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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. -
Tag Archives: Physics
Polaroid: the game-changing optical technology (1938)!
Some technology is so pervasive and mundane in modern society that it is hard to comprehend what a seismic shift its introduction caused in civilization. Examples I can think of are refrigerators and air conditioning, but in science an example … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics
Tagged astronomy, nature, photography, Physics, science
2 Comments
Inverted World, by Christopher Priest
Book 10 for my 2025 goal of 30 books for the year! One third of the way through my goal for the year, even though it’s not even one sixth of the year! I am desperate for distractions these days. … Continue reading
Tau Zero, by Poul Anderson
Book 7 for my 2025 goal of 30 books for the year! I love a good science fiction story that really leans into one of the weird aspects of modern physics, and so as soon as I learned the premise … Continue reading
Relativity Denialists: Like the Heads of the Hydra…
Now I know how Hercules must have felt. Like the mythical hydra, you slap down one relativity denialist, and two more pop up in his place. In my case, one appeared as a comment on my blog (filtered as spam … Continue reading
Yes, Virginia, the universe really does revolve around the Earth (not)
After you’ve read some of the science blogs for long enough, you start to think that there isn’t any amount of crackpottery that can surprise you. For instance, reading Good Math, Bad Math will expose you to an endless amount … Continue reading
And the Physics Nobel Prize goes to…
Albert Fert and Peter Gruenberg, for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance. This is one of those prizes that’s pretty well-deserved, because giant magnetoresistance is now applied for data readout on pretty much every magnetic hard drive being produced, such as … Continue reading
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