Now Reading #7

[Ianus]

Science and Technology in World History - An Introduction

Sollte eigentlich flankierend zu Brechts unsäglichem "Leben des Gallilei" gelesen werden. Nett, da es auch die Schritte zur industriellen Revolution erwähnt, wie die Holzknappheit, eine weitere Umstellung der Landbewirschaftung, den Innovationszirkel, der sich zwischen verschiedenen Teilen der Wirtschaft bildete und Watts sehr gutes Geschäftsmodell, dass die Verbreitung seiner Dampfmaschine wesentlich förderte.

Oh, und die Römer sind Barbaren. Das Kapitel über den römischen Beitrag behandelt eigentlich nur den Abstieg der griechischen Wissenschaft durch schlechte soziale Bedienungen für Wissenschaftler und deutet zumindest an, dass die Römer neben den Erfindern, Erhaltern und Pflegern des Bürgerrechts auch religiöse Spinner gewesen sind.

[MaxikingWolke22]

Alex and Me



Umwerfendes Buch, das darüber berichtet, wie innerhalb von 31 Jahren ein einziger Vogel in der Lage ist, durch extreme geistige und sprachliche Leistungen perfekt mit Menschen zu kommunizieren, und die Verhaltensforschung und die Abgrenzung zwischen Mensch und Tier vollkommen auf den Kopf zu stellen.

Then one day in December 1980 when Kathy Davidson took him to the washroom, Alex seemed really to notice the mirror for the first time. He turned to look right into it, cocked his head back and forth a few times to get a fuller look, and said, "What's that?"
"That's you," Kathy answered. "You're a parrot."
Alex looked some more and then said, "What color?"
Kathy said, "Gray. You're a gray parrot, Alex." The two of them went through that sequence a couple more times. And that's how Alex learned the color gray.
We don't know what else Alex learned from the mirror that day, what thoughts were in his mind as he saw his reflection in the mirror. But it did mean that formal mirror tests were now impossible.

-Irene M. Pepperberg, Alex & Me, Harper 2008, p. 97

...

I asked Barbara if she would look in on Alex and the students while I was gone. She said she would be delighted. [...] Here's how she described the encounter:

I was an experienced bird handler and I thought it would be a simple matter.
I arrive at the lab early in the afternoon to find Alex happily destroying an old wooden cabinet while the students sat helplessly in chairs a few feet away.
Hi Alex. How's it going?
-I want walnut, he declared in his charming sing-song voice.
Alex, I said gently, you eat too many nuts. Irene said to offer you fruit if you started asking for treats. How about a grape?
-I want walnut.
No walnuts. How about some banana?
-I want walnut!
Okay, just one.
I removed one walnut piece from a metal tin and held it in my outstrechted hand. Alex deftly reached over and took it. He nibbled it, eating tiny pieces until it was all gone except for some telltale crumbs at the sides of his beack.
-I want walnut.
No, you just had one. How about a grape?
I sensed trouble ahead.
-I want water.
That's a good idea, Alex.
I held out his small white plastic cup. Alex drank two sips, then pulled the cup from my hand and contemptuously tossed it on the floor.

-Irene M. Pepperberg, Alex & Me, Harper 2008, p. 100 ff.

...

Desweiteren benennt er Äpfel selbstständig "Banerry", da sie in Größe und Geschmack Bananen ähneln, aber rot wie Kirschen sind.
Und er hat beispielsweise erkannt, dass "I'm sorry" hilfreich ist, wenn man Situationen entschärfen will.