I argue that debates regarding the virtues and drawbacks of nuclear power typically neglect an as... more I argue that debates regarding the virtues and drawbacks of nuclear power typically neglect an assessment of the consequences of nuclear technology on those who mine the uranium that makes such technology possible. I argue that such consequences have been profound and need to be included in our assessments of the safety and environmental impact of nuclear technologies. I provide the example of the Navajo as a group that has been especially negatively impacted by uranium mining.
Franz Gall founded phrenology in the late eighteenth century. It represented the first attempt to... more Franz Gall founded phrenology in the late eighteenth century. It represented the first attempt to understand the human mind in naturalistic terms. Phrenology would evolve into the paradigmatic pseudoscience of the nineteenth century, but its insistence on its naturalistic methodology ironically served to spread faith science.
Capitalist development involves the gradual concentration of the ownership of agricultural lands.... more Capitalist development involves the gradual concentration of the ownership of agricultural lands. This process dispossesses peasants. The Bolsheviks viewed this as a progressive development. Capitalist development turned peasants into workers. Eventually those workers would overthrow capitalism and create socialism. Yet, in 1917, Lenin advocated the immediate confiscation of the land of the Russian gentry by the peasantry. This position was contrary to Marxist dogma. However, it proved to be a decisive political tactic that neutralized the Bolsheviks' major rival for control of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries.
An exploration of the questions, methods, and debates that shaped the historiography of American ... more An exploration of the questions, methods, and debates that shaped the historiography of American slavery over the twentieth century, beginning with Ulrich Phillips and ending with Melton McLaurin.
Early radiologists experienced occupational injuries that they called X-ray burns. Between 1896 a... more Early radiologists experienced occupational injuries that they called X-ray burns. Between 1896 and 1904, radiologists debated the causes these injuries. Using the American X-Ray Journal, I identify at least half a dozen competing theories of the cause of X-ray burns. Notably, early U.S. radiologists seemed to resist the conclusion that their injuries were directly caused by exposure to X-rays. I propose that they demonstrated a vocational bias against concluding that the technology around which they were forging a new discipline was inherently dangerous. I argue that this vocational bias was left unchecked because of a dearth of data demonstrating that X-ray burns were directly caused by exposure to X-rays.
I argue that debates regarding the virtues and drawbacks of nuclear power typically neglect an as... more I argue that debates regarding the virtues and drawbacks of nuclear power typically neglect an assessment of the consequences of nuclear technology on those who mine the uranium that makes such technology possible. I argue that such consequences have been profound and need to be included in our assessments of the safety and environmental impact of nuclear technologies. I provide the example of the Navajo as a group that has been especially negatively impacted by uranium mining.
Franz Gall founded phrenology in the late eighteenth century. It represented the first attempt to... more Franz Gall founded phrenology in the late eighteenth century. It represented the first attempt to understand the human mind in naturalistic terms. Phrenology would evolve into the paradigmatic pseudoscience of the nineteenth century, but its insistence on its naturalistic methodology ironically served to spread faith science.
Capitalist development involves the gradual concentration of the ownership of agricultural lands.... more Capitalist development involves the gradual concentration of the ownership of agricultural lands. This process dispossesses peasants. The Bolsheviks viewed this as a progressive development. Capitalist development turned peasants into workers. Eventually those workers would overthrow capitalism and create socialism. Yet, in 1917, Lenin advocated the immediate confiscation of the land of the Russian gentry by the peasantry. This position was contrary to Marxist dogma. However, it proved to be a decisive political tactic that neutralized the Bolsheviks' major rival for control of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries.
An exploration of the questions, methods, and debates that shaped the historiography of American ... more An exploration of the questions, methods, and debates that shaped the historiography of American slavery over the twentieth century, beginning with Ulrich Phillips and ending with Melton McLaurin.
Early radiologists experienced occupational injuries that they called X-ray burns. Between 1896 a... more Early radiologists experienced occupational injuries that they called X-ray burns. Between 1896 and 1904, radiologists debated the causes these injuries. Using the American X-Ray Journal, I identify at least half a dozen competing theories of the cause of X-ray burns. Notably, early U.S. radiologists seemed to resist the conclusion that their injuries were directly caused by exposure to X-rays. I propose that they demonstrated a vocational bias against concluding that the technology around which they were forging a new discipline was inherently dangerous. I argue that this vocational bias was left unchecked because of a dearth of data demonstrating that X-ray burns were directly caused by exposure to X-rays.
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