In this paper we examine the changes in the diversity of astronomers working in Australia, particularly the ratio of women compared to men, from 1966, when the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) was formed, to 2023. This was a pivotal time, as there was a significant change to workplace law that enabled women who worked for Commonwealth departments to retain their permanent position once they

While sets are combinatorial collections, defined by their elements, classes are logical collections, defined by their membership conditions. We develop, in a potentialist setting, a predicative approach to (logical) classes of (combinatorial) sets. Some reasons emerge to adopt a stricter form of potentialism, which insists, not only that each object is generated at some stage of an incompletable process

Dr Ferdinand von Sommer (~1800–49) was the first government geologist appointed in Western Australia, a state that today owes its prosperity largely to the discovery and development of its rich mineral deposits. During his relatively short life, Ferdinand left a trail of incredible and diverse achievements, exploits and mystery that extended across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania

The American, Roger Tory Peterson, has been the single most influential figure in the evolution of birding field guides around the world. He was also a major contributor to the awakening of an environmental consciousness among the wider public in the second half of the twentieth century. In Australia, he provided a powerful impetus to the renovation of the field guide genre from the 1960s onward; and

This paper introduces a virtual special issue that explores how monuments have been contested in the past and how they continue to be so in the present. A survey of papers published in this journal from the 1990s to the early-2000s demonstrates an ongoing and rich interest in the interconnections between nationalism, landscape and ritual, with some emphasis on resistance but little sense of the contemporary

Australian astronomy has undergone huge changes since the middle of the twentieth century, when astronomers generally only had access to the observing facilities of their own institution. In this paper, we look at the changes in the context of the membership of the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA), since its formation in 1966. Initially, the dominant institutions were the Australian National

Canonically, ‘classic’ tests of general relativity (GR) include perihelion precession, the bending of light around stars, and gravitational redshift; ‘modern’ tests have to do with, inter alia, relativistic time delay, equivalence principle tests, gravitational lensing, strong field gravity, and gravitational waves. The orthodoxy is that both classic and modern tests of GR afford experimental confirmation

There has been in recent years a huge surge of interest in the so-called extended Wigner’s friend scenario (EWFS). In short, a series of theorems (with some variation in detail) puts pressure on the ability of different agents in the scenario to account for each of the others’ measured outcomes: the outcomes cannot be assigned single well-defined values while also satisfying other reasonable physical

Acclimatisation has been a profoundly important force in Australia’s history, yet scholars have routinely ignored or denigrated it, leaving it under-studied and misunderstood. Most accounts frame acclimatisation as a fad, briefly flourishing around the 1860s; scholars typically blame the spread of animal pests such as the rabbit for the sudden loss of interest in this branch of science. This article

Hempel never met Ramsey, but he knew his work. In his 1958 The Theoretician’s Dilemma: a study in the logic of theory construction, Hempel introduces the term Ramsey sentence, referring to Ramsey’s attempt in Theories to get rid of theoretical terms in formal accounts of scientific theories. In this paper, I draw the attention to another connection between Ramsey’s and Hempel’s works. Hempel’s Deductive-Nomological

Although the philosophical literature on science and values has flourished in recent years, the central concept of “values” has remained ambiguous. This paper endeavors to clarify the nature of values as they are discussed in this literature and then highlights some of the major implications of this clarification. First, it elucidates four major concepts of values and discusses some of their strengths

As a geographically isolated and island continent, Australia has historically been protected from the impact of many damaging plant pests found overseas. However, the advent of modern transport systems and greater global trade in live plants, seed and plant products is increasing the movement of pests including invertebrates, pathogens, and weeds. Exclusion of these threats through an effective biosecurity

When myxoma virus was first released in Australia it was seen not only as a means of controlling rabbits but also an opportunity to understand the evolution of a disease in a new host. The virus quickly attenuated into less virulent variants while simultaneously rabbits built heritable resistance to the disease. Nonetheless, rather than rabbits quickly outstripping virus virulence, myxoma viruses have

The journal Theology and Science assembled a group of four academics to comment on Andrew Davison's 2023 monograph Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine (Cambridge University Press, 2023). In this pa...

In the first half of the 19th century, Adriano Balbi (1782–1848) was one of the greatest geographers in Italy and Europe, having an extremely vast and constantly updated scientific output. He tried to keep up with new discoveries of ‘unknown and unexplored' territories. His work influenced geographers and cartographers, who used it as a source. Evangelista Azzi (1793–1848), a cartographer and military

In ‘Intuition, iteration, induction’, Mark van Atten argues that iteration is an object of intuition for Brouwer and explains the intuitive character of the act of iteration drawing from Husserl’s phenomenology. I find the arguments for this reading of Brouwer unconvincing. In this note I set out some issues with his claim that iteration is an object of intuition and his Husserlian explication of iteration

Recent discoveries in astrophysics have shown that habitable planets and moons are probably commonplace. Also, the requirements for life as we understand it are probably found around most stars. As...

In this paper, I adopt the view that the form which is embodied in matter gives it its essence and converts it into substance (Aristotle). I furthermore understand information as the transmissible state of the form. Living beings as substances can create order in their environment adapted to their needs. The environment in turn has the potential to change the form and other causes such as matter,

David Cooper was an internationally renowned immunologist and HIV clinician who spearheaded Australia’s world-leading HIV response. Known for advocacy and community engagement, he made several world-first discoveries on HIV pathogenesis and treatment. He was involved in the development of every HIV drug used in Australia and drove the introduction of antiretroviral pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in

Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE who died on 5 September 2018, aged 81, was a renowned Australian fluid dynamicist, specialising in designing and conducting experimental studies in geophysical fluid dynamics, and providing outstanding leadership of national and international research programs in oceanography and meteorology.

Peter Pringsheim, best known as professor of physics at the University of Berlin, has an unusual connection with Australia. His attendance at the 1914 conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which was held in Melbourne, coincided with the outbreak of World War 1, and he was interned as an enemy alien at the Trial Bay Internment Camp in New South Wales from October 1914

This paper analyses Gen 2:4b–15, emphasizing its relevance to the primary purpose of human creation. The text explains why the earth lacks productivity and plants, attributing it to the absence of ...

The early inquiries on the science-religion relationship have focused exclusively on their epistemic aspects for describing the essence of their relationship. However, the recent theories include p...

A major breakthrough in developmental biology is the ex vivo generation of synthetic human embryos from stem cells. A comprehensive, in-depth bioethical analysis from a Sunni Islamic perspective re...

The program of reconstructing quantum theory based on information-theoretic principles enjoys much popularity in the foundations of physics. Surprisingly, this endeavor has only received very little attention in philosophy. Here I argue that this should change. This is because, on the one hand, reconstructions can help us to better understand quantum mechanics, and, on the other hand, reconstructions

The problem this paper addresses is that scientists have to take normatively charged decisions which can have a significant impact on individual members of the public or the public as a whole. And yet mechanisms to exercise democratic control over them are often absent. Given the normative nature of these choices, this is often perceived to be at odds with basic democratic principles. I show that this

The paper deals with Wittgenstein’s early philosophy and discusses the issue of the relation between the necessary tools used within logic and theology. I argue that Wittgenstein’s standpoint requi...

This study conducts a qualitative analysis of teleological verses in the Qur’an, which reveals that they only demonstrate the power of God to resurrect, and the will of God to punish/ reward as He ...

In his book Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, Andrew Davison conducts an in-depth study of the implications of the search for life in the universe for the main themes of Christian theology, and ...

A key element of Plantinga’s religious epistemology is that de jure objections to Theistic belief succeed only if de facto objections to Theistic belief succeed. He defends that element, in part, b...

Applying scientific theology to possible existence of astrobiology, aliens, and Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (ETI) invites constructive analysis along at least four lines of inquiry. First are po...

This response to Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine: Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe raises concerns regarding whether Andrew Davison’s traditional approach to Christian theolog...

Science-faith dialogue would be strengthened by a greater sensitivity to the Bible’s form as a two-testament collection of writings. Science-faith scholarship has often treated concepts from the Bi...

The concept of molecular structure is one of the most important concepts of chemistry. In fact, molecular structure is closely related to the concept of chemical substance and its set of properties, and it is the main factor in the explanation of reactivity. In fact, much of the behavior of substances is explained in terms of the structure of their component molecules. This may explain why people tend

Set-theoretic potentialism is one of the most lively trends in the philosophy of mathematics. Modal accounts of sets have been developed in two different ways. The first, initiated by Charles Parsons, focuses on sets as objects. The second, dating back to Hilary Putnam and Geoffrey Hellman, investigates set-theoretic structures. The paper identifies two strands of open issues, technical and conceptual

William Roderick (Bill) Blevin graduated from the University of New England (UNE) with First Class Honours in science in 1950, completed a Diploma of Education in 1951 and a Master of Science degree in 1952. He joined the CSIRO Division of Physics in 1953 as a research scientist and became the leader of the Optical Radiometry and Pyrometry Group. In 1972, he was awarded a DSc from the University of

This paper examines the role of law, particularly law related to private property, in the historical geography of class struggle. At the center of the analysis is the ‘access rule’, written by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board in 1975 and struck down by the United States Supreme Court in 2021. Responding to the specific geography of California agribusiness labor relations and the long

Concepts of an organism’s biological environment and of niche construction as how organisms alter their environment and that of other organisms now play prominent roles in multiple sub-fields of biology, including ecology, evolution, and development. Some philosophers now use these concepts to understand the dynamics of scientific research. Others note divergences among the concepts of niche and niche

From 1643 onwards – almost until the ends of their lives –, the philosopher and astronomer Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) and the mathematician and astrologer Jean-Baptiste Morin (1583–1656) were engaged in a bitter polemic. Scholars in the history of early modern science consider this polemic crucial both for understanding the debate over Galileanism and Copernicanism in France, and for understanding

This article examines the transformation of the “heart of the world” concept and its influence on the understanding of what causes planetary motion. It begins with Aristotle’s conception of the sphere of the fixed stars and that of commentators such as Simplicius, Averroes, and Aquinas. The focus then shifts to the notion of a mobile Sun positioned between the upper and lower planets in the geocentric

According to the standard view, Borelli was a strict mechanist who sought to explain organic processes by resorting to invisible mechanisms. This paper aims to show that his outlook on living organisms as contained in De motu animalium was far more nuanced than historians have maintained. Borelli resorted to vis motiva as the source of activity of corpuscles, a notion that was at odds with strict mechanism

Quantum mechanics is arguably our most successful physical theory, yet the nature of the quantum state still constitutes an ongoing controversy. This paper proposes, articulates, and defends a metaphysical interpretation of the quantum state that is fictionalist in spirit since it regards quantum states as representing a fictional ontology. Such an ontology is therefore not physical, and yet it provides

The social epistemology of science has adopted agent-based computer simulations as one of its core methods for investigating the dynamics of scientific inquiry. The epistemic status of these highly idealized models is currently under active debate in which they are often associated either with predictive or the argumentative functions. These two functions roughly correspond to interpreting simulations

Jeremy Pickett-Heaps was a biologist whose acute observational powers were fed by a deep fascination for how cells work; he had an affinity for the myriad diversity of algae and other protists in general and for what they could teach us about all cells. An early adopter of the electron microscope, he made fundamental discoveries in plant cell division and green algal phylogeny that developed into studies

We argue that “Isaiah's apocalyptic myth,” (Isaiah 26:20) was a cushioning effort amidst the corona-virus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria between March and May 2020. Informed conversations frame myt...