I’ve been doing a bunch of conferencing recently, what with DAMOP a few weeks ago and then Convergence last week. This prompted me to write up a couple of posts about conference-related things, which I posted over at Forbes. These were apparently a pretty bad fit for the folks reading over there, as they’ve gotten… Continue reading On Scientific Conferences, and Making Them Better
Month: June 2015
Most Played Songs Meme
This went around a different corner of my social-media universe while I was off in Waterloo, away from my iTunes. I was curious about it, though, so looked at the contents of the “25 Most Played” playlist, and having done that, I might as well post them here (the number in parentheses is the number… Continue reading Most Played Songs Meme
Course Report: Intro Mechanics Spring 2015
I’ve been pretty quiet about educational matters of late, for the simple reason that I was too busy teaching to say much. The dust having settled a bit, though, I thought I would put some notes here about what I did this past term, and what worked. I had two sections of the introductory Newtonian… Continue reading Course Report: Intro Mechanics Spring 2015
My Week in Waterloo
I spent the last few days in Ontario, attending the Convergence meeting at the Perimeter Institute. This brought a bunch of Perimeter alumni and other big names together for a series of talks and discussions about the current state and future course of physics. My role at this was basically to impersonate a journalist, and… Continue reading My Week in Waterloo
Father’s Day 2015
Act I: STEELYKID and THE PIP: Happy Father’s Day, Daddy! DADDY: Aww, that’s sweet. So, what are you going to make me for breakfast? STEELYKID and THE PIP: What? DADDY: It’s father’s day, right? So you guys should be cooking breakfast for me. STEELYKID and THE PIP: No!!!! THE PIP: We can’t cook breakfast for… Continue reading Father’s Day 2015
Tiny Forces, Artificial Materials, and Wobbling Stars: Physics Post Round-Up
I’ve been really busy with year-end wrap-up stuff, but have also posted a bunch of stuff at Forbes. which I’ve fallen down on my obligation to promote here… So, somewhat belatedly, here’s a collection of physics-y stuff that I’ve written recently: — Using Atoms To Measure Tiny Forces: A post reporting on some very cool… Continue reading Tiny Forces, Artificial Materials, and Wobbling Stars: Physics Post Round-Up
Kids and Schools and Liberal Guilt
Matt “Dean Dad” Reed is moving to New Jersey, and confronting one of the great dilemmas of parenting (also at Inside Higher Ed): what school district to live in. This is a big problem for lots of academics of a liberal sort of persuasion: From a pure parental perspective, the argument for getting into the… Continue reading Kids and Schools and Liberal Guilt
Graduation 2015
Commencement was today, the 14th of those that I’ve been to as a faculty member. As usual, the procession was led in and out by the Schenectady Pipe Band; I realized that after many years of this, I’m coming to associate “Scotland the Brave” with graduation… This was a really unpleasant year for me in… Continue reading Graduation 2015
In Praise of AMO Physics
I’m at DAMOP this week, though it took longer to get here than it should’ve– severe storms yesterday canceled the flight I was supposed to take from Baltimore to Columbus, so I had to rebook to the 6am departure this morning, whee. I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a flight canceled… Continue reading In Praise of AMO Physics
A Constructive Response to Professorial Anxiety
Engaging in a bit of tab clearance before I head off to DAMOP tomorrow afternoon, I noticed that I still had How to Teach an Ancient Rape Joke open. This is because while I found it kind of fascinating, it’s not all that directly relevant to what I do, and I didn’t have anything all… Continue reading A Constructive Response to Professorial Anxiety