ken information center: Philosophy

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Philosophy

Philosophy is a broad field of knowledge in which the definition of knowledge itself is one of the subjects investigated. It spans the nature of the universe, the mind, and the body; the relationships between all three, and between people. Philosophy is a field of inquiry – the pursuit of wisdom; the predecessor and complement of science, developing the issues which underlie science and pondering those questions which are beyond the scope of science.

Philosophy has a rich literary heritage, including the writings and teachings of profound thinkers from many cultures throughout history. Philosophers seek to understand the principles that underlie all knowledge and being. For this purpose, they develop methods of thinking, including logic, introspection, and meditation. Applying these methods, they investigate the most fundamental questions, such as "What is the nature of the universe?" (metaphysics), "What do we know, and how do we know it?" (epistemology), "What is the difference between good and evil?" (ethics), "What is beauty?" (aesthetics), and "What is the meaning of life?" (teleology).

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Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519)

He was born and raised a a child in Vinci Italy. Leonardo is famous for his realistic paintings, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as for influential drawings such as the Vitruvian Man. He conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his own time, notably conceptually inventing a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and many others. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were feasible during his lifetime; modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance. In addition, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics). Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks (scattered among various collections) containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23, 1616)[1] was an English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's preeminent dramatist.[2] He wrote about 37 plays and 154 sonnets, as well as a variety of other poems. Already a popular writer in his own lifetime, Shakespeare's reputation became increasingly celebrated after his death and his work adulated by numerous prominent cultural figures through the centuries.[3] In addition, Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the literature and history of the English-speaking world.[4] He is often considered to be England's national poet[5] and is sometimes referred to as the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard")[6] or the "Swan of Avon".[7]

Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony

Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent, independent and well-educated American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to secure women's suffrage in the United States. She traveled thousands of miles throughout the United States and Europe, and gave 75 to 100 speeches per year on suffrage and women's rights for some 45 years. She traveled by carriage, wagon, train, mule, bicycle, stagecoach, ship, ferry boat and even sleigh. Susan B. Anthony died in Rochester, New York, on March 13, 1906, and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook FRS RN (October 27, 1728 (O.S.) – February 14, 1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer. He made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, accurately charting many areas and recording several islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. Among his notable achievements were the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia; the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands; and the first recorded circumnavigation and mapping of Newfoundland and New Zealand. Cook died in Hawaii in a fracas with Hawaiians during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of the modern assembly line used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. He was a prolific inventor and was awarded 161 U.S. patents. As sole owner of the Ford Company he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism", that is, the mass production of large numbers of inexpensive automobiles using the assembly line, coupled with high wages for his workers—notably the $5 a day pay scale adopted in 1914. Ford, though poorly educated, had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put a dealership in every city in North America, and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation, but arranged for his family to control the company permanently.

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922)

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922)

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish scientist and inventor who emigrated to Canada. Today, Bell is widely considered as one of the foremost developers of the telephone, together with Antonio Meucci, inventor of the first telephone prototype, and Philipp Reis. Six years after having obtained his telephone patent he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In addition to Bell's work in telecommunications technology, he was responsible for important advances in aviation and hydrofoil technology.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention which first gained him fame was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders that had low sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so that one could listen only a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph."

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery (sometimes called simply The Orrery) is a painting (oil on canvas, ca. 1766) by Joseph Wright of Derby depicting a public lecture about a model solar system, with a lamp—in place of the sun—illuminating the faces of the audience. Wright captures the spirit of the Enlightenment, with knowledge as a force of moral uplift for the audience of commoners under the tutelage of the natural philosopher. Consistent with the astronomical theme, the partially illuminated faces may represent the phases of the moon, ranging from full (the children) to gibbous (the man standing on the left) to new (the figure seen from behind).

Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871)

Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871)

Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher, mechanical engineer and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, working from Babbage's original plans, a difference engine was completed, and functioned perfectly. It was built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, indicating that Babbage's machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine; it featured astonishing complexity for a 19th century device.

Robert Hooke (1635-1703)

Robert Hooke (1635-1703)

No portrait survives of Robert Hooke. His name is somewhat obscure today, due in part to the enmity of his famous, influential, and extremely vindictive colleague, Sir Isaac Newton. Yet Hooke was perhaps the single greatest experimental scientist of the seventeenth century. His interests knew no bounds, ranging from physics and astronomy, to chemistry, biology, and geology, to architecture and naval technology; he collaborated or corresponded with scientists as diverse as Christian Huygens, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton. Among other accomplishments, he invented the universal joint, the iris diaphragm, and an early prototype of the respirator; invented the anchor escapement and the balance spring, which made more accurate clocks possible; served as Chief Surveyor and helped rebuild London after the Great Fire of 1666; worked out the correct theory of combustion; devised an equation describing elasticity that is still used today ("Hooke's Law"); assisted Robert Boyle in studying the physics of gases; invented or improved meteorological instruments such as the barometer, anemometer, and hygrometer; and so on. He was the type of scientist that was then called a virtuoso -- able to contribute findings of major importance in any field of science. It is not surprising that he made important contributions to biology and to paleontology.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (German pronunciation (help·info)) (March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany – April 18, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a theoretical physicist. He was the formulator of the special and general theories of relativity. In addition, he made significant contributions to quantum theory and statistical mechanics. While best known for the Theory of Relativity (and specifically mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2), he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 (his "wonderful year" or "miraculous year") and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". For his many contributions, Einstein is widely regarded as one of the greatest physicists who ever lived.[1][2] In popular culture, the name "Einstein" has become synonymous with great intelligence and genius.

Archimedes

Archimedes (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης) (c. 287 BC – 212 BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher born in the seaport colony of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, what is now Sicily. Many consider him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mathematicians in antiquity. Carl Friedrich Gauss, himself frequently called the most influential mathematician of all time, modestly claimed that Archimedes was one of the three epoch-making mathematicians (the others being Isaac Newton and Ferdinand Eisenstein). Apart from his fundamental theoretical contributions to math, Archimedes also shaped the fields of physics and practical engineering, and has been called "the greatest scientist ever".

Edwin Howard Armstrong