Aristotle's Four Causes in Science

Aristotle identified

MATERIAL CAUSES, what something is made of;

FORMAL CAUSES, the structure of the thing or phenomenon;

EFFICIENT CAUSES, the immediate activity producing a phenomenon or object;

and FINAL CAUSES, the purpose of whatever object we are investigating.

For example, let's say we want to investigate the "causes" of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Its material cause would be encompassed by a description of the physical materials that went into its construction.

The formal cause is the fact that it is a bridge across a stretch of water, and not either a random assembly of pieces or another kind of orderly structure (such as a skyscraper).

The efficient causes were the blueprints drawn by engineers and the labor of men and machines that actually assembled the physical materials and put them into place.

The final cause of the Brooklyn Bridge was the necessity for people to walk and ride between two landmasses without getting wet.

Is this process applicable to the invention of a mobility frontier say for the California High Speed Ground Transportation project?

WORLD TRADE -- USA SUBSIDIZATION

The heaviest sanctions in the history of the World Trade Organization - up to $4 billion - could be imposed against the US depending on how the former chooses to implement the tax ruling it issued Monday, reports said. The decision, long sought by the European Union, found that the US policy of allowing Microsoft, Boeing, Eastman Kodak, and other exporters to exempt 30 percent of income earned overseas constitutes an illegal subsidy. Unless the policy is ended, which the Bush administration has not said it is prepared to do, the ruling opens the way for the EU to impose the sanctions beginning in April. The Financial Times reported, however, that the WTO is unlikely to agree to the full $4 billion sought by the Europeans.

HEART OF SEOUL'S NEW AIRPORT

"The new Transportation Centre .. with trains converging at different levels — metro, standard and high-speed trains ... and an overhead monorail going direct to local hotels and conference facilities."

THE LOCATION AND DESIGN OF INTERMODAL STATIONS FOR A HIGH SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Final Report Executive Summary

ART AND HAND

Martin Fuller on Architecture

California to Number Exits on Freeways

Imagine California ceding to national motoring convenience! Is this Caltrans abdication or what?

So here we are as local state citizens paying for Caltrans wisdom again!