What Do You Do Well?

ScienceWoman offers a good discussion question: You are in a room with a bunch of other female faculty/post-docs/grad students from your university. You know a few of them, but most of them are unfamiliar to you. The convener of the meeting asks each of you to introduce yourself by answering the following question: “What is… Continue reading What Do You Do Well?

links for 2009-02-26

The Problem of Pretension. « The Internet Food Association Is it pretentious to insist on fresh food for school lunches? (tags: food politics class-war) the physics arXiv blog » Blog Archive » Calculating the cost of dirty bombs Basically the same analysis that’s in "Physics for Future Presidents," with some added financial figures. Bottom line:… Continue reading links for 2009-02-26

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The Down Side of President Obama

Now that we have a President who is smart, articulate, and has the best interests of the country in mind, I feel compelled to actually watch his major speeches, like last night’s not-really-the-State-of-the-Union address. It’s a small price to pay for having a President who speaks to the nation as if we were rational adults,… Continue reading The Down Side of President Obama

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Categorized as Politics

links for 2009-02-25

slacktivist: Saving newspapers "I’m glad at least though that Time and Isaacson are trying to deal with the question of newspapers’ survival. That’s more than I can say for many of the newspapers themselves. Take for example my employer, the largest newspaper chain in the country. They own dozens of newspapers, small and large, which… Continue reading links for 2009-02-25

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Categorized as Links Dump

Award-Winning Science Writing

The winners of the American Physical Society’s Science Writing Awards for 2008 were announced today: Ann Finkbeiner won in the Journalist category for The Jasons, her book about a secretive groups of scientists who work on classified problems for the US government. Gino Segre won in the Scientist category, for Faust in Copenhagen, about the… Continue reading Award-Winning Science Writing

Academic Poll Results: Exam Reporting

the results from yesterday’s poll on reporting exam scores were pretty strongly divided. 47% favored giving histograms, or some very detailed breakdown, while 33% were in favor of statistical measures only (mean, standard deviation, extrema, that sort of thing). 19% were in favor of giving no collective information at all. My own usual practice is… Continue reading Academic Poll Results: Exam Reporting

Academic Poll Results: Formula Sheets

Tallying up the results of yesterday’s poll about formula sheets (as of 8:00 Tuesday morning, 39 total comments), people were overwhelmingly in favor of formula sheets. 72% of respondents reported being allowed to use formula sheets as students, and 69% were in favor of allowing formula sheets as faculty. A substantial number of the “no”… Continue reading Academic Poll Results: Formula Sheets