Tag: Thomas Hobbes

No one is immune from political upheaval, but science has a way of weeding out incorrect hypotheses over time “Science is always political,” asserted a young delegate at an international conference on the history of physics earlier this month. More recently, many American historians of science have suggested that much of the success of 20th century American science, from aeronautics to particle physics, was driven by the politics of the cold war. Some scientists and historians doubt this assertion. In what way is the study of the expanding universe influenced by politics? It seems to me that this internally-driven aspect of scientific research is sometimes overlooked by historians and sociologists of science. For example, it is interesting to note that many of the arguments in Leviathan have been seriously questioned, although these criticisms have not received the same attention as the book itself. That said, few could argue that research into climate science in the United States suffered many setbacks during the presidency of George W Bush, and a similar situation pertains now. But the findings of American climate science are no less valid than they were at other time and the international character of scientific enquiry ensures a certain objectivity and continuity of research. In a recent New York Times article titled “How politics shaped general relativity”, the American historian of science David Kaiser argued convincingly for the role played by national politics in the development of Einstein’s general theory of relativity in the United States. While national and international politics have an impact on every aspect our lives, the innate drive of scientific progress should not be overlooked.

Two surprises have punctuated Rhode Island's 2018 gubernatorial race so far -- Joe Trillo's decision to run as an independent rather than a Republican, and now, Matt Brown's plan to run as an independent after a long absence from the state's Democratic politics. Brown's emergence is a bookend to Trillo's move, since each candidate threatens to siphon votes from a different side of the political spectrum, potentially having an outsized influence on the final vote in November. Raimondo's 37 percent approval rating reflect how she hasn't connected with Rhode Islanders after more than three years in office. Meanwhile, Fleming used bold print to highlight this message: "It should be noted that one out of five independent voters are not sure on who they would support"; 3) 69 percent of respondents were not familiar enough with Morgan, and 67 percent with Joe Trillo, to say if they would support them; 4) Raimondo is viewed favorably by 50 percent of respondents, 13 points better than her job approval rating. Brown has been back in Rhode Island for five years, and he's kept a low profile on local politics during that time, so there's an opportunistic element to his emergence this week. But the WPRI poll indicates just a 29.6 percent approval rating for Trump in Rhode Island, while an overwhelming 81 percent of women give him a negative job rating. And prince Regunberg is no Democrat. But even though Maine voters approved runoff voting in 2016, incumbents have been fighting the effort. Were Maine to move to a ranked-choice voting system, independents and third-party candidates could run without being spoilers, giving voters more choices and making for a more vibrant political debate." There are six months until Rhode Island's September 12 primary, so watch for things to heat up in the primary between Lt. Gov.