James Nicoll has a question about pop science: Who today fills the niche of science popularizer once filled by people like Ley or Asimov? That is, who writes essays covering a wide range of the sciences, as opposed to covering one in detail for the public? If you look in the comments, the second plugs… Continue reading Modern Science Popularizers
Category: Science
Sky, Full of Stars
If you’re on the west coast tonight and are willing to stay up late or wake up early, you have the chance to see the Aurigid meteor shower. This shower is fairly unique because it arises from a comet with a period of around 900 years. Some people have even claimed that there’s a chance… Continue reading Sky, Full of Stars
Turn Around
For those of you willing to stay up late, there will be a total eclipse of the moon on August 28 visible to various extents over most of the western hemisphere and some of east Asia. The show is a little late for me (some might call it early) as I’m on the east coast… Continue reading Turn Around
Fundamental Research Funding
Michael Nielsen, who’s so smart it’s like he’s posting from tomorrow, offers a couple of provocative questions about the perception of a crisis in funding for basic science: First, how much funding is enough for fundamental research? What criterion should be used to decide how much money is the right amount to spend on fundamental… Continue reading Fundamental Research Funding
Dorky Poll: i or j?
A simple but high-stakes fill-in-the-blank question: The right and proper symbol to represent the square root of negative one is _______. The incorrect answer will brand you as an engineer, and you will be cast into the outer darkness to spend eternity converting drill sizes into sensible units. Choose wisely.
Dorky Poll: e or π?
A simple question today: Which do you prefer, e or π? They’re both irrational, they’re both “about three,” and of course they’re related by Euler’s formula, but they’re very different. One is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, the other is the base for the exponential function. You can only… Continue reading Dorky Poll: e or π?
Ralph Asher Alpher, 1921-2007
I am sorry to report the passing of Ralph Alpher, of the famous “Alpher-Bethe-Gamow” paper. I don’t know many details, but he’s been in poor health for some time, so this is sad but not surprising news. Ralph Alpher was an astrophysicist and cosmologist whose thesis work with George Gamow on the origin of the… Continue reading Ralph Asher Alpher, 1921-2007
USVI: The Ankle-Breaker Crab
The “Ankle-Breaker Crab” (Coenobita iversonii) is a species of carnivorous land crab found in the Caribbean Islands. It closely resembles the ordinary Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus), but is distinguished from its more common cousin by its habit of living in special titanium-reinforced shells, and its diet, which consists primarily of hikers. Coenobita iversonii are… Continue reading USVI: The Ankle-Breaker Crab
Ocean’s Eleven at NASA
There’s a story about theft of supplies at NASA in the Times today. It’s an eight-paragraph wire service blurb, which wouldn’t be worth a mention, but for this: In one instance documented by the accountability office, an unidentified worker explained the fate of a missing laptop, worth $4,265: “This computer, although assigned to me, was… Continue reading Ocean’s Eleven at NASA
The Grand Contraption, by David Park
Some time back, I was offered a review copy of Why the Sky Is Blue by Götz Hoeppe by Princeton University Press. Looking at their web site, I noticed a forthcoming book by an emeritus professor at my alma mater, so I asked if they’d send me a copy of that, too. I’m all about… Continue reading The Grand Contraption, by David Park