Monthly Archives: July 2009

Scientific cranks: Going strong since at least 1891

Posted on July 30, 2009 by

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!

Posted on July 29, 2009 by

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

Posted on July 27, 2009 by

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 | Leave a comment

Thomas Levenson’s Newton and the Counterfeiter

Posted on July 26, 2009 by

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

Posted on July 25, 2009 by

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?

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

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!

Posted on July 22, 2009 by

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

Posted on July 21, 2009 by

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!

Posted on July 20, 2009 by

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 →

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Edward Lee’s Ghouls

Posted on July 18, 2009 by

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 | 2 Comments