I’m currently revising the book chapter based on the original “Bunnies Made of Cheese” post, which deals with virtual particles and Quantum Electro-Dynamics. The best proof of the power of QED is the measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron, where experiment and theory agree to something like thirteen decimal places. In double-checking… Continue reading Science Marches On (Magnetic Moments Edition)
Category: Book Writing
Help Me Locate Kooks
The final chapter of Bunnies Made of Cheese: The Book is currently envisioned as a look at the misuse of quantum mechanics by evil squirrels: qucks and hucksters of various sorts. As a result, I spent a good chunk of yesterday wading through the sewers of alternative medicine books on Amazon, using the “Search Inside… Continue reading Help Me Locate Kooks
Quantum Quantum Quantum
“2. Ever repeat a word so much it starts to lose its meaning? Writing a book is like that, only with 90,000 words.” Quantum quantum quantum, quantum quantum. Quantum.
Biographers (and Physicists) Are Pigs
I’m deep in book revisions at the moment, which largely accounts for the relative blog silence. This is expected to continue for a while yet, broken by the occasional post when something comes up that is irritating enough to push me to write about it. Such as, well, now. In the chapter on the Copenhagen… Continue reading Biographers (and Physicists) Are Pigs
Deep Questions from Pop Music: Commas
Today’s question come to us courtesy of Ivy League white-reggae band Vampire Weekend: So, who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma, anyway? Well, John Scalzi, obviously, but the real question is: why? Why does this simple piece of punctuation engender such strong negative feelings in people who are otherwise mostly sensible? Personally, I lean… Continue reading Deep Questions from Pop Music: Commas
Literary Divination
Over at Making Light, Abi has proposed a parlour game using books as Tarot cards. As always for Making Light, the resulting comment thread is full of dizzyingly erudite responses, and clever literary in-jokes. But it strikes me that there’s a fundamental flaw in the game– Abi’s examples all involve selected works, chosen to be… Continue reading Literary Divination
Book Report: Polishing and Waiting
I’m sitting on the couch, watching tv, when the dog comes in. “Hey, dude, what ever happened with that book, anyway?” “What book?” I ask, distractedly. “The one about me. What other book would I be asking about?” “Oh, yeah. I sent the first draft off to my editor and a bunch of other people,… Continue reading Book Report: Polishing and Waiting
Bunnies Made of Cheese: The First Draft
“Hey, dude. What’s in the binder?” “Well, it’s the first draft of my book. I finished it this morning, and printed it out to have a paper copy to look at.” “Ooooh! The book about me?” “Well, it’s a book about physics, featuring you. But yes, that’s the only book I’m working on at the… Continue reading Bunnies Made of Cheese: The First Draft
Google Passeth All Understanding
As previously mentioned, I plan to end the book with a chapter on quantum flim-flam. As research for this, I’ve been looking at kook sites on the web, and Googled “quantum healing,” which turns up all manner of gibberish from Deepak Chopra. It also includes a helpful little item at the bottom of the page:… Continue reading Google Passeth All Understanding
How to Hand-Wave Quantum Phase?
Kind of a technical question, but typing it out might provide some inspiration, or failing that, somebody might have a good suggestion in the comments. Here’s the issue: I’m starting on a chapter about quantum teleportation for the book, and one of the key steps in the teleportation scheme is an entangling measurement of two… Continue reading How to Hand-Wave Quantum Phase?