Natural History (natural + history)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Terms modified by Natural History

  • natural history collection
  • natural history museum
  • natural history study

  • Selected Abstracts


    NATURAL HISTORY, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION OF A REMARKABLE ADAPTIVE RADIATION

    EVOLUTION, Issue 5 2010
    Steven M. Vamosi
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    UNDERSTANDING HUME'S NATURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION

    THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 227 2007
    P.J.E. Kail
    Hume's ,Natural History of Religion' offers a naturalized account of the causes of religious thought, an investigation into its ,origins' rather than its ,foundation in reason'. Hume thinks that if we consider only the causes of religious belief, we are provided with a reason to suspend the belief. I seek to explain why this is so, and what role the argument plays in Hume's wider campaign against the rational acceptability of religious belief. In particular, I argue that the work threatens a form of fideism which maintains that it is rationally permissible to maintain religious belief in the absence of evidence or of arguments in its favour. I also discuss the ,argument from common consent', and the relative superiority of Hume's account of the origins of religious belief. [source]


    The Chocolate Tree: A Natural History of Cacao by Allen M. Young

    CULTURE, AGRICULTURE, FOOD & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1-2 2008
    Nicholas C. Kawa
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Think Globally, Publish Virtually, Act Locally: A U.S.-Saudi International Museum Partnership

    CURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005
    Paul Michael Taylor
    ABSTRACT This paper examines an on-going cooperative project between the National Museum of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, undertaken within the framework of the International Partnership Among Museums (IPAM) program of the American Association of Museums. The project,Written in Stone: Epigraphy from the National Museum of Saudi Arabia,is a virtual Web exhibition of inscriptions dating from the late second millennium B.C. to the nineteenth century AD. It is undoubtedly representative of many special-purpose cooperative projects (for exhibitions, research, or other purposes) that are taking place across international boundaries between pairs or groups of museums in various countries. Such collaborations provide examples of how partner institutions can take advantage of the opportunities that globalization and standardization of museum practices offer. [source]


    Mitral Valve Prolapse: Relationship of Echocardiography Characteristics to Natural History

    ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2006
    Bassam K. Mechleb M.D.
    First page of article [source]


    Life in Darwin's dust: intercontinental transport and survival of microbes in the nineteenth century

    ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 12 2007
    Anna A. Gorbushina
    Summary Charles Darwin, like others before him, collected aeolian dust over the Atlantic Ocean and sent it to Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in Berlin. Ehrenberg's collection is now housed in the Museum of Natural History and contains specimens that were gathered at the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Geochemical analyses of this resource indicated that dust collected over the Atlantic in 1838 originated from the Western Sahara, while molecular-microbiological methods demonstrated the presence of many viable microbes. Older samples sent to Ehrenberg from Barbados almost two centuries ago also contained numbers of cultivable bacteria and fungi. Many diverse ascomycetes, and eubacteria were found. Scanning electron microscopy and cultivation suggested that Bacillus megaterium, a common soil bacterium, was attached to historic sand grains, and it was inoculated onto dry sand along with a non-spore-forming control, the Gram-negative soil bacterium Rhizobium sp. NGR234. On sand B. megaterium quickly developed spores, which survived for extended periods and even though the numbers of NGR234 steadily declined, they were still considerable after months of incubation. Thus, microbes that adhere to Saharan dust can live for centuries and easily survive transport across the Atlantic. [source]


    Prolegomenon to a history of paleoanthropology: The study of human origins as a scientific enterprise.

    EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
    Part 1.
    Interest in the history of paleoanthropology and the other disciplines related to human origins studies has grown considerably over the last several decades. Some very informative historical surveys have been written by prominent scientists reflecting on the major developments in their fields. Some well-known early examples include Glyn Daniel's The Idea of Prehistory (1962) and The Origins and Growth of Archaeology (1967), which focus primarily on the history of archaeology, Kenneth Oakley's "The problem of man's antiquity: an historical survey" published in the Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) [Geology] (1964), and L. S. B. Leakey's Unveiling Man's Origins; Ten Decades of Thought about Human Evolution (1969), with the latter two focusing on the contributions of geology, paleontology, and biology to the problem of human evolution. [source]


    A new body mass estimation of Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch, 1914 mounted and exhibited at the Museum of Natural History (Berlin, Germany)

    FOSSIL RECORD-MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE, Issue 1 2008
    Hanns-Christian Gunga
    Abstract Body mass and surface areas are important in several aspects for an organism living today. Therefore, mass and surface determinations for extinct dinosaurs could be important for paleo-biological aspects as well. Based on photogrammetrical measurement the body mass and body surface area of the Late Jurassic Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch, 1914 from Tendaguru (East Africa), a skeleton mounted and exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin (Germany), has been re-evaluated. We determined for a slim type of 3D reconstruction of Brachiosaurus brancai a total volume of 47.9 m3 which represents, assuming a mean tissue density of 0.8 kg per 1,000 cm3, a total body mass of 38,000 kg. The volume distributions from the head to the tail were as follows: 0.2 m3 for the head, neck 7.3 m3, fore limbs 2.9 m3, hind limbs 2.6 m3, thoracic-abdominal cavity 32.4 m3, tail 2.2 m3. The total body surface area was calculated to be 119.1 m2, specifically 1.5 m2 for the head, 26 m2 neck, fore limbs 18.8 m2, hind limbs 16.4 m2, 44.2 m2 thoracic-abdominal cavity, and finally the tail 12.2 m2. Finally, allometric equations were used to estimate presumable organ sizes of this extinct dinosaur and to test whether their dimensions really fit into the thoracic and abdominal cavity of Brachiosaurus brancai if a slim body shape of this sauropod is assumed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


    Berliner Geowissenschaftlerinnen an der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität von 1906 bis 1945, eine Fallstudie

    FOSSIL RECORD-MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE, Issue 1 2003
    Barbara A. R. Mohr
    Abstract In dieser Untersuchung werden beispielhaft die Lebenswege und Karrieren von Berliner Geowissenschaftlerinnen im Zeitraum von 1906 bis 1945 nachgezeichnet und analysiert. Ähnlich wie an anderen deutschen bzw. westlichen Universitäten, aber im Gegensatz zu Russland, begann die Tätigkeit von Frauen in den Geowissenschaften spät, und das Fach wurde auch relativ selten gewählt, hauptsächlich wegen der zu geringen Berufschancen. Aber die besondere Situation in Berlin mit mehreren sich ergänzenden Institutionen und dem daraus resultierenden breiten Spektrum an geowissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, sowie ausgezeichneten Professoren, ließ dennoch Raum für eine Ausbildung in diesem Bereich und erlaubte, wenn auch in bescheidenem Maße, eine gewisse Karrieremöglichkeit. Während der hier untersuchten 40 Jahre haben weniger als 20 Frauen in den Geowissenschaften und benachbarten Gebieten promoviert. Mehrere dieser Frauen blieben in dem von ihnen gewählten Fach weiterhin aktiv und wurden erfolgreich. Zwei Frauen gelang eine akademische Karriere , eine als Universitätsprofessorin, die auch Schülerinnen hatte. Andere arbeiteten an staatlichen Institutionen, wie z. B. dem Geologischen Landesamt. Wenige Frauen blieben nach ihrer Verheiratung beruflich aktiv, wenn auch nicht offiziell angestellt, sondern als Ehefrauen. Andere arbeiteten als "Ersatz" für die im Kriege stehenden Männer. Einige waren aus persönlichen und politischen Gründen, insbesondere während der NS-Zeit, gezwungen, die Geowissenschaften zu verlassen, konnten aber teilweise auf anderen Gebieten erfolgreich arbeiten. This paper documents the lives and careers of women geoscientists at the Berlin Friedrich-Wilhelms-University from 1906 through 1945. Traditionally, in Germany, women had difficulties to be accepted in geosciences (except for geography/geology teachers), because of strong links between geology and mining, a field dominated clearly by men. In western European countries, as well as in the U.S.A. and Australia, the situation was similar in that women started late and in small numbers to study geology. This was, however, in contrast to Russia and later the Soviet Union where women were relatively early accepted even as university teachers. The data for this paper were gathered from Berlin University institutions, such as the historical archive and the library of the Palaeontological Institute, and in addition personal contacts were used. Women who had studied either geography, geology/palaeontology, geophysics, mineralogy or botany/palaeobotany are subject of this study. Only those are considered who had strong affiliations to geosciences proper, in all 17 women. During the first half of the 20th century the Berlin Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, founded in 1810, was one of the most important institutions concerning higher education in Germany, especially for women. The official opening of this university for women students was in 1908, somewhat later than at other German universities. Once admitted, however, the number of dissertations completed by women was relatively high, and, 30% of all habilitations (advanced degree which allows teaching at universities) in Germany and 50% of all habilitations in the natural sciences were accomplished at Berlin between 1918/19 to 1932. The geosciences were, together with medicine, chemistry, physics, botany and zoology, very strong scientifical and in teaching. Geoscientists of international reputation worked at large institutions, affiliated or being part of the University, such as the Prussian (later German) Geological Survey, the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at the Museum of Natural History or the Institute and Museum of Oceanography, and were the advisers and reviewers of women Diploma and PhD students. [source]


    Natural History of Gastric Cancer After Helicobacter pylori Eradication in Japan: After Endoscopic Resection, After Treatment of the General Population, and Naturally

    HELICOBACTER, Issue 3 2006
    David Y. Graham
    First page of article [source]


    The Evolution of the Human Self: Tracing the Natural History of Self-Awareness

    JOURNAL FOR THE THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, Issue 4 2003
    Mark R. Leary
    Previous discussions of the evolution of the self have diverged greatly in their estimates of the date at which the capacity for self-thought emerged, the factors that led self-reflection to evolve, and the nature of the evidence offered to support these disparate conclusions. Beginning with the assumption that human self-awareness involves a set of distinct cognitive abilities that evolved at different times to solve different adaptive problems, we trace the evolution of self-awareness from the common ancestor of humans and apes to the beginnings of culture, drawing upon paleontological, anthropological, biological, and psychological evidence. These data converge to suggest that that modern self-thought appeared just prior to the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition, approximately 60,000 years ago.Recto running head: Evolution of the Self. [source]


    Natural History of Functional Decline 1 Year After Hospital Discharge in Nonagenarian Patients

    JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 7 2003
    Francesc Formiga MD
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Effect of Radiofrequency Ablation of Atrial Flutter on the Natural History of Subsequent Atrial Arrhythmias

    JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 11 2008
    DAVID M. LURIA M.D.
    Introduction: Patients with atrial flutter (AFL) treated medically are at high risk for subsequent development of atrial fibrillation (AF). Whether curative radiofrequency ablation of AFL can modify the natural history of arrhythmia progression is not clear. We aimed to determine whether ablation of AFL decreases the subsequent development of AF in patients without previous AF. Methods and Results: Patients with AFL as the sole atrial arrhythmia were selected from patients who underwent successful AFL ablation at Mayo Clinic between 1997 and 2003 (N = 137). The cohort was divided by presence (n = 50) or absence (n = 87) of structural heart disease. A control group comprised 59 patients with AFL and no history of paroxysmal AF, who received only medical therapy. Occurrence of AF after AFL ablation was compared among study groups and controls. Symptomatic AF occurred in 49 patients during 5 years of follow-up after AFL ablation, with similar frequency in both study groups. The cumulative probability of paroxysmal and chronic AF was similar in controls and each study group. By multivariate analysis, the AFL ablation procedure carries significant risk of AF occurrence during follow-up. Fifty patients discontinued antiarrhythmic drugs after AFL ablation, and the rate of cardioversions decreased. Conclusion: Successful ablation of AFL does not improve the natural history of atrial arrhythmia progression; postablation AF is frequent. This suggests that AFL may be initiated by bursts of AF and that in the absence of AFL substrate the AF continues to progress. [source]


    Natural History of Asymptomatic Intracranial Arterial Stenosis

    JOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, Issue S1 2009
    Robert A. Taylor MD
    ABSTRACT The prevalence and natural history of asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis are not very well characterized. Existing data suggest that incidentally discovered asymptomatic intracranial stenosis presents a fairly low risk of stroke, though substantial uncertainty remains. Patients may be at greater risk if there are tandem stenoses. Methods to stratify the risk of stroke with asymptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic lesions have yet to be established and validated. In general, aggressive intervention for an asymptomatic intracranial stenosis is not currently recommended. [source]


    Victorian sensation: The extraordinary publication, reception, and secret authorship of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation

    JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 4 2002
    Humanities, Martin Fichman Professor of History
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Life-Course Observations of Alcohol Use among Navajo Indians: Natural History or Careers?

    MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2006
    Stephen J. Kunitz
    In this article, I describe changes in patterns of alcohol use and abuse among Navajo Indians from the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. The prevalence of alcohol dependence continues to be higher than in the general U.S. population, but remission is also common, as it was in the 1960s and previously. Men have substantially higher rates of alcohol dependence than women. The former engage in heavy drinking largely in response to the heavy drinking of those around them. The latter drink excessively largely as a response to psychiatric disorders, depression, and abuse by a partner or husband. As increasing numbers of people have moved to reservation and border towns, a youth culture has developed in which alcohol use is initiated by teenagers with their peers rather than, as in the past, with older kinsmen. Alcohol use has thus been freed from the constraints imposed by both isolation and family obligations. [source]


    The new Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites at the American Museum of Natural History

    METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 10 2004
    Denton S. Ebel
    [source]


    A Conflicted Legacy: Paul Sidney Martin as Museum Archaeologist, 1925,38

    AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2010
    Stephen E. Nash
    ABSTRACT, Paul Sidney Martin excavated archaeological sites in southwestern Colorado for the State Historical Society of Colorado and the Field Museum of Natural History between 1927 and 1938, although he began working for museums in 1925. His work in three realms,research, exhibition and outreach, and collections,helped redefine the role of the museum anthropologist at a time when archaeological research, particularly that based in museums, was in transition away from the search for exhibition-quality objects and toward research-driven expeditions. With data gleaned from relevant archives, in this article I present previously unpublished details of Martin's work to suggest that Martin leaves behind a conflicted legacy from an important era in the development of North American archaeology. [source]


    NAGPRA AT 20: Museum Collections and Reconnections

    MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
    Martha Graham
    ABSTRACT Since the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted 20 years ago, the identification and repatriation of cultural items has become essential to museum,tribe relationships. Interactions prompted by repatriation policies and laws impel tribal representatives and museums alike to take a new look at museum collections. Three examples of interactions between Indian tribes and the American Museum of Natural History that were prompted by NAGPRA demonstrate how museum practices are changing. A series of responses by tribal representatives involved in these NAGPRA cases, with specific reference to their reconnections with the material culture in museum collections and museum,tribe relationships, show the ways in which tribal members frame the issues. [source]


    Introduction to historic house museums

    MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2001
    Giovanni Pinna
    In November 1997, a major conference entitled Abitare la storia: Le dimore storiche-museo (Inhabiting History: Historical House Museums) was held in Genoa, the city of many palaces. On this occasion, the historic house museum, a rather particular type of museum, was extensively discussed for the very first time. The specific nature and values of such museums were highlighted. Over forty experts, who are responsible for palaces and more modest residences, came to Genoa for the conference. They debated aspects of restoration, security, teaching and communication. The conference participants took the opportunity to express their wish for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to set up an international committee more specifically dedicated to historic house museums. They asked ICOM Italia, which was also present at the conference, to support their recommendation for the creation of the new committee, and this was done in 1998. Giovanni Pinna is the chairman of this newly created International Committee for Historic House Museums. He is president of the ICOM Italian Committee and also president of the ICOM International Committee for Museology of Historic Sites. A palaeontologist by training, he directed the Museum of Natural History in Milan from 1981 to 1996. He has published some sixty books and articles on various topics in the domain of theoretical museology as well as on the history and functions of museum institutions. His books include Museo: Storia e funzioni di una macchina culturale dal cinquecento a oggi (1980) and Fondamenti terici per un Museo di Storia Naturale (1997). [source]


    On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction

    AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2002
    Nadine R. Peacock
    On Fertile Ground:. Natural History of Human Reproduction. Peter T. Ellison. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. 358 pp. [source]


    The Primate Anthology: Essays on Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation from Natural History

    AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2000
    Natalie Vasey
    The Primate Anthology: Essays on Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation from Natural History. Russell L. Ciochon and Richard A. Nisbett. eds. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. 246 pp. [source]


    An analysis of secular change in the human mandible over the last century

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
    D. C. Martin
    In light of several recent investigations that have identified notable secular change in cranial size and morphology over the last century, the present study addresses its possible effects in the mandible in U.S. populations. Standard measurements of 407 mandibles from the Terry (Smithsonian) and Hamann-Todd (Cleveland Museum of Natural History) Collections, which are primarily composed of individuals living in the early 20th century, were compared with those of 595 mandibles from the Forensic Anthropology Database (Tennessee), which is primarily composed of individuals living from the later part of the century. The t -tests between the two temporally-different samples by sex and race showed statistically significant decreases in mandibular body width and bigonial breadth as well as significant increases in mandibular body length in nearly all subgroups. White males showed the greatest amount of change, and Black females, the least. Overall, these findings support the conclusion that the mandible is transforming into a longer, narrower, more gracile bone, paralleling many of the morphological shifts seen in the cranium. Factors involved likely include changes in diet, medical care, and dental practices. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Sex determination of adolescent skeletons using the distal humerus

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
    Tracy L. Rogers
    Abstract Accurate determination of the sex of immature skeletal remains is difficult in the absence of DNA, due to the fact that most sexually dimorphic features of the human skeleton develop as secondary sex characteristics during adolescence. Methods of assessment of adult skeletons cannot reliably be applied to adolescent skeletons because of the transitional nature of the skeleton at puberty and the variability of the adolescent growth spurt. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the accuracy of Rogers's method of morphological sex determination using the distal humerus (Rogers: J Forensic Sci 44 (1999) 55,59) to assess the sex of adolescent skeletons. The sample consists of 7 documented adolescent skeletons from the Christ Church Spitalfields collection at the British Museum of Natural History and 35 from the Luis Lopes skeletal collection housed in the National History Museum (Museu Bocage) of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Ages range from 11 to 20 years. The technique achieved an accuracy of 81% on the combined sample of 42. This method can be applied to adolescent skeletons once the trochlea begins fusing to the humeral diaphysis, which occurred by age 11 years in the test samples. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Federal Repatriation Legislation and the Role of Physical Anthropology in Repatriation

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue S41 2005
    Stephen D. Ousley
    Abstract Two laws governing the disposition of Native American human remains in museums and institutions have had a profound impact on anthropology, and especially physical anthropology. In contrast to the perception of constant conflict between Native Americans and physical anthropologists, the repatriation process based on these laws has been in large part harmonious between institutions and Native peoples in the US. Despite misconceptions, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAPGRA; 25 United States Code (U.S.C.) 3001-3013) was not intended to halt further research on Native American remains in museums. In fact, court decisions have affirmed that the documentation of human remains produces information no other methods can provide, and provides necessary evidence to be incorporated and weighed, along with other evidence, in evaluating "cultural affiliation," the legal term for the required connection from federally recognized Native American groups to their ancestors. The wide variety of osteological data collected at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, have proven indispensable when evaluating cultural affiliation, especially when other information sources are unhelpful or ambiguous, and provide an empirical basis for determining the ancestry of individuals whose remains will be discovered in the future. To date, the claim-driven process at the NMNH has resulted in the affiliation and repatriation of more Native American remains than any other institution in the country. Repatriation experiences at the NMNH demonstrate the changing relationships between museums and Native peoples, the continuing important contributions that physical anthropology makes to the repatriation process, and the importance of physical anthropology in understanding the recent and ancient history of North America. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 48:2,32, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Serpens endocrania symmetrica (SES): A new term and a possible clue for identifying intrathoracic disease in skeletal populations

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
    Israel Hershkovitz
    Abstract This paper describes a phenomenon in the endocranial plate, which we have termed "serpens endocrania symmetrica" (SES), and discusses its value as a diagnostic tool. The affected discolored bone area exhibits disruption of the endocranial surface, lending it a maze-like appearance. Histological sections demonstrate that the process is limited to the most superficial portion of the endocranium, with no diploic and ectocranial involvement (sinus areas excepted). Adult skulls (n = 1,884) from the Hamann-Todd collection (HTH), housed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, were utilized for the present study. SES was recognized in 32 of the 1,884 skulls studied (1.7%). The frequency of SES among individuals reported to have died from tuberculosis (TB) was 4.4%. The rate of SES in the non-TB sample was only 0.53%. The locations were as follows: limited to sinus area, 28.1%; calvarium (excluding the sinuses), 46.9%; sinus + calvarium, 25.0%. SES was bilateral in 90.9% of cases. Twenty-five of the 32 individuals (78.1%) with SES in the HTH collection had tuberculosis specifically listed as the cause of death. Six of the other 7 individuals had infections other than TB. In 29 of the 32 individuals with SES, infection involved structures within the thorax. As SES was also associated with another osteological phenomenon known to represent pulmonary disease, i.e., hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA; 68.0% of SES individuals also had HOA), SES may be of diagnostic value in paleopathology for the recognition of intrathoracic disease, and perhaps tuberculosis. Am J Phys Anthropol 118:201,216, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets.

    THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 488 2003
    Stephen L. Cheung
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History , By David Fastovsky and David Weishampel

    THE GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010
    David Norman
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    UNDERSTANDING HUME'S NATURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION

    THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 227 2007
    P.J.E. Kail
    Hume's ,Natural History of Religion' offers a naturalized account of the causes of religious thought, an investigation into its ,origins' rather than its ,foundation in reason'. Hume thinks that if we consider only the causes of religious belief, we are provided with a reason to suspend the belief. I seek to explain why this is so, and what role the argument plays in Hume's wider campaign against the rational acceptability of religious belief. In particular, I argue that the work threatens a form of fideism which maintains that it is rationally permissible to maintain religious belief in the absence of evidence or of arguments in its favour. I also discuss the ,argument from common consent', and the relative superiority of Hume's account of the origins of religious belief. [source]


    How Visitors Experience the Edward James Olmos Americanos Exhibit: An Ethnographic Study

    ANNALS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRACTICE, Issue 1 2007
    Jennifer Gilroy Hunsecker
    This paper reports the findings from a ten-week ethnographic evaluation of Americanos, a traveling exhibit displayed in the fall of 2000 at the Field Museum of Natural History and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Members of Dr. Christina Wasson's undergraduate applied anthropology class at DePaul University designed the research project and conducted interviews with museum patrons on their experience of the exhibit. This paper outlines background information on museum-goers and details methods utilized in the study, class findings, and recommendations resulting from the findings. Findings explore visitors' experiences with the division and physical layout of the exhibit, visitor interaction with text and labels, and the impact visitors' preconceptions had on their experience with the exhibit. It concludes with seven recommendations applicable to improving the quality of both the Americanos experience for visitors as well as future museum exhibitions at the Field Museum and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum. [source]