Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Reasonable Effectiveness Of Mathematics In The Natural Sciences, Nicolas Fillion

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the most unsettling problems in the history of philosophy examines how mathematics can be used to adequately represent the world. An influential thesis, stated by Eugene Wigner in his paper entitled "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences," claims that "the miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve." Contrary to this view, this thesis delineates and implements a strategy to show that the applicability of mathematics is very reasonable indeed.

I distinguish three forms of the …

Minerva 2012, The Honors College

Minerva

This issue of Minerva includes a celebration of the life and impact of former Honors Dean, Charlie Slavin; a discussion of the Honors College's role in the University of Maine Blue Sky Strategic Plan; and profiles of student Kyle Franklin and alumni Heidi Crosby and Richard Becker.

The Update, December 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:
-- Having a Field Day: UNI Students Attend Geology Camp in Wyoming
--Contents December 2012
-- Department News
-- Art Students Present Research Papers at Midwest Humanities Conference
-- School of Music Events
-- Challenging Bullying Through Art
-- Alumni Spotlight: James Arns: Physics
-- UNI Forensics Team

Contextualizing The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site (40wg59): Understanding Landscape Change At An Upland South Farmstead., Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on a contextual archaeological approach to investigate the historic landscape of the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. Tipton-Haynes is a late eighteenth- through twentieth-century upland south farmstead located in Johnson City, TN. Home to two prominent Tennessee families and occupied until acquired by the state in the 1960s, the site has experienced many alterations to the landscape over time. The analysis presented views the landscape as material culture investigated through a multidisciplinary approach including historic research, architectural survey, geophysical survey, dendrochronology, and archaeology. To make sense of the complex nature of the Tipton-Haynes site, multiple methods were used …

Math, Minds, Machines, Christopher V. Carlile

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Nonprofit Funding Agencies’ Review Of Grant Recipients, Siobain Mcilvain

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Nonprofits need to be just as responsible as public corporations. Nonprofit funding agencies have the responsibility for evaluating the organizations they fund to make sure that they are operating with high integrity, maintaining strong internal controls, remaining financially stable, and overall being good stewards of the funds received. This paper will explain the criteria that a funding agency should follow in order to affect this process, as well as how a recipient nonprofit will benefit from following the criteria.

Applying Lean Six Sigma At Nordson Efd, Kristen Harvey

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) gives a company a competitive advantage over its competitors. On average, LSS cuts down on unwanted waste and cost by 25% ("What Is Lean Six Sigma?"). Additionally, LSS allows businesses to move beyond fixing defects or perfecting their processes to focus on the quality of their products. It also fosters a continuous improvement culture within companies’ operations and administrative offices. LSS is a proven methodology used to reduce all types of waste in businesses. Although lean six sigma started in the manufacturing industry, it has been adapted for use across all industries, public and private ("Six …

The Update, November 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- Reconrobotics: An Interview with Robotics Engineer Andrew Drenner
-- Department News
--Karen Mitchell to Receive Distinguished Performance Award
-- School of Music Events
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Languages and Literatures: Steff McGraw
-- Geoscientist in the Field: Drew Kreman
-- UNI Gallery of Art Presents: Fritz Hirschberger Exhibition
-- UNI Forensics Team Update
-- American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Affiliate Group
-- "Sons of Jacob Synagogue" Premier
-- T.E.A.M. Teaching Educators about Mathematics
-- Save the Date: UNI Promotions Assistant to Host Variety Show
-- UNI Named a Top Pick in 2012 Study Abroad Rankings …

Demystifying The Cowboy Through His Song: How Cowboy Poetry And Music Create A Common Language Between Multiple-Use Conservationists And Forever-Wild Preservationists To Meet The Goals Of Sustainable Agriculture, Kristin Y. Ladd, Roslynn Brain

English Faculty Publications

Though multiple-use conservationists (use the land for multiple purposes) and forever-wild preservationists (solely set aside land for non-human species) seem to be at odds, this article argues that key figures such as Gifford Pinchot and John Muir discredit this perceived discordance. As well, it probes into the unexplored arena of cowboy music gatherings as productive places for cooperation between the two groups. First, mystique of the cowboy is examined and unraveled through true stories of cowboy-environmentalist collaboration. The article addresses how cowboy poetry festivals function as entertainment and meeting places to support sustainable behavior through communitybased social marketing techniques.

Mindscapes And Landscapes: Hayek And Simon On Cognitive Extension, Leslie Marsh

Leslie Marsh

Hayek’s and Simon’s social externalism runs on a shared presupposition: mind is constrained in its computational capacity to detect, harvest, and assimilate “data” generated by the infinitely fine-grained and perpetually dynamic characteristic of experience in complex social environments. For Hayek, mind and sociality are co-evolved spontaneous orders, allowing little or no prospect of comprehensive explanation, trapped in a hermeneutically sealed, i.e. inescapably context bound, eco-system. For Simon, it is the simplicity of mind that is the bottleneck, overwhelmed by the ambient complexity of the environmental. Since on Simon’s account complexity is unidirectional, Simon is far more ebullient about the prospects …

The Rise Of Science In Japan: 日本科学発展と原因, Mario Harper

Browse All Undergraduate research

日本の科学は第二次世界大戦から始まったと多くの人は思っている。もちろん、多くの発展は戦後に行われたのは事実。しかし、戦争以前にも「テクノロジージャパン」な考え方が非常に寿実していた。このスライドショーは日本科学発展の原因となることをいくつか見ています。

Hannum Family (Sc 746), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 746. Ciphering book containing problems using the British pound system, which also contains accounts of John Hannum, Jr., and Richard Hannum, and writings of Penelope Hannum, Logan County, Kentucky. Also clippings, chiefly from newspapers of Russellville, Kentucky, 1820-1860.

Edible Marijuana: A New Frontier In The Culinary World, Ariella H. Wolkowicz

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, has a rich history as a source of fiber, food and medicine (Li 437). Since 1785, physicians and scientists alike have worked to discover the active chemical components and medical effectiveness of this plant (Touw 2; Aldrich). Despite its complicated legal history, marijuana has retained a place culturally and, in some countries, scientifically as an effective medical agent. As a medically edible ingredient, cannabis has also been more recently heralded as a new, even cutting edge flavor, opening a new frontier to the culinary community.

After the isolation of the main active ingredient in cannabis, …

The Issue Of Internet Polling, Nick Nichols

The Intellectual Standard

No abstract provided.

2011-2012 Hccp Year-End Summary, Kristen S. Cloutier

Year-end Summaries

No abstract provided.

Hi, Magic Closet, Tell Me What To Wear!, Si Liu, Tam Nguyen, Jiashi Feng, Meng Wang, Shuicheng Yan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this demo, we present a practical system, "magic closet," for automatic occasion-oriented clothing pairing. Given a user-input occasion, e.g., wedding or shopping, the magic closet intelligently and automatically pairs the user-specified reference clothing (upper body or lower body) with the most suitable one from online shops. Two key criteria are explicitly considered for the magic closet system. One criterion is to dress properly, e.g., compared to suit pants, it is more decent to wear a cocktail dress for a banquet occasion. The other criterion is to dress aesthetically, e.g., a red T-shirt matches better with white pants than with …

The Update, October 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- UNI Alum Receives Presidential Early Career Award
-- Department News
-- UNI Forensics News & Results
-- Featured Organization: Beta Beta Beta National Honor Society
-- Save the Date: Iowa Supreme Court Justices are Coming to UNI
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Earth Science: Alison Schell
-- Strayer-Wood Theatre Fall Productions: Lysistrata & November
-- Featured Organization: APO-TAP
-- School of Music Events
--Stay Connected

Documenting Change At Upper Hamburg Bend: Nebraska's First Side-Channel Restoration, Brandon L. Eder, Gerald Mestl

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

In 1996 a side channel was excavated on 629 hectares of former agricultural land at Upper Hamburg Bend on the Missouri River in Otoe County, NE. This was the first side channel constructed on the Missouri River in an attempt to restore lost aquatic habitat. The initial design was for an approximately 4,200 m long side channel to be constructed with a 3 m bottom width. Development ofthe site was to be dependent on flows diverted from the main channel of the river with a final projected top width of 61 m. The side channel was completed in the spring, …

Manifestations Of Tibetan Buddhism In Pudacuo National Park And Its Effectiveness As An Environmental Education Tool, Ellen Martin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Pudacuo National Park in Shangri-la, Yunnan is mainland China’s first national park and comprehensive conservation and eco-tourism attempt. The Nature Conservancy worked with Yunnan provincial government to establish park guidelines and advocate for certain conservation measures. One of the important guidelines that The Nature Conservancy included was local cultural preservation. A primary goal of this experiment in US-modeled national parks is to ensure the longevity of traditional values and beliefs in the parkland area. Pudacuo National Park is not only attempting to conserve the local Tibetan Buddhist tradition but also is attempting to capitalize on the uniqueness of the experience …

Review Of Conspecific Attraction And Area Sensitivity Of Grassland Birds, David R.W. Bruinsma, Nicola Koper

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Many species of grassland birds are area sensitive, which may exacerbate the ecological effects of the extensive loss and fragmentation of grasslands that has taken place across the northern Great Plains. However, the reasons for this area sensitivity are unclear, as vegetation structure, matrix composition, and restriction of movements among patches do not seem to provide viable explanations for species native to grasslands. Con specific attraction, whereby species are behaviorally stimulated to select habitat or establish territories near individuals of the same species, may help explain this area sensitivity. We review and discuss theoretical and empirical research on avian conspecific …

Reconsidering National Park Interpretation Of The Great Plains And Trans-Mississippi West, Robert Pahre

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The National Park Service has generally interpreted its sites in the Great Plains in terms of a Eurocentric narrative of westward expansion. Though some sites are changing (e.g., Little Bighorn), others are not (e.g., Scotts Bluff). Even those sites that have changed still retain important elements of traditional narratives, which often date to the 1930s or to the Mission 66 period (1956-66). The newest sites, such as Washita Battlefield, tell newer stories that resonate well with today's visitors. These provide a model for revising older sites. Giving greater attention to causes and consequences, aiming for a richer mix of disciplinary …

Agenda: 2012 Energy Justice Conference And Technology Exposition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. Colorado European Union Center Of Excellence, University Of Colorado Boulder. Presidents Leadership Institute

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Co-sponsored with the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the Presidents Leadership Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ability to harness energy is fundamental to economic and social development. Worldwide, almost 3 billion people have little or no access to beneficial energy resources for cooking, heating, water sanitation, illumination, transportation, or basic mechanical needs. Energy poverty exacerbates ill health and economic hardship, and reduces educational opportunities, particularly for women and children. Specifically, access to efficient and affordable energy services is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to poverty eradication.

In response, the UN …

Susan Anderson-Freed, Susan Anderson-Freed, Meg Miner

All oral histories

Dr. Susan Anderson-Freed began teaching in the Sociology Department at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977. A few years later she was reappointed to a position in the Computer Science program where she remained until her departure in 2008.

Anderson-Freed left teaching due to the effects of cancer treatments she was receiving and died on November 4, 2012. A long-time knitting enthusiast, she used the time of her treatments to design patterns and published two books on the subjects. Proceeds from these volumes, which have already been translated into several languages, are designated for the Community Cancer Center, Normal, Illinois. Her …

Woolfolk, Dorothy (Gregory) (Sc 713), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 713. Letter written to Marjorie Clagett, Bowling Green, Kentucky, from Dorothy (Gregory) Woolfolk, Brandenburg, Meade County, Kentucky, in which she describes the tornado that devastated the town on 3 April 1974.

Uprising: The Internet's Unintended Consequences, Marcus Breen

Marcus Breen

The Internet has transformed the social relations that were once managed by the powers that be. As a rapidly maturing communications technology, the Internet has brought people together even while it has reinforced privatism. The desktop computer, the laptop, the cellular and mobile phone, the Global Positoning System, the pilotless drone aircraft, video games and government documents courtesy of Wikileaks, all are connected on the network of networks. Together these converged elements of a global socio-technical system offer wonderful possibilities for human emancipation, even while those ideas collide with established ideas of civility and decency. Utilizing a transdisciplinary approach, Uprising …

Morris, Walter B. (Sc 29), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 29. Photocopies of letter written by Walter B. Morris, Gallatin, Tennessee, to his brother, Eastin Morris, Fort Pickering, Tennessee, pertaining to a shower of flesh and blood near Lebanon, Tennessee, on 17 August 1841, and of an article from American Journal of Science, 1841, pertaining to the same event. Also a letter to Julia Neal regarding photocopies, 1968.

Review Of Treatment Of Error In Second Language Student Writing By Dana R. Ferris, Melanie C. González

Melanie González

Research On National Culture Effects On Human Failures In Container Shipping, Kai Jiang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

2012 Tsu Undergraduate Research Program, David Owerbach

Office of Research Institutional Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Update, August/September 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- Art Making at the House of Hope
-- Department News
-- Annual Scholarship Benefit Concert: 120 Years: The Road to Excellence
-- Alumni Spotlight: Theatre: Sarah Noll Wilson
-- Student Spotlight, Department of Computer Science: Cody Bardell
-- UNI Undergrad EPSCoR Winning Finalist
-- Explorers of Religion
-- Physics in the Classroom: Alumni Spotlight, Science Education
-- School of Music Events
-- Music Professor Earns Award
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Communication Studies: Harrison Postler
-- Save the Date: Tackling Global Challenges in Sustainable Chemistry Using Transition Metal Catalysis
-- Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium