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PubMed1967

The spread of Western science. A three-stage model describes the introduction of modern science into any non-European nation.

There is no need to summarize the features of this simplified model, which describes the manner in which modern science was transmitted to the lands beyond Western Europe. The graph of Fig. 1 and the examples drawn from science in various lands should have made them clear. It may be in order, however, to reiterate that there is nothing about the phases of my model that is cosmically or metaphysically necessary. I am satisfied if my attempt will interest others to go beyond my crude analysis and make a systematic investigation of the diffusion of Western science throughout the world. Such an investigation would include a comparative appraisal of the development of science in different national, cultural, and social settings and would mark the beginnings of truly comparative studies in the history and sociology of science. The present lack of comparative studies in these disciplines can be attributed to the widespread belief that science is strictly an international endeavor. In one sense this is true. As Sir Isaac Newton remarked in his Principia (49), "the descent of stones in Europe and in America" must both be explained by one set of physical laws. Yet, we cannot ignore the peculiar environment in which members of a national group of scientists are trained and carry on their research. While I do not hold with the Nazi theorists that science is a direct reflection of the racial or national spirit (50), neither do I accept Chekhov's dictum (51) that "there is no national science just as there is no national multiplication table. . . ." In emphasizing the international nature of scientific inquiry we have forgotten that science exists in a local social setting. If that setting does not decisively mold the conceptual growth of science, it can at least affect the number and types of individuals who are free to participate in the internal development of science. Perhaps the effect is more profound; only future scholarship can determine the depth of its influence.

Acculturation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Basic science and applied science].

A lecture was presented by the author at the Democratic Opinion Forum on Health Teaching and Research, organized by Mexico's National Health Institutes Coordinating Office, at National Cardiology Institute "Ignacio Chavez", where he presented a critical review of the conventional classification of basic and applied science, as well as his personal view on health science teaching and research. According to the author, "well-conducted science" is that "generating reality-checked knowledge" and "mis-conducted science" is that "unproductive or producing 'just lies' and 'non-fundable'. To support his views, the author reviews utilitarian and pejorative definitions of science, as well as those of committed and pure science, useful and useless science, and practical and esoterical science, as synonyms of applied and basic science. He also asserts that, in Mexico, "this classification has been used in the past to justify federal funding cutbacks to basic science, allegedly because it is not targeted at solving 'national problems' or because it was not relevant to priorities set in a given six-year political administration period". Regarding health education and research, the author asserts that the current academic programs are inefficient and ineffective; his proposal to tackle these problems is to carry out a solid scientific study, conducted by a multidisciplinary team of experts, "to design the scientific researcher curricula from recruitment of intelligent young people to retirement or death". Performance assessment of researchers would not be restricted to publication of papers, since "the quality of scientific work and contribution to the development of science is not reflected by the number of published papers". The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html

Science↗

PubMed2002

Caring science and the science of unitary human beings: a trans-theoretical discourse for nursing knowledge development.

BACKGROUND: Two dominant discourses in contemporary nursing theory and knowledge development have evolved over the past few decades, in part by unitary science views and caring theories. Rogers' science of unitary human beings (SUHB) represents the unitary directions in nursing. Caring theories and related caring science (CS) scholarship represent the other. These two contemporary initiatives have generated two parallel, often controversial, seemingly separate and unrelated, trees of knowledge for nursing science. AIM: This paper explores the evolution of CS and its intersection with SUHB that have emerged in contemporary nursing literature. We present a case for integration, convergence, and creative synthesis of CS with SUHB. A trans-theoretical, trans-disciplinary context emerges, allowing nursing to sustain its caring ethic and ontology, within a unitary science. METHODS: The authors critique and review the seminal, critical issues that have separated contemporary knowledge developments in CS and SUHB. Foundational issues of CS, and Watson's theory of transpersonal caring science (TCS), as a specific exemplar, are analysed, alongside parallel themes in SUHB. By examining hidden ethical-ontological and paradigmatic commonalities, trans-theoretical themes and connections are explored and revealed between TCS and SUHB. CONCLUSIONS: Through a creative synthesis of TCS and SUHB we explicate a distinct unitary view of human with a relational caring ontology and ethic that informs nursing as well as other sciences. The result: is a trans-theoretical, trans-disciplinary view for nursing knowledge development. Nursing's history has been to examine theoretical differences rather than commonalities. This trans-theoretical position moves nursing toward theoretical integration and creative synthesis, vs. separation, away from the 'Balkanization' of different theories. This initiative still maintains the integrity of different theories, while facilitating and inviting a new discourse for nursing science. The result: Unitary Caring Science that evokes both science and spirit.

Consciousness↗

PubMed2003

Community science: bridging the gap between science and practice with community-centered models.

A major goal of community science is to improve the quality of life in our communities by improving the quality of the practice of treatment, prevention, health promotion, and education. Community science is an interdisciplinary field, which develops and researches community-centered models that enable communities to use evidence-based interventions more effectively and efficiently. In this article, the gap between science and practice and the need to bridge the gap with new models serve as an entry point and guide to the development of a community science. Therefore, the article describes (1) the "prevention science" model of bringing science to practice, (2) why this model is necessary but not sufficient for influencing the quality of interventions in our everyday world, (3) the gap between science and practice and the need to integrate "prevention science" models with community-centered models in order to bridge the gap, and (4) features of community science.

Community Mental Health Services↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The structure of scientific knowledge. Science for knowledge and science for action].

Moving from the seminal contribution of Aristotele--according to whom science is not concerned with the what, neither with the how of reality, but with the why--the article emphasizes some characteristic features of a science: it must be rational, methodologically grounded, and it must have a specific object, depending on which many different sciences can be distinguished. An historical sketch of science is offered, as well as some recent contributions in the field of epistemology, in particular those of Carl R. Popper and of Thomas S. Kuhn. The case of Glottodidactics (Language Teaching)--which has been considered as a proper science only since a few years ago, and which has, since then, regular university courses--is very useful to study the difference between "sciences to know" and "sciences to do", and to outline the structure of an interdisciplinary science; this case--this is the author's claim--is quite similar to that of Nursing Science.

Humans↗

PubMed1997

Downsizing of basic science departments in U. S. medical schools: perceptions of their chairs. The National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs.

PURPOSE: To assess the status of basic science departments in academic health centers through a survey of department chairs. METHOD: In November 1995 the National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs developed a 35-item questionnaire that was sent to the presidents of the Caucus's six member associations, who distributed it to their medical school chairs. The questionnaire was sent to 90% of the basic science chairs; a total of 683 questionnaires were distributed. By April 1996, 59% (400/683) of the chairs responded. Preliminary tabulations were made by each association, and then all the questionnaires were sent to the Caucus chair for compilation and analysis. RESULTS: The chairs in all six basic science disciplines reported four basic trends. Reduction in staffing: Eleven percent of the chairs were in "acting" positions, temporarily filling vacancies that sometimes had not been filled for five years or more. There were 583 reported faculty vacancies, but active searches were under way for only 339 of these. The chairs reported the abolition of, on average, one faculty position per department between 1985 and 1995, but these losses were clustered in only a third of the schools; thus several departments had experienced extensive faculty depletion. Overall, there was a 10% attrition of basic science faculty. Restructuring of the basic sciences: In all, 22 disciplinary departments had merged between 1985 and 1995, and merger discussions were under way at another 9% of the departments. Seven percent of the chairs reported that their schools were considering a single, combined basic science department, but only one such unit exists so far. Graduate student recruitment had become solely interdisciplinary at 26% of the schools, had remained strictly departmental at another 44%, and was joint at the remaining 30%. The development of a non-research-based teaching track was being considered at a fourth of the reporting departments. New fiscal policies/professional stability: A salary incentive beyond the university contribution, to reward research funding, was in effect at 28% of the departments and under consideration by another 29%. For a junior faculty member who, at the time of tenure decision, lacked research grant support, termination was reported by almost a third of the chairs as being extremely likely; however, half of the chairs did not respond to this question. Changes in tenure: A fourth of the chairs reported that modifications of their school's tenure policies were under serious consideration; and almost three fourths felt that tenure had become more difficult to achieve. CONCLUSION: This survey reveals certain profound and disconcerting changes in the basic science departments of U.S. medical school. More studies are needed to see whether these trends continue. Further downsizing and merging of the basic sciences should be avoided in order to preserve the quality of medical education for future physicians as well as the quality of health care in the United States.

Curriculum↗

PubMed2003