The childhood lead poisoning epidemic in historical perspective

A hidden epidemic is poisoning our planet and its people. The toxins are in the air we breathe and in the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture has it within them. We cannot escape as it is so indispensable in our cars. It is ubiquitous in cities and the countryside. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. But this testing of chemicals on human beings is not new. For most of the twentieth century lead was tested on children and it produced one of the largest and longest running epidemics in the history of United States. This article examines that history.     

Inerter-like devices used for vibration isolation: A historical perspective

Recently, a lot of attention has been given to a mechanical device known as the inerter. It is a mechanical component that can be compared to a capacitor with two ungrounded terminals in the mechanical-electrical systems analogy. In this paper, it is shown that although the concept of an inerter as a separate mechanical element is relatively new, there are several well-established vibration isolation systems that exhibit similar behavior to a simple lumped parameter system containing an inerter. Through a review of the literature, a link is established between the old and new ideas. Furthermore, a comparison between the systems is carried out using the quantities of mechanical impedance and displacement transmissibility. The advantages and disadvantages of using the inerter in vibration isolation are discussed, and a simple way of improving the high-frequency performance without severely degrading the low-frequency performance is described.     

Profiting from innovation and the intellectual property revolution

This paper reviews the contribution of Teece's article [Teece, D., 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. Research Policy 15, 285-305.]. It then re-examines the core concept of appropriability in the light of recent developments in the business environment. Whereas twenty years ago the appropriability regime of an industry was exogenous and given, today they are often the product of conscious strategies of firms. And as open source software and other industries show, advantageous appropriability regimes are not always “tight” or characterized by strong intellectual property protections. The strategies adopted by firms that have successfully profited from their innovative activities cast into new light old questions about the impact of intellectual property protection on the rate and direction of innovation.     

The reception of relativity in China

Having introduced the theory of relativity from Japan, the Chinese quickly and enthusiastically embraced it during the May Fourth Movement, virtually without controversy. This unique passion for and openness to relativity, which helped advance the study of theoretical physics in China in the 1930s, was gradually replaced by imported Soviet criticism after 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, radical Chinese ideologues sponsored organized campaigns against Einstein and relativity, inflicting serious damage on Chinese science and scientific education. China's economic reforms in the late 1970s empowered scientists and presented them with the opportunity to rehabilitate Einstein and call for social democracy. Einstein has since become the symbol in China of the unity of science and democracy, the two eminent objectives of the May Fourth Movement that remain to be achieved in full. Using the reception of relativity as a case study, the essay also discusses issues involving the historical study of modern Chinese science.     

The history of medicine and the scientific revolution

The "new philosophy" of the seventeenth century has continued to be explained mainly on its own terms: as a major philosophical turn. Twentieth-century modernism gave pride of place to big ideas and reinforced the tendency to explain the rise of science in light of new ideas. Such orientations subordinated medicine (and technology) to sciences that appeared to be more theoretical. In attempts to persuade historians of science of the importance of medicine, then, many authors took an approach arguing that the major changes in the history of medicine during the so-called scientific revolution arose from philosophical commitments. Yet because medicine is also intimately connected to other aspects of life, its histories proved to be recalcitrant to such reductions and so continue to offer many possibilities for those who seek fresh means to address histories of body and mind united rather than divided.     

电子商务——来自中小实践者的观点

为了理解电子商务（EC）的应用状况,本文调查研究了已经实施电子商务的中小企业的看法,主要研究了它们对与电子商务相关的成本、收益、预算、成功要素和实施动因等方面的观点。研究发现：大多数应用者尚未从电子商务中获得显著的收入,相应地,它们在电子商务上的支出也只占其总预算支出的小部分;EC被认为是一项战略问题,因此,对运营层面的问题没有给予太大的关注;实施电子商务不是一项需要大量资源的项目,电子商务也不是削减成本的主要手段,但电子商务确实能帮助中小企业克服其规模劣势,并带来显著的利益。