The Experimental Error blog considers the difference between disciplines (via Tom): I often contemplate the differences between these two areas of study. Also, I hear fellow undergrads argue for one or the other, usually divided along the lines of their respective major. Anymore, I think they’re so interrelated that I find it hard to find… Continue reading Physics vs. Chemistry
Month: May 2009
links for 2009-05-17
Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Magic, family, uncertainty: Lisa Goldsteinâs <em>Tourists</em> A brilliant book that ought to be much better known than it is. (tags: culture SF books review fantasy tor) The Big Lebowski | Film | A.V. Club "Inspired by Raymond Chandler detective novelsâand the hazy L.A. vibe of… Continue reading links for 2009-05-17
What Should I Do in Charlottesville?
From Tuesday to Saturday, I will be at the 2009 DAMOP meeting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. I have been to Charlottesville three times before, and based on that experience, I know these things: The White Spot is worth a visit if you’re a fan of greasy spoon diners. Getting stuck in… Continue reading What Should I Do in Charlottesville?
links for 2009-05-16
The Trouble with Double X | The American Prospect "In the site’s introductory video, one of the editors, Hanna Rosin, says, "If you take something like Slate and you have it edited by three women, instead of the people it’s edited by, well that’s the kind of magazine that we want to turn out." She… Continue reading links for 2009-05-16
The Logo Problem
Speaking of conferences (as we were a little while ago), the Female Science Professor has a post on the phenomenon of logos in talk slides: Do you put your institution’s logo in your talks and on your posters at conferences? If you put a logo in your talk, do you put the logo on every… Continue reading The Logo Problem
There’s No Escaping Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell has a number of public responses to the sort of thing I ranted about the other day— not to me specifically, mind, but to the same general points– on his own blog and on ESPN’s Page 2. It’s pretty much the same argument others made in the comments to my post. Taking a… Continue reading There’s No Escaping Malcolm Gladwell
Conference Self-Organization
DAMOP is next week, and Tom uses this to talk about socialization at conferences: The DAMOP conference is coming up, and that reminds me of a conference-related phenomenon related to gathering a group to go off to a meal. This doesn’t manifest itself when the conference provides meals, so it wasn’t an issue last fall;… Continue reading Conference Self-Organization
links for 2009-05-15
News: Students as Lemmings – Inside Higher Ed "The researchers find "clear evidence that peer driven students on average perform worse than the ability driven in terms of both average and final grade," though they acknowledge that the "effect is small in magnitude" — about two-tenths of a grade point on a 30 point grade… Continue reading links for 2009-05-15
Thursday Baby Blogging 051409
This is Week 40 of Thursday Baby Blogging, meaning that SteelyKid has nominally reached the point where she has been out in the world as long as she was gestating. Let’s see what she thinks: SteelyKid says “Huh? I thought that wasn’t for another couple of weeks…” And it’s true, she was late in arriving.… Continue reading Thursday Baby Blogging 051409
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
I watched Jonah Lehrer on the Colbert Report a few months ago, and thought he did a really good job. So, when we were offered free copies of his new book, How We Decide, I asked for one, even though it’s not my usual sort of thing. The main point of the book is that… Continue reading How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer