Volume XVII – Cognition, cosmos, civilisation
The volume includes some of the lectures and introductions to discussions presented at the interdisciplinary seminar of professor Jan Mozrzymas’s Studium Generale in the academic year 2011/2012 concerning selected problems of cognition, Cosmos, and civilisation.
The first part covers issues related to the process of cognition. Since the times of Galileo, Newton, and Kepler the cognition of nature is carried out through experimental observations. Humans have been curious since the beginning of their history, and the answers to many of their questions are based on faith, so there is no way to verify them experimentally.
The second part of the volume is devoted to the issues of the Cosmos, the history of the origin of nebulae, dark matter and energy, and the dominant components of the Universe. This volume also describes the first astronomical observations made in ancient times, to which a response can be found in the poetry and prose of the period.
The third part discusses selected issues related to civilization. It mentions areas of Poland where shale gas occurs and presents the possibilities of its exploitation. The controversy of GMOs is referred to. The volume shows the possibilities of the surgery of the 21stcentury, e.g. slowing down the aging process and spinal cord regeneration. It touches upon the problem of urban development, taking into account the requirements of motorisation and the structural landscape of high buildings.
