Steven Pinker has a piece at the New Republic arguing that Ivy League schools ought to weight standardized test scores more heavily in admissions. this has prompted a bunch of tongue-clucking about the failures of the Ivy League from the usual suspects, and a rather heated concurrence from Scott Aaronson. That last finally got me… Continue reading Intelligence vs. Priorities
On Academic Scandals
Two very brief notes about high-profile scandals in academia: 1) While it involves one of my faculty colleagues, I have no special insight to offer into the case of Valerie Barr’s firing by the NSF over long-ago political activity. I know and like Valerie as a colleague, and she did some really good stuff as… Continue reading On Academic Scandals
Imminent Death of the Paper Book Predicted, .GIF at 11
I got a royalty statement yesterday for How to Teach [Quantum] Physics to Your Dog (it continues to sell steadily, which is very gratifying), which includes a breakdown of the sales in terms of different formats. That reminded me of a particular annoying quirk of many recent discussions of the state of modern publishing, which… Continue reading Imminent Death of the Paper Book Predicted, .GIF at 11
Fatherhood and Academia
Via a whole bunch of people on social media, there’s a new study of gender roles in academia, which the Washington Post headlines “Study: Male scientists want to be involved dads, but few are”. This is not inaccurate. Some quotes that jumped out at me: “Academic science doesn’t just have a gender problem, but a… Continue reading Fatherhood and Academia
Travel Cons
Matt “Dean Dad” Reed has a post about the issue of academic conference travel, which is expensive and often the first thing cut out of college budgets. Which leaves faculty either disconnected from their field, or paying out-of-pocket to attend meetings that they need to demonstrate their scholarly productivity. This, in turn, tends to skew… Continue reading Travel Cons
On Productivity
One of the weirder experiences I had at the Nordita Workshop for Science Writers a couple of weeks ago was having people ask me “How are you so productive?” (or the equivalent). That caught me off guard, because I don’t feel like I’m especially productive– in fact, I tend to feel like I’m falling behind… Continue reading On Productivity
New Year, New Class: Gen Ed Relativity
The new academic year starts this week– first day of classes is Wednesday– and I’m dealing with the usual chaos associated with the influx of a new class of students. Who now look to me only a tiny bit older than SteelyKid and the Pip in the above picture (and if you think that sharing… Continue reading New Year, New Class: Gen Ed Relativity
What I Read on My Summer Vacation
Three weeks in Europe means a lot of time on planes and trains, so I actually got to read some fiction for a change. I’m stuck in a meeting all day today, and need a morale boost on the way in, so I’ll go back to my book-blogging roots and type up the books that… Continue reading What I Read on My Summer Vacation
Two Tenure-Track Faculty Positions at Union
I’ve posted this before, but a reminder can’t hurt: We’re hiring two tenure-track faculty this fall. The targeted research fields: We invite applications for two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions starting in September 2015, one in any area of theoretical physics or astrophysics, the other with a strong preference for biophysics or soft condensed matter (either… Continue reading Two Tenure-Track Faculty Positions at Union
Medium, Message, and Secondary Audiences in Public Speaking
Having just returned from a long trip where I gave three talks, one of the first things I saw when I started following social media closely again was this post on how to do better presentations. The advice is the usual stuff– more images, less text, don’t read your slides, and for God’s sake, rehearse… Continue reading Medium, Message, and Secondary Audiences in Public Speaking