Roger Bacon and the Art of Grant Proposal Writing
Science is an invention, neither natural nor obvious. And Roger Bacon in the 13th century, writing one of the first grant proposals, was proposing to invent it.
Galileo Unbound
Blogs inspired by the book Galileo Unbound (Oxford, 2018)
Latest posts
The Best Physics of the Century (So Far)
The century is now a quarter over. What are the greatest discoveries in physics so far? What comes next?
The Golden Path to Chaos: Adiabatic Twists
The golden mean is more than a design principle, it is a fundamental number of nature that helps explain why islands of dynamicastability survive in a sea of chaos.
How Fat is Schrödinger’s Cat?
Schrödinger's cat has been growing fatter over the past 90 years (it was introduced in 1935). Today, it is so fat that some versions can be seen with the naked eye.
100 Years of Quantum Physics: Schrödinger’s Wave Mechanics (1926)
Quantum matrix mechanics was only a few months old when it was challenged by the new quantum wave mechanics of Erwin Schrödinger.
100 Years of Quantum Physics: Rise of the Matrix (1925)
One way to interpret quantum reality is as an infinite array of numbers. There are no visualizations. No orbits. No orbitals. This is matrix mechanics. Follow Heisenberg as he had his epiphany on the shore of a remote island in the North Sea, launching matrix mechanics just months before a rival quantum theory based on waves and orbitals made its own debut.
Whole World Holonomy
Intuitive notions of parallelism fly out the window in curved worlds. The dynamics of Foucault's pendulum may be dictated by the Coriolis force, but its kinematics are pure geometry, dictated by geodesics and parallel transport and the holonomy of our round world.
A Story of Singlets and Triplets: Relativistic Biology
Special relativity is rarely spoken in the same breath as biology. But relativistic effects dominate the generation of singlet oxygen which causes a potent form of biological damage. Nature has evolved some protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS), but it is also possible to use singlet oxygen in the fight against cancer.
The Craft of Conformal Maps
The magic of conformal maps transforms "impossible" physics problems into simple algebra exercises. Conformal maps also let us navigate across the surface of the Earth.
Anant K. Ramdas in the Golden Age of Physics
Anant K. Ramdas, distinguished physicist and scholar, exemplifies the quintessential gentleman scientist, pursuing semiconductors and engaging in discussions on the heart of physics. His career spanned the Golden Age of Physics, the years from 1960 - 2015.
How to Lose Weight by Supporting PBS and NPR
Education equips us to adapt and thrive in a fast-changing world. Resources like PBS and NPR are essential for that personal growth and awareness.
The Light in Einstein’s Elevator
The story of the light ray bending in an accelerating elevator is quintessential Einstein. But it took him nearly a quarter century before settling on this analogy.
Magister Mercator Maps the World (1569)
Gerardus Mercator warped the world to flatten it. He created a conformal map that helped early navigators hold courses of constant bearing across vast oceans.
Purge and Precipice: The Fall of American Science?
Attacking research at universities and national laboratories could lead to the collapse of American science and the loss of future GDP.
Maxwellian Steampunk and the Origins of Maxwell’s Equations
The displacement current was Maxwell's stroke of genius that led ultimately to the completion of his equations. Yet he envisioned it as a displacement effected by cogs and gears of the ether in the grand mechanical tradition of Victorian science.
A Short History of Neural Networks
A century of neural network science has brought us to the precipice of a new age of artificial intelligence.
Frontiers of Physics (2024): Dark Energy Thawing
Most of the universe may not be what we think it is.
100 Years of Quantum Physics: Pauli’s Exclusion Principle (1924)
In December 1924, Wolfgang Pauli introduced a crucial quantum number, leading to the formulation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle and connecting atomic models to the periodic table’s structure.
Science Underground: Neutrino Physics and Deep Gold Mines
Mines over matter: Neutrinos are the final frontier of high-energy physics. They have the strangest properties and are the hardest particles to detect (within the Standard Model). A deep underground mine in South Dakota, the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) hosts a host of experiments that are pushing the limits on what we know about our universe.
Counting by the Waters of Babylon: The Secrets of the Babylonian 60-by-60 Multiplication System
The ancient Babylonians used a sexagesimal numeral system with innovative multiplication techniques to manage complex calculations for land ownership, allowing them to effectively handle large numbers with fewer memorized values.