My timekeeping course this term is a “Scholars Research Seminar,” which means it’s supposed to emphasize research and writing skills. Lots of these will include some sort of poster session at the end of the term, but I decided I preferred the idea of doing in-class oral presentations. Having assigned that, of course, I felt… Continue reading How to Give a Good PowerPoint Lecture, 2012
Category: Physics
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in Nature Physics
The Subject: header pretty much says it all: How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is reviewed in Nature Physics. I am inordinately pleased with the existence of this– not because I expect it to sell a significant number of books, but because a serious technical publication recognized it as worth writing up, despite the… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in Nature Physics
How Good Is BookScan Anyway?
One of the big stories in genre Internet news was Seanan McGuire’s post last week, about reactions to the early release of some copies of her book, and the hateful garbage thrown her way by people outraged that the ebook didn’t slip out early as well. And let me state right up front that the… Continue reading How Good Is BookScan Anyway?
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Big Idea
I’m home with The Pip today, so no extended typing for me, but I pre[ared for this by typing something up ahead of time, and getting John Scalzi to post it for me, as part of his Big Idea series: In a way, a book about Einstein’s theory of relativity is uniquely suited to a… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Big Idea
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is Officially Out Today
The Pip says, “Hi, folks. My daddy’s book is released today, and he’s shameless enough to use me to promote it:” “I can’t read it yet, because I’m just a baby, but I can report that it was very satisfying to drool on. So you should definitely buy a copy, maybe two.” “Also, dig the… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is Officially Out Today
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in the Washington Post
If you’re allergic to hype, you might want to tune this blog out for the next couple of days, because How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is officially released tomorrow, so it’s all I’m going to talk about for a little while. Because, well, I’m pretty excited. And tonight’s exciting finding is that it’s… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in the Washington Post
Final Notes on a Toy Model of the Arrow of Time
We’re in the home stretch of this term, and it has become clear that I won’t actually be using the toy model of the arrow of time I’ve talked about in the past in my timekeeping class this term. These things happen. Having spent a not-insignificant amount of time playing with the thing, though, I… Continue reading Final Notes on a Toy Model of the Arrow of Time
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in the Wild
Hey, you might not know this, but I wrote a book… The official release date for How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog isn’t until Tuesday, but a friend reported buying a copy in Missouri, so when I was headed out to do some work this afternoon, I went to the cafe at the local… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog in the Wild
On Cox vs. Swans
The other controversial thing this week that I shouldn’t get involved in is the debate over whether Brian Cox is talking nonsense in a recent discussion of the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Tom at Swans on Tea kicked this off with an inflammatory title, and Cox turned up in the comments to take umbrage at that.… Continue reading On Cox vs. Swans
On Neutrinos and Cables
It’s not a good week for me to be writing about anything remotely controversial, but if I want to keep my physics blogging license, I need to say something about the latest fast neutrino news. This has followed the usual trajectory of such stories, with the bonus farcical element of people who blasted the media… Continue reading On Neutrinos and Cables