This paper investigates the gradual transformation of prelinguistic joint attention routines into resources of referential communication. It is argued that the child uses linguistic means of reference to recode and re-represent joint attention procedures in various ways. While semanticists stress the fact that pronouns, proper nouns, and definite descriptions may refer to the same entity, various modes of establishing, identifying and tracking discourse referents are considered here to be structural amplifications of joint attention routines, actively reorganized by the child in (...) language acquisition. (shrink)

The Bremen research group (the psychologists Birgit Volmerg and Thomas Leithäuser and the social scientist Eva Senghaas-Knobloch) was concerned with investigation into criteria for social compatibility in the area of information and communication technology, as well as with the perspectives for action in different occupational situations experienced by engineers. One central problem that remained unresolved during discussions with nine groups of engineers was the relationship between economy and culture. Only within the context of a cooperative cost-benefit or means-and-ends discussion (...) (in which all groups in society participate) are problem-conscious engineers able to utilise their professional responsibility in the sense of achieving socially responsible technological development. (shrink)

Among the many Central European scholars and intellectuals driven into exile across the Atlantic in the 1930s was the prominent Vienna psychologist Karl Bühler (1879–1963). Bühler had great difficulty establishing himself in his new home of the United States, despite his attempts to adapt his ideas to the American scene. In this paper, we look at one such attempt at adaptation, the unpublished manuscript of Bühler’s “Pocketbook on Practical Semantics,” an effort to turn the Sprachtheorie of his Vienna period into (...) a contribution to the applied semiotics and communications research popular in America at the time. Our paper represents the first detailed examination of the “Pocketbook” manuscript that places it in its context in the history of semiotics. (shrink)

In 1675, Leibniz elaborated his longest mathematical treatise he everwrote, the treatise ``On the arithmetical quadrature of the circle, theellipse, and the hyperbola. A corollary is a trigonometry withouttables''. It was unpublished until 1993, and represents a comprehensive discussion of infinitesimalgeometry. In this treatise, Leibniz laid the rigorous foundation of thetheory of infinitely small and infinite quantities or, in other words,of the theory of quantified indivisibles. In modern terms Leibnizintroduced `Riemannian sums' in order to demonstrate the integrabilityof continuous functions. The (...) article deals with this demonstration,with Leibniz's handling of infinitely small and infinite quantities,and with a general theorem regarding hyperboloids. (shrink)

In bildungspolitischen Diskussionen melden sich aktuell immer mehr Vertreter*innen politisch ambitionierter Pädagogiken zu Wort, die die pädagogische Nutzung ganz unterschiedlicher Kulturprodukte kritisieren, indem sie diese als Ausdruck von Rassismus, Sexismus, Kolonialismus oder Klassismus deuten. Bei solchen politisch und pädagogisch umkämpften Kulturprodukten handelt es sich beispielsweise um Kinderspielzeug, Dreadlocks oder Schokoladenverpackungen, um Kunstwerke, Fernsehserien, Gedichte und um Bücher. In dem Band werden diese engagierte Pädagogiken, die pädagogische und politische Vorgaben für den angemessenen und richtigen Umgang mit Kulturprodukten machen, anhand von Beispielen (...) - vom Kinderbuch 'Jim Knopf ́ bis hin zu 'Gonzo' aus der Muppetshow - aus der gebotenen Distanz analysiert und auf den Prüfstand gestellt. (shrink)

The article describes the difficult establishment of two of the eight series of the so-called Academy Edition of Leibniz’s Complete Writings and Letters. In 1976, Series VII, Mathematical writings, was realized by means of a collaboration between Knobloch in Berlin and Contro in Hannover. Juridical, staff, and technical problems had to be solved before the editorial work could begin. Series VIII, Scientific, Medical, and Technical writings, was realized in 2001, this time as an official project of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy (...) of Sciences and Humanities. The international collaboration of co-workers from Berlin, Russia, and France was carried out through electronic means, especially through a digitalization of everything concerning the Leibnizian manuscripts. (shrink)

The article deals with the Arabic sources of Chr. Clavius in Rome and the six different ways they were used by him in mathematics and astronomy. It inquires especially into his attitude towards al-Farghani, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Bi[tdotu]ruji, Ibn Rushd, Mu[hdotu]ammad al-Baghdadi, Pseudo-Ibn al-Haytham, Jabir ibn Afla[hdotu], and Pseudo-al-[Tuotu]usi.

This article deals with six aspects of analogical thinking in mathematics: 1. Platonism and continuity principle or the “geometric voices of analogy” (as Kepler put it), 2. analogies and the surpassing of limits, 3. analogies and rule stretching, 4. analogies and concept stretching, 5. language and the art of inventing, 6. translation, or constructions instead of discovery. It takes especially into account the works of Kepler, Wallis, Leibniz, Euler, and Laplace who all underlined the importance of analogy in finding out (...) new mathematical truth. But the meaning of analogy varies with the different authors. Isomorphic structures are interpreted as an outcome of analogical thinking. (shrink)

Johannes Kepler belonged to a long tradition of inquiring into nature with reference to God. This applies to Ptolemy, N. Copernicus, Chr. Clavius. Kepler's „new kind of poem” is analyzed in five sections which are based on Keplerian key words: Innovation, Hypothesis, Cause, Soul, Picture. Kepler consciously adhered to new questions, new answers, new methods. He relied on a new notion of hypothesis. His celestial dynamics included a celestial psychology whereby he used a visual conception of astronomy.

The object of this article is the study of possibilities and tendencies arising from the use of symbolic language including signs, characters, and symbols in mathematics. Five aspects are discussed: compactness and simultaneity, problem‐solving and generalizations, heuristics and progress, mechanisms and calculations, formalism. This is done primarily by looking at three disciplines, which at the same time are of fundamental importance to theoretical physics: classical algebra, calculus, and vector analysis.Mathematical achievements and statements by eminent mathematicians from antiquity to the present (...) (Archimedes, Leibniz, Newton, Euler, Gauß, Hilbert) show the importance of adequate symbolism for the development of mathematics. The corresponding philosophical discussions (Hobbes, Condillac, Degérando, Apelt, Cassirer, among others) are controversial. (shrink)

Ähnlich wie Adalbert Stifters Erzähler im Roman ,,Nachsommer” verband A. v. Humboldt auf seiner Amerikareise Erkundung und Erforschung, Reiselust und Erkenntnisstreben. Humboldt hat sein doppeltes Ziel klar benannt: Bekanntmachung der besuchten Länder, Sammeln von Tatsachen zur Erweiterung der physikalischen Geographie. Der Aufsatz ist in fünf Abschnitte gegliedert: Anliegen, Route, Methoden, Ergebnisse, Auswertung.

Elementary students need authentic learning experiences with community-based topics to motivate them, help develop inquiry skills, apply academic content, and connect their learning beyond the context of the classroom. In particular, the study of food, agriculture, and natural resources in elementary classrooms can bring learning to life. Elementary teachers’ decisions to teach non-required topics are informed by their personal beliefs and contextual pressures to teach required content that is aligned with state learning standards. The purpose of this descriptive study is (...) to explore the factors underlying elementary teachers’ beliefs related to the integration of food, agricultural, and natural resources (FANR) topics and activities into their classrooms. Multivariate analyses were conducted to identify factors and determine the relationship between teacher beliefs and behaviors. Two factors explained the extent teachers integrated FANR topics and activities into their classrooms: (1) if they agreed FANR topics fit in academic subjects, and (2) if they saw the educational value of integrating FANR topics and activities into the elementary school curricula. Teachers’ epistemological and motivational beliefs play a role when they consider adopting an enrichment program to integrate non-required topics into their elementary school classrooms. The findings suggest teachers’ perceptions of the educational benefits and fit within academic content areas are more important factors than their views and attitudes of the careers and industry connected to an enrichment program when teachers choose to adopt and integrate topics and activities that would enrich student learning in their classrooms. (shrink)

In 1661, Kaspar Schott published his comprehensive textbook Cursus mathematicus in Würzburg for the first time, his Encyclopedia of all mathematical sciences. It was so successful that it was published again in 1674 and 1677. In its 28 books, Schott gave an introduction for beginners in 22 mathematical disciplines by means of 533 figures and numerous tables. He wanted to avoid the shortness and the unintelligibility of his predecessors Alsted and Hérigone. He cited or recommended far more than hundred authors, (...) among them Protestants like Michael Stifel and Johannes Kepler, but also Catholics like Nicolaus Copernicus. The paper gives a survey of this work and explains especially interesting aspects: The dedication to the German emperor Leopold I., Athanasius Kircher’s letter of recommendation as well as Schott’s classification of sciences, explanations regarding geometry, astronomy, and algebra. (shrink)

The article deals with the Arabic sources of Chr. Clavius in Rome and the six different ways they were used by him in mathematics and astronomy. It inquires especially into his attitude towards al-Farghānī, Thābit ibn Qurra, al-Bi[tdotu]rūjī, Ibn Rushd, Mu[hdotu]ammad al-Baghdādī, Pseudo-Ibn al-Haytham, Jābir ibn Afla[hdotu], and Pseudo-al-[Tuotu]ūsī.

Der Aufsatz gibt einen Überblick über Eulers zwölf bisher unveröffentlichte mathematische Notizbücher, die im Archiv der Akademie der Wissenschaften der UdSSR, Leningrad, aufbewahrt werden. Sie bestehen aus rund 2300 Blatt und behandeln in äußerst unsystematischer Weise alle mathematischen Themen, Naturwissenschaften, und einige andere Fragen. Im Aufsatz werden die erörterten Themen in systematischer Reihenfolge vorgestellt.The article gives an account of Euler's twelve mathematical notebooks, unpublished to date, that are in the archives of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Leningrad. The folios, (...) some 2300 in number, deal haphazardly with mathematical and scientific topics and other matters. In this paper, the notes are placed in a subject index and discussed. (shrink)

Otto von Guericke's scientific method was based on reason and experimental science. His cosmology was embedded in theology and can be interpreted as a refutation of Descartes's worldview. He used Nicolaus Cusanus's theory of quantities in order to characterize the space. The notion of space has to be distinguished from that of world or heaven. Forces play a crucial role in this respect described by Kircher in his ‘Celestial journey’. Guericke read this work very diligently. In spite of some obvious (...) similarities between Guericke's and Newton's scientific aims and methods there are crucial differences between the scientific convictions and results of these scholars. (shrink)