In hmolscience, David Weir (1947-) is an American comparative literature scholar noted, in literature thermodynamics, for his 2007 discussions of the 1890s thermodynamical theories of Henry Adams and Brooks Adams.
Overview
In 2007, Weir, in his Decadent Culture in the United States, situates the cyclical rises and falls of decadence in the United States at the turn of the 20th century in the context of American historian Brooks Adams 1895 theory of energy and entropy acting on civilization, in the form of expansions and contractions, as well as Henry Adams views on thermodynamics and civilization. [1]
Quotes | Cited
The following are quoted cited, discussed, and or analyzed by Weir:
“The theory proposed is based on the accepted scientific principle that the law of force and energy is of universal application in nature, and that animal life is one of the outlets through which solar energy is dissipated.”
— Adams (Henry or Brooks), cited by Weir (pg. 12)
“Probably the velocity of the social movement of any community is proportionate to its energy and mass, and its centralization is proportionate to its velocity; therefore, as human movement is accelerated, societies centralize. In the earlier stages of concentration, fear appears to be the channel through which energy finds the readiest outlet; accordingly, in primitive and scattered communities, the imagination is vivid, and the mental types produced are religious, military, artistic. As consolidation advances, fear yields to greed, and the economic organism tends to supersede the emotional and martial.”
— Adams (Henry or Brooks), cited by Weir (pg. 12)
Education
Weir presently is a comparative literature professor at Cooper Union, New York.
References
1. Weir, David. (2007). Decadent Culture in the United States: Art and Literature against the American Grain, 1890-1926 (pgs. 11-16). SUNY Press.
External links
● David Weir (academic) – Wikipedia.
