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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
Caitlin R. Kiernan’s The Drowning Girl
Good ghost stories are hard to find these days. Though there is much wonderful horror out there to read (and watch), in my opinion there are few authors that capture the ghostly sense of dread as well the early 20th … Continue reading
Weird science facts — the final (regular) edition!
With the fact of March 14th, I have posted a weird science fact on Twitter every day for two years straight. That’s one more year of #weirdscifacts than I expected to do, and I think this makes a good time … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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The Giant’s Shoulders #45
Welcome to the 45th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders, the monthly history of science blog carnival! We’ve got a lot of interesting entries to cover, so let’s get going! Captain of the men of death. Over at White Coat Underground, … Continue reading
Posted in General science, History of science
9 Comments
Weird science facts, March 7 — March 13
This is it — today marks the 2-year anniversary of Twitter #weirdscifacts, meaning I’ve been posting facts on Twitter every day for 2 years straight! Not sure what I’ll do with the facts next — trying to decide by next … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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Richard Marsh’s The Complete Adventures of Judith Lee
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the work of Richard Marsh (1857-1915), who was an incredibly successful author of mystery, horror, and generally weird fiction in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Marsh was famous in his own … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller
5 Comments
Weird science facts, February 29 — March 6
A little over one week before I’ve done two continuous years of daily Twitter #weirdscifacts!!! In the meantime, here’s the last week’s weirdness: 718. Feb 29: Moon’s shadow, like a ship, creates waves in Earth’s atmosphere. 719. Mar 01: The … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
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1901 — the year the nuclear atom was “invented”!
So what does an atom look like? If you were to pull someone at random off the street and ask them to draw a picture of an atom, they would more likely than not draw something like this: Almost everybody … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
7 Comments
Weird science facts, February 22 — February 28
Getting close to a complete & continuous two years of Twitter #weirdscifacts! I don’t think I have the ambition to go for three, so enjoy them while they last! Now that I’m getting close, however, I’m happy to throw in … Continue reading
Posted in Weirdscifacts
2 Comments
One of my papers is top-ten cited in JOSA A!!??
Just a short note: on Twitter, Professor Andrew Dawes (thanks Andrew!) drew my attention to a recent email that the Optical Society of America sent out, listing the top ten most cited articles in the Journal of the Optical Society of America A … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
6 Comments
Pauli, “armchair physicists”, and “not even wrong”
Ah, controversy! Physics is of course not immune from it, and sometimes the participants in an argument can let anger get the better of them. An example of this began last week, when the following video clip appeared, featuring Professor … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Physics
59 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 