I’ve been revising a chapter on collaboration in science for the book-in-progress, making an analogy to team sports. And it occurred to me as I was trying to find a way to procrastinate, that while science is a highly collaborative endeavor, most of the popular stories that get told about science are not. There’s no… Continue reading Wanted: The Hoosiers of Science
Category: Movies
Neil de Grasse Tyson Is John Harrison
Over at Galileo’s Pendulum, Matthew Francis expresses an opinion that’s sure to get him in trouble with the Inquisition and placed under house arrest: Carl Sagan’s Cosmos isn’t all that: However, even taking into account the differences in TV between 1980 and 2013, the show is very slow-paced at times. I’m not talking about the… Continue reading Neil de Grasse Tyson Is John Harrison
Hobbits and Prime Ministers: The Physics of Doors
Over at Tor.com, Kate has begun a chapter-by-chapter re-read of The Hobbit, and has some thoughts on Chapter 1. It’s full of interesting commentary about characters and literary technique, but let’s get right to the important bit: Physics! Kate mentions in passing in the post that the Hobbit style round door with a knob in… Continue reading Hobbits and Prime Ministers: The Physics of Doors
The Crappy Science of Comic-Book Movies
I go back and forth about the whole question of scientific accuracy in tv shows and movies. On the one hand, I think that complaining “Explosions don’t make noise in space!” is one of the worst forms of humorless dorkitude, and I’m generally happy to let bad science slide by in the service of an… Continue reading The Crappy Science of Comic-Book Movies
Syncretic Pre-Schooler Blogging
We send SteelyKid to preschool at the Jewish Community Center in Schenectady, because when we looked at day care programs back in the day, they had the one we liked best. This is a mixed blessing in a number of ways– they close for a lot of religious holidays when nothing else closes, creating some… Continue reading Syncretic Pre-Schooler Blogging
Christmas Physics: How Strong Is One Grinch?
And what happened then? Well, in Who-ville they say That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day. And then the true meaning Of Christmas came through And the Grinch found the strength Of ten Grinches, plus two — Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas It’s nearly Christmas, so SteelyKid keeps demanding to… Continue reading Christmas Physics: How Strong Is One Grinch?
Attention, Hollywood
Fred Clark has an idea for you: Start with the housekeeping staff at a Manhattan hotel. They’ve just learned that their next contract includes no raise, but doubles the employee share of the cost of health benefits. The Norma Rae of this bunch — let’s say Jennifer Lopez* — convinces them to strike, but they… Continue reading Attention, Hollywood
An Incomplete List of Pop-Culture References in How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog
I’ve been going through the manuscript for the book making up a list of glossary words (a frighteningly long list), and also noting miscellaneous pop-cultural references– quotes, direct mentions, paraphrases, etc. I’m sure I’ve missed a few– many of them occur in section titles, which my eyes tend to slide right over as I read… Continue reading An Incomplete List of Pop-Culture References in How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog
Poll: Incredibly Important Cultural Question
Prompted by this and this, among other things, one of the critical questions of the modern age: Harry Potter is a: Magic is a classical phenomenon, no matter what you may have heard, so you can choose one and only one option.
Science Poll: Get Real
If you look at the schedule of events for DAMOP next week, you will see that there is a movie showing scheduled for Tuesday night: Real Genius. This seems like an excellent excuse to run a poll: Real Genius is:survey software While the meeting will largely involve quantum mechanics, this is a purely classical poll,… Continue reading Science Poll: Get Real