Social Sciences meet Gravitational Wave science
16 Jul 2008 16:15:40 UTC
Topic 193766
(moderation:
Hi all!
Recently I stumbled over an abstract of this book:
"Gravity's Shadow: The Search For Gravitational Waves" by Harry Collins.
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/contactsandpeople/harrycollins/grav-wave-1.html
Note that this is not on physics...it's sociology!!! For example the author studies the ways that the science community dealt with early ideas for detectors (resonant bars) and the history of the the large interferometer projects.
Unfortunately the book was published before E@H was born.
Did anybody read this one???
CU
Bikeman
Social Sciences meet Gravitational Wave science
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Never heard of it! From Wales? I knew they had a 'Center for The Common Cold' there doing some superb work, but I wouldn't have dreamed of a 'Gravitational Wave Sociology Research Project'!
That's seriously interesting, so I'll do what I can to get a copy, digest it, and get back.
Thanks, good pickup! :-)
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: Did anybody read this
)
No, but it looks quite good.
*sigh* I miss the library...
Kathryn :o)
Einstein@Home Moderator
RE: RE: Did anybody read
)
Are you back in Korea Kath?
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Looks like an interesting
)
Looks like an interesting book, although rather high priced, especially in the cloth edition. I have read its Table of contents and it is very close to what I already know. As a physics and astronomy editor at Mondadori I have published articles by Peter G. Bergmann, Remo Ruffini and Bruno Bertotti on research in general relativity and they all contained pictures of resonant bar detectors, both at room temperature and supercooled. Then I left Mondadori in 1979 and all I could find on this subject were newspaper articles, like those claiming the detection of GW from the supernova of 1987 by the Rome/Frascati group. But newspaper articles are not considered as evidence. I think that the changing of devices from resonant bar detectors to optical interferometers also saw a change from amateurs to professionals. Now the VIRGO interferometer in Tuscany is managed by elementary particle physicists which I have known while studying physics at Trieste University in the Sixties. They have brought the mentality of subnuclear physics, with its big accelerators and big budgets to research in general relativity. But, after all, general relativity is the product of an amateur, a patent examiner in Berne, Albert Einstein.
Tullio
The paperback was more
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The paperback was more affordable, so I ordered a copy, should arrive next week.
I asked the author via e-mail whether he had considered including E@H in his research (after the book was written), and he replied that he had considered this as a project for a graduate student but found nobody to do this. Too bad.
CU
Bikeman
RE: The paperback was more
)
There is an Oxford graduate student doing this kind of sociological research at climateprediction.net and has thanked me for filling a questionnaire he has put on line. He promised to write me again. Maybe he could consider also Einstein@home in his PhD thesis on distributed volunteer computing.
Tullio
RE: There is an Oxford
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There's a terrific opportunity right here! :-)
When one looks beyond the technical higgledy piggledly of DC alot of non-technological issues thus come to focus. One key question is 'Why do it?', another is 'How much?'.
I've seen a tremendous range of specific motivations, most project dependent as you'd expect, ranging from vague impetus to exact goals. But largely I think the idea of specific personal control is the strongest force in decisions. If you can measure out your donation as precisely as one pleases then that lowers the threshold to contribute at all, and to keep doing so from then on. There has to be more than that of course. Particularly not receiving penalty ( say getting insulted by an erstwhile stranger on a forum ) beyond one's base participation costs of computer, modem, ISP, power, time etc. Added bonuses to 'work back from' that price are good, say : team membership, competition ( yes, it matters ), social interaction, technical learning.
In many ways it mirrors a lot of leisure activities in these regards.
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) I hit Amazon last night for a copy, so that ought not be long.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: RE: RE: Did anybody
)
Back? I've not left. :-)
I signed a new contract with the school. I'm a month into my second year. Spring break starts in exactly one week. I may go to the Lotus Blossom Festival and put my new camera through its paces.
Kathryn :o)
Einstein@Home Moderator
Cool! We need a sponsor to
)
Cool!
We need a sponsor to fund a E@H moderator meeting, Korea would be a nice location, kind of a compromise between Australia and Europe :-).
CU
Bikeman
RE: Back? I've not left.
)
Whoops, my senior moment .... :-)
Yo! I could cope with Lotus Blossoms all day. What a shame we don't have some corporate sludge fund. :-)
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal