David Horowitz is an idiot. Granted, anyone with any sense has known this for a good while now, but now we can prove it with SCIENCE!!! Well, political science– Inside Higher Ed reports on a study of student political views that finds that liberal faculty make no real difference: One of the key arguments made… Continue reading So Much for Faculty Indoctrination
Month: March 2008
Matthew Hughes, Majestrum [Library of Babel]
Matthew Hughes’s Majestrum is part of a linked series of novels and stories set in a distant future in which the rational rules of logic and science governing our universe are beginning to weaken and give way toa new age goverened by “sympathetic association,” better known as magic. He’s been writing these for a while,… Continue reading Matthew Hughes, Majestrum [Library of Babel]
Paul Melko, Singularity’s Ring [Library of Babel]
I tried to get a copy of this at Boskone, but Larry Smith’s whole stock sold out on Friday, before I hit the dealer’s room at all. I’m not sure how many copies there were originally, but Melko was doing the Happy Dance at the Tor party, and deservedly so. I had to wait to… Continue reading Paul Melko, Singularity’s Ring [Library of Babel]
Mysteries of Tenure
Timothy Burke has a typically excellent post about the problems with academic tenure. Not the usual “It’s an abomination that prevents that Magic Power of the Market from working its wonders” complaint from outside, but problems from the academic side: Oso Raro and Tenured Radical underline one of the biggest problems with the tenure system… Continue reading Mysteries of Tenure
Matthew Jarpe, Radio Freefall [Library of Babel]
Returning to logging the books next to my computer in the order in which they were read, Matthew Jarpe’s Radio Freefall was one of the few books I picked up at Boskone (I think I got Larry Smith’s last copy). I read most of it during our trip to DC a little while back, and… Continue reading Matthew Jarpe, Radio Freefall [Library of Babel]
Paul Shirley, Can I Keep My Jersey? [Library of Babel]
It’s been ages since I did a booklog post here. I’ve been reading lots of stuff, I just haven’t been blogging it. I really should do something about the books in the stack by my computer, though, so I’m going to try to write a short post about each, and then shelve them before they… Continue reading Paul Shirley, Can I Keep My Jersey? [Library of Babel]
Basketball Isn’t Broken
Dick Vitale is yapping about changing the rules of college basketball again, undeterred by the fact that the last time they listened to him it was an unmitigated disaster (the season or two when they replaced the alternating possession on a held ball with a “ties go to the defense” rule that proved totally unworkable).… Continue reading Basketball Isn’t Broken
Chain, Chain, Chain… Chain of Valves
Here’s a picture of the gas-handling line leading to the discharge region seen in the plasma post: How many valves can you count in that picture? If you said “seven,” give yourself a pat on the back. Here’s the same picture with the valves numbered for your convenience:
You’ve Got to Have Money to Learn Math
EurekAlert provides the latest dispatch from the class war, the the form of a release headlined ” Family wealth may explain differences in test scores in school-age children“: The researchers found a marked disparity in family wealth between Black and White families with young children, with White families owning more than 10 times as many… Continue reading You’ve Got to Have Money to Learn Math
Lab Porn: Plasma!
A couple more pretty pictures of the apparatus, to pass the time: This is the plasma discharge source that we use to make metastable atoms. We excite the gas using a RF coil (under the tinfoil) with a couple of watts of power at 145 MHz (local ham radio people must love me…), which creates… Continue reading Lab Porn: Plasma!