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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
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
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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
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What scientists in 1903 wanted for Christmas!
For most scientists, the arrival of new equipment can feel a lot like getting toys on Christmas day. There’s the excitement of opening the package, the giddy thrill of discovery of what the equipment can do, followed by an almost … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
6 Comments
Re (not the sun god) hypothesizes a solar atom (1903)
It is fair to say that the decade surrounding the start of the 20th century was an amazingly perplexing time to be a physicist. Mounting experimental evidence strongly suggested that something was amiss with classical physics, especially in the understanding … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
10 Comments
Benjamin Franklin shocks the world! (1752)
Back in 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed an epic — and incredibly dangerous — experiment. In order to show that lightning is a form of electricity, he flew a kite in a thunderstorm with a key attached. The key drew off … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
18 Comments
Whittaker breaks the irony meter (1910/1953)
I’m currently working my way through E.T. Whittaker‘s monumental A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity (1910), among other things. Whittaker’s book is a very comprehensive study of electricity and aether that stretches back from the seventeenth century … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, History of science, Physics
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R.W. Wood’s lecture demonstrations (1897-1905)
With all the concerted efforts into popularizing science that goes on these days, it is quite easy to forget that some of the best scientists throughout history put a lot of effort into making their knowledge accessible both to students … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Physics
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