I’m giving the last lecture of new material in my intro E&M class today, on Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been struck again by the way our trimester system (three ten-week terms, instead of two 15-week semesters) is a lousy match for the standard curricula. Or even new… Continue reading Calendrical Mismatch
Month: June 2008
Tobias Buckell, Sly Mongoose [Library of Babel]
This is a review way in advance of the publication of the book– it’s not due until August, or thereabouts– but I got an advance copy of Tobias Buckell’s forthcoming Sly Mongoose, and read it at DAMOP. You might think this is an odd venue– wouldn’t the exhausting nature of the conference tend to make… Continue reading Tobias Buckell, Sly Mongoose [Library of Babel]
Our Long National Nightmare is Over
I’ve written my last lecture for the first-year E&M class, and will be giving it at 10:30 this morning. (Friday’s class will be given over to exam review). The spring term, which had felt like it would stretch into July, is basically over. Oh, and some guy won an election.
links for 2008-06-04
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Citibank to CC’s: Drop Dead A plea for a single-payer education system. (tags: academia economics US society class-war culture)
Science Festivals, Science Books, and Science Funding
The World Science Festival happened while I was at DAMOP (I missed getting to talk to Bill Phillips, because he left shortly after his talk to go to NYC), and by all reports it was a success– they claim 120,000 attendees on their web site, and sold more tickets than expected for several events, and… Continue reading Science Festivals, Science Books, and Science Funding
Run, Physicist, Run
Over at View from the Corner, Mary is planning to run the Chicago marathon, and raising money for charity in the process. Her charity is the Union League Boys and Girls Club, and it looks like they do some good stuff. If you’ve got some disposable income burning a hole in your pocket, and want… Continue reading Run, Physicist, Run
links for 2008-06-03
xkcd – A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language – By Randall Munroe “Six more weeks of winter.” (tags: kid-stuff silly comics) Stanford Law Drops Letter Grades :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s Source for News, Views and Jobs “Those who support the change at Stanford argue that shifting from the precision of… Continue reading links for 2008-06-03
DAMOP Wrap-Up
I thought about tacking this onto the end of the previous post, but decided it deserved a space of its own. So, how was the meeting on the whole? All in all, I thought it was a very good meeting. There wasn’t anything stunning and new in the talks that I saw– there were some… Continue reading DAMOP Wrap-Up
DAMOP Day 3
I’ll get to the much-delayed Friday summary shortly. But first, the Nerds of the Purple Cow: That picture (courtesy of Justin Brown) shows twelve of the thirteen Williams graduates attending this year’s DAMOP, in order of class year, from Paul Hess ’08 on the left (who technically only graduated yesterday) to Tom Gallagher of UVA… Continue reading DAMOP Day 3
links for 2008-06-02
The gallery of failed atomic models, 1903-1913 « Skulls in the Stars ” Most people in physics are taught Thomson’s ‘plum pudding’ model of the atom, but a little investigating* turned up no less than eight distinct pictures of atomic structure.” (tags: physics science atoms history blogs) Fafblog! the whole world’s only source for Fafblog.… Continue reading links for 2008-06-02