-
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
John Blackburn’s “Nothing but the Night”
I’m happy to announce that another of John Blackburn’s classic horror novels has been reprinted by Valancourt Books, and again it features an introduction by me — Nothing but the Night! When a bus crashes that is carrying orphans … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Personal
Leave a comment
From blazing skies to bogus shamrock: The Giant’s Shoulders #57 is out!
The 57th edition of the history of science blog carnival The Giant’s Shoulders is up at Stories from the Stores, the Science Museum’s blog! In this edition, you can read about: A collection of posts on meteorite history, inspired by … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
Leave a comment
Physics demonstrations: invisibility on the cheap!
I spend a lot of time talking about invisibility on this blog, and it really has become a fascinating and vibrant area of optics, with lots of remarkable results. However, most of those results are theoretical, and the experimental results … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics demos
4 Comments
The Science Online 2013 official music video is out!
… and, like last year, I make a couple of silly appearances! A little background about the video from its creator, the awesome Dr. Bondar, can be read here. In short, Science Online is a yearly conference for those science … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Personal
Leave a comment
How to become invisible by “hiding under the carpet”
Since the first theoretical cloaking papers in 2006, the topic of optical invisibility has just gotten stranger and stranger. There have been proposals of optical wormholes, perfect optical illusions, space-time cloaks, and more. Perhaps even more surprising, however, is the … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
4 Comments
John Blackburn’s “Bury Him Darkly” and “Broken Boy”
Part of why I love writing this blog is rediscovering classic weird fiction that has been lost through misadventure and misfortune. Happily, others share this interest, and some of them are in an even better position to do something about … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Personal
7 Comments
The Giant’s Shoulders #56 is out!
The 56th edition of the history of science blog carnival, The Giant’s Shoulders, is up at The Dispersal of Darwin! In this edition, you can read about: How a (sort of) believer in ancient astronauts almost became U.S. President, The … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
Leave a comment
The mirror that (didn’t really) make it rain! (1713)
In my last post, I talked about the remarkable career of Etienne-Gaspard Robert aka “Robertson”, who became famous in debunking the supernatural by revealing how ghosts and phantoms could be faked. Remarkably, even today there are still places in the … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
Leave a comment
Phantasmagoria: How Étienne-Gaspard Robert terrified Paris for science
Scientists are so often imagined to be bland and unimaginative, slaving away at research and taking away the joy of nature. I’m no longer so irritated by this perception as I used to be, but rather surprised by it: going … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Horror, Optics
15 Comments
His Wisdom The Defender: A Story, by Simon Newcomb (1900)
My explorations of the early history of science fiction and horror has turned up a surprising number of scientists or people with scientific training who have dabbled in speculative fiction. Optical scientist Robert Williams Wood coauthored a pair of science … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Science fiction
3 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 