Letter to the grand duchess christina by galileo Essay

Letter to the grand duchess christina by galileo - Essay Example In explaining the concept of ‘two truths’, Galileo holds to the view that both the scriptures and science are true and the two truths do not contradict one another. Galileo supported his concept of two truths by giving examples that explaining how both science and scriptures reveal the truths about the universe and the nature of God. How Galileo supported his concept of the ‘two truths’ In order to support his statement that the scriptures and science are true and they do not contradict one another, Galileo states that the two truths proceed from the divine word. However, he makes it clear that discussions of physical problems has to start from necessary demonstration and sense experiences and not from scriptural experiences. in regard to science verses th scriptures, Galileo states that we should not believe anything any howly least we hold some prejudice against something that is later to be proofed not to be contrary to the scriptures. Galileo explains th at God is revealed first through nature and then again by doctrine. The revelation by nature comes through his works and revelation by doctrine comes through his revealed word (Drake 182).The scriptures explain that God is the creator of all. He made the heaven, the universe, earth and all in it. Galileo’s agreement with this is seen where he complains of having been accused as by other philosophers as if he has placed things in the sky to overturn sciences and upset nature. In essence, he meant that scientific discoveries are in no way a contradiction of the scriptural revelation of God as the creator but a proof of it. It helps to bring out the things he has created. Through the scriptures, we get to learn that God created man and this automatically qualifies human intellect, senses and reason as things given by God. The same God who granted the senses and reasons cannot deny the people the entrusted the intellect, senses and reasons not to use them. Galileo also argues tha t he does not believe the same God who gave us intellect, reason and senses has intended to forego their use and decided to give human beings knowledge through another means yet it is knowledge that they could have obtained through the use of the reason, senses and intellect (Drake 183). At the same time, God has revealed about the universe and nature through the scriptures. For example, he mentions oceans, clouds, deserts, animals, heavenly bodies like sun, moon and stars among others. It also reveals the functions or functioning of some for example the sun giving light. However, these revelations and explanation are not in totality. For example they do not explain how the heavenly bodies are positioned and move about relative to one another. This means there was a chance for men to use the reasons and senses entrusted to them to discover the details of these creations and therefore discoveries are never a contradiction of the scriptures. As seen above, science helps to explain to those who believe in the scriptures some of the truths that the scriptures does not bring out plainly. As Galileo reveals, some of these questions are those asked by believers of the scriptures for example the motion of heaven. One question that emerges from the brethren is, if heaven is fixed, then how do stars that are fixed to it move from east to west? (Taylor 93). It is obvious they mean how the stars move round the earth because the scriptures reveal that heaven is where God dwells and it is a spiritual place. This means that it is not visible with the mortal eyes and

Science and Policy studies (Antarctica) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Science and Policy studies (Antarctica) - Essay Example Since the find of large quantity of oil resources underneath the seabed, various countries lying in the geographical proximity of the Antarctic region have staked claim to certain regions of this land. If one were to go back in history, one would wind that international co-operation in field of Antarctic exploration dated way back to 1882 which incidentally was the first Polar Year. The second Polar year was held in 1932 with forty nations supporting the cause in the study of meteorology and radio science. However, these noble designs of international studies were marred even then by politics, with Britain staking a claim to a portion of the land in 1908. By 1930 France, Norway and Chile had made their claims to certain regions in the Antarctic. Britain had in the meantime setup up a permanent base by sending an expedition code named Operation Tabarin. The era of Cold War also saw several expeditions being taken up by America and Russia which apart from being research oriented was al so a method in power posturing. The present scenario is quite complex with a number of sovereign countries staking claim to the region. US as a superpower has not claimed any part of Antarctica nor has it recognized the claims made by any of the other countries. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic research was established for the purpose of enhancing cooperation in the field of research and knowledge sharing. The twelve countries include the US, UK and USSR who contributed a significant amount to its early budget. The Antarctic Treaty was signed on 23rd June 1961 by member countries who pledged to engage in more constructive and peaceful scientific research while at the same time putting individual claims on the backburner.( Dodds Klaus, 2010, Governing Antarctica) This lay to rest some of the apprehensions of Britain, Chile and Argentina. This treaty which was signed by twelve members initially has now forty seven members to its credit. (Crawford Elisabeth et al, 1992)This treaty brought about in the form of a legal framework described measures to keep the Antarctic region under a system of good governance. Apart from the find of energy resources, some of the other issues which affected the politics of the region were illegal fishing and unregulated tourism. The Antarctic Treaty system is also taking measures to control the prominence of illegal fishing menace since these areas fall outside the ambit of any one particular country law. Source: www.archivegreenpeace.org, 1990, crew of the Kyo-maru pulls a Minke whale toward its port side Two notable measures adopted were the Agreed Measure for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora in 1964 and the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) established in 1982. The CCAMLR has sought to curb the illegal fishing of species like Patagonian tooth fish and ice fish. The other cause of concern is that unregulated tourism to this region has disturbed the eco balance of this region. In 2007-2008 , it was estimated that 50,000 people visited this areas like the Punta Arenas and Stanley near the Faulkland islands. (Elzinga Aant, 1993) Illegal whaling off the Antarctic coast although monitored by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has not been able to contain this

Industrialisation pattern in Australia

Industrialisation pattern in Australia Much of the pattern of industrialisation in Australia was focused on unlocking the abundances of natural resources that lay in the country and using it to fuel an economic development. The pattern of industrialisation in many countries tends to begin with exploiting the inorganic sources of energy, which Australia had a certain amount of in coal. Secondly, the next requirement was for an extensive labour force which the post-war immigration programme supplied. Finally, it required a certain amount of infrastructure, which in a country as geographically vast as Australia proved to be a vital element. Following the Great Depression of the 1920s and the poor growth of the 1930s that culminated in the Second World War, the stage was set for Australia to create an economic boom that lasted through the 1960s and much of the 1970s. Japan emerged as the primary market for Australian exports, replacing Britain as the major market, and the stage seemed set for increased growth. However, as wil l be seen, the sustainability of this economic growth is in question and problems were only narrowly avoided by the development of service-led industries in the 1990s. Following the Second World War, new financial institutions were created in Australia to attempt to alleviate the troubles from before the 1940s. Before the First World War, the bulk of investment in Australia had come from private British Investors through specialised investment banks. However, by the 1930s, confidence had fallen and very little capital flowed into Australia leaving a dearth in investment. However, after 1945 the international price for primary products increased substantially setting the market-driven context for Australian growth. In 1945 Australia was not well integrated in the Asia-Pacific region, and this meant the country initially looked towards Britain and the USA in the first instance. However, after achieving independence in 1952, Japanese industrial output increased, as a result of it holding a significant amount of manufacturing capability as a result of its output during the war. This provided Australia with a significantly closer market for its raw mate rials and thus helped fuel the continued development of its mining and refining industries. International capital was at its highest, the population influx provided a burgeoning increase in the market and the stage appeared to be set for continued and sustained economic growth. The difficult with establishing the success of Australian economic growth tends to lie with the contrast of the enormous success of the initial years with the steady decline of later years. Not only did the real economic growth of Australia steadily decline, from 6.4% in 1950-4 to 2.6% in 1875-79, its share of World economic growth steadily declined in this period. Australias share of World Trade declined throughout this period from 2.8% in 1950 to 1.5% in 1972. This suggested that the foundation of the long boom was unsustainable in the long run. It has been argued that smaller countries need to rely heavily on a balance of trade, and Australia is the only small economy in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that is not a heavy trader and in fact is the third most closed economy. There was a decline in investment in Australian manufacturing in the late 1960s, and the share of total employment fell from 22.8% in 1974 to 17.8%. In the early 1990s, Austral ia experienced a recession with 11% unemployment. From the criteria that successful industrialisation should lay the foundation for sustained growth in the future, or at least relative sustained growth (i.e. increased growth relative to other countries), the Australian industrialisation has not been particularly successful. The reconstruction of the international economy following the 25 years after 1945 provided an important stimulus to economic growth that many nations took advantage of. Australia responded by undergoing a significant industrial revolution. However, it only held a relative advantage that gave it a great starting point. Increased migration, improved infrastructure and inflows of foreign development led to a vast increase in industrial output both in the supply of raw materials and in the creation of a manufacturing base in the country. However, the growth was not sustained and was reliant upon other countries sustaining their imports of Australian goods which was a poor foundation as was exposed after 1973. Nevertheless, Australia had created a secure welfare state, sustained an increased immigration policy and was able to adapt to the challenges with which it was presented. The growth in service industries in the 1990s lay upon the basis of a strong industrial base, and thus it can ha rdly be said that industrialisation was in any way a disaster. Therefore it can be concluded that Australia was relatively successful in industrialising between 1950 and 1973 it was not as successful as it could have been when viewed retrospectively, but it certainly made itself into an industrialised nation with great prospects for sustaining economic growth into the future.

Defining Modernism Essay -- Definition Essays

Defining Modernism Modernism described as movement in arts would best be described as a movement that was used to unit America after a period of crisis, it did this by it being centered on explorations into the spiritual nature of men and the value of his society and institutions. In a way it was like realism they too focused on the changes on society. The modernistic writers always wrote in a very formal defined form. Modernism also played a very important role as a movement in poetry. The way modernism did this was it brought so much more opportunity to the poet as a way of writing. The poet is now able to express themselves in new ways. If it was not for modernism who knows if we would be talking about the works of Emily Dickinson today, after all it was modernism that got her ...

Mr collins proposal to elizabeth Essay

How does Austen use humour to portray Mr Collins and his proposal? Austen presents Mr Collins to be the most unwillingly comical character in the whole novel through his extreme idiocy and pomposity. From Austen’s description of Mr Collins it is clear that he is self satisfied, proud and serious. â€Å"Mingling with a very good opinion of himself, of his authority as a clergyman†. This shows that although Mr Collins isn’t in a extremely high position in society he is proud of who he is and perhaps thinks himself to be more important than what he is in reality. In terms of physical appearance, Mr Collins is shorter than Darcy which could suggest that he has a weaker chance of marrying Elizabeth, as Darcy is more powerful and serious. Mr Collins isn’t presented as a purposely comical character, but rather the opposite, he is always serious in every situation and is often blinded by his own ego to see that people often mock him. Mr Collin’s proposal to Elizabeth is one of the most humorous points in the novel, which reflects his personality due to the fact that Austen presents it in a ironically humorous way. The first instance of irony is that Collins mistakes Elizabeth’s unwillingness to be left in the room alone with himself as ‘modesty’ and shyness when in actual fact she Just finds the whole situation uncomfortable. Another example of irony is when Mr Collins assumes that all young ‘modest’ girls refuse a proposal from men that they intend to accept, â€Å"l know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application†, and so takes Elizabeth’s refusal speech as encouragement and continues to persuade her with his literate proposal. This highlights how clueless and arrogant Mr Collins is as he has the audacity to continue with his proposal ignoring all sense of ridiculousness, and in a way patronises Elizabeth as he suggests that he knows how all young ladies act, and doesn’t take her response seriously which reinforces how unromantic and scripted the proposal is. The words â€Å"your sex† indicate how domineering men were at the time, and he almost contradicts himself as earlier he states that he singled Elizabeth out, but then however goes on to group the whole â€Å"sex† together suggesting that omen are all exactly the same. Mr Collins speaks of passion and love for Elizabeth as though he is reading a list or quoting something. The proposal is clearly unromantic and literate when Mr Collins begins listing his reasons for wanting to marry. â€Å"My reasons for marrying are, first that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish, secondly,†. This shows that marriage for Mr Collins is simply a convenience rather than emotion, opposed to Elizabeth who elieves marriage is based on true love, and so his proposal becomes even more un realistic and comical as their views are so different. The line â€Å"for coming into Hertfordshire with the design of selecting a wife† suggests that Mr Collins created a plan for his proposal before hand, and suggests that he chose Elizabeth purely shows the dominance of men at the time as women were almost like a prize that they selected. Although Mr Collins is trying to convince Elizabeth into marriage, he suggests that she ‘almost’ his first choice when in actual fact he had planned to arry Jane. In contrast to this, he then goes on to say â€Å"but before I am run away with by my feelings on this subject†. This makes the situation more humorous as Mr Collins is clearly contradicting and humiliating himself as his earlier actions show that his need for marriage is not based on ‘feelings’ and that he may not have any romantic feelings towards Elizabeth at all. Elizabeth’s reaction to Mr Collins reaction is perhaps what makes the whole situation more humorous. Firstly, she does the unthinkable and refuses him, â€Å"l am perfectly erious in my refusal†, which would have been out of the ordinary and frowned upon in society at the time. The word â€Å"serious† shows how independent she is which was strange at the time as women were almost in possession of a man and you were only as good as the man you married. Strangely, Elizabeth finds the whole situation humorous, and slightly entertaining as he is so pompous and self- righteous that she cant help but laugh. â€Å"Made Elizabeth so near laughing that she could not use the short pause he allowed her to stop him further†. Instead of stopping Mr Collins, she inds the whole situation overly awkward as she is aware of the total incompatibility of each other, in comparison to Mr Collins who is totally unaware of the fact that he looks ridiculous and so continues, hoping to impress Elizabeth. As Mr Collins continues on, Elizabeth begins to get frustrated as she tried to subtly suggest that his idea of marriage would never work, however Mr Collins stays persistent. â€Å"It was absolutely necessary to interrupt him now’. This is humorous as it shows how self obsessed Mr collins is as he thinks of himself too highly and believes that he is orthy of every woman, which is why he is so shocked when Elizabeth assures him that she is rejecting his proposal. â€Å"l am persuaded that when sanctioned by the express authority of both your excellent parents, my proposals will not fail of being acceptable†. The reader may petty or sympathise with Mr Collins as his inability to understand and pride could pass off to be innocence, which suggests he has no idea on the matter of marriage and love even though he speaks like he does. Mr Collins often elaborates in situations thinking himself to be the epitome of elegance, in ontrast to Elizabeth who stays silent and offers mere responses to his proposal. This is humorous as it highlights how shocked Elizabeth is at Mr Collins arrogance and reinforces their total incompatibility. To conclude, Austen successfully portrays a humorous scene which reflects the unwillingly comical character of Mr Collins. She does this using ironic humour, and in particular makes Elizabeth’s response to the situation much less elaborate than the proposal itself, which shows how idiotic and narrow minded she views Mr Collins to be.

American Criminal Justice Systems and Functions

Criminal justice is the system of legislation, practices and institutions used by the federal, state and local governments to maintain social order by controlling crime and punishing those who violate the set laws with criminal penalties. In the past, the society had their own ways in which they controlled behavior of individuals and groups so that social order would be achieved. Most societies were controlled by norms, beliefs and values which ensured every individual or group confirmed to the societal set values. The indigenous societies sanctioned the members who did not conform to the societal values and norms.Type of sanction differed from society to society. In some societies, those who violated societal values by engaging in criminal and deviant behavior, for instance, rape, the individual in most societies was perceived as bad omen and the sanction included communication from society or burning the person into ashes. The sanctions encouraged conformity in the society (Cole, 1 999). In the modern times, norms still control behavior in some societies by immigration and intercultural interactions have limited the behavior control through norms.America in particular is inhabited by people from different nationalities and cultures and therefore becomes the ideal control tool for crime. American Criminal Justice systems present a uniform system that control behavior of individuals regardless of race, religion, culture or ethnic group and hence assist in maintaining social order in the American society. The Criminal justice policy in the United States has been guided by the 1967 president’s commission on law enforcement and administration of Justice which issued initial report† the challenge of crime in a free society.† The commission advocated a â€Å"systems† approach to criminal justice. The President’s commission defined criminal justice system as the means for society to â€Å"enforce the standards of conduct necessary to protect individuals and the community† (Cochranc, Melville and Marsh, 2004; Feinman, 1994) In America, the law enforcement agencies include police prosecutors, courts, defense attorney and corrections which are concerned with arrest, charging adjudication and punishment of those found guilty hence maintaining social order.In the ancient time, especially in the Middle Ages, common forms of punishments included exile, payment to victim in case of violent crimes, lack of payment attracted harsh penalties like corporal punishment in form of mutilation, flogging and sometimes execution. The present criminal justice systems try to ensure fairness and justice. Past data indicate that the society in US did not respect police as law enforcers until 1920. s when the police adopted new technology and placed emphasis on community policing following urban unrest.Introduction of comp stat in 1990s, in the police departments has assisted the police to track criminals and the criminal justice system hold police responsible for dealing with crime problems. The interaction between the police and the community through community policing has assisted in tracking criminals. Criminal law in America involves persecution of an individual by the government for committing an act that has been classified as a crime. Most crimes in the United States are established by local state and federal government.In a criminal case, the state through a prosecutor initiates the law suit and the offender jailed authorized to pay a fine or both. In American Justice System, crime may be classified as felony or misdemeanor. Felony includes serious offences like rape and murder which attract one or more year’s imprisonment. Misdemeanors include such crimes like petty theft which attract less than a year imprisonment as a way of correction. However, before any act is considered crime, it has to be established by statute or common law (Walker, 1993).Scholars have contributed a lot in the Ameri can Criminal justice system. Scholars through providing courses in criminology and psychology assist in explaining why some individuals engage in criminal behavior and classify different types of crimes like organized crime, white-color crime and juvenile crime. Sociologists have put forward classical conflict and positivist theories that explain why crime occurs and give remedies on how to curb the crimes and control further c criminal cases in the society. In America, crime is defined, classified, graded prohibited and punishable by the state.Criminal law in America is distinguished from all other kinds of law because it carries it the moral condemnation of all society. All crimes are an injury against the society because the society as a whole through its legislatures has made of collective judgment that certain behaviors are harmful to the societal interests’ (Walker, 1993) In the recent past, there have been occurrences of violent crimes which have promoted the governmen t to revise and classify c criminal acts. American legislature has classified the crimes in different categories and they attract different punishments.Treason, sedition and espionage are crimes that are committed against the state. The crimes indicate non-patriotism of the offenders and the government controls such crimes for the protection of natural security. Most offenders who are found guilty of the offence receive heavy punishment, for instance, corporal punishment which may include execution depending on the intensity of the offence. Murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, assault and battery are crimes that are committed against persons. These crimes too fall under felony and the state ensures there is societal order and uniformity.The state punishes the offenders with the objective of protecting the persons against violence. Burglary, arson and home invasion are classified as crimes against habitation with the aim of protecting the safety and security of one’s home. The crimes too are considered felony and must be discouraged to ensure harmony in the society (Cole, 1999; Parker, 2006; Cochranc, Melville and Marsh 2004). Theft, larceny, robbery, vandalism, forgery, extortion, fraud and embezzlement are classified as crimes against property and are controlled to protect private property. Protection of property ensures there is harmony and order in the society.Disorderly conduct vagrancy, incitement too riot, motor vehicle offences and alcohol and drugs are classified as crimes against public order and are controlled to protect public peace, order and safety. Resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, bribery, escape and contempt of court are classified as crimes against administration of justice by legislature and are controlled to preserve honesty and efficiency of public administration. Prostitution, sodomy, obscenity, incest, indecent exposure, gambling alcohol and drugs are classified as crimes against public morals and they area controlled to ensure tradition morality is maintained.This will ensure that the society is morally upright. Bestiality and animal abuse are crimes against nature and the crime is regulated to maintain public health. Pollution, fishing and hunting, smoking and toxic waste dumping in America are crimes against environment and the state regulate them to preserve public health and natural environment. All crimes in US are â€Å"owned’ by the state which does prosecution in its own name to maintain societal order and harmony. Police are the first grouped the offender encounter first in criminal justice system (Walker, 1993; Cole, 1999). The police do investigation and arrest the offender.After the arrest the criminal is taken to court where justice is administered through court ruling. A prosecutor who acts on behalf of state then makes accusation of the individual against the state in criminals’ proceedings. The offender through his/her attorney can justify his innocence before a judg e or panel of judges or jury. In America, plea bargaining is allowed where the accused is given reduced punishment when he pleads guilty. In some cases, the justice system in America like any other justice system is prone to bias discrimination which is a threat to objective decision.After the curt ruling the offender is turned to correctional authorities when found guilty (Walker, 1993; Cole, 1999). In America, prisons are meant to reform criminals hence viewed as the best correctional authority. In America, the offenders may be required some set amount of fine to be set free or in conjunction with imprisonment. In the recent past, probation has become common where the individual mobility is limited together with opportunity to commit a crime while in prison; the prisoners are equipped with various manual skills that will assist then to live a productive life after prison.Also, there are other prisons where the prisoners are given religious ethics to assist them reform positively. Death penalty in America is rarely administered as many activists have argued that it violates the human rights of the criminals. American court system is based on English statutes. In the court, four groups are involved in criminal case proceeding. These include the offender, prosecutor, judge or panel or judges or jury and the attorney. American legislature is responsible for enacting statutes, for example criminal law which govern conduct of individuals, groups or organization.American court system is governed by rules of procedure. The criminal cases in the court require special contribution safeguards for the accused. In a criminal case, the party that brings a case is called the prosecutors and the person sued is called defendant. The American legal system allow defendant to be represented by a lawyer who should protect the interests of the person. If one cannot afford a lawyer, the state provides a lawyer. A jury in American court system listens to the evidence and determines the outcome based on substantive law as instructed by a judge.The judge in American court system acts as a reference by enforcing the rules and explaining the applicable law. Criminal court system in America is on top of the thirteen individual state judicial systems. The American constitution contains very little about criminal law. Criminal law is the collection of rules that identifies behavior that is condemned by the government with the aim of protecting the health and safety of American citizens and the state punishments with violation of the set rules (Feinman 1994; Parker, 2006). American criminal justice system is sometimes viewed to be unfair.Some cases of unfairness are genuine especially when there is discrimination based on race, religion and ethnic group. However, some cases of unfairness are based on misconception or due to conflict of law criminal. Most criminal defendants are not incarcerated for their crimes, not because the state lack resources to finance impriso nment, but because their offences are not insufficiently serious to warn imprisonment. Most crimes are directly related to lack of education, homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, lack of proper parenting as opposed to evil motive.Therefore many judges, defense attorney and police officers are aware of the cause unless they are new in the career. However, American criminal justice advocate for constitution follow-up (Cole, 1999; Cochranc, Melville and Marsh, 2004). Judges in criminal cases act universally in a conservative manner. This means that most judges will not risk political fall out or destruction of their professional career for the sake of safeguarding individual defendant’s rights. Conservative ruling usually involves following constitution and state statute. It may also be based on public policy over settled constitutional and statutory law (Walker, 1993).In the American criminal justice system, it has been noted that 90% of criminals pl ead guilty hence trials are rare. Prosecutors in the criminal justice system represent the state and not individuals together with the judges. But judges represent the state in a different capacity from the prosecutor. Defense attorney represent the defendant rights. Jury is known to represent the people hence prosecutors prefer trial –by judge while defense attorney prefer trial by – jury (Cole, 1999; Parker, 2006) In conclusion, American criminal justice system is controlled by the American constitution and differs in the various states.The system is mainly meant to maintain order in society. References Cochrane, J. , Melville, G. , & Marsh, I. (2004). Criminal Justice: An Introduction to Philosophies, Theories and Practice. London: Routledge. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=108764949 Cole, D. (1999). Discrimination and Denial: Systemic Racism in Ontario's Legal and Criminal Justice System, 1892-1961. Canadi an Journal of Criminology, 41(3), 428. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5001287719 Feinman, C. (1994). Women in the Criminal Justice System (3rd ed.). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=15255576 Parker, M. (2006). Asphalt Justice: A Critique of the Criminal Justice System in America. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 37(3), 479+. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5016038470 Walker, S. (1993). Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice, 1950-1990. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=97471694