Jakob Leupold's Imaginary Automatic Anamorphic Devices of 1713

In 1713, the scientific instrument-maker Jakob Leupold published designs for three machines were the first attempt to design machinery with internal moving parts that replaced human agency in creating original images. This paper first analyzes his text and engravings in order to explain how he proposed to do this, given contemporary materials and command of physical forces. Next, it characterizes the devices as a transition from concepts of incision to concepts of mirroring, taken as models of the history of mechanical reproduction. And finally, Leupold’s replacement of the sighting grid with differential gears points to a set of problems appearing in contemporary philosophy represented in Rococo artistic production of this period as well. Taking the proposed devices in context, they help to theorize the complex notions of creative activity in Rococo visual culture. Taken as an episode in the history of communications, they instance the development of conceptions of personhood and of physical forces at stake in the invention of automated media.     

Inclusive and exclusive education in Sweden: principals' opinions and experiences

To support the national and international aims of inclusion, special teacher training in Sweden was replaced in 1990 by special educator training. These special educators would supervise the teachers in their school and would not exclusively teach students. The aim of this study was to investigate what the principals of 14 municipal compulsory schools in Stockholm County thought about the organisation and realisation of special education in 1996 and 2006 respectively. According to the results, there were fewer segregated groups in these schools in 2006, but an increasing number of students were placed in segregated groups that were common to several schools or municipalities. Principals at schools with teaching teams usually saw the special educator as a coordinating and supervising resource while others preferred the special teacher function. The former approach led to a more inclusive school and the latter in the direction of exclusion.     

The Inter-relationship of Science and Religion: A typology of engagement

This study explores whether the religious background of students affects their opinions about and attitudes to engaging with scientific explanations of the origins of the universe and of life. The study took place in four English secondary schools representing three different contexts (Christian faith-based; non-faith with majority Muslim catchment; and non-faith, mixed catchment). It comprised questionnaires and focus groups with over 200 students aged 14–16, supplemented by teacher interviews. The analysis approach was informed by grounded theory and resulted in the development of an engagement typology, which has been set in the context of the cross-cultural border crossing literature. It divides students into categories depending on both the nature and amount of engagement they were prepared to have with the relationship between science and religion. The model takes into account where students sit on four dimensions. These assess whether a student's preferred knowledge base is belief-based or fact-based; their tolerance of uncertainty (do they have a need for resolution?); their open mindedness (are they unquestioning or inquiring?); and whether they conceptualise science and religion as being in conflict or harmony. Many Muslim students resisted engagement because of conflicting religious beliefs. Teachers did not always appreciate the extent to which this topic troubled some students who needed help to accommodate clashes between science and their religious beliefs. It is suggested that increased appreciation of the complexity represented by their students can guide a teacher towards an appropriate approach when covering potentially sensitive topics such as the theory of evolution.     

Response to ‘Assessment of Practical Work in Ireland: A critique’ by P. Matthews and P. McKenna

We welcome all constructive contributions to the debate on the assessment of practical work in Ireland, and offer a number of comments in relation to the points raise by Matthews and McKenna.     

A bibliometric analysis of academic publication and NIH funding

Academic productivity and research funding have been hot topics in biomedical research. While publications and their citations are popular indicators of academic productivity, there has been no rigorous way to quantify co-authors’ relative contributions. This has seriously compromised quantitative studies on the relationship between academic productivity and research funding. Here we apply an axiomatic approach and associated bibliometric measures to revisit a recent study by Ginther et al. (Ginther et al., 2011a, Ginther et al., 2011b) in which the probability of receiving a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award was analyzed with respect to the applicant's race/ethnicity. Our results provide new insight and suggest that there is no significant racial bias in the NIH review process, in contrast to the conclusion from the study by D. K. Ginther et al. Our axiomatic approach has a potential to be widely used for scientific assessment and management.