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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Scientific cranks: Going strong since at least 1891
It is easy to assume that scientific crankery is a relatively new phenomenon, perhaps fueled by the completely non-intuitive, sometimes intimidating nature of many modern scientific theories. In physics, for instance, most cranks spend their time attacking Einstein’s theories of … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Physics
7 Comments
Another short note — and goldfinches!
Just a quick note again — I’m still quite swamped with work, even after getting my proposal done. Now I’m working feverishly on my book, as I want to have a first draft completed by the end of August. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Personal
3 Comments
Leonard Cline’s The Dark Chamber
Lovecraft’s essay Supernatural Horror in Literature is a great starting source for finding very good but relatively unknown horror gems. I’ve been slowly working my way through Lovecraft’s picks, and recently Leonard Cline’s The Dark Chamber (1927) caught my eye: … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
4 Comments
Thomas Levenson’s Newton and the Counterfeiter
About a month ago, I noted that Thomas Levenson’s book Newton and the Counterfeiter (2009) is now available: The book is the story of how the great scientist Isaac Newton, after making the discoveries which electrified the scientific world, took … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
8 Comments
Maxwell on Faraday
I’m working on a few longer posts at the moment, but in the meantime I thought I’d share a nice little passage I came across while looking through James Clerk Maxwell‘s A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873). Maxwell, of … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
3 Comments
Skating a rollercoaster?
I know people will call me nuts, but this looks like fun: via The Daily Mail, we learn that an extreme sports enthusiast took a high-speed ride on a rollercoaster — on specially designed roller skates! An adrenaline junkie has … Continue reading
Posted in Sports
2 Comments
Hummingbirds move fast!
Less than 24 hours after putting up a new hummingbird feeder, we have this: This one is from a little later in the day: We’ve got a lot of birds visiting our yard these days, so much so that we’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Animals
7 Comments
Lord Dunsany’s Pegana
A bit over a month ago, I decided to read a few of Lord Dunsany’s plays after reading Lovecraft’s glowing review of them in Supernatural Horror in Literature. The plays are wonderfully eerie and capture the spirit of ancient myths … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy fiction, Lovecraft
4 Comments
CAREER award craziness!
Sorry the blog has been quiet recently. I’m in the midst of putting the finishing touches on an NSF CAREER award proposal, and that’s been taking up all my mental energy. The proposal is due on Wednesday, so I’ll be … Continue reading
Edward Lee’s Ghouls
When I was a teenager, I used to read a lot of horror novels, some good, many very bad. In fact, I gave up on reading horror for a number of years due to my frustration. After starting the blog, … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
4 Comments
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