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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: Physics
Water has properties that are positively electrifying!
Most people certainly understand how important water is for our survival, but we often overlook how weird it can be. I can compile a short, though not exhaustive, list off the top of my head: Water is less dense in … Continue reading
Posted in Physics
49 Comments
It’s not shrinkage — it’s relativity! (1889)
The best stories in the history of physics are those in which someone comes from humble origins and, seemingly out of nowhere, makes a brilliant discovery that changes everything. Such stories, however, can give a very misleading impression of the … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics, Relativity
17 Comments
The spinthariscope — see atoms decay before your eyes!
Last week heralded the long-awaited arrival of a package I had ordered, the content of which seems rather unimpressive at first glance. It consists of a small metal cylinder, with an adjustable lens on one end and a screw on … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
27 Comments
Invisibility talk in the Critical Wit podcast!
For those who aren’t tired yet of hearing me talk about science, you can now hear me in the second installment of the Critical Wit Podcast, hosted by Chris Lindsay! I pontificate on the topic of invisibility cloaks and the … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Personal
1 Comment
The birth of electromagnetism (1820)
It is oddly fitting that the birth of electromagnetism, and an entirely new direction in physics, started with the tiniest twitch of a compass needle. In the year 1820, Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851) observed the twitch of said … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
11 Comments
Optics basics: vector fields
In my regular discussions of optics and electromagnetic fields in general, I use a lot of pictures with arrows on them. For instance, my post on Faraday’s law has the curious figure, where the red arrows represent the “electric field” … Continue reading
Posted in Optics basics, Physics
4 Comments
Jennifer Ouellette’s The Calculus Diaries
Calculus plays a rather paradoxical role in modern society: much of our modern technology and science depends upon it, but amongst the general public it is feared, even despised, and treated almost as magic. This is really a problem, as … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics, Physics
3 Comments
Taking flight on light
On occasion, a scientific idea comes along that is so simple and elegant that one wonders that it hadn’t been done before! Such is the case with the results of an article published online in Nature Photonics in December, which … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Physics
10 Comments
Post at Scientific American guest blog on invisibility!
For those wondering where my science-related posts have been these days, I have at least a partial answer: I have a guest post on the Scientific American guest blog on, “Invisibility: After several years of research, it’s just gotten weirder”! … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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The first glimmer of a nuclear Sun: radium and solar energy (1903)
While researching a recent post on the history of nuclear physics (here), I happened across a short but rather fascinating letter written in 1903. It seems to be the first article in print that makes the connection between the processes … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
5 Comments
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