Physics vs. Chemistry

The Experimental Error blog considers the difference between disciplines (via Tom): I often contemplate the differences between these two areas of study. Also, I hear fellow undergrads argue for one or the other, usually divided along the lines of their respective major. Anymore, I think they’re so interrelated that I find it hard to find […]

links for 2009-05-17

Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Magic, family, uncertainty: Lisa Goldstein’s <em>Tourists</em> A brilliant book that ought to be much better known than it is. (tags: culture SF books review fantasy tor) The Big Lebowski | Film | A.V. Club "Inspired by Raymond Chandler detective novels—and the hazy L.A. vibe of […]

What Should I Do in Charlottesville?

From Tuesday to Saturday, I will be at the 2009 DAMOP meeting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. I have been to Charlottesville three times before, and based on that experience, I know these things: The White Spot is worth a visit if you’re a fan of greasy spoon diners. Getting stuck in […]

links for 2009-05-16

The Trouble with Double X | The American Prospect "In the site’s introductory video, one of the editors, Hanna Rosin, says, "If you take something like Slate and you have it edited by three women, instead of the people it’s edited by, well that’s the kind of magazine that we want to turn out." She […]

The Logo Problem

Speaking of conferences (as we were a little while ago), the Female Science Professor has a post on the phenomenon of logos in talk slides: Do you put your institution’s logo in your talks and on your posters at conferences? If you put a logo in your talk, do you put the logo on every […]

Conference Self-Organization

DAMOP is next week, and Tom uses this to talk about socialization at conferences: The DAMOP conference is coming up, and that reminds me of a conference-related phenomenon related to gathering a group to go off to a meal. This doesn’t manifest itself when the conference provides meals, so it wasn’t an issue last fall; […]

links for 2009-05-15

News: Students as Lemmings – Inside Higher Ed "The researchers find "clear evidence that peer driven students on average perform worse than the ability driven in terms of both average and final grade," though they acknowledge that the "effect is small in magnitude" — about two-tenths of a grade point on a 30 point grade […]

Thursday Baby Blogging 051409

This is Week 40 of Thursday Baby Blogging, meaning that SteelyKid has nominally reached the point where she has been out in the world as long as she was gestating. Let’s see what she thinks: SteelyKid says “Huh? I thought that wasn’t for another couple of weeks…” And it’s true, she was late in arriving. […]