facility in Pischelsdorf, our Red Bulls played a friendly match there against FC Blau-Weiß Linz. The clash with the 2. Liga leader...
She left Vegas to live on a ‘Blue Zone’ island where people live past 100 years old
In our roundup of travel stories this week: a hiking trail through the “Mountains of Heaven,” why Champagne is getting boozier, plus a woman who found joy by moving from Las Vegas to an Italian island.
Sports on TV/radio listings: Oct. 3
Where to watch and/or listen to today's sporting events that will be televised or broadcast on the radio.
Capcom details plans to evolve RE Engine into an ‘AI-generation game engine’
Programmer says Capcom’s goal is a future ‘where we create games together with AI’…
Gamethread: Canadiens @ Penguins
It’s the home opener! Talk about the game with Pens fans here!
Ohio State vs. Iowa: How to watch today's NCAA college football game, where to stream and more
Ohio State plays Iowa this Saturday. Here's how to watch live on CBS.
Contributor: There's federal progress on women's health. No joke
States have been the laboratory for policy changes on menopause care and hormone access, and the feds are now following leaders such as California.
Don't tell owners how to run businesses. Go where you want.
So quit complaining and trying to tell owners how to run their business. Go where you want. If the owner chooses wrong, they will go out of business.
Anthropic Is Aiming To Transform Healthcare—Here’s How
Anthropic is pushing Claude into prior authorization, medical records, drug discovery and global health. A physician explains what it means for doctors and patients.
Arts & Entertainment Calendar
Events coming up in the Greenville area offer music, arts, theater and family fun. Here is a sampling. “Today” refers to events scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3.
Islanders Gameday News: New lines, new arena experiences
The New York Islanders have their 54th home opener tonight, and some of you remember all 54 which means some of you (g’morning, Rick!) are really freaking old. (I myself am a spring chicken, so I categorically deny pining for the days when there were rectangular goal creases and no ads on the boards, much […]
The most surprising things about Etihad's new first and business class
Etihad is bringing a new Airbus aircraft to its fleet in 2027, and I got an early look at its premium seats. Here's what future passengers can expect.
Rockford area football scores from Friday, October 2, 2026
Here are the high school football results for games in the Rockford area on Friday night, October 2.
Where to watch Tennessee-Auburn football: TV, channel, streaming, time
Tennessee football will play Auburn on Saturday. Here is how to watch, including time, channel, TV schedule and streaming info.
NYC restaurant inspectors scored these among the worst for week of Sept. 21
Here's a look at the inspection results from eateries across New York City from Sept. 21-25.
Brazil is regulating AI use in elections. Here’s why it’s been a challenge.
Brazil’s polarized political landscape is rife with disinformation – a challenge that can be turbocharged by artificial intelligence.
Commentary: We can fix youth sports in America. Here’s how
The bleachers were packed for the 1989 Little League championship game because every kid in my community played in the same league, and if they weren’t in the game, they
Could we ever create artificial gravity on a spaceship?
Microgravity poses severe health risks for astronauts. But could there be a solution?
“It is negotiation, it is business, but there has …
“It is negotiation, it is business, but there has …
Where to watch Duke basketball Countdown to Craziness: Time, TV schedule, channel, live stream for 2026 event
Here's everything you need to know about Duke basketball Countdown to Craziness, including TV channel and streaming options for the preseason event.
How to watch Nebraska football vs. Maryland: Time, TV channel
It's Nebraska vs. Maryland in Week 5 of the college football season. Here's how to watch, including time, channel, TV schedule and streaming info.
'There’s no such thing as democracy' – Yanis Varoufakis | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty
In the first episode of Radical Thinking, a new series from the Guardian, senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty speaks to the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. What does he make of Andy Burnham's plans to 'rewire' the UK economy? Radical Thinking will be published every Saturday in the Politics Weekly feed
Texas Tech vs Colorado Prediction: Is This When The Buffaloes Turn This Around?
It's been a rough run for Deion Sanders and Colorado, but nothing would change the momentum faster than a win over Texas Tech. Here's the CFN preview and prediction.
Ryan Field’s debut delivers a major moment for Northwestern football
The Wildcats opened their long-awaited new home Friday night with a charged atmosphere, an announced sellout crowd and the type of performance David Braun believes can propel the program forward.
Where to watch Air Force vs. Navy today: Channel, live stream, time, schedule for Mids vs. Falcons
Two of the nation's most dominant rushing offenses collide as Air Force hosts Navy. Here's all you need to know to tune in.
Seattle Seahawks Depth Chart at Running Back Against Chargers
On Friday, Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that Jadarian Price will be out against the Los Angeles Chargers, which means the depth chart at running back is a lot thinner now. Behind Price, there are three running backs expected to be active against the Chargers for the Seattle Seahawks. Those players are Emanuel […] The post Seattle Seahawks Depth Chart at Running Back Against Chargers appeared first on HEAVY.
Learning from Arteta and inspiring youngsters
Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere speaks about being back where he started as an eight-year-old and the lessons he learned from his time at Arsenal.
New UPS Store open in Cold Spring and Jesse Procter is ready for business
By Andy Furman NKyTribune staff writer Jesse Procter wanted a change of pace. “I wanted something exciting where I could meet people and serve their needs,” he told the Northern Kentucky Tribune.
Football Frenzy 10/02
NORTHEAST KANSAS (KSNT) — Week 5 of the high school football season is in the books. Send final scores to Kole.Emplit@ksnt.com and Sydney.Clark@ksnt.com. 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A 1A 8-Man For more sports news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for […]
Friday Scoreboard
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Here are scores from around the area: College Volleyball:Sioux Falls 3, UMary 0Jamestown 3, Augustana 2 High School Football:#2 Brandon Valley, 38, #3 Harrisburg 12Roosevelt 40, Rapid City Central 0#4 O’Gorman 35, Washington 13#1 Jefferson 62, Omaha Westview (NE) 25#5 Lincoln 55, Rapid City Stevens 0#2 Tea Area 42, Brookings […]
Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Users With AT&T Cellular Issue Need to Have Device Replaced
Apple today confirmed that a "small number" of iPhone 18 Pro Max users on the AT&T network have experienced an issue that causes the device to lose cellular service, thereby preventing phone calls, text messages, and data from working. Thousands of users complained about the issue across the Apple Support Community and other platforms.
Starz Entertainment: Price Increases, Sub Growth, And Distribution Deals
Starz Entertainment (STRZ) stock is up 100%+ YTD as guidance rises, deleveraging continues, and buyout chatter grows. See here for more details.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker on first 1,000 days, politics and policies
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker joined an episode of Battleground Politics to talk about what her administration has accomplished and what's ahead.
Capcom Announces Plans to Transform the RE Engine Into an AI-Generation Game Engine — ‘Our Goal Is a Future Where We Create Games Together With AI’
Resident Evil and Street Fighter developer Capcom revealed some big changes coming to its RE Engine, which they plan to gradually improve and transform into an "AI-generation game engine."
‘I didn’t realize he was this soft’: Dave Portnoy blames Ryan Day’s ‘temper tantrums’ for being removed from ‘Big Noon Kickoff’
Dave Portnoy and other top personalities at Barstool Sports have been a part of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff college football pregame show for a little over a year. That is now over, with The Athletic reporting on Friday evening that Barstool Sports would no longer feature on the program. Sources told The Athletic that “there…
Solo Reload Victory Cup in NA West: Event 1 Event 1 Round 1
Battle your way to Platinum in Reload Ranked to be eligible for the first and second Events of the Season, Diamond for the third, and Champion for the final Event of the Season! Compete for the opportunity to win a cash prize! Reach Round 2 (top 1600 in EU; top 800 in NAC; top 320 in OCE, ASIA, ME, BR, and NAW), where every player who earns a Victory Royale will earn $100 USD. Good luck and have fun!
'I'm Going To Lose Business:' Shop Owners Irate Over Randolph Street Paid Parking
Business owners along Randolph Street west of Division are furious about the city’s recent implementation of paid parking there. Owners and managers of The Dairy Lodge, Slabtown Barber Shop, Sleder’s Family Tavern and several other longtime or newer businesses are upset they weren’t consulted about the change, critical of the format (visitors must pay by …
Current State of Affairs for the Minnesota Vikings
Where this team is headed is anyone's guess
Connecting Medical Training to the Future of Care
Physician training doesn’t stop at the bedside. Residents also grow by teaching, leading and mentoring others. Sutter Health brought that approach to this year’s Latino Medical Student Association National Conference, where it served as a diamond-level sponsor. The event brought together medical students, pre-med students, residents and health care leaders from across the country. Now […]
Could the International Space Station win a Nobel Peace Prize? Here's what to know
Not-so-outlandish, prognosticators say: The Nobel Peace Prize this year could go galactic, with an award to the International Space Station.
Oktoberfest expected to bring needed business boost to Leavenworth
Oktoberfest is underway in Leavenworth, where businesses said this year's events are vital to the community’s economic comeback after the area experienced deep
Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 gives us an early look at next year’s Pixel updates
Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 is here to fix your Pixel’s worst bugs.
Carbondale business community preps for busy month
CARBONDALE — With SIU students in town, alumni coming to visit and the fall atmosphere finally rolling in, October is a big month for business in Carbondale.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is an AI Powerhouse With Fitness and Health Improvements, But Do You Need it?
Apple has upgraded the Ultra again, and there's lots to like in the new version, including a super-accurate HR sensor and a powerful new AI ready chip.
Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker on 1,000 days in office and what comes next
Mayor Cherelle Parker discussed her administration’s work in Kensington, Philadelphia’s political landscape and the competition she’ll face in 2027.
Hispanic business leaders gather in Lancaster County to celebrate growth and community
Lancaster Hispanic business leaders gathered to celebrate growth, pride and new partnerships at Tec Centro.
As Trump's proposed arch looms over D.C., protesters pin their hopes on the midterms
Democratic lawmakers, veterans and concerned citizens gathered in Memorial Circle to protest the arch Trump wants to build there. Their hopes lie primarily in a lawsuit and next month's midterms.
Hispanic Voters, Souring on Republicans, Could Decide the Midterms
Hispanic voters are souring on Republicans. Here’s why.
3 Biggest Questions Facing Pirates Entering Critical Offseason
Here are the three biggest questions facing the Pittsburgh Pirates entering a critical offseason.
Irish Sea Moss Is Making Waves. The Science is Actually Pretty Murky.
Irish Sea moss supplements are all the rage with a billion-dollar industry that expects consumer demand to continue rising. While the superfood is packed with different nutrients, there is a high risk of ingesting heavy metals.
3 Biggest Questions Facing Phillies Entering Crucial Offseason
Here are the three biggest questions facing the Philadelphia Phillies entering a critical offseason.
European Leaders Mostly Optimistic About Paramount-WB's Future
European industry leaders are cautiously optimistic now that Paramount is about to complete its takeover of Warner Bros., but there are many unknowns.
Jets at Bears: 3 Props to Play
Its the Chicago Bears vs the New York Jets at Soldier Field. Here are 3 props featuring Cole Kmet, Luther Burden, and Braelon Allen.
Live & Local: Where to find upcoming local music, open mics and live entertainment
Rafters
Trump revisits the scene of his political ascent as Republicans struggle
A month before the midterms, the president is returning to Alabama and other places where his movement remains strongest.
‘Abbott Elementary’ teases sixth season changes
PHILADELPHIA — The new season of "Abbott Elementary" is nearly back in session. And from the looks of it, there are some changes coming. In the Season 6 trailer that
‘HomePad’ coming: Will Apple hold an October special event?
With Apple reportedly planning to unveil new products on October 13, here’s when the company could announce an event, based on the timing of its previous October announcements.
4 Running Backs Who Could Be Traded Soon
With the NFL trade deadline not too far off, several crowded backfields could create opportunities for deals. Injuries around the league could also push contenders to search for proven depth. Several running backs who could be traded already find themselves fighting for touches. Here are four situations that are worth watching.
Fans predict Michigan Football’s October win total
Here’s how many wins fans project for Michigan Football in October.
Fiery crowd caps Mississippi redistricting hearings. Opponents urge: ‘Leave our maps alone’
Tempers flared Thursday at a packed redistricting hearing at the Mississippi Capitol, where a large majority of speakers criticized what they said was a power grab aimed at diminishing Black political power and further entrenching Republican dominance over state politics.
Vibe-Coded Mashup Mods Have Taken Over X This Week, And They Threaten to Completely Change the Modding Scene
I have spent the last three days scrolling through some of the most insane mod videos I've ever seen. Modders are taking games that have been decompiled with Claude, and mashing them up with other games. As the week has gone on, there have only been more clips of these mods pouring out on X/Twitter.
Do Animals Understand Us? Here’s What Science Says
Your pet may not be able to speak, but that doesn’t mean you two can’t find ways to communicate. Here’s how to talk and listen to the beloved animals in your life, according to experts.
Modern Science: An Ohio University professor studies the mechanisms behind bats using echolocation
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) —There's a lot we know about how animals navigate their world, but there's even more we don't. This included how bats use echolocation until recently.Peishu Li is an assistan
Bellingham mulls changes to home business rules
Current regulations limit where businesses can be run and how many employees can be hired. Monday, Oct. 5's meeting could change that.
Where startups should test to scale
Should companies test products in their familiar, local pond or in the new market where they want to scale?
Portland’s Arts Tax Hike Was Invalid, City Business Group Says
The Portland City Council in Oregon needed to get approval from voters before increasing its arts tax by more than 40% earlier in May and, therefore, the tax hike should be nixed, a city business group said.
Mamdani's Security Clearance Explained: Foreign Ties, Politics, and a 9-Month Wait
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani got his security clearance after 9 months. Here's how foreign ties and political views affect the clearance process.
Investing in our schools benefits the business community
There are certain moments in the life of a community when we are called to think beyond the present and invest in the future we hope to create. For me, […]
Sombr looks green, sounds mean in Seattle arena debut
The Gen Z alt-pop star made Seattle the first U.S. stop on his maiden arena tour. Here's how it went.
Small business marketing: Benefits and downsides of AI marketing tools
Small business owners shared how they actually use AI to build and sustain a marketing strategy, as well as where it falls short.
Studying Science in an Anti-Scientific Time
This Chronicle Review Deep Cut was first published in 2025. By Julianne Werlin Thanks for reading The Chronicle Review! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe The last two decades have not been kind to science studies. Already bruised and battered by the “science wars” of the 1990s, by the 2000s sociologists of science — who had long argued that science had to be understood in its human context — were encountering the funhouse-mirror version of their own views in right-wing critiques of climate scientists. It was enough to give some prominent scholars pause. “Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?” asked Bruno Latour, the most famous sociologist of science in the world, in 2003. “Should we apologize for having been wrong all along? Or should we rather bring the sword of criticism to criticism itself and do a bit of soul-searching here: What were we really after when we were so intent on showing the social construction of scientific facts?” In response, Latour proposed a change of method and attitude. Science studies, now chastened and contrite, would no longer seek to strip facts of their authority, but to enrich and enhance them. What this meant in practice was never fully clear. But his diagnosis of problems resonated, even if his solutions did not. Latour’s exercise in public hand-wringing signaled a shift in mood. By 2016, with the first election of Donald Trump, the idea that skepticism of science was a right-wing position, not a left-wing one, had become a commonplace, discussed eagerly in The New York Times. For liberals, vaccine denial during the Covid era and Trump’s second-term attacks on the funding of scientific research, covered extensively in these pages, added a new urgency to the defense of science on both practical and principled grounds. There was little appetite for a sociology or philosophy of science that emphasized the messiness and missteps of the scientific process rather than its integrity and triumphs. The distinguished historian of science Peter Dear’s new book, The World as We Know It: From Natural Philosophy to Modern Science (Princeton University Press, 2025), which seeks to tell the story of 18th- and 19th-century science for a general public, may seem comfortably remote from these bitter contests. In its 16 short chapters, Dear draws swift, sure sketches of major discoveries from Newton to Einstein, ably guiding the reader through debates on stellar nebulae, animal taxonomy, atomic chemistry, evolution, and other flashpoints in the history of science. But though a work of history, Dear’s book must still negotiate our polarized present. In a blurb on its back cover, the historian of biology Lynn K. Nyhart alludes to the “present moment, when scientific knowledge is being swamped by misinformation and its institutions are under siege.” Dear himself, in his conclusion, refers to the “yard signs” and “bumper stickers” that proclaim “Science Is Real.” One antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense is a robust history and philosophy of science: exactly what Dear’s scholarship has long offered. But his new book illustrates how difficult such work has become. Dear, an emeritus professor of history at Cornell University, is best known as a creative and philosophically minded historian of the Scientific Revolution. His edited volume The Literary Structure of Scientific Argument (1991) analyzed the rhetoric of Galileo’s thought experiments to brilliant effect. Discipline and Experience: The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution (1995) was a major contribution to the analysis of scientific experiments in early modern Europe and beyond, while Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge in Transition, 1500-1700 (2001), now in its third edition, remains one of the best overviews of the profound epistemological upheavals of 16th- and 17th-century science. But Dear has also ventured into later periods. Nearly two decades ago, in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (2006), he turned to the 18th and 19th centuries to sketch a history and theory of scientific knowledge. Aimed at a generalist audience, Dear’s simple prose belied serious philosophical ambitions. Science, Dear argued, has two aspects: “natural philosophy,” the quest to understand the true nature of the universe, and “instrumentality,” the applied skills and technologies that allow us to manipulate the world for human advantage. Both strands are ancient, but the innovation of the phenomenon we call “science” was to yoke them together. As Francis Bacon wrote, “Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced,” an insight typically abridged to “knowledge is power.” Or, in Bertrand Russell’s characteristically blunt phrase, science has two functions, “1. to enable us to know things, and 2., to enable us to do things.” So far, so conventional. But Dear took issue with this familiar story in one respect. Bacon’s formula implied that theory and practice could be fused in a single method. In fact, Dear argued, the quest to understand nature and the desire to manipulate it were coupled only loosely. They could come together, but they could also pull apart. Focusing on natural philosophy, the “knowing” half of the scientific circle, he used a series of case studies from cosmology, taxonomy, chemistry, electromagnetism, and quantum theory to show how theories changed over time, in dialogue with practice, but never reducible to it. Take the case of matter, the basic substrate of the physical world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists not only disagreed about what it was, but also about how well it could be known. In 1789, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier dismissed speculation about the atomic composition of chemicals as “discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature,” as he sought to orient chemistry away from philosophical abstraction and toward laboratory results. But in the 19th century, atoms returned with a vengeance in the atomic chemistry of John Dalton, who wanted to explain the underlying structure of nature. It was not just that Dalton and Lavoisier had a different set of experimental results, or even a different theory, Dear showed. What counted as an explanation had changed. In arguing that scientific theories depended on their intelligibility to human beings with complex arrays of beliefs and commitments, Dear was in sympathy with science studies. Key figures such as the sociologist Steven Shapin emphasized the importance of psychological mechanisms like trust in the formation and acceptance of scientific ideas. But in focusing on the scientific pursuit of knowledge, not its politics or economics, Dear resisted the more cynical perspective of some of his colleagues. The Intelligibility of Nature strikes a very different note than Shapin’s collection of a few years later, Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as If It Was Produced by People With Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority (2010), to name just one example. Walking a very fine line, Dear depicted science as driven at once by complex social dynamics and by the intellectual power of real discoveries. It was a testament not only to his own acumen but also to the vitality of the field that he was able to do so. Nearly two decades later, The World as We Know It returns to the questions broached in The Intelligibility of Nature. Like Dear’s earlier study, it begins with the Newtonian cosmos and ends with debates between Einstein and Bohr on quantum physics. Beyond its terminal figures, many of the same characters appear in both studies, including the naturalists John Ray and the Comte de Buffon; the chemists Étienne François Geoffroy, Antoine Lavoisier, and John Dalton; as well as Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday, among others. Its subject is nearly identical: As in The Intelligibility of Nature, The World as We Know It considers natural philosophy as opposed to instrumentality, here defined as the “desire to create a picture of what the world is really like — the world as God knows it — rather than simply having instrumental or operational control over it.” The two books also overlap in insights — and sometimes even in language. The reader who has learned in The Intelligibility of Nature that Buffon’s method of classifying animals “reflected his belief in the importance of the senses and empiricism in learning about nature (a doctrine associated with Newton and the philosopher John Locke)” will experience a sense of déjà vu on reading, in The World as We Know It, that the classification “reflects Buffon’s commitment to the epistemological stance of Newton and his philosophical underlaborer John Locke, who stressed the role of the senses in creating natural knowledge.” Later in the passage, we read that, “because of its stress on understanding the ways of life of animals in their environments, Buffon’s approach could almost be labeled (anachronistically) as ‘ecological.’” And again, “an anachronistic way of putting it would be to say that Buffon recommends an ecological mode of understanding.” Likewise, in The Intelligibility of Nature we read of Dalton that he was initially drawn to meteorology, and that: He did a bit of experimental work on these things, especially having to do with the water-holding capacity of gases, but his real interest lay in understanding what, at an underlying natural-philosophical level, was really going on physically.” Whereas, in The World as We Know It: He did experimental work on these things, especially concerning the water-holding capacity of gases — although not at a very refined level quantitatively — but he was continually trying to develop a theoretical conception of what was happening physically. The final full chapter of each book closes on the same resigned note. Intelligibility: These days, most serious work on the natural philosophical underpinnings and implications of quantum mechanics is performed not by physicists but by philosophers of science. Among scientific practitioners themselves, Bohr’s attempt to use instrumentality as sufficient grounds for a respectable science has met with a high degree of success. And again, in The World as We Know It: Bohr’s and Einstein’s concerns are now questions that are mostly discussed by philosophers of science rather than by physicists themselves. The marginalization of these sorts of questions amounts to the demise of natural philosophy, at least in physics, in the 20th century. Quantum mechanics “works,” and that’s good enough for most scientists who encounter it. Examples could be multiplied. When handling the same subject matter, some echoes are inevitable. Scholars should not feel that because they have written “Isaac Newton died in 1727” in one book, in the next they must describe him as perishing, expiring, or meeting his maker. But the repetitions of language and arguments (not to mention six reproduced images) threaded throughout The World as We Know It are more extensive than that. They should have been caught by Princeton University Press or its reviewers, and revised. Because the two books have so much in common, it is easy to see where they diverge. The World as We Know It is a less theoretical work than its predecessor. The sociology of knowledge that organized The Intelligibility of Nature has been reduced in scale and folded into readings and examples. The taut interplay between history and theory, which gave the earlier study so much interest, is there, but it is subtle. In the earlier book, the case studies demonstrated theoretical claims about the character and development of science. In the later work, each narrative of discovery is an end in itself. Insights emerge from the history, but they do not control the organization of the study. With the theory muted, it can be hard to understand the logic uniting Dear’s sprawling history of more than two centuries of scientific knowledge. The 16 brisk chapters cover an enormous amount of material. But the closer the volume edges to comprehensiveness, the more obvious the missing elements become. A chapter on “Institutions and Pedagogy,” describing the birth of the research university, illustrates the problem. Inserted roughly halfway through the book, the unnumbered chapter is designed as an “entr’acte,” in acknowledgement that it does not fit the study’s organization around scientific discoveries. Yet as Dear is well aware, no general history of the development of modern science can bracket its 19th-century institutionalization and professionalization. It was the 19th-century university, after all, that gave us the “scientist,” a term coined by the Cambridge philosopher William Whewell. Dear’s history of scientific discoveries implies a wider social and institutional history, but it remains largely subterranean, only occasionally extruded under the pressure of the narrative. It must be said that the balance is not all on the side of the earlier study. There are some advantages to the more historical, less theoretical organization of The World as We Know It. Dear’s accounts of paradigm shifts are remarkably lucid, no small accomplishment given that they span fields and centuries. He makes excellent use of the wealth of new scholarship on Darwin and his influences, to which he has himself contributed. It is satisfying to see puzzle pieces from Buffon’s natural history, Georges Cuvier’s animal taxonomy, Thomas Robert Malthus’s demography, and Charles Lyell’s geology recombined seamlessly in the Darwinian jigsaw. Likewise, Dear’s discussion of stellar nebulae, divided between chapters two and 15, shows vividly how Newton, Kant, Herschel, and Hubble reimagined insights and observations as they sought to discover whether the diffuse light that filtered through early telescopes was a glowing, gaseous substance or discrete but distant stars. Yet despite such pleasures, the book remains a more modest work than The Intelligibility of Nature. Dear has clearly not changed his views about the history of science. But in the two decades that have elapsed, the discipline and the world around it have changed, making it harder to write a sociologically and philosophically ambitious history of science for the general reader. That is a shame, because in the age of Silicon Valley and biotechnology, both the reciprocity and the tensions Dear identified between the epistemological and instrumental ambitions of science are more evident than ever. In recent years, some of the most exciting new books on the history of science in early modernity have focused precisely on this pressure point. Important studies such as Pamela H. Smith’s From Lived Experience to the Written Word (2022), James Poskett’s Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science (2022), and Vera Keller’s The Interlopers: Early Stuart Projects and the Undisciplining of Knowledge (2023) all shed new light on how early modern science negotiated the relationship between its instrumental and epistemological ambitions, or in Russell’s phrase, knowing and doing. There is every opportunity for a philosophically informed approach to draw new insights from this wealth of material. Dear, unfortunately, has not done so in The World as We Know It. But for future scholars of the history of science, his body of work over nearly four decades may provide just the model. Julianne Werlin is an associate professor of English at Duke University. Thanks for reading The Chronicle Review! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe
Prediction Time: Division Series
In our Wild Card prediction thread, two people got three of the four series correct: Ritzkiss and Rancy. In the ‘how many games will the series go, Rancy was off by just two games, so he’s the winner. I’d like to say there is a prize, but you have my congratulations Rancy. That and $2.95 […]