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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
A curious mathematical identity
Update: There is more subtlety to the infinite case, which I’ve now addressed in the post! Update 2: Learning so much messing with this! Added a bit more discussion near the end. So on twitter yesterday, the following mathematical identity … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Mathematics
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The Last, by Hanna Jameson
Life has been rough lately… and by “lately,” I kinda mean the past two years, for various reasons, on and off. Because of that, I’ve struggled to focus on reading fiction, much to my own dismay. However, I opted to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy
This past Friday, I was invited to give a talk at the monthly meeting of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, a lovely organization that has been around since 1954. As a theoretical physicist, I am not that well-versed on astronomy … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Personal, Physics
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 4: the Shandong Museum
Part 3 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here, Part 2 can be read here, and Part 3 can be read here. On my first weekend in Jinan, … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 3: Daming Lake
Part 3 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here, and Part 2 can be read here. On my first weekend in Jinan I hit two of the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 2: What I ate
Part 2 in a long series of posts about my month and a half in China. Part 1 can be read here. Before I dive into a post of more history, culture and scenery of China, I thought I would … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Travel
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Dr. SkySkull in China, Part 1: Baotu Spring
So I’m back home after my epic month and a half trip to China! It was a really lovely experience: my hosts were incredibly kind and generous, I got to see and do a lot of things that I’ve only … Continue reading
A small announcement: I’m adventuring in China!
Hi all, I just wanted to apologize for being rather quiet with posting lately, as work has been incredibly busy! Alas, things probably won’t pick up for another month, yet, as I am currently spending a month and a half … Continue reading
Crookes and the puzzle of his radiometer
This blog post is based on some early experimental writing that was done for my Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics book that was cut from the final draft! As you will see, it was much too long and too much … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics, Physics demos
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An Ode to the “Tomb of Horrors”
(NOTE: Updated the post to include one additional Tomb-related adventure, which I completely forgot about while first writing!) Part of this feeling on my part is certainly nostalgia, but there really isn’t anything quite like the original Advanced Dungeons & … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction, Horror
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