Over at Built on Facts, Matt Springer is easing his way back into blogging by asking “What is Science?”. He offers a simple one-sentence definition: Science is the testing of ideas. That’s all. Every technicality I can think of is avoided so long as the person doing the science is honest. Create fair and objective… Continue reading Defining Science
Category: SF
Icarus at the Edge of Time, by Brian Greene
Or, Brian Greene Writes a Kid’s Book… This is a very odd book. It’s printed on boards, like a book for very small children, but the story is a bit beyond what I would imagine reading to a normal kid of the age to want books of that format. It’s too short and simple, though,… Continue reading Icarus at the Edge of Time, by Brian Greene
Hugo Nomination Suggestions
As Kate notes, I am a paid-up member of this year’s Worldcon, and thus entitled to nominate works for the Hugo Awards. Of course, there are a zillion categories, and I’m not entirely sure what to nominate for any of them. So, if you are a reader or watcher of science fiction and/or fantasy, this… Continue reading Hugo Nomination Suggestions
Doctor Who? Why?
Fannish regions of the Internet are all abuzz today, with the introduction of Matt Smith as the next actor to play the lead role in Doctor Who. Sadly, this is not the Matt Smith I went to college with (who would’ve been a really unusual choice for the part…)– he’s still comfortably obscure to anyone… Continue reading Doctor Who? Why?
A Well Deserved Hono(u)r
Terry Pratchett knighted: Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld series of novels that have sold more than 55 million copies worldwide, said he was “stunned, in a good way” after receiving a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List. The 60-year-old writer, below, whose first book was published in 1971, told The Independent last… Continue reading A Well Deserved Hono(u)r
Re-Reading Tolkien at Tor
A while back, Kate started doing a chapter-by-chapter re-read of The Lord of the Rings on her LiveJournal. Life intervened, though, and the project fell by the wayside. She’s re-started it, this time as part of the Tor media empire. So far, there’s an introductory post and a discussion of the foreword and prologue, with… Continue reading Re-Reading Tolkien at Tor
Spaceman Blues, by Brian Francis Slattery [Library of Babel]
I’ve gotten out of the book-logging habit, but Spaceman Blues is good enough that I feel compelled to write about it. I had heard of the book some time back– I believe I recall Patrick Nielsen Hayden saying nice things about it at some con or another– but the packaging didn’t really give me a… Continue reading Spaceman Blues, by Brian Francis Slattery [Library of Babel]
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Science Fiction Promotes Science?
The Corporate Masters have decreed a new question Ask a ScienceBlogger question, and this one’s right up my alley: What do you see as science fiction’s role in promoting science, if any? If you look over in the left sidebar, you’ll see a SF category, which is all about, well, science fiction stuff. I read… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: Science Fiction Promotes Science?
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.