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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
Relativity: Ten minutes to Alpha Centauri?
Einstein’s special theory of relativity is arguably the most amazing physical theory ever conceived. It utterly transformed our view of the universe, completely eradicating the view that space and time are independent quantities and giving us a new unified fabric … Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Relativity
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Weird science facts: July — August 2012
Though I stopped doing a Twitter weird science fact (#weirdscifacts) a day early this year, I’m still occasionally posting facts as I come across them. Here’s a collection of a few tidbits I came across over the past couple of … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Physics demonstrations: vortex cannon!
As I’ve said before, some of the best scientific demonstrations are things that can be put together with simple everyday components and exhibit surprising, even counter-intuitive, phenomena. One of my all-time favorite demonstrations is of this form! All one needs … Continue reading
Posted in Physics demos
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Dennis Wheatley’s To the Devil a Daughter
Occasionally, I just have a feeling about a book. I’ve read a number of novels by the author Dennis Wheatley (1897-1977) and have generally been impressed. Way back in 2008 I favorably reviewed Wheatley’s supernatural thrillers The Devil Rides Out … Continue reading
The Giant’s Shoulders: The Fiftieth Anniversary edition is out!
The fiftieth edition of the history of science blog carnival The Giant’s Shoulders is up at From the Hands of Quacks! In this lovely edition, you can read about science history in the Olympics, new blogs on women in science, … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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My 5-year blogiversary!
I almost missed it! It turns out today, August 14th, 2012, is the 5-year anniversary of the founding of this blog! I would have in fact missed my “blogiversary” entirely if Jason Goldman of The Thoughtful Animal hadn’t tweeted congratulations … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Physics
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What’s the difference between “transparency” and “invisibility”?
In writing my previous post on The Murderer Invisible, I started thinking again about the relationship between something being “transparent” and something being truly “invisible”. Most of us can appreciate that, under the right circumstances, a transparent object like a … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Philip Wylie’s The Murderer Invisible
If it were a mystery novel, The Murderer Invisible would be a failure right off the bat, as the plot twist is explained right there in the title! As science fiction and horror, however, this 1931 book by Philip Wylie … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Science fiction
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The Giant’s Shoulders #49: “Crisis what crisis?” edition is out!
I’m a few days late in noting this, but the 49th edition of the history of science blog carnival The Giant’s Shoulders is up at The Renaissance Mathematicus! In this edition, you can read about: Sports doping, Victorian style, The … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Science news
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Wackerbarth whacks Piazzi’s pyramid power! (1867)
One aspect of science that I try and emphasize time and again is that it is a community effort. Individuals can make discoveries, but individuals are subject to mistakes (such as the recent arsenic life brouhaha), deliberate fraud (as in … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science
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Skulls in the Stars 