I have often expressed a wish for there to be more physics majors, and more science majors in general. Given the demographic information in the previous post, is this just irresponsible feather-bedding on my part? I don’t think so, but that’s because I would make a distinction between science majors, at the undergraduate level, and… Continue reading Science Majors vs. Scientists
Author: Chad Orzel
Science21: Supply and Demand, Booms and Busts
There’s an article in yesterday’s Inside Higher Ed about the supply of scientists and engineers, arguing that there is not, in fact, a shortage: Michael S. Teitelbaum, a demographer at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, looked at what he called five “mysteries” of the STEM work force issue. For example, why do employers claim a… Continue reading Science21: Supply and Demand, Booms and Busts
The Internet Changes Financial News
On hearing that Washington Mutual is the next bank up in Wall Street’s fire sale, I have to admit that my first thought was “Well, that’s what they get for letting their customer service be handled by shady guys in Nigeria…” I’ve gotten so much scam email over the years with Subject: headers like “Washington… Continue reading The Internet Changes Financial News
links for 2008-09-18
Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Free e-books from Will Shetterly and Emma Bull Two really good books, for free. What more could you want? (tags: SF books literature) D.F.W., R.I.P. :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s Source for News, Views and Jobs "For a young writer to discover Wallace… Continue reading links for 2008-09-18
Open Lab Notebook Software?
After talking to Cameron Neylon last week, I’m strongly considering setting up an online lab notebook for my research lab. Not so much for the philosophical reasons having to do with openness and the like– as a practical matter, I still don’t think my data will do anybody any good– but for reasons of sheer… Continue reading Open Lab Notebook Software?
Science21: The Journal of Stuff I Like
Another thing I thought was intriguing that came up at the Science in the 21st Century meeting wasn’t from a formal talk, but rather a conversation over dinner with Garrett Lisi and Sabine Hossenfelder about the future of publishing. Garrett was suggesting a new model of publishing, based on pulling things from the arxiv (or… Continue reading Science21: The Journal of Stuff I Like
Science21 Highlights: Open Access and Public Accessibility
I have never been a huge proponent of the Open Access and Open Data movements in science publishing, because they’ve always struck me as wasted effort. I’ve never really seen what value is supposed to be added by either project. When I think about the experiments that I’ve been involved with (see, for example, the… Continue reading Science21 Highlights: Open Access and Public Accessibility
Spherical Cows
Two new recent posts take up the question of “spherical cows,” the old joke term for absurd-sounding approximations that physicists make to turn intractable problems into easy ones. First, The First Excited State explains when N=N+1: Everybody who’s taken any sort of math class knows that a statement like N+1 = N is simply ridiculous.… Continue reading Spherical Cows
links for 2008-09-17
Wondermark by David Malki ! – 442: In which Beth keeps her Books "They will breathe with gills that make the sound of fluttering pages." (tags: internet comics books kid-stuff) Unsolicited Advice VII: Should I Have a Web Page? | Cosmic Variance Yes, but for the love of God, keep it professional. (tags: academia jobs… Continue reading links for 2008-09-17
Science21 Highlights: Peer to Patent and Government 2.0
(Over the course of this week, I’m going to post a handful of things about talks that struck me as particularly interesting at last week’s conference. The order will be chosen based on how much time I think I will have to write them up, given SteelyKid’s demands for attention…) On Thursday, the Science in… Continue reading Science21 Highlights: Peer to Patent and Government 2.0