It’s weird how blogs go in cycles– I’ll blog nothing but science for a while, and then flip into Academic Mode, as I have this week, and blog about nothing but tenure issues and academic politics. But, that just seems to be how things work, and the stories catching my eye recently are all about… Continue reading When You’re Up for Tenure, You’re Never Paranoid Enough
Two-Word Lyrics Quiz
In which I steal post ideas from Kate: The following are two-word phrases from songs in my iTunes library that ought to be enough to identify the song in question. Leave your guesses in the comments: Pre-Raphaelite curls Chrome horse Pink torpedo Jasmine tea Ashtray floors Quartet practiced Lickety splitly Burnt sienna Guaranteed personality Danville… Continue reading Two-Word Lyrics Quiz
The Definitive Statement on “Framing” and Expelled
I’ve managed to avoid most of the recent fracas over Expelled and what Matt Nisbet and Chris Mooney have said about it, mostly by unsubscribing from the RSS feeds for most of the participating blogs a few months back. Prescient of me, no? I’ve kept my RSS subscription for Chris’s blog, though, and I read… Continue reading The Definitive Statement on “Framing” and Expelled
Storm World by Chris Mooney
I’m a Bad Blogger. I got a free review copy of this book last summer, and it’s taken me nine months to getting around to reviewing it. I started it as soon as I got it, but it seemd like it would be tempting fate to take it to St. John on vacation, and then… Continue reading Storm World by Chris Mooney
links for 2008-04-01
Hackers Assault Epilepsy Patients via Computer People suck. (tags: internet computing medicine evil stupid) Word Munger » One-letter google searches The alphabet, according to Google. (tags: internet computing silly) The Gashlycrumb Tinies “M is for Maud who was swept out to sea/ N is for Neville who dies of ennui” (tags: books comics silly art… Continue reading links for 2008-04-01
Dorky Poll: E or M?
My post-tenure sabbatical, alas, is officially over today, as I begin teaching the honors section of the introductory E&M class. This will keep me busy for most of the morning, which makes it the perfect opportunity for a Dorky Poll: Electricity or magnetism? Yes, I know they’re unified, and thus merely different manifestations of a… Continue reading Dorky Poll: E or M?
Quest for College
The latest issue of the Cult of the Purple Cow Quarterly— er, I mean, the Williams Alumni Review has a story about a woman I knew in college (she was a senior when I was a freshman) who has started a non-profit organization called Quest for College, working to help prepare kids for college (annoyingly,… Continue reading Quest for College
Two Cultures and Expertise
Academics of all sorts are highly protective of their scholarly territory. It’s an unavoidable consequence of the process of becoming an academic– I’ve often joked that getting a Ph.D. requires you to become the World’s Leading Expert in something that nobody else cares about. To make it through grad school, no matter what discipline you’re… Continue reading Two Cultures and Expertise
links for 2008-03-31
Talk Like A Physicist | Talk Like A Physicist 3.14 » A water balloon not exploding in high-speed Possibly even cooler than a water balloon exploding at high speed. (tags: physics video youtube science) THE FIVE WAYS OF PROVING SANTA CLAUS After Aquinas. (tags: silly humanities culture society religion) Boing Boing’s Moderation Policy – Boing… Continue reading links for 2008-03-31
Davidson
Davidson’s amazing NCAA tournament run came to an end today, as Kansas just squeaked past them, 59-57, when a shot at the buzzer went wide. The low score probably offends NBA fans, but to my mind, this game showed everything that’s right about the NCAA tournament. If you watched the game, it was clear that… Continue reading Davidson