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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. -
Category Archives: Personal
Electromagnetic Optics is available!
This post will only be relevant to a small portion of my audience, but I wanted to announce that my latest textbook Electromagnetic Optics is now available! That link is for the e-book, which is already available; the print book … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Personal
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Latest Dead Reckonings is out!
Hi folks! For those who are familiar, I occasionally write book reviews for the horror and weird periodical Dead Reckonings, and the most recent issue is out! I wrote about Laird Barron’s recent collection of horror fiction, a return to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Personal
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Talking Invisibility on the Peculiar Book Club!
For those who aren’t yet tired of me talking about the physics of invisibility and my book about it, a couple of days ago I was a guest on the Peculiar Book Club, hosted by Brandy Schillace! It was a … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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My tips for scientific conference presentations
This semester, I decided to replace the final exam in one of my upper-level graduate courses with a short 15 minute presentation on a scientific paper related to the course topic. To give the students some guidance, I provided a … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Physics
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Electromagnetic Optics available for pre-order!
Let me just share a short note here that my Electromagnetic Optics textbook is now available for pre-order, to be published in March 2025! The link to the IoP Publishing site is here. The official description of the book: Light … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Personal
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Invisibility shortlisted for Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science!
Hi all! I always like to post nice book news here, partly for my own recollection, but I learned today that my book on Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to be Seen was shortlisted for the 2024 … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
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17 years of Skulls in the Stars!
Hi all! I’m still finishing the draft of my electromagnetic optics textbook, which I told the publisher I’d finish on Monday. So, as you might expect, that’s been consuming most of my attention lately and I haven’t had time to … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
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Just a small note!
Hi folks, I just realized I haven’t posted for a while, but there’s a good reason — I’m in the final month of finishing up a new textbook, which is due on August 15, so all of my writing energy … Continue reading
Memories of Emil Wolf
2024 marks the 65th anniversary of a significant milestone in optics: the publication of Principles of Optics by Max Born and Emil Wolf, a comprehensive book on physical optics that has been cited some 78,000 times in the scientific literature … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Personal
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RIP Zoe, 2006-2024
It’s taken me a few days to write this post, as this hit me really hard. Two Tuesdays ago, June 4th, I had to say goodbye to my eldest cat Zoe. It has been such a hard loss that it … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Personal
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Skulls in the Stars 