In a place I can’t link to, I encountered the somewhat boggling statement that “Nature leans more in the direction of Popular Science than Critically Peer Reviewed [Journal].” Thus, a quick poll: Nature is:online surveys Context is for the weak.
Category: Science
Why I’m Skeptical About the Changing Fine-Structure Constant
Not long ago, a new preprint on the fine structure constant got a bunch of press, nicely summed up by the Knight Science Journalism Tracker last week. I meant to say something about this last week, but what with it being the first week of classes and all, I didn’t find the time. I still… Continue reading Why I’m Skeptical About the Changing Fine-Structure Constant
Quantum Statistical Poll: Favorite Boson?
A fairly straightforward question: quantum physicists divide the world into two categories of things, fermions and bosons. What’s your favorite object having integer spin? What’s your favorite boson?online survey Superpositions of answers, while allowed in properly symmetrized wavefunctions, are not valid responses to this poll.
Relativity, Quantum, and the Internet
When Kate and I were walking Emmy last night, we were talking about the historical development of relativity. As one does, when walking the dog. I mentioned a couple of the pre-1905 attempts to explain things like the Michelson-Morley experiment, and how people like Lorentz and FitzGerald and Poincare were on the right track, but… Continue reading Relativity, Quantum, and the Internet
How to Read Scientific Papers Without Reading Every Word
Over at Tor.com, Jo Walton is surprised that people skim over boring bits of novels. While she explicitly excludes non-fiction from her discussion, this immediately made me think of Timothy Burke’s How to Read in College, which offers tips to prospective humanities and social science majors on how to most effectively skim through huge reading… Continue reading How to Read Scientific Papers Without Reading Every Word
What Uncertainty Means to Me– And You, and the Universe
In chapter 2 of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, there’s a footnote about the ubiquity of uncertainty principle analogies in the mass media: To give you an idea of the breadth of subjects in which this shows up, in June 2008, Google turned up citations of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in (among others)… Continue reading What Uncertainty Means to Me– And You, and the Universe
The ABC’s of AMO Physics
Over at Confused at a Higher Level, Melissa offers an alphabetical list of essential supplies for a condensed matter experimentalist at a small college. This is a fun idea for back-to-school time, so I’ll steal it, and offer the following alphabetical list of essentials for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical physics at a small college, kind… Continue reading The ABC’s of AMO Physics
What to Tell Your Dog About Einstein
“Hey, dude, whatcha doin’?” “Signing these contracts. I’m not sure why they need four copies, but they do.” “Contracts for what?” “The new book. Remmeber, the one we’ve been talking about these last few weeks? Sequel-of-sorts to How to Teach Physics to Your Dog? About relativity?” “Oh, yeah, that’s right! We’re doing another book! Where… Continue reading What to Tell Your Dog About Einstein
Good Advice Is Good Advice
Over at Inside Higher Ed, there’s a list of “survival tips” for women entering grad school in the sciences. It’s a pretty good and pretty typical list of advice– you can find more or less the same advice posted somewhere every fall. What’s striking about it, though, is that if you stripped all the specific… Continue reading Good Advice Is Good Advice
Ode to a Rubber Dinosaur
Rubber dino, you’re the one, You make bathtime lots of fun Rubber dino, I’m awfully fond of you Doo-doo doo-de-doo Rubber dino, fearsome roar, Good thing you’re a herbivore Rubber dino, I’m awfully fond of you doo-doo doo-de-doo Every day when I, get undressed next to the sink, I find a Little fella who’s, cute… Continue reading Ode to a Rubber Dinosaur