abstracts (2006)

2006 November 17th at 5pm
Mirror Neurons and Extracellular Single Cell Recording
Feisal Ben Hassel

2006 October 20th at 5:30pm
Why was Chromatographic Analysis Initially Rejected?
Jonathan Livengood

In 1903, the Russian botanist M.S. Tswett discovered a chemical separation technique, which he called chromatographic adsorption analysis. Today, chromatography is a ubiquitous and instrumentally sophisticated chemical technique, but it was initially rejected by chemists and botanists. Not until 1931 did it begin to find a place in the research of prominent scientists. My talk provides an explanation of this rejection superior to those on offer in the (limited) existing literature. I will consider some of the chemical and botanical context of Tswett's discovery and analyze a protracted debate he carried on with a prominent chemist of the period: Leon Marchlewski. At the end of the talk, I will sketch some of the numerous areas of research still open in this area.

2006 October 6th at 4pm
Peter Gildenhuys

I plan to discuss my research in evolutionary theory, or to use a better name, selection theory. My dissertation project is a front-to-back explication of the theory as a set of rules that must be followed by those who would deploy the theory. I discuss three sorts of rules: the entrance rule for selection theory is a rule stating to what sorts of things the theory may be applied; the assessment rules of the theory state how to fix values for the variables of the theory; the exit rules are conditional or biconditional statements—the models of population genetics and Brandon's Principle of Natural Selection are examples—that allow the theorist to draw causal/explanatory inferences about the relative frequency of rival population members. The first two sorts of rules are stated by way of definitions, while the third are explicit rules of inference that clearly take the form of sentences.

I hope my presentation will devolve into a conversation. I will sketch the interesting and novel things I have to say about each of the aspects of selection theory just outlined, and then I will take questions from the audience. Audience members can direct me to discuss in more detail the aspects of my project they find interesting. I am most comfortable talking about the entrance rule and assessment rules; I have the least to say about the exit rules of the theory.

2006 March 17th at 5pm
Shamrocks: Science or Sham-Science?
Feisal Ben Hassel

About what? The topic of this WIP is about 'mirror neurons' (MN) and 'action understanding' in primates. One goal will be to clarify the notion of action understanding, instead of rejecting it, since the terminology of understanding is actually adopted by both primatologists and neurophysiogists. My main thesis is the following: The source of data on mirror neurons in monkeys is due to single cell recording. In order to understand better the functional role of mirror neurons (MN), one should not only look at the output of these neurons (if this could be even useful), but one should look at experiments involving or that would involve the whole organism and not only one single cell. I will rely on two kinds of studies : neuro-electrophysiology and primatology (animal psychology under certain conditions, namely to converge with data provided by ethology).