Scientists Cooperate while Humanists Ruminate (EF, JP)
Back in 2021, John and Elizabeth sat down with Brandeis string theorist Albion Lawrence to discuss cooperation versus solitary study across disciplines. They sink their teeth into the question, “Why do scientists seem to do collaboration and teamwork better than other kinds of scholars and academics?”
The conversation ranges from the merits of collective biography to the influence of place and geographic location in scientific collaboration to mountaineering traditions in the sciences. As a Recallable Book, Elizabeth champions The People of Puerto Rico, an experiment in ethnography of a nation (in this case under colonial rule) from 1956, including a chapter by Robert Manners, founding chair of the Brandeis Department of Anthropology. Albion sings the praises of a collective biography of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, A Message to Our Folks. But John stays true to his Victorianist roots by praising the contrasting images of the withered humanist Casaubon and the dashing young scientist Lydgate in George Eliot’s own take on collective biography, Middlemarch.
Discussed in this episode:
Richard Rhodes Making of the Atomic Bomb
Ann Finkbeiner, The Jasons: The Secret History of Science’s Postwar Elite
James Gleick, The Information
Jon Gertner, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
Black Hole photographs win giant prize
Adam Jaffe, “Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations“
Jamie Cohen-Cole, The Open Mind
Julian Steward et al., The People of Puerto Rico
Paul Steinbeck, Message to Our Folks
Jenny Uglow, Lunar Men
George Eliot, Middlemarch
Listen to and Read the episode here.
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41:46
Grace Lindsay, "Models of the Mind: How Physics, Engineering and Mathematics Have Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain" (Bloomsbury, 2021)
Models of the Mind: How Physics, Engineering and Mathematics Have Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain (Bloomsbury, 2021) provides a multifaceted and approachable introduction to theoretical neuroscience. It discusses some major topics of the field, including both the milestones from their history and the currently open questions.
It's accessible for a general audience, not expecting any previous knowledge of neuroscience or maths. At the same time, neuroscientists have described it as impressive. According to Gaute Einevoll, professor of brain physics, "this is a book that belongs on the bookshelf of any computational neuroscientist and lots of other people".
In our conversation, we covered some of the overarching themes of the book. The constant push and pull between mathematics and biology: mathematical models simplifying complex phenomena and biology pointing out the importance of a specific detail. What efficiency means for a biological system, like the brain. Whether and how much we can assume that an evolved system is efficient.
Dr. Grace Lindsay also talked about how science communication has helped her explore and discuss topics not directly related to her research. She started blogging and podcasting during her PhD, which has led to further writing opportunities, including this popular science book.
Similar to Models of the Mind, the Lindsay Lab is multidisciplinary: It uses artificial neural networks for psychology, neuroscience, and climate change. In the interview, Dr. Grace Lindsay talked about her decision about the lab's profile She explains the overlap in technologies used for studying visual systems and satellite images. We also hear about examples of how scientists in various fields have taken on research topics related to climate change.
Links:
Dr. Grace Lindsay's homepage
Lindsay Lab
Dr. Grace Lindsay's blog post about Models of the Mind
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51:54
Karenleigh A. Overmann, "The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East" (Gorgias Press, 2024)
What are numbers, and where do they come from? Based on her groundbreaking study of material devices used for counting in the Ancient Near East, Karenleigh Overmann proposes a novel answer to these timeless questions.
Tune in as we talk with Karenleigh Overmann about her book, The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (Gorgias Press, 2024).
Karenleigh Overmann earned a doctorate in archaeology from the University of Oxford, and is research fellow at the University of Bergen, Norway.
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10:50
Luci Pangrazio and Neil Selwyn, "Critical Data Literacies: Rethinking Data and Everyday Life" (MIT Press, 2023)
Data has become a defining issue of current times. Our everyday lives are shaped by the data that is produced about us (and by us) through digital technologies. In Critical Data Literacies: Rethinking Data and Everyday Life (MIT Press, 2023), Luci Pangrazio and Neil Selwyn introduce readers to the central concepts, ideas, and arguments required to make sense of life in the data age. Bringing together cutting-edge thinking and discussion from across education, sociology, psychology, and media and communication studies, Critical Data Literacies develops a powerful argument for collectively rethinking the role that data plays in our everyday lives and re-establishing agency, free will, and the democratic public sphere.
In the episode, Luci Pangazio discusses how the tradition of critical literacies can offer a powerful foundation to address the big concerns of the data age, such as issues of data justice and privacy, algorithmic bias, dataveillance, and disinformation. We challenge the idea that datafication is an inevitable and inescapable condition.
This interview was conducted by Shreya Urvashi, a doctoral researcher of sociology and education based in Toronto, Canada.
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40:00
Michael Gavin, "Literary Mathematics: Quantitative Theory for Textual Studies" (Stanford UP, 2022)
Across the humanities and social sciences, scholars increasingly use quantitative methods to study textual data. Considered together, this research represents an extraordinary event in the long history of textuality. More or less all at once, the corpus has emerged as a major genre of cultural and scientific knowledge. In Literary Mathematics: Quantitative Theory for Textual Studies (Stanford UP, 2022), Michael Gavin grapples with this development, describing how quantitative methods for the study of textual data offer powerful tools for historical inquiry and sometimes unexpected perspectives on theoretical issues of concern to literary studies.
Student-friendly and accessible, the book advances this argument through case studies drawn from the Early English Books Online corpus. Gavin shows how a copublication network of printers and authors reveals an uncannily accurate picture of historical periodization; that a vector-space semantic model parses historical concepts in incredibly fine detail; and that a geospatial analysis of early modern discourse offers a surprising panoramic glimpse into the period's notion of world geography. Across these case studies, Gavin challenges readers to consider why corpus-based methods work so effectively and asks whether the successes of formal modeling ought to inspire humanists to reconsider fundamental theoretical assumptions about textuality and meaning. As Gavin reveals, by embracing the expressive power of mathematics, scholars can add new dimensions to digital humanities research and find new connections with the social sciences.
Michael Gavin is Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina and author of The Invention of English Criticism, 1650-1760 (2015)
Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.
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Interviews with Mathematicians about their New Books
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