Modern media being what it is, I should get out in front of this, so: I am guilty of putting words in Einstein’s mouth. I mean, go watch my TED-Ed video on particles and waves, or just look at the image up top– that very clearly shows Einstein saying words that he probably never said.… Continue reading On Putting Words in Einstein’s Mouth
Category: War On Science
Don’t Be a Dick
I’m probably about the last person with an interest in such things to get around to watching Phil Plait’s (in)famous “Don’t Be a Dick” speech, but I finally got around to it, and it’s really excellent: Phil Plait – Don’t Be A Dick from JREF on Vimeo. Phil has posted about the speech itself, online… Continue reading Don’t Be a Dick
Media Skills for Scientists
Everybody’s favorite science-and-politics blogger has posted a video clip showing part of what’s wrong in science communication. It’s a clip from the BBC from last December, featuring one of those head-to-head quasi-debates about “Climategate” between Prof. Andrew Watson of the University of East Anglia and political consultant Marc Morano, who has made himself a nice… Continue reading Media Skills for Scientists
Virginia Heffernan Is Our Target Audience
There’s a great post at NeuroDojo on the Heffernan business this weekend, and what the take-away ought to be: Yeah, let’s criticize that she didn’t get past the first impression of science blogs. We should expect Heffernan to look before leaping – she writes for the Times, after all, which still has a certain reputation… Continue reading Virginia Heffernan Is Our Target Audience
I Am Baffled Regarding Chris Mooney
The kerfuffle of the moment in the science blogosphere once again relates to Chris Mooney, who is pretty much a kerfuffle looking for a place to happen at this point. This time around it centers around a Washington Post op-ed that is basically the executive summary of a American Academy of Arts and Sciences paper… Continue reading I Am Baffled Regarding Chris Mooney
There’s More to Science Than Evolution
The National Science Board made a deeply regrettable decision to omit questions on evolution and the Big Bang from the Science and Engineering Indicators report for 2010. As you might expect, this has stirred up some controversy. I wasn’t surprised to learn this, as I had already noticed the omission a couple of months ago,… Continue reading There’s More to Science Than Evolution
A Statement of Fact Cannot Be Unconscionable
Over at Cosmic Variance, Sean’s been taking a beating over his negative comments on an atheist anti-Christmas sign. There’s no small irony in this, given that Sean is a vocal atheist. His sentiments, which basically boil down to “it’s good to promote atheism, but there’s no need to be a dick about it” strike me… Continue reading A Statement of Fact Cannot Be Unconscionable
Quantum Mechanics Is Not Magic, No Matter What Amazon Says
While I’m thrilled to see How to Teach Physics to Your Dog listed on Amazon, I am distressed to see it offered as a pair with something called The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart. I’m not linking to the Amazon page for that book, because it’s a giant pile of crap, and I wouldn’t want… Continue reading Quantum Mechanics Is Not Magic, No Matter What Amazon Says
On Scandalous Emails
The big topic-of-the-moment is the hacked stash of emails from a major climate research group. The whole climate change discussion is one of those “no upside” topics that I try to stay out of, but I have some thoughts and comments about issues surrounding the email incident. These are largely based on reactions to yesterday’s… Continue reading On Scandalous Emails
How to Generate Scientific Controversy
Some years ago, I heard Bob Park give a talk about pseudoscience, using “How to get rich and famous abusing your science knowledge” as a framing device. He ran through the deceptions involved in a bunch of high-profile “science” based scams and scares– homeopathy, free energy, power lines causing cancer, etc. Over at Live Granades,… Continue reading How to Generate Scientific Controversy