An off-line question from someone at Seed: Fundamentally, what is the difference between chemistry and physics? There are a bunch of different ways to try to explain the dividing lines between disciplines. My take on this particular question is that there’s a whole hierarchy of (sub)fields, based on what level of abstraction you work at.… Continue reading What’s the Difference Between Physics and Chemistry?
Category: Science
More Books of the Year
I don’t really want to turn this blog completely over to bitching about the poor representation of science in “Year’s Best” lists of books, but it’s that time of year when every media outlet puts out their lists of favorite books, so it’s hard not to talk about it. Today’s list is from the Washington… Continue reading More Books of the Year
Dorky Poll: Cleanliness is Next to…?
Via Kate, a story from a legal blog about a decisions in the case of a messy professor: “Clean your room or get out!” Words from a frustrated parent to a messy teenager? Not quite. The mess-maker in this case was a chemistry professor at the University of Texas, who ignored repeated warnings to clean… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Cleanliness is Next to…?
Notable Science of the Recent Past
In comments to my earlier cranky post about the New York Times, Carl Zimmer pointed out that they hadn’t released their “Ten Best Books” list, so there was still an outside chance of a science book turning up. They posted the list today, and there’s nothing on it that wasn’t also on the Notable Books… Continue reading Notable Science of the Recent Past
Inside Peer Review
Over at Unqualified Offerings, “Thoreau” offers some musings about peer review. I saw this and said, “Aha! The perfect chance to dust off an old post, and free up some time…” Sadly, I already recycled the post in question, so I feel obliged to be less lazy and contribute some new content. I generally agree… Continue reading Inside Peer Review
If Popularizers Are Treated Like Kooks, Only Kooks Will Be Popularizers
Over at Backreaction, Bee has a long and thoughtful post (they don’t do any other kind) about the interaction between science and the popular imagination. She says a lot of interesting things, but I think she comes to the wrong conclusion at the end, when she writes: However, despite this general trend, what worries me… Continue reading If Popularizers Are Treated Like Kooks, Only Kooks Will Be Popularizers
Science Is Not Notable
Scott Eric Kaufman draws my attention to the fact that the New York Times has posted its Notable Books for 2007 list. The list is divided into “Fiction & Poetry” and “Non-Fiction,” and Scott correctly notes that the “Fiction & Poetry” books all have terrible blurbs, but I’d like to point out a much larger… Continue reading Science Is Not Notable
Turtles and Strings: Where Does Science Stop?
The infamous Davies op-ed has been collected together with some responses at edge.org, and one of the responses is by Sean Carroll, who reproduces his response at Cosmic Variance. Sean’s a smart guy, and I basically agree with his argument, but I’m a contrary sort, and want to nitpick one thing about his response. He… Continue reading Turtles and Strings: Where Does Science Stop?
How Do You Falsify Rationality?
I said I wasn’t going to write anything about the Paul Davies thing, but it’s been the hot topic for the last day or two, and I’ve found myself reading a bunch of the responses in blogdom. I basically agree with most of what various science bloggers have said, but being a contrary sort, I… Continue reading How Do You Falsify Rationality?
Scientist as Detective
On a happier science-related note, the AIP’s Physics News Update highlights a very nice article in The American Journal of Physics about the wide-ranging scientific investigations of Luis Alvarez: Scientist as detective: Luis Alvarez and the pyramid burial chambers, the JFK assassination, and the end of the dinosaurs Luis Alvarez (1911-1988) was one of the… Continue reading Scientist as Detective