I’m pretty thoroughly disgusted with the string theory arguments at the moment, so I told myself I wasn’t going to say more about the subject. And then, they post a detailed explanation of what strings have to do with RHIC over at Backreaction…. Given my preference for layman-level science blogging over dense technical science blogging,… Continue reading I Keep Trying to Get Out, but They Keep Pulling Me Back In
Month: October 2006
Thoughts on the LHC and ILC
Back in late July, I got email from a writer for Physics World magazine (which is sort of the UK equivalent of Physics Today), asking my opinion on a few questions relating to particle physics funding. The basis for asking me (as opposed to, you know, a particle physicist) was presumably a post from April… Continue reading Thoughts on the LHC and ILC
Understanding vs. Mathematics
Over at Crooked Timber, Daniel picks up the Harry Collins thing I talked about last week, and asks an interesting question about the role of math: We don’t want to make “understanding the subject” mean “being able to do calculations about the subject”, unless we have some reason to believe that this is a necessary… Continue reading Understanding vs. Mathematics
Open Letter to Scientific Equipment Manufacturers
I know I have said this before, but it obviously didn’t take, so I’ll do it again. Allow me to explain a basic principle of economics. You make high-quality technical instruments. I am interested in getting my hands on some high-quality technical instruments. In fact, I am sufficiently interested that I will write grants to… Continue reading Open Letter to Scientific Equipment Manufacturers
This Is Your Blog on Slashdot
So, last week’s SAT Challenge rollout got picked up by Slashdot, which led to a great big spike in traffic. How big? Well, here’s a graph: “Big deal,” you say, “It’s not that big a spike.” Thing is, that’s a semi-log plot. The top of the spike represents almost a factor of twenty more visits… Continue reading This Is Your Blog on Slashdot
Le Morte de MacArthur
Having just posted an extremely cranky comment, I should compensate with something happy. So, , um… here: Jo Walton posted a poem about General MacArthur in Faerie. Because, as she puts it, “If the American Right think they own Churchill, I can definitely write about MacArthur in Faerieland.” The poem was commissioned as part of… Continue reading Le Morte de MacArthur
Life Imitates Blogging
We had a general faculty meeting today at work. As a general rule, I don’t talk about the details of internal campus politics, and I am not going to discuss the substance of the meeting here. The new SAT was brought up, though, and a couple of people made comments of the general form “Nobody… Continue reading Life Imitates Blogging
Lee Smolin, The Trouble With Physics
Lee Smolin’s The Trouble With Physics is probably the hot physics book of the year. Granted, that’s not saying very much, relative to whatever Oprah’s reading this week, but it’s led to no end of discussion among physics types. And also, frequently, the spectacle of people with Ph.D.’s squabbling like children, so reviewing it is… Continue reading Lee Smolin, The Trouble With Physics
The Hard Life of Science Journalists
In a weird example of synchronicity, Dr. Free-Ride posted about science journalism yesterday, and Inside Higher Ed offers a viewpoint piece by Michael Bugeja on the same topic this morning. You might almost think it was one of those “meme” things. They both agree that there’s a problem with science reporting, but come at the… Continue reading The Hard Life of Science Journalists
Nice Music Library, It’d Be a Pity If Anything Happened to It…
Henry Farrell thinks he sees a parallel between music critics and the Mafia: I think that there’s a similar problem in the relationship between music artists and music consumers, in which critics play a key brokerage role, just as the Mafia does in a rather different sphere of commercial relations. Critics serve to guarantee to… Continue reading Nice Music Library, It’d Be a Pity If Anything Happened to It…