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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. -
Author Archives: skullsinthestars
What the heck is the “speed of light?” Part 2
In Part 1 of What the heck is the “speed of light?”, we noted how light in matter can move much slower than the vacuum speed of light c, or even appear to move much faster than c, under the … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
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What the heck is the “speed of light?” Part 1
Most of us have heard a statement similar to the one that follows: “The speed of light is constant.” That particular phrasing of the statement comes from none other than the American Museum of Natural History’s Einstein exhibit, so I … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
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Michael Faraday, grand unified theorist? (1851)
Originally posted on Skulls in the Stars:
At long last, I get to blog about the paper that first piqued my interest about the research of Michael Faraday! If you haven’t been following my Faraday posts, let me give a…
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Night of the Big Heat, by John Lymington
I don’t know exactly what first drew my attention to Night of the Big Heat (1959), by John Lymington. I suspect I was browsing through some Wikipedia posts about alien invasion movies, and caught sight of the 1967 film adaptation … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction
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The Dark Host, by Archie Roy
Let’s take a look at one of the most obscure books I’ve ever read! So, I’ve written about the work of Archie Roy before, in particular his novel Devil in the Darkness (1978), a remarkably good haunted house story. In … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller
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Some book news!
First of all, I got news that The New York Times may be running the review of my book on Invisibility in the Sunday, June 4th issue! Previously, the review appeared online way back in mid-April. This hasn’t been officially … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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Optics basics: thin films
Color can have surprising origins in nature. Most of the time, the color of an object is dictated by the light it absorbs: for example, if you see an object that is blue, that means that it reflects all the … Continue reading
Posted in Optics basics
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“Invisibility” on the Colin McEnroe Show!
I get to share another interview that I did about invisibility today, this time live on the Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR in Connecticut! It was a great conversation! It started with me talking about the science of invisibility, and … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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A short musical interlude…
I’m still working on posting something to the blog every day for a certain number of days! Tonight, I’m a little exhausted and don’t have a lot of time to finish a new optics post, so I thought I’d share … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Personal
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Skulls in the Stars 