National Science Foundation: Special Commission On W.M. - Weather and Climate Modificaton (1965)

 

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Twenty years ago General Electric Company scientists Irving Langmuir and Vincent Schaefer modified clouds by "seeding" them with dry ice pellets. Not long afterward Bernard Vonnegut, a co-worker, demonstrated that a smoke of silver iodide crystals would accomplish the same result. This was the beginning of the modern American history of weather and climate modification through cloud seeding. These American scientists on November 13, 1946, had verified experimentally the theory advanced in 1933 by the Swedish meteorologist, Tor Bergeron, and the German physicist, Walter Findeisen, that clouds would precipitate if they contained the right mixture of ice crystals and supercooled water drops. The Bergeron-Findeisen theory was antedated by the work of the Dutch scientist, August Veraart. The enthusiastic reports by Veraart of his 1930 experiments with dry ice and supercooled water-ice in Holland were not well received by the Dutch scientific community, and thus were given no serious consideration elsewhere. Weather and climate modification, or "rainmaking" (the more popular and also more restricted concept), is not new to our era or to our country. Many traditional societies, including the American Indians, have practiced some type of religious or ritualistic rainmaking. The ceremonials and rituals have varied from dousing holy men with water to burying children up to their necks in the ground in the hope that the gods would be sympathetic and drop tears from the heav ens. These ceremonies are not only to induce some form of desirable weather but also to reinforce the tribal religious beliefs and opinions which maintain social unity. Through ancient and modern times many methods have been proposed and attempted to induce or to aid rainfall. Two U. S. Government patents on methods of rainmaking were issued before the turn of the 20th century based, respectively, upon the production of carbon dioxide by expending "liquified carbonic acid gas" and upon concussion by the detonation of explosives. Interestingly enough the long since expired patent, based on the production of carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice, anticipated the cloud seeders of today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stanley Milgram - The Small-World Problem (1967)

 

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Milgram's experiment was conceived in an era when a number of independent threads were converging on the idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Michael Gurevich had conducted seminal work in his empirical study of the structure of social networks in his MIT doctoral dissertation under Pool. Mathematician Manfred Kochen, an Austrian who had been involved in statist urban design, extrapolated these empirical results in a mathematical manuscript, Contacts and Influences, concluding that, in an American-sized population without social structure, "it is practically certain that any two individuals can contact one another by means of at least two intermediaries. In a [socially] structured population it is less likely but still seems probable. And perhaps for the whole world's population, probably only one more bridging individual should be needed." They subsequently constructed Monte Carlo simulations based on Gurevich's data, which recognized that both weak and strong acquaintance links are needed to model social structure. The simulations, running on the slower computers of 1973, were limited, but still were able to predict that a more realistic three degrees of separation existed across the U.S. population, a value that foreshadowed the findings of Milgram.

Milgram revisited Gurevich's experiments in acquaintanceship networks when he conducted a highly publicized set of experiments beginning in 1967 at Harvard University. One of Milgram's most famous works is a study of obedience and authority, which is widely known as the Milgram Experiment.Milgram's earlier association with Pool and Kochen was the likely source of his interest in the increasing interconnectedness among human beings. Gurevich's interviews served as a basis for his small world experiments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tarde Gabriel - The Laws of Imitation (1890)

 

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According to Tarde, these laws of imitation are universal laws that apply not only to the social sciences but also to the natural sciences (the living world and physical phenomena). Thus imitation is the main element in social cohesiveness (there are two others: opposition and adaptation). Society is not defined by the economic criterion (or law) of utility (mutual exchange of services) and division of labour but by the criterion (or law) of imitation. It is made up of individuals who resemble each other because they imitate (or counter-imitate) each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus Schwab - The World Economic Forum: A Partner in Shaping History | The First 40 Years. (1971-2010)

 

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The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 marks the 40th year of the organization, which was founded in 1971 as the European Management Forum. In January that year, the first European Management Symposium was held in Davos, Switzerland. In 1987, the European Management Forum was renamed the World Economic Forum and the European Management Symposium became the Annual Meeting, reflecting the expansion of the Forum’s scope and focus.

Through the years, numerous business, government and civil society leaders have made their way to the Swiss Alpine resort, the perfect venue for a gathering to consider the major global issues of the day and to brainstorm on solutions to address these challenges. The Annual Meeting has also been a critical platform for furthering peace and reconciliation in many parts of the world, promoting understanding between East and West, introducing emerging economies such as China and India to the international community, and bringing to the forefront the latest trends and developments in every field – from information technology to global security, from architecture to philanthropy.

Davos has been a place where incipient changes in the world are first discerned and where ideas for changes that have shaken the world have been conceived or refined. What has never changed since its beginning is the Forum’s dedication to collaboration among stakeholders, the steadfast adherence to high-level participation of leaders sharing the Forum’s commitment to improving the state of the world, and the Forum’s trust in the power of dialogue and exchange based on mutual respect and civility to bridge divides and shape actionable solutions to global challenges. While many global institutions are notable for the breadth of nations or the powerful political leaders attending their gatherings, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting and indeed all the activities and initiatives of the Forum around the world are distinguished by the active participation of government, business and civil society figures, both the most experienced and the most promising, all working together in the collaborative and collegial Spirit of Davos. This book provides a year-by-year summary of the highlights of the four decades of the World Economic Forum. For the most part, it tells the Forum’s story through the eyes of its members, the participants in its activities, and its leadership, as well as through media reports. What is clear from this compilation of impressions, insights and memories is that the Forum has evolved from a modest yet groundbreaking attempt to bring European corporate managers and their stakeholders together to discuss business strategies into an organization that today is widely regarded as the world’s foremost multistakeholder platform for addressing the most pressing issues on the global agenda.

 

 

 

Thomas Frey - Unleashing the Future: Preparing for the Coming Tidal Wave of Disruption & Opportunity (date unknown)

 

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Slideshow / presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Thorpe - Trends in modeling, simulation & gaming: Personal Observations About the Past Thirty Years and Speculation About the Next Ten (2010)

 

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