I picked this out of the to-be-read pile because it’s specifically name-checked in the “SF and the History of Science” panel description on my Boskone schedule. I figure it’s pretty likely to get brought up, and since we had a copy lying around, I might as well actually read it so as to be able… Continue reading L. Sprague de Camp, Lest Darkness Fall [Library of Babel]
Digg-ing the Arxiv
Some news for those interested in open-source publishing and “Open Science”: Dave Bacon is announcing the debut of scirate.com, a sort of social-networking site for physics preprints: The idea came from the observation that while the arxiv is a amazing tool, one of the problems was that the volume of papers was high and, to… Continue reading Digg-ing the Arxiv
How to Get a Small College Job
We’ve been running a search to fill a tenure-track faculty position for next year, and I’ve spent more time than I care to recall reading folders and interviewing candidates. Now that the process is nearing completion, I’d like to do a quick post offering advice for those thinking about applying for a tenure-track position at… Continue reading How to Get a Small College Job
The New York Times Steals Our Ideas?
An article came through my RSS feeds yesterday that looked for all the world like the New York Times was copying our Basic Concepts idea. Labelled as “Basics,” it promised to provide a general discussion of the concept of time. “You bastards!” I thought. The actual article by Natalie Angier isn’t all that similar to… Continue reading The New York Times Steals Our Ideas?
Journal of Unsurprising Psychology
Earlier today, I posted two “Dorky Poll” entries, one asking for people to nominate their favorite science textbook in comments, the other asking for their least favorite science textbook. As of 7:15, a bit less than nine hours after the posts went live, the comment totals are: Dorky Poll: Least Favorite Textbook: 32 comments Dorky… Continue reading Journal of Unsurprising Psychology
Dorky Poll: Least Favorite Textbook
It’s going to be a very busy day, in ways that will keep me away from the Internet for most of the day, so you’ll need to entertain yourselves. Here’s a question for the science-minded: What’s your least favorite science textbook of all time? It could be a book that you loathed when you were… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Least Favorite Textbook
Dorky Poll: Favorite Textbook
It’s going to be a very busy day, in ways that will keep me away from the Internet for most of the day, so you’ll need to entertain yourselves. Here’s a question for the science-minded: What’s your favorite science textbook of all time? It could be your favorite book from when you were a student,… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Favorite Textbook
The Wheels of Ethics Grind Slowly… Or Else
Inside Higher Ed has a report on a new frontier in administrative idiocy: After passing a new online test on ethics required of all state employees, [a] tenured professor in the English department at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale received a notice from his university ethics officer and from the state inspector general that he… Continue reading The Wheels of Ethics Grind Slowly… Or Else
Controversy Sells
A little while ago, John Lynch asked what really draws readers to ScienceBlogs, and listed his top twenty posts. In a similar vein, here are the top twelve Uncertain Principles posts of the past year, ranked by number of pageviews: SAT Challenge: Bloggers Dumber Than High-School Kids Local Realism, Loopholes, and The God Delusion SAT… Continue reading Controversy Sells
Basic Concepts: Fields
In the initial “Basic Concepts” post, I discussed the concept of Force in physics. This time out, I’ll be talking about fields, which is a much dicier proposition. Not only are fields considerably more abstract than forces, but I’ve never lectured on fields in general (specific instances of fields, yes, but not fields as abstract… Continue reading Basic Concepts: Fields