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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. -
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Category Archives: History of science
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
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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
Posted in History of science, Personal, Physics
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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
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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
Posted in History of science, Optics
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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
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The Anniversary of the Laser at Cambridge University Press – Part 1!
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories was the first person to create the now ubiquitous and important source of light that we know as the LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. This year … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics
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The first news report of the laser (1960)
So this year is the 60 year anniversary of the invention of the laser, which was finally accomplished by Theodore Maiman on May 16, 1960 (mark your calendar!). I recently wrote a blog post about the physics and history of … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Optics
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Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics: video!
Okay, here’s one more classic video from my regular seminar series: Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics! This was one of the earliest semi-popular seminars I put together. More videos and posts to come!
Posted in History of science, Optics
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Ruby Payne-Scott and the mystery of sunspots
This post is in belated honor of International Women’s Day 2020, March 8th, and highlights an important woman physicist who I was unaware of until recently! I think almost everybody is familiar with the phenomenon of sunspots: relatively dark patches … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics, Women in science
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A few more Falling Felines bits of news!
If you’re still not tired of Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics news, yesterday was a good day for new posts, which I thought I’d compile here, along with some earlier stuff I forgot to share! The Curiosity Daily Podcast interviewed … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, History of science, Personal
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