¶ … Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the Search for Hidden Universes," Richard Panek argues that both Einstein and Freud cut across the barriers of science in their time and, through scrupulous observation not only did they produce a revolution in their respective fields of research but, most importantly, they prompted a "revolution in thought" by using as instruments of research not so much mathematical formulas, but more, the tool of imagination which conjures a new, different world for the XX st century.
The notion of the "invisible century" expresses just that. It is not necessary an era of invisible technologies, but one in which questions are answered by triggering flows of speculations based on information or facts which cannot be physically proven yet there is no doubt about their validity. The term "invisible century" points to a historical environment in which one can answer questions such as "what are dreams," "what is a beam of light," "where do we come from" with arguments which cannot be verified by practical means.
Solid contributions to defining the notion are those made by Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein. They were not satisfied with proof acquired through classic means and started asking themselves obvious questions about the evolution of human kind, about man's inner world or simply rethinking old theories, as in the case of Einstein and Galileo. They all came to the same conclusion: any answer is relative, it depends on the perspective; thus, they gave rise to a revolution in approaching any science debate.
Darwin, in his masterpiece "Origin of species" (1859) argues that his theories are not exposed to explain the origins of life on the Planet, but rather its evolution and the influence of history, time and favorable variations of the human kind (Charles Darwin, Introduction). Freud, on the other hand, in a totally different field of research, asked himself questions about...
Social Significance of Food in Early Modern Europe (c.1350 -1800) Today's society is bombarded with mass produced food competitions and cooking shows. Restaurants and food carts pop-up at every corner, and grocery shops are constantly stacked with most everything that one could imagine. Exotic foods are available year-round, and some are even affordable. Food is truly everywhere in this country, and everybody is trying to cook the latest experience. As one
The European Historical Perspective, Social Issues and Educational Issues The European historical perspective has changed from era to era. Europe, which is often called The West, had its foundations laid by the classical philosophers—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—who defined the concept of the Transcendentals and gave future generations the ideas of what it meant to live a good and happy life. These philosophers were Greek, but many nations for centuries after their
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Europe After World War II Historical Development Unification Historical Development of Unification Ideas in Europe after World War II Europe was torn to shreds by the ugly forms of national and ethnic hatred after World War II (1939-1945). Europe is geographically situated in middle of such a global power system, where failing of peace means global annihilation. After World War II, the Europeans established such a framework that can allow peace and regional
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Europe is, to a large extent, the crucible of world development. Certainly, Asia and the regions of the Middle East are significant too, but Europe is the birth of a Western culture that has spread throughout the globe and affected the world in numerous ways. For this reason, European studies are central to any academic curriculum program. As specific to the U.S., Europe is particularly important since not only has
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