North Devon College

Abstract: The value of the recently emerging role of the lecturer/practitioner (LP) in nursing is examined by reflecting on the experience of the authors. Within the evolutionary development of nursing education there appears to be separate branchings into theory and practice. Much effort has been spent on trying to lessen this so called theory-practice gap. Examination and reflection with reference to the LP led to the conclusion that there is a paradoxical nature to nursing. The whole which is nursing comprises of seemingly incongruent aspects, theory and practice which can be integrated. This paper argues that nursing knowledge is complementary in nature. It consists of 'knowing how' and 'knowing that'. These two aspects cannot exist independently but are integrated through practice. It is experience and reflection that integrate these through the embodiment of the LP. It is within this context that the evolution of the role of the LP is reviewed from a theoretical and historical perspective.

Abstract: A new surface-sampling technique for unconsolidated sands on aeolian dunes is introduced and analyzed in terms of an elementary mathematical model. The sampling bias inherent to the technique is modeled using a simple geometric argument. This shows that samples drawn from 2D slices of a 3D population are naturally biased toward larger sand grains, with the nth moment of the surface (2D) distribution proportional to the (n+1)th moment of the bulk (3D) distribution. Laboratory tests of the sampling technique allow an empirical relation for the sampling bias to be determined, and comparison shows the model and empirical relations to be in close agreement for the particular population distributions considered. Possible corrections to the model, as suggested by the empirical analysis, are also discussed.

Abstract: In 1840, Thomas Fowler, a self-taught English mathematician and inventor, created a unique ternary calculating machine. Recently, all detail of this machine was lost. A research project begun in 1997, uncovered sufficient information to enable the recreation of a physical concept model of Fowler's machine. The next step is to create a historically accurate replica.