Volume XIV – Nature and civilisation
The volume includes the lectures and introductions to discussions presented at the Studium Generale seminar in the academic year 2008/2009. This volume focuses on the idea of interdisciplinarity, understood as a manifestation of reflection and striving to find universal laws in various fields of knowledge, and creating connections between them to show the unity of the world. This idea is connected to the idea of symmetry, which is the key to understanding structures and processes occurring in nature, and art made by humans as well. This is because symmetry determines the direction of the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to the emergence of life.
The subject matter of the papers covers natural and civilization-related issues. The topics in the first section about nature – the development of inanimate matter associated and the phenomenon of life – are ordered in accordance with the direction of evolution. In addition, this volume presents the latest research results that show the complexity of the functioning of the nervous and visual systems in humans. Furthermore, micro-and macro-processes related to cognition, learning, and memory are discussed.
The second section covers issues concerning civilization – from ancient Egypt to modern civilisation, related to the development of cities, telecommunications, science (nano-structures), and the history of teaching. There are also references to anniversary events (the work of Juliusz Słowacki), and problems related to literary translations.
