In the previous post, I promised to say something more about Einstein and the photoelectric effect. It turns out that I already wrote about this, back in 2005. That post is the end of a long chain of links about the history of photons. This is a good thing, because it frees me from having… Continue reading Einstein and Millikan
Category: Science
Einstein on TV
The History Channel ran a two-hour program on Einstein last night. I had meant to plug this in advance, but got distracted by the Screamy Baby Fun-Time Hour yesterday, and didn’t have time to post. The show restricted itself more or less to the period from 1900, just before his “miracle year” in 1905, to… Continue reading Einstein on TV
Think Before You Plot
There’s a link in today’s links dump to a post from Pictures of Numbers, a rarely-updated blog on the visual presentation of data (via Swans On Tea, I think). There’s some really good stuff there about how to make graphs that are easy to read and interpret. I would like to dissent mildly from one… Continue reading Think Before You Plot
Strain to SEE
When I’m in the right mood, I’m a sucker for really awful sci-fi movies. For example, Saturday night I stayed up far too late to watch the end of the tv-movie version of The Andromeda Strain, based on the book by the prolific and recently deceased Luddite Fiction writer Michael Crichton. It’s been twenty-plus years… Continue reading Strain to SEE
Me On TV (On the Internet)
As mentioned briefly the other day, I recorded a Bloggingheads.tv Science Saturday conversation with Jennifer Ouellette on Thursday. The full diavlog has now been posted, and I can embed it here: This was the first time I’ve done one of these, and it was an interesting experience.
Headlines from the Future: Extrasolar Planets Edition
I got a great “Living in the future” kick out of the headline on the New York Times story about Thursday’s big astronomical announcement: First Pictures Taken of Extrasolar Planets. The phrasing of the headline conjures images of pictures of clouds swirling on distant gas giants; alas, the reality is a little more mundane: In… Continue reading Headlines from the Future: Extrasolar Planets Edition
What’s the Matter With Photons?
Over at Dot Physics, Rhett has just completed a two-part post (Part I, Part II) on quantum physics arguing against the use of photons in teaching quantum physics. Part I gives a very nice introduction to quantum physics, which is why I linked it, but Part II goes a little off the rails. There’s not… Continue reading What’s the Matter With Photons?
Best Blogging of the Year
Bora’s beating the drum for submissions to this year’s science blogging anthology. He doesn’t seem to be suffering from a lack of submissions, but if you’ve got something you would like to see re-printed in dead tree form, submit it before December 1. I’m not clear whether this will be going through Lulu again this… Continue reading Best Blogging of the Year
Physics Books for Middle Schoolers?
Sometime commenter “Dr. Pain” asked, on a mailing list, for book recommendations for his son, who “wants to read up about physics, especially weird modern physics.” He adds some qualifications: Kid’s books on physics are way too elementary for him, but the typical “naive adult” book is over his head. Does anyone have any good… Continue reading Physics Books for Middle Schoolers?
Hands of Science
SteelyKid has recently begun to figure out her hands. As I noted last week, within the last couple of weeks, she’s started to be able to reliably grab things near her. Just within the last few days, she’s discovered that she has two hands, and they can interact with each other: She’s started grabbing one… Continue reading Hands of Science