Popular Science

Acaba anlaşıp aynı anda zıplasak yer yerinden oynar mıydı? Elimizde bir şalter olsaydı ve yer çekimini şıp diye kapatsaydık ne olurdu? Sizin aklınıza da böyle sorular geliyor mu? "Olmaz öyle şey!" deyip geçmeyin. Bunları hayal etmek bile çok ilginç. Hem biliyor musunuz, birçok bilimsel keşif ilk başta hiç de mantıklı durmayan soruların açtığı maceralı yolun sonunda ortaya çıktı. Bu kitapta, Dünya, uzay, teknoloji, yaşam ve daha birçok konuyla ilgili sorular soracak, bu soruların bilimsel ama aynı zamanda son derece şaşırtıcı yanıtlarını birlikte öğreneceğiz. Genç bilimciler, hadi iş başına!

"In January 2008 the world’s leading scientific journal, Nature, carried an editorial titled “Spread the Word: Evolution is a scientific fact, and every organization whose research depends on it should explain why”.  Speaking for the world of science, Nature publically established evolution as a fact, in black and white, and called on educators worldwide to teach it such.

This popular-science book will walk the reader through the evolutionary process, using plenty of real-world examples to make it crystal clear that evolution does indeed occur.

My focus is on dispelling the common conception of evolution as a sort of noun; a sort of ‘thing’ that produces finished life forms; a unified, intentional process with a kind of ‘itness’.

Rather, I show that evolution is a word we use to characterize the unintended consequences of three independent facts of the natural world; the fact that life forms come from parent generations (replication), the fact that offspring are not identical (variation), and the fact that not all offspring survive to pass their genes on to the next generation (selection).

With evolution characterized as the consequence of simple, observable natural processes, it can no longer be debated.

My previous popular-science title, "The Top Ten Myths About Evolution" (Prometheus 2006) has been endorsed by the National Center for Science Education, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and numerous well-regarded popular science writers including Ann Druyan, coauthor with Carl Sagan of the 'Cosmos' television series and several books. It is available in libraries and bookstores worldwide, has been translated into Italian, and is also available in a digital format.
"

La Lupa Colección Fueguina de divulgación científica. Comité Editorial Lic. Ulises Balza Dra. María Eugenia Barrantes Mag. María Laura Borla Lic. Samanta Dodino Dra. Victoria Julieta García Lic. Pablo Jusim Téc. Adriana Lasa Lic. María Eugenia Lopez Dra. Nélida Pal Lic. Catherine Roulier Dr. Fernando Santiago

Earth 2066 AD is a Popular Science book, written with the general populous in mind.

It discusses various topics such as the Universe, the meaning of life, the basis of our knowledge, a history of our species, potential extraterrestrial existence, etc. Further, I discuss my vision of the future within the next 50 years—it envisions how future cities might be like, how daily life might progress, robotics, future medical technology, etc., with beautiful illustrations. I conclude the book with the pressing issues of the modern age. It spans a variety of subjects including but not limited to Physics, Biology, Philosophy, Politics, Technology, etc.

The book is precise and to the point and it has been written with great passion. I hope the future generations of mankind cherish it as a treasure.

"In 1974 Stephen Jay Gould began to write a column on the monthly review of the American Museum of Natural History: “This View of Life”. In more than 25 years of continuous activity, he published more than 300 brief essays, narrating evolution with particular attention to nature's quirkies and to the ways in which we explain them, and to nature's "jokes" defying our models; the essays also recount the history and historiography of biology, people and events contributing to the birth, revision and extension of the great evolutionary research programme. Many people (expert and not) see Gould's Reflections on Natural History as masterpieces of science writing, often realizing bold matches between science and various other forms of culture Gould drew from his own varied interests and intellectual depth. Italian readers access such richness in 12 books translated in Italian. I present and celebrate the five best brief essays by Stephen Jay Gould, who died ten years ago at 60. The "top five" is assembled through a poll among the readers of the webportal Pikaia (www.pikaia.eu). The site, active since 2004, is in debt towards Gould, beginning with choice of its name (Pikaia is the protochordate protagonist of Wonderful Life) and ending with the pluralistic and naturalistic attitude to science communication, leaned towards rigor and involvement. Gould's vivid and intriguing ideas and his unique style are sided with an overall vision of his work.

Gould and his column
Everyone's questions, everybody's questions
Collegiality and multicontextuality of science
Reflections on human nature
And the winners are
The Liberty Bell
Egg of the kiwi
Tits and clits
Being a platypus
Predarwinian prejudices
Darwinian prejudices
Fourth ex aequo: tribute of a biologist to neoteny
The Piltdown hoax
The veil of science
The veil of fraud, Teilhard's figure, and Gould's style

References
Con l’occasione ricordo che su Pikaia è disponibile l'utile bibliografia completa delle opere di S.J. Gould tradotte in italiano, redatta da Paolo Coccia e Marco Ferraguti: http://www.pikaia.eu/EasyNe2/Notizie/Bibliografia_delle_opere_di_SJ_Gould_tradotte_in_italiano_Versione_riveduta_e_corretta_il_10_maggio_2008.aspx

Riflessioni di storia naturale
Gould SJ (1977), trad. it. Questa idea della vita, Editori Riuniti, 1984.
Gould SJ (1981), trad. it. Il pollice del panda, Editori Riuniti, 1983; poi Il Saggiatore.
Gould SJ (1983), trad. it. Quando i cavalli avevano le dita, Feltrinelli, 1984.
Gould SJ (1985), trad. it. Il sorriso del fenicottero, Feltrinelli, 1985.
Gould SJ (1987), trad. it. Un riccio nella tempesta, Feltrinelli, 1991.
Gould SJ (1991a), trad. it. Bravo Brontosauro, Feltrinelli, 1992.
Gould SJ (1991b), trad. it. Risplendi grande lucciola, Feltrinelli, 1994.
Gould SJ (1993), trad. it. Otto piccoli porcellini, Bompiani 1994, poi Il Saggiatore.
Gould SJ (1996), trad. it. Gli alberi non crescono fino al cielo, Mondadori, 1997.
Gould SJ (1997), trad. it. Come un dinosauro nel pagliaio, diritti acquistati da Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, inedito.
Gould SJ (1998), I fossili di Leonardo e il pony di Sofia, Il Saggiatore, 2004.
Gould SJ (2000), Le pietre false di Marrakech, Il Saggiatore, 2007.
Gould SJ (2002), I Have Landed, Codice Edizioni, 2009.

Saggi citati (acronimi)
CMGC91: “Capezzoli maschili e glande clitorideo”, in Gould SJ (1991), trad. it. Bravo Brontosauro, Milano, Feltrinelli Universale Economica, 2002, pp. 125-139.
KIWI91: “Le uova del kiwi e la campana della libertà”, in Gould SJ (1991), trad. it. Bravo Brontosauro, Milano, Feltrinelli Universale Economica, 2002, pp. 109-123.
ORN91: “Essere un ornitorinco”, in Gould SJ (1991), trad. it. Risplendi grande lucciola, Milano, Feltrinelli “Saggi”, 1994, pp. 31-41.
PILT79: “Una nuova versione del caso Piltdown”, in Gould SJ (1981), trad. it. Il pollice del panda, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2001, pp. 99-114.
PILT80: “La cospirazione di Piltdown”, in Gould SJ (1983), trad. it. Quando i cavalli avevano le dita, Milano, Feltrinelli Universale Economica 1989, pp. 203-228.
PILT83: “Risposta ai critici”, in Gould SJ (1983), trad. it. Quando i cavalli avevano le dita, Milano, Felrtinelli Universale Economica 1989, pp. 229-242.
TOP81: “Omaggio di un biologo a Topolino”, in Gould SJ (1981), trad. it. Il pollice del panda, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2001, pp. 89-98.

Crediti per le immagini
Figura 1: http://best-places.net
Figura 2: liberamente ridisegnata da KIWI91, p. 120.
Figura 3: ML Gustafson, PK Donahoe (1994) Male sex determination: Current Concepts of Male Sexual Differentiation, Annual Review of Medicine 45:505-524
Figura 4: la foto del mosaico è “Platypus” di “toadranchlady”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadranchlady/2524577355/lightbox/ - il diagramma ad albero è un fotogramma del video “Genome analysis of the duck-billed platypus” (2008) realizzato da Nature, http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/platypusgenome/
Figura 5: © Walt Disney Productions, riprodotto da TOP81, pp. 92-93.
Figura 6: ristampa dell’ottobre 1956 sul Reader’s Digest di un articolo di Popular Science dell’aprile dello stesso anno. Ripresa sito creazionista http://www.purifiedbyfaith.com

Altri riferimenti
Calder III WA (1979), The kiwi and egg design: evolution as package deal, Bioscience 29(8):461-467.
Gould SJ (1981), The Mismeasure of Man, W.W. Norton, New York. Trad. it. Intelligenza e pregiudizio. Le pretese scientifiche del razzismo, Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1985.
Gould SJ, Vrba ES (1982), Exaptation – A missing term in the science of form, Paleobiology 8(1):4-15. Trad. it. in Gould SJ, Vrba ES, Exaptation. Il bricolage dell'evoluzione, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2008.
Gould SJ, Lewontin RC (1979), The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 205, 581-598. Trad. it. di M. Ferraguti, I pennacchi di San Marco e il paradigma di Pangloss: critica al programma adattazionista. Piccola biblioteca on line, Einaudi, Torino, 2001. http://www.einaudi.it/einaudi/ita/pdf/gould-lewontin.pdf
Nagel T (1974), What is it like to be a bat?, Philosophical Review 63:435-450. Trad. it. Com’è essere un pipistrello? in De Palma A, Pareti G (a cura di), Mente e corpo. Dai Dilemmi della filosofia alle ipotesi della neuroscienza, 2004, pp. 164-180.
Sales J (2005), The endangered kiwi: a review, Folia Zool. 54(1-2):1-20.
Serrelli E (2008), Conoscere cosa, conoscere come, come conosciamo... un kiwi: un laboratorio epistemologico. In Meloni E, Beretta V (a cura di), Saperi e sapori. Idee e pratiche per umanizzare le organizzazioni, Monti, Saronno (VA), pp. 201-226."

Explaining the philosophy of Machiavelli on the example of street racing: power, deception, realist behaviour, realist ethics, violence. The article was first published on Drivetribe. The article is a part of the book "Introduction to Academic Driving" (Ost Neer, KPD, 2019).

Замисляли ли сте се коя е онази институция – за разлика от ЦРУ, КГБ и МИ-6, видима, явна, на показ и вероятно по-мощна от всичките подобни служби, взети заедно… Която управлява без да отговаря на неудобните въпроси за управлението и съществуването си. Ние славяните в източния край на континента, може и да не се чувстваме зависими от мощта й. Но какво знаем и не знаем за Ватикана?

How do synchronization and self-organization emerge from systems that didn't have these properties to begin with? characterizing and understanding the transition from disorder to synchrony is of fundamental importance in order to understand the emergence of synchronization and self-organization in nature, such as the emergence of the acoustic unison of cricket choruses or the behavior of the human brain. In a new study published in Physics review E, we addressed this challenge and revealed the exact process by which chaotic systems synchronize. We explained for the first time how order and self-organization can emerge from two interacting chaotic systems by shifting the focus of attention from the activity of the system to their structure.

Focusing on the period of unprecedented influence of popular science in Yugoslavia following the Second World War, the article examines a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches to linking science and Marxist philosophy of science against the backdrop of the dramatic political and cultural changes that were taking place in early socialist Yugoslavia.

År 2007 undersöktes en nästan 2000 år gammal grav nära Skee i Bohuslän. I den graven fanns en kvinna, som vi kommit att kalla Björnkvinnan eftersom hon fick björnklor med sig i graven. Björnkvinnans grav är en bok om den arkeologiska utgrävningen och om kvinnan i graven. Vem var hon? Hur levde hon? Hur såg hennes verklighet ut?
I bokens första del beskrivs det arkeologiska arbetet och vad man kunde få ut av det. Där presenteras också arkeologisk kunskap av olika slag om tiden då Björnkvinnan levde. I bokens andra del finns tre korta, lite mer fantasifulla beskrivningar: en om Björnkvinnan, en om hennes begravning och en om Skee i Bohuslän cirka 200 år efter Kristi födelse.
Björnkvinnan är en av alla de anonyma människor, som levt här före oss. Av en slump fick vi tillfälle att lära känna henne lite bättre.

" To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub. " Hamlet Why do we sleep? There are various theories-and none explains it fully. We know that deprivation of sleep causes various problems including irritability, lack of focus and concentration, and interferes in our ability to learn complex tasks and also in recalling from our memories. Evidence suggests that during the deepest sleep, the body secretes useful enzymes and growth hormones in higher amounts – this may partly explain why children during their growing periods sleep most of the time. EEG studies allow us to monitor the activities of the brain during sleep. From these studies we know that there are basically two types of sleep: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and Non-REM (NREM) sleep. REM sleep is relatively active in which the eyes move rapidly under our eyelids, and most of our dreams occur during REM sleep only. Non-REM is a much deeper and restful sleep during which there are no eye movements; even if we dream during this type of sleep, we usually do not remember them upon waking. It has also been proved that we dream in real time and that the body is usually paralysed during dreaming to protect it from injuries arising from the movement of limbs that may be triggered by the dreams. Scientists have identified five types of waves in the brain: (1) the high frequency gamma waves (40-100 cycles per second), which are important for learning, memory and information processing, and are associated with higher cognitive tasks. (2) The active mental state corresponds to what is known as beta waves, vibrating at frequency of 12-40 cycles per second, which are commonly observed when we are awake and active, and engaged in logical thinking and problem solving. (3) The alpha waves with a frequency range 8-12 cycles per second help promote deep relaxation; these waves are also triggered by psychedelic drugs like marijuana or alcohol. There are believed to be the gateway to our subconscious mind lying at the base of our conscious awareness. (4) Theta waves predominate during what is known as REM sleep; these trigger experiences of intuition, relaxation and creative surges. These are present during light meditation and sleep, including the all-important REM dream state. (5) Finally, the deep sleep patterns correspond to delta waves in the brain vibrating at frequencies of 0.1 to 4 cycles per second; these are associated with the deepest levels of relaxation. The Delta frequency is the slowest of the frequencies and is experienced in deep, dreamless non-REM sleep and in very deep, transcendental meditation. It is believed to be in the realm of the unconscious. 1 The author is a senior civil servant and also a writer of popular science as also a commentator on socioeconomic issues.

Contrary to analyses of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a warning about the danger of science and technology taken too far, the classic story can be assessed as a cautionary about the undermining of a worthy scientific enterprise by the flaws of a particular scientist. Thus, Dr. Frankenstein's seduction by the pursuit of fame rather than knowledge, and his irresponsible attitude towards the subject and result of his experiment, are seen as the true villains in the piece—rather than the quests to extend and revive and improve human life, which are as noble and appropriate at the end of the 20th century as at the beginning of the 19th, when Mary wrote her novel. Two editions of the novel and a recent major film version are intensively analyzed in support of this interpretation. The moral for current work in gene-splicing, cloning, and organ transplants is that perils reside not in where our science is taking us—for our human condition cries out for these improvements—but in how we make the journey.

Основните теми се концентрират около двата Потопа, седемте отломки от комети, които бомбардирали Земята в миналото й и вероятността човешката цивилизация и постиженията й да са запазвани и възраждани не в Месопотамия, Шумер, Акад и Египет, а в Европа – и по-точно на Британските острови; преди появата и възхода на цивилизациите от Двуречието. Сред най-интересните източници, които са разгледани тук са Кумранските свитъци и по-специално Книгата на Енох и древни масонски наредби, практики и документи.

Times magazine selected Albert Einstein, the German born Jewish Scientist as the person of the 20 th century. Undoubtedly, 20 th century was the age of science and Einstein's contributions in unravelling mysteries of nature was unparalleled. However, few are aware that Einstein was also a great inventor. He and his collaborators had patented a wide variety of inventions in several counties. After a brief description of Einstein's life, his collaborators, his inventions and patents will be discussed. Figure 1. Einstein in 1921 portrait after receiving Nobel Prize

Using the recent discovery of the Hohle Fels figurine as a catalyst, in this article we briefly review the history of scholarship regarding Upper Paleolithic figurines that are often referred to as “Venus” figurines. We integrate this review with a critical examination of the assumptions underlying the “Venus hypothesis”—the perspective that these artifacts are best understood as sexual objects—based on the available data from both inside and outside of the field of Paleolithic archaeology. We suggest that interpreting the figurines in a purely sexual context obstructs their objective, scientific study and has unintended social consequences. Following from this, we consider why the Venus hypothesis persists in the popular media and scholarly research despite decades of reflexive critiques. Finally, building on these critiques, we argue for the importance of contextualization in the study of Upper Paleolithic figurines and discuss new approaches to their study.

This is the story of a pupil and his master on his initiation journey. In each chapter, the reader can learn about something related to science. Every chapter is also a step into a mysterious and perplexing adventure. In the end, what the reader learns about science and the journey itself converge in just one explanation of amazing consequences.
Accompany a young monk along his first pilgrimage through exotic landscapes, mysterious environments, splendid buildings, shady mountains and mortal traps. Travel with him and his master along the edge of a spiral that sinks into the enigma of the most puzzling adventure ever revealed. Walk hand-in-hand with his master and learn from his wisdom while they unveil, one by one, the folds of the most jealously guarded secret in history.

Popular science is a genre that sprung in the 19th century and now has become a wide phenomenon. Offering the opportunity to make science accessible to readers who are not familiarised with it, it could be said that it has almost 'democratised' science. It is also a very heterogeneous literary genre that offers many challenges for a translator: from the use of specific terminology in many instances, to colloquial twists and a writing style that aim to engage with a reader who seeks entertainment, answers or even a sense of wonder. In ‘Warped Passages’, Lisa Randall explores quantum physics and tries to make the notion of ‘parallel dimensions’ approachable to the non-expert. However, a text of this nature poses challenges for translators. This dissertation explores how the translation of the first chapter can be aided by a possible conceptualisation of popular science literature as a postmodern activity. Postmodernism, albeit its many definitions, can be characterised by the concepts of heterogeneity and parody. This heterogeneity implies that the intertextuality unfolds in a double path: the background of the text and its visible referents. The commentary to the translation with help understand how these referents should be translated in a context where the author is assuming certain cultural background in the reader. The cultural clash will have an impact on whether some referents can or should be translated.

Emil du Bois-Reymond is the most important forgotten intellectual of the nineteenth century. In his own time (1818–1896) du Bois-Reymond grew famous in his native Germany and beyond for his groundbreaking research in neuroscience and his provocative addresses on politics and culture. My biography draws on personal papers, published writings, and contemporary responses to tell the story of this eminent physiologist. Du Bois-Reymond’s discovery of the electrical transmission of nerve signals, his innovations in laboratory instrumentation, and his reductionist methodology all helped lay the foundations of modern neuroscience.

In addition to describing the pioneering experiments that earned du Bois-Reymond a seat in the Prussian Academy of Sciences and a professorship at the University of Berlin, my book also recounts du Bois-Reymond’s family origins, private life, public service, and lasting influence. Du Bois-Reymond’s lectures made him a celebrity. In talks that touched on science, philosophy, history, and literature, he introduced Darwin to German students (triggering two days of debate in the Prussian parliament), asked on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War whether France had forfeited its right to exist, and proclaimed the mystery of consciousness, heralding the age of doubt. The first modern biography in any language, "Emil du Bois-Reymond" recovers an important chapter in the history of science, the history of ideas, and the history of Germany.

Hardcover
ISBN 978-0-262-01950-7
384 pages, 7 x 9 in, 15 b/w illustrations

Endorsements

“One of the intellectual children of Johannes Müller, along with Hermann von Helmholtz, Emil du Bois-Reymond pioneered electrophysiology, advanced a materialistic analysis of life, and rose to prominence as a political force in German science. He became an advocate of Darwinian theory, yet cautioned his colleagues: there were limitations to scientific knowledge, especially explanations of consciousness. Gabriel Finkelstein, utilizing many untapped archival sources, has reconstructed the accomplishments of du Bois-Reymond in fine and fluid detail. He places this extraordinary scientist and cultural arbiter within the context of the blistering disputes among German mandarins. Finkelstein has composed a model intellectual and cultural history of the last half of the nineteenth century.”

—Robert J. Richards, Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago

“Gabriel Finkelstein presents us with a beautifully written and thoroughly researched scholarly biography; a comprehensive account of the life, times, and impact of the great neurophysiologist Emil du Bois-Reymond. It fills a major gap in the historiography of late-nineteenth century biomedical science. The chapter on Goethe and Darwin shows the broad scope not only of Du Bois-Reymond’s intellectual abilities, but also Finkelstein’s.”

—Nicolaas Rupke, Johnson Professor of History, Washington and Lee University

“In writing this insightful, thoroughly researched biography of Emil du Bois-Reymond, Gabriel Finkelstein has done an immense service not just to historians of science but to anyone interested in nineteenth-century European culture. A first-rate historian and engaging storyteller, Finkelstein recreates the world of a brilliant, witty intellectual whose innovative experiments made modern neurophysiology possible. Finkelstein takes the reader through every aspect of du Bois-Reymond’s science: his self-designed instruments, his political battles, and his obstreperous frogs. In doing so, Finkelstein shows how politics (both national and academic) and the arts permeate science, and how science drives culture as an intellectual endeavor.”

—Laura Otis, Emory University

“In this wonderful biography of Emil du Bois-Reymond, among the most important if least heralded scientists of the nineteenth century, Gabriel Finkelstein evokes a past when science and public life went hand in hand and one man could create a scientific field. Bold, carefully etched, full of telling details rendered against a rich contextual background, Finkelstein’s beautifully written book makes compelling reading.”

—Helmut Walser Smith, Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

These three propositions revolutionized humankind's concep-tion of the universe. Obviously, they were truly vast in their implica-tions. Yet they were not fully agreed to by all astronomers until the early decades of the twentieth century. There is some debate whether ...

Despite the revolutions brought out by science and technology in different walks of life, it did not catch the eye of the masses and has remained a privilege of a few. The rising population, environmental backlash, mismanagement of resources and wrong societal priorities indicates the failure of both the scientists and science communicators in disseminating science in proper form to the masses.
Carl Sagan, a renowned science populariser has aptly said that it is suicidal to create a society dependent upon science and technology in which hardly anybody knows anything about it. So popularization of science and technology in the language of the masses is a must for the well being of the nation and the proper growth and development of human society.
In this article an attempt is made to enlist the efforts put forward and contributions made by various organizations in Punjab to popularize science and technology in Punjabi. The role of government agencies and NGOs in this field has also been discussed. A bird eye view of the present state of popular science literature available, its different forms and role of print media is also presented. It is concluded that popular science writing in Punjabi is still in its infancy and there is a dire need to do more in this field.

Some critics hold that all talk of functions, purposes, goals, and intentions should be outlawed in biology, because they are all teleological notions. This stricture makes it difficult to write non-teleologically about evolution (or anything) because language and narrative are suffused with agency and intent. I offer a reading of several works of colloquial science to illustrate the various conceptions of teleology in biology and the futility of trying to purge discourse entirely of teleological framings. The subject-object constituents of language and certain features of verbs carry connotations of intent even when they describe a mindless process like natural selection. Narratives, meanwhile, work by implying that agents (with goals) are what weave together the unspecified connections between events. Combined, the constraints of language and narrative guarantee that authors will be accused of teleology even while arguing, often convincingly, against teleology in evolution.

O artigo apresenta as ações correspondentes à construção de um site e quatro minidocumentários, partes do projeto "Arqueologia e Divulgação Científica: Diálogos e Saberes", desenvolvido pelo Laboratório de Arqueologia Pública Paulo Duarte e pelo Laboratório de Estudos Avançados em Jornalismo (labjor), ambos da Unicamp, financiado pela Petrobrás por meio do Edital SAB 2011, "Programa de Apoio à Difusão do Conhecimento Arqueológico", da Sociedade de Arqueologia Brasileira. O objetivo do projeto é apresentar ao público as diferentes vertentes e práticas da ciência arqueológica, de forma a estimular a reflexão, interação e a compreensão desta ciência; bem como, incentivar a disseminação de informações científicas geradas pelos arqueólogos, fornecendo a eles subsídios que facilitem suas relações com os meios de comunicação de massa.

The 13th-century route description from Utlängan to Tallinn - colloquially known as King Valdemar's Itinerary - is one of the oldest and most exiting written sources on navigation in the Baltic Sea. While the Latin transcription was certainly not meant as a practical navigation guide, its content has been undoubtedly provided by seafarers and pilots drawn from the local coastal population. This article puts the itinerary into the context of medieval cosmology and the "orbis terrarum" scheme in particular, the Roman tradition of "itineraria adnotata", which was still prevalent in medieval times, and the "Liber Census Daniae", in which this route description was originally compiled. By revisiting the contextual evidence, its use as calculation basis for travel time has has been identified as foremost raison d'être for its recording.

This popular scientific article picks up on the route description within its archaeological context, amended by some picturesque impressions of a sailing expedition in the Stockholm Archipelago, where the author followed an itinerary's leg in his Danish-built smakke. An English version will be published as part of the author's forthcoming doctoral thesis on "Maritime Logistics in the Age of the Northern Crusades".

This paper, centred on two British figures of natural history film-making, Cherry Kearton (1871-1940) and David Attenborough (born 1926), examines how the figure of the natural history film-maker was historically constructed as one of expertise, and how such claims to expertise were sustained. A key element was for both character to demonstrate their intimacy with the natural world. The period under consideration spans from 1909, when Kearton started filming wildlife in Africa, to 1957, when Attenborough was offered the position of head of the BBC Natural History Unit, after he had produced three Zoo quest expeditions, thus demonstrating his skills at natural history television-making. In both cases the analysis is based on autobiographical documents and commentaries published in the British daily press. Regarding Attenborough, additional sources are the material found at the BBC written archives centre. The study makes use of the analytical tools and models developed in the constructivist history of science to make sense of the identity fashioning activities of knowledge producers, specially the notions of ‘bricolage’ and of performance. As the paper demonstrates, the public persona fashioned by the two individuals under scrutiny is an instance of two distinct types of expertise combined to form one identity. In order to appear as trustworthy natural history film-makers, Kearton and Attenborough will have to convince their audience of their expertise both as naturalist and as film-maker, hence the term ‘telenaturalist’ suggested to designate the hybrid identity thus fashioned.