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Issues

Volume 4, Issue 4

August 24, 2019

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August 24, 2019

Critical Essays

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The Miracle of General Equilibrium
Philip Pilkington
[short_description] If general equilibrium theory does not accurately explain what happens in the real world, then what does? Philip Pilkington casts a critical eye over the foundations of mainstream economics.
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A Hot Mess
John Norton
[short_description] Rolf Landauer proposed a principle that is still used for calculating the minimum heat generated by a computing device. John Norton argues that these propositions are either unfounded or refutable.
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Time Out
James Tour
[short_description] Should researchers who study the origins of life take a time-out? James Tour says they should hit pause, in order to assess what they have accomplished, and what more is even possible to accomplish.

Review Essays

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Trading Volatility
Emanuel Derman
[short_description] The Black–Scholes equation takes the idea of Brownian motion from physics and uses it to explain volatility in stock options markets. Emanuel Derman reviews its impact on options traders.
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Einstein’s Entanglements
Jeremy Bernstein
[short_description] In three short pieces, Jeremy Bernstein explores Einstein’s views on quantum theory, Einstein and Oppenheimer’s contrasting views on black holes, and Einstein’s long friendship with Michele Besso.
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A Lingering Crisis
Henri Lepage
[short_description] Global economic recovery since the 2008 financial crisis has been weak. Henri Lepage reviews the work of economists at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, who think they know why.

Short Notes

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Access All Areas
Antoine Balzeau
[short_description] Paleoanthropology’s traditional working methods, Antoine Balzeau argues, are no longer effective—especially when modern technology offers researchers more efficient means of analysis and archiving.

Book Reviews

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Striking Second First
Jean-Pierre Dupuy
[short_description] In theory, nuclear weapons are pure deterrence. Yet the world’s nuclear arsenals remain on alert and at risk of becoming a doomsday machine. Jean-Pierre Dupuy reviews a new book by Daniel Ellsberg.
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A Life Far Less Ordinary
John Mathew
[short_description] Popularizing Science: The Life and Work of JBS Haldane is a new biography by Haldane’s mentee, Krishna Dronamraju. John Mathew casts an approving eye over its account of Haldane’s life and work.
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The Social Set
David Berlinski
[short_description] Nicholas Christakis’s Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society argues it is our genetic destiny to build societies around generous and moral behavior. David Berlinski is less optimistic.
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Mass Appeal
Álvaro De Rújula
[short_description] The Origin of Mass: Elementary Particles and Fundamental Symmetries was written by John Iliopoulos in response to the discovery of the Higgs boson. Álvaro De Rújula considers the book a triumph.

Experiment Reviews

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The Fourth State of Water
Marc Henry
[short_description] What is water that is not ice, liquid, or vapor? Marc Henry explains the unfolding discovery of water’s elusive fourth state, which could bring a revolution for biology and medicine.

Biographies

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Macfarlane Burnet
The Concept of Self
Neeraja Sankaran
[short_description] In 1960, Macfarlane Burnet became Australia’s second winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Neeraja Sankaran examines his wide body of work and enduring significance, both at home and abroad.
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Murray Gell-Mann
In Memoriam
Sheldon Lee Glashow
[short_description] The great theoretical physicist Murray Gell-Mann passed away on May 24, 2019. Sheldon Lee Glashow pays tribute to his mentor, champion, and friend.

Letters to the Editors

######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Progress Overlooked
Pedro Tiago Martins
[short_description] Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky’s rhetoric is misleading, claims Pedro Tiago Martins. Martins believes that the real work in the study of language evolution is being done elsewhere.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Tough Luck
Rob DeSalle & Ian Tattersall
[short_description] “Tough luck” were the final words of Richard Lewontin’s paper “The Evolution of Cognition,” reflecting his view that human cognitive function would never be atomized in a genetic context.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Unbounded Merge
Anna Maria Di Sciullo
[short_description] Could the language faculty have evolved gradually? Anna Maria Di Sciullo does not think so. In this letter, Di Sciullo traces past research of this idea, and looks at what is left to explore.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### A Slight Alteration
Philip Pilkington
[short_description] Noam Chomsky and Robert Berwick proposed that a slight alteration in our neural networks allowed a great change, like a push-down stack. Philip Pilkington argues that the computer analogy is imprecise.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Biology and Culture in Language
José-Luis Mendívil-Giró
[short_description] Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky conceive of human language as a mosaic of cognitive capacities. José-Luis Mendívil-Giró suggests a model of the relationship between lexicon and syntax.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Mindful of the Brain
Kleanthes Grohmann
[short_description] Is Merge really in the brain or is it kept in the mind? Kleanthes Grohmann takes aim at Juan Uriagereka’s review of Language in Our Brain, by Angela Friederici.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### On the Road from Unfreedom
Patryk Babiracki
[short_description] What prevents democracies in crisis from spiraling into a cycle of violence and conflict between the populace and an illiberal state? Patryk Babiracki explores this troubling question.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Macabresque Modalities
Edward Weisband
[short_description] Variations within the macabresque cluster around ideological doctrines and political cultures. In each subset, perpetrators advance a particular form of illogic to justify the victim’s suffering.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Dual-Process Theories of Morality
Aliza Luft
[short_description] Dual-process theories of morality demonstrate that negative emotions can guide moral judgments. These theories also demonstrate how, through repetition, new cognitive-emotional habits can form.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### On Power Motive Imagery
David Winter
[short_description] Power motivation is associated with conflict escalation, according to David Winter—a thesis that Jason Quinn and Laurel Stone agree with. Nevertheless, Winter has some corrections for Quinn and Stone.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Why Space Is Still the Place
Ian Crawford
[short_description] We must pursue a human future in space, according to Ian Crawford. He argues that there are numerous examples of scientific knowledge gained as a result of having humans in space.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Enchantment as Cosmological Meaning
Gavin Flood
[short_description] If the meaning of life was once tied to our location within the cosmos, then this has now been replaced by meaning being located within the bounds of our own lives and intentions.
######### Card Letter *XXX* ######### Germany and the Euro
Markus Kerber
[short_description] In Germany, like the European Union, fiscal equalization is a source of agonizing and endless arguments. The only logical conclusion, according to Markus Kerber: reform is impossible, death certain.
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