Category Archives: History of science

“Invisibility” has a cover and a release date!

Of course, my publisher never tells me these things, but the cover for my next popular science book, on the history and physics of invisibility, has been made public and the book has a release date! It was a challenge … Continue reading

Posted in History of science, Invisibility, Personal | 1 Comment

The oldest falling cat explanation

So when writing my book Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics, on the history and science of how cats land on my feet, I attempted to track down the oldest explanation in print that attempted to explain why cats seem to … Continue reading

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Eliza Young owns some scientists (1816)

This is a belated post for the International Day of Women & Girls in Science, which was on February 11. In this post, I honor those women who never had a chance to get into science due to societal and … Continue reading

Posted in History of science, Optics, Women in science | 2 Comments

James Clerk Maxwell – Vampyre poet?

So James Clerk Maxwell was one of the greatest theoretical physicists of the 19th century, even perhaps the greatest. He is most famous for compiling a system of equations in the 1860s that describe the interactions of electricity and magnetism, … Continue reading

Posted in History of science, Horror | 1 Comment

The oldest cat selfie? (1904)

I’ve said before that old illustrated magazines are a treasure trove of fascinating stuff. From the same 1904 issue of The Strand where I found the vintage math puzzle in my previous post, I found this amazing reader-submitted photograph: In … Continue reading

Posted in ... the Hell?, Animals, History of science | Leave a comment

H.G. Wells insults the entire human race (1924)

Most everyone knows the name H.G. Wells: he is one of the founders of science fiction as a popular and accepted form of literature, thanks to his brilliant novels The Time Machine (1895), The War of the Worlds (1898), and … Continue reading

Posted in History of science, Science fiction | 3 Comments

Personally Speaking… about Falling Felines!

Hi all, I’ve been rather busy with work lately and haven’t had much time to blog. I’ve got a lot to write about, and no time to do it! In the meantime, however, I gave a talk at my university … Continue reading

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Row, row row your boat, James Clerk Maxwell (1841)

Another short post inspired by my work on my upcoming book on the history of invisibility physics! James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) is rightly regarded as one of the most important physicists of the 19th century, and indeed of all time, … Continue reading

Posted in History of science, Optics | 1 Comment

Superoscillations: imaging beyond the limits of diffraction

This past week I gave a virtual talk to the Charlotte Amateur Astronomy Club about a fascinating development in wave physics and imaging called “superoscillations,” and I thought I would record a version that I could share here! Hopefully the … Continue reading

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Presentation on “Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics!”

Okay, so I did a video presentation at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences tonight on “Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics!” Due to COVID restrictions, it’s the closest thing to a book event I’ll be doing for a while, so … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, History of science, Personal, Physics | Leave a comment