2000 HSS/PSA Program 1 - History of Science Society

HSS Abstracts
Naomi Oreskes University of California, San Diego
Computer Models and the Rise of Prediction in the Earth Sciences
The hypothetico-deductive models of science lead many scientists to believe
that prediction is inherent in the scientific method. Yet historically, prediction
has until recently played little role in the earth sciences On the contrary, for
the better part of two centuries, most earth scientists eschewed both logical
and temporal prediction, viewing it as beyond the scope of their science.
However, in the last two decades, the rise of computer-generated numerical
simulation models has led to an radical change in thinking, and temporal
predictions are becoming increasingly common as output from such models.
Indeed, earth scientists now routinely attempt to predict the future. But these
attempts generally meet with failure, or at best only very partial success. Why
are earth scientists making predictions, if they are not generally successful?
Why have they embraced temporal prediction as a goal, when previously they
rejected it? This paper will examine the historical and social context of the
rise of prediction in the earth sciences in the late twentieth century.
Abena Osseo-Asare Harvard University
Gender and Workplace in the Gold Coast
This paper will address in greater detail the processes by which African mothers,
Women Medical Officers, African health workers and the colonial administration
constructed health care for women and children from 1919-1934. First, I will outline
the initial concern with infant mortality and its relationship to African health practices
and colonial labor needs. Second, I will consider the role of European women medical
officers in advocating infant health. Third, I will discuss the development of the
maternity hospital at Korle Bu and midwifery education. Through all of this, I will
identify how the multiple constructions of women’s labor served to place the onus
of the colony’s prosperity on African mothers and underpaid medical officers. And
finally, I would like to locate midwife training in the context of debates over the
training of other medical professions. Why were colonial officials reluctant to train
men as physicians or medical officers, yet willing to train women to be midwives?
134
Donald␣ E. Osterbrock Lick Observatory, University of California
Herman Zanstra, Donald Menzel,
and the Zanstra Method of Nebular Astrophysics
“Zanstra’s method,” a simple but powerful method of measuring the temperature
of a hot photoionizing star in a gaseous nebula, was worked out in the early days