I’m re-instituting the quota system for the moment– no blogging until I make some substantive progress on the current work-in-progress– but I’ll throw out a quick post here to note a media appearance: Physics World has a podcast about books on quantum physics up today: Since its inception in the early part of the 20th… Continue reading Why So Many Books About Quanta?
Month: April 2012
Links for 2012-04-12
What Is Science? From Feynman to Sagan to Curie, an Omnibus of Definitions | Brain Pickings So, what exactly is science, what does it aspire to do, and why should we the people care? It seems like a simple question, but it’s an infinitely complex one, the answer to which is ever elusive and contentious.… Continue reading Links for 2012-04-12
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday by Alan Hirshfeld
A passing mention in last week’s post about impostors and underdogs got me thinking about Michael Faraday again, and I went looking for a good biography of him. The last time looked, I didn’t find any in electronic form, probably because the Sony Reader store has a lousy selection. I got a Nook for Christmas,… Continue reading The Electric Life of Michael Faraday by Alan Hirshfeld
A Question for the Biologists: Origin of The Origin?
I’ve had limited success with this query on Twitter, probably because not that many people were reading late last night when I posted this, but I can give a little more context here, so it’s worth repeating: As part of something I’m working on but won’t talk about yet, I’m interested in learning something about… Continue reading A Question for the Biologists: Origin of The Origin?
Links for 2012-04-11
Denim and Tweed: Asking permission Last May, the Republican-controlled state legislature voted to amend the Minnesota Constitution, adding a thirteenth section to the “Miscellaneous Items” of the Constitution’s Article XIII to declare, “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota.” The Democratic governor’s veto… Continue reading Links for 2012-04-11
A Brief History of Timekeeping: Final Notes
Between unpleasant work stuff and the Dread Stomach Bug wiping out the better part of five days, I only got my student evaluation comments for my winter term class last week, and I’m only getting around to writing the post-mortem now. This was, for those who may not have been obsessively following my course reports,… Continue reading A Brief History of Timekeeping: Final Notes
Links for 2012-04-10
Gymkata proves that tiny gymnasts make tough heroes | Film | Films That Time Forgot | The A.V. Club Plot: At the height of the Reagan era, someone had the bright idea to turn diminutive, soft-voiced, mulleted gymnast Kurt Thomas into an international action star. How? By positing him as a master of “gymkata,” a… Continue reading Links for 2012-04-10
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: A Review Is In
I’m trying not to be Neurotic Author Guy and obsessively check online reviews of How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog every fifteen minutes. I’ve actually been pretty successful at it, so successful that I didn’t notice the first posted review at Amazon until my parents mentioned it to me. It’s a really good one,… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: A Review Is In
Jake and the Overly-Analytical Parents
SteelyKid has recently become obsessed with the Disney Junior show Jake and the Never Land Pirates, demanding to watch it all the time. Thanks to her two recent bouts with this year’s stomach bug, I’ve had to watch, or at least listen to her watching in the next room, every episode that Time Warner offers… Continue reading Jake and the Overly-Analytical Parents
Easter 2012
Today is Easter Sunday, which we celebrated in the manner of my people, by chasing soap bubbles around the backyard: OK, that’s not an actual tradition, but it was a beautiful day today, and SteelyKid got a big bottle of bubble stuff from her great-grandmother, so it seemed like the right thing to do. So… Continue reading Easter 2012