- Oct 2024
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ashby.info ashby.info
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https://ashby.info/journal/index.html
Note that the URL http://www.rossashby.info/index.html has moved.
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forum.zettelkasten.de forum.zettelkasten.de
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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forum.zettelkasten.de forum.zettelkasten.de
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discord.com discord.com
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I'm trying to find sources discussing Zettelkasten being used for research in natural sciences (for me most directly relevant is medical research). Does anyone know of any good sources or starting points? My preliminary searches haven't really resulted in anything meaningful unfortunatly (The best I've found sofar is this ZK Forum thread https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/2415/zettelkaesten-in-the-fields-of-science-and-history)
reply to Signynt at https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293207926013427733
Does Carl Linnaeus' incarnation work? Isabelle Charmantier and Staffan Müller-Wille have a number of journal articles on his "invention" and use of index cards in his research and writing work. If you dig around you'll find references to Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz' use of index cards and the Arca Studiorum (Krajewski, MIT, 2011); Computer scientist Gerald Weinberg wrote Gerald M. Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method. New York, N.Y: Dorset House, 2005, which might appeal; you'll also find examples in physicist Mario Bunge, and, although he had a mixed practice of notebooks and index cards, W. Ross Ashby's collection of notes on complexity can be found at https://ashby.info/. Hundreds of other scientists and mathematicians had practices, though theirs typically fall under the heading of commonplace books (Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin, et al.) or as in the case of Isaac Newton and others the heading of "waste books". While looking at others' examples or reading about it may feel like it's going to get you somewhere (better?), having some blind faith and proceeding with your own practice is really the better way to go. Others have certainly done it. Generally it's far rarer for mathematicians, engineers, or scientists to write about their note making/methods so you're unlikely to find direct treatises the way you would for historians, sociologists, anthropologists, humanists, etc.
syndication link: https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293663556197417082
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