Definition of an interface

The blog is dedicated to displaying my personal areas of interest in science and technology, under a particular type of classification, based on interfaces between scientific domains, technology fields ar merely physical world aspects.

An academic definition of the word "interface" can be found here. What I focus on in the meaning of word interface are the "boundary surface" aspect as well as the "communication or interaction" aspects.

Let's have some examples of "interfaces" I'd like to explore in this blog.

• science / technology - those two domains have a common aspect, which is the manifestation of human knowledge and intellect. However, just like two phases of chemical a substance, there are very different laws governing each of them. Science and scientists are driven by the knowledge, understanding and explanantion of the (physical, social, economic ...) world in which we live, while technology and 'techies' are bent upon acting and modeling the world to their needs, views or ambitions. But here comes into play the 'communication' and 'cooperation' meaning of interface : for science to become ever more knowledgeable, complex measurement and observation tools need to be built (like the electron microscope or the LHC); these require a great deal of technology effort. Also, science needs to rely on complex social structures and organization to provide an environment for the most talented scientists to fulfill their goals. On the other hand, complex technical realizations are upon rigourous fundamental-science studies and theories. And the social hierarchy and structures ( companies, NGOs, governments, teams ) benefit from the development of social sciences.

So, basically what characterizes an "interface" is

1. two domains of equivalent importance that share some common aspect
   
2. very distinct laws that govern the cores of the two domains
3. a vague, changing, ambiguous frontier between the domains
4. a continuous give-and-take exchange, communication between them

Other examples:

• social sciences / exact sciences

• formal sciences / natural sciences

• technical language / commercial language

• technical innovation / commercial innovation

Within the technology branch:

• rotational motion / translational motion

• air / water (or gas / liquid)

• software / hardware

• digital / analog

• mechanical / electrical

Within sciences :

• biology / chemistry
  

• chemistry / physics