Category Archives: History of science

Part 2 of a trilogy of posts describing the history of the discovery of conservation of energy, inspired by my research on “Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics.” Part 1 can be read here. In 1798, Count Rumford presented the first … Continue reading →

Another post inspired by my research into my Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics book! Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but merely converted from one form to another. Such is a typical statement of the law of conservation of energy, … Continue reading →

The first of what will hopefully be a small series of posts inspired by research on my Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics book, which will be sent to the publisher this week!  Made some small updates for clarity to the … Continue reading →

One of the challenges of doing physics outreach is that there are so many cool phenomena which simply can’t be demonstrated in an eye-catching way, because they are too small, too subtle, or too complicated.  So whenever I find a … Continue reading →

Sometimes, in science, it turns out that the best way to find something is to not be looking for it at all. This is more or less what happened in 1891, when an amateur astronomer and full-time insurance actuary observed … Continue reading →

This is part 6 in a lengthy series of posts attempting to explain the idea of quantum entanglement to a non-physics audience.  Part 1 can be read here,  Part 2 can be read here, Part 3 here,  Part 4 here, and Part 5 here. … Continue reading →