I was tremendously disappointed and frustrated by this book. This is largely my own fault, because I went into it expecting it to be something it’s not. Had I read the description more carefully, I might not have had such a strong negative reaction (which was exacerbated by some outside stress when I first started… Continue reading Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Author: Nathan
Dog Physics: Obsessive Update
A few more links that have turned up of people talking about either How to Teach Physics to Your Dog and How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: Andrew Johnston has a review of the UK edition, praising it because “it’s bang up to date, and goes beyond the basic quantum concepts into more complex… Continue reading Dog Physics: Obsessive Update
Links for 2012-05-03
Is Cosmology in Shambles? « Galileo’s Pendulum I’ll fill in more about each of these studies shortly, but note in both cases, the authors make very strong statements about the very existence of dark matter, including the quotations that begin this post. In fact, the National Geographic coverage of the second article states things even… Continue reading Links for 2012-05-03
Official Portrait Blogging 050212
I’ve gotten really bad about posting pictures of the kids, but we got the official school picture proofs today, featuring a smiling SteelyKid and an insouciant Pip: Both pictures pretty accurately reflect them at this stage, which is kind of nice. SteelyKid’s kind of camera-averse at the moment, and it apparently took some doing to… Continue reading Official Portrait Blogging 050212
Trickle Down Science
A week or so ago, lots of people were linking to this New York Review of Books article by Steven Weinberg on “The Crisis of Big Science,” looking back over the last few decades of, well, big science. It’s somewhat dejected survey of whopping huge experiments, and the increasing difficulty of getting them funded, including… Continue reading Trickle Down Science
Clock Synchronization Done Right: “A 920-Kilometer Optical Fiber Link for Frequency Metrology at the 19th Decimal Place”
I’ve been busily working on something new, but I’m beginning to think I’ve been letting the perfect be the enemy of the good-enough-for-this-stage, so I’m setting it aside for a bit, and trying to get caught up with some of the huge number of things that have been slipping. Which includes getting the oil changed… Continue reading Clock Synchronization Done Right: “A 920-Kilometer Optical Fiber Link for Frequency Metrology at the 19th Decimal Place”
Links for 2012-05-02
Self-enhancement and imposter syndrome: neither is good for your teaching | Science Edventures McCrickerd points out it is only through dissatisfaction that we change our behavior. An instructor with an overly-enhanced self sees no reason to change when something bad happens in class. “Not my fault they didn’t learn…” And who else does a lot… Continue reading Links for 2012-05-02
Ten Years Before the Blog: 2004-2005
Delayed again by the need to do actual, you know, work, here’s a look back at the third year of this blog’s existence. You can also read posts covering year one and year two. 2004-2005 was the last complete year before the move to ScienceBlogs in January of 2006, after which the making of these… Continue reading Ten Years Before the Blog: 2004-2005
Links for 2012-05-01
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: The Only Thing That Can Stop This Asteroid is Your Liberal Arts Degree. Don’t think I don’t have my misgivings about sending some hotshot Asian Studies minor into space for the first time. This is NASA, not Grinnell. I don’t have the time or patience for your renegade attitude and macho bravado.… Continue reading Links for 2012-05-01
Adieu
Well, as a lot people seem to have written in my high-school yearbook, “it’s been real.” I’ve enjoyed standing in for Dr. Oilcan and appreciate his gracious offer to have an experimentalist representative on his guest-blogging squad. As Aaron said, I don’t know how he does it, but whatever juice he’s on, he sets a… Continue reading Adieu