Via Kathryn Cramer (on Facebook, of all places), an article from the Daily Mail about how kids these days don’t get around much: When George Thomas was eight he walked everywhere. It was 1926 and his parents were unable to afford the fare for a tram, let alone the cost of a bike and he… Continue reading How Far Did You Roam as a Child?
Category: Society
Science Is What Makes Us Human
In his inaugural address, President Obama pledged to “restore science to its rightful place.” Following up on that, the Corporate Masters have launched the Rightful Place Project, asking bloggers, readers, and scientists to define the rightful place of science. Many of these responses will focus on narrow matters of policy, but as many have said… Continue reading Science Is What Makes Us Human
Falling Into Atomville
The Physics and Astronomy colloquium this week was by Jill Linz from Skidmore, talking about a couple of physics outreach programs she’s worked on. This being right up my alley, I made it a point to get in early enough to see the colloquium (I spent the morning at home with the sick SteelyKid, and… Continue reading Falling Into Atomville
Defining Science
Over at Built on Facts, Matt Springer is easing his way back into blogging by asking “What is Science?”. He offers a simple one-sentence definition: Science is the testing of ideas. That’s all. Every technicality I can think of is avoided so long as the person doing the science is honest. Create fair and objective… Continue reading Defining Science
Sports, Test Scores, and the Difference Between Science and Journalism
Inside Higher Ed has an article on athletics and admissions based on an investigative report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The report compares the SAT scores of football and basketball players to those of other students, but what it really highlights is the difference between science and journalism. The basis of the report is pretty simple:… Continue reading Sports, Test Scores, and the Difference Between Science and Journalism
Intellectual Ignorance Knows No Bounds
I’ve said a number of harsh things here about the bad attitude of people who consider themselve Intellectuals toward math and science. After reading this New Yorker discussion about a Young Adult novel, I may need to change my stance a bit. It’s not that they’re better than expected when it comes to math and… Continue reading Intellectual Ignorance Knows No Bounds
Science Is Interested in You
A few days ago, I complained again about the relative lack of science books in the New York Times “Notable Books of 2008” list. Yesterday, one of the big stories was CNN axing its entire science unit, such as it was, which drew comments from lots of blogs (and more whose links I can’t be… Continue reading Science Is Interested in You
Science: 3.8% Notable
Last year, around this time, I posted a rant about the lack of science books in the New York Times‘s “Notable Books of 2007.” While I was out of town last week, they posted this year’s list. So, have things improved? Yes and no. They do, in fact, have two books that are unquestionably science… Continue reading Science: 3.8% Notable
Leave the Swans Alone
I flagged this Matt Yglesias post about post-mortem examinations of the financial crisis as something to respond to. Matt writes: I was at an interesting discussion with an ideologically diverse group of people last night of the future of financial regulations. One thing that there was broad agreement on that hadn’t really snapped into focus… Continue reading Leave the Swans Alone
Athletes and Academia, part II
I got a bunch of really good comments to yesterday’s post about athletes and attitudes toward education. Unfortunately, yesterday was also a stay-at-home-with-SteelyKid day, and she spent a lot of time demanding to be held or otherwise catered to, so I didn’t have a chance to respond. I’d like to correct that today by responding… Continue reading Athletes and Academia, part II