What if editors got royalties? – Hey, There’s A Dead Guy in the Living Room So okay, publishing is risky no matter the paradigm. But what if, rather than a traditional publishing house glomming most of the risk into one big beach ball, each participant in the publishing process took ownership of his/her own little… Continue reading Links for 2011-03-12
What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
I’ve got three months to decide. I’ll be giving an invited talk at the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) with this title, with a goal of introducing the field to students and physicists from other fields: In recent years, DAMOP has expanded to the point where the meeting can be quite daunting… Continue reading What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
Science Stereotypes and Threats
One thing that I thought of while writing yesterday’s mammoth post about scientific thinking and stereotypes was the notion of stereotype threat, the psychological phenomenon where students who are reminded of negative stereotypes right before a test tend to score worse than they do when taking the test without the negative reminder. This is a… Continue reading Science Stereotypes and Threats
Links for 2011-03-11
Among the Assisterati: Bottoms Up with the Highbrow Bottom Feeders | The New York Observer “For six weeks, at a cost of $7,000, Columbia University offers recent college graduates forgettable workshops, fleeting encounters with important editors and access to the best unlisted job openings in book publishing and magazines. After swift job placement, these hyper-literate… Continue reading Links for 2011-03-11
Thursday Toddler Blogging 031011
“I do not, for one, believe that the problem was that the band was down. I believe the problem may have been that there was a sky bison on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a toddler. “Alright? That tended to understate the hugeness of the animal.”
Scientific Thinking, Stereotypes, and Attitudes
A few more comments on the scientific thinking thing, because it’s generated a bunch of comments. As usual, some of them are good points, and some of them have completely misunderstood what I was trying to say. so let’s take another crack at it. While the post was worded somewhat strongly, I’m not really trying… Continue reading Scientific Thinking, Stereotypes, and Attitudes
Links for 2011-03-10
When Lew Alcindor defeated Scott Ostler at Pauley “The UCLA freshman team featured Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Lucius Allen and three other prep All-Americans. In a game to open the new Pauley Pavilion, UCLA’s frosh beat the varsity by 15. The varsity was coming off back-to-back national championships and was ranked No. 1 in… Continue reading Links for 2011-03-10
Teaching Ambiguity and the Scientific Method
As a sort of follow-on from yesterday’s post, thinking about the issues involved reminded me of a couple of browser tabs that I’ve had open for a while, namely this story about an education session at the AAAS meeting, and this Inside Higher Ed article on “Teaching Ambiguity”. From the IHE piece: Tidy may be… Continue reading Teaching Ambiguity and the Scientific Method
Links for 2011-03-09
How Much Could the Real Floating House Lift? | Wired Science | Wired.com “The internet is all pumped up over this real floating house recreating the scene from Up! (the movie). Here is a video: Or perhaps you prefer some pictures. Here is a website full of pictures. here is the deal. National Geographic has some… Continue reading Links for 2011-03-09
Everybody Thinks Scientifically
Everybody’s favorite science blogger did a podcast with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and has been posting highlights of it. One of these, on scientific thinking, has a bit that I don’t quite agree with. Tyson says: I think the, if it were natural to think scientifically, science as we currently practice it would have been going… Continue reading Everybody Thinks Scientifically