I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, NY, where I teach a wide range of classes, do research on atomic, molecular, and optical physics, and do all the other things that professors do.

If you’ve come to this site, though, you’re probably more interested in my other activities. I write a blog about physics for Forbes.com; the latest posts should be visible via RSS over in the right sidebar. For many years I had a blog, Uncertain Principles, at ScienceBlogs.com, where I wrote about physics, politics, pop culture, and anything else that catches my interest. Some of that blogging has now moved over here, in the blog category.

And, of course, I write books about science, sometimes with the able assistance of my late dog, Emmy. I also have a general book about science, Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist , which was published in December 2014 by Basic Books (You can order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound, Powell’s, and anywhere else books are sold; also available as an audio book from Audible). My latest is Breakfast With Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday Objects, available from BenBella Books in the US and Oneworld Publications in the UK.

I dabble in occasional other activities– making the occasional video, and faffing about on Twitter. Further updates as events warrant…

(Banner image photos by Ryan Lash (right) and Matt Milless (left).)