tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22762850435666258342024-03-13T13:51:33.203-04:00 ** Science On Tap... ** --- Books, writers, links, videos... for those who relish science and nature writing/reportingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger452125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-88622585289299026482010-07-01T15:57:00.016-04:002010-07-28T16:12:06.903-04:00HiatusThis blog is on (likely permanent) hiatus while I turn my energy to a new blog on my first love, mathematics:
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-19483727666082506062010-06-11T06:33:00.004-04:002010-06-11T17:25:14.565-04:00Science Books From BloggersA recent compendium here:
http://tinyurl.com/327mqpf
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Bvar gaJsHost =Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-57775741128508048122010-06-09T07:47:00.002-04:002010-06-10T18:46:32.816-04:00Quote... Unquote“If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motion of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to believe that my beliefs are true… and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
–- J.B.S. Haldane, "Possible Worlds" (1927)
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document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-92179871597805785862010-06-07T06:52:00.001-04:002010-06-07T06:52:00.920-04:00"What Is Information?"Stuart Kauffman on "information" here:
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http://tinyurl.com/2ag5s8v
SvarUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-19944367211429102972010-06-05T10:34:00.004-04:002010-06-05T19:37:13.473-04:00Whoaaaa!!!Check out this little example of human perception/face recognition:
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-12515307596911019992010-05-23T09:13:00.018-04:002010-05-29T14:17:23.632-04:00Martin Gardner 1914 - 2010Feel it necessary to report that Martin Gardner died of natural causes this weekend in Norman, OK., at the age of 95. One of my favorite writers/essayists/thinkers who I blogged on a few occasions here:
http://scienceontap.blogspot.com/2009/07/martin-gardner.html
http://scienceontap.blogspot.com/2009/10/jinn-from-hyperspace.html
http://scienceontap.blogspot.com/2010/04/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-12143292228972150802010-05-14T06:46:00.001-04:002010-05-14T06:47:04.901-04:00Yeah, But We Ain't So Good At Sonar OurselvesFriday Fun....
Leave it to The Onion to scoop The Journal of Marine Biology:
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pageTracker._trackPageview()Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-43955193552472674282010-05-12T08:44:00.032-04:002010-05-12T20:39:16.065-04:003 For Your MoneySynchronicity of sorts: I've been reading several books simultaneously lately, including Dr. Francis Collins' most recent offering, "The Language of Life." Then yesterday while in the halls of a local Federal Government research lab I looked up and THERE was Francis Collins walking through on a site visit!
Because three of the disparate books (they have nothing in common) I'm reading are SO Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-70275963182706109242010-05-09T10:46:00.039-04:002010-05-09T10:46:00.530-04:00Best of...?
"The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009" edited by Elizabeth Kolbert
I've mentioned before enjoying anthologies, but one somewhat notable exception to that has been the "Best American Series" put out yearly on a wide variety of subjects. These volumes (selecting some of the very best writing of the previous year from a variety of authors, subjects, and publications) tend to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-538960889454100382010-05-07T09:56:00.005-04:002010-05-07T09:56:00.219-04:00Men... Women... ExplainedClifford Pickover explicates the differences between men and women here:
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-28198800036736381872010-05-06T15:59:00.005-04:002010-05-06T15:59:01.217-04:00Wiseman Entertains...A card trick... and more:
I won't say what this video is concerning, so as not to take away from the effect, but it is another wonderful demonstration previously-posted by the always interesting British psychologist Richard Wiseman (for some reason, the audio doesn't seem to work on it, but it isn't necessary):
I won't say what this video is concerning, so as not to take away from the effectUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-62790628629925277922010-05-05T15:01:00.003-04:002010-05-05T15:20:54.550-04:00"Darwinian Evolution In Fast-forward"Good piece here from the always incisive Carl Zimmer on the recent (not-very-surprising) news of weeds developing resistance to Monsanto's widely-used Roundup herbicide (so-called "superweeds"):
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document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-47478162814229220602010-05-04T15:02:00.005-04:002010-05-04T19:24:00.075-04:00Gleiser's Latest
For the cosmology readers out there, a couple of Web reviews of physicist Marcelo Gleiser's latest book, "A Tear At the Edge of Creation" below.
(This is Gleiser's account of his journey from string theorist and unification seeker to a totally different and "radical" view of the nature of the Universe, wherein a "Theory of Everything" is likely not achievable.)
http://www.math.columbia.edu/~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-9821671610635998162010-05-01T17:32:00.019-04:002010-05-01T19:13:14.515-04:00Pollan Rules
"Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" by Michael Pollan
Pretty much anything Michael Pollan writes these days is an automatic NY Times bestseller... and rightfully so, given his skills of exposition, especially on the food-related concerns he has now made a career from. You could probably condense all the writing and text in his latest (2009) volume, "Food Rules," into about 25 pages if you Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-54891839791789676502010-04-24T10:15:00.023-04:002010-05-03T22:49:55.516-04:00Martin Gardner, AgainVintage Martin Gardner....
Recently finished reading Martin Gardner's last book (2009), another one of his compendiums of previously-published essays entitled, "When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish." I won't do a full review, because readers here already know that any Gardner volume is in my view "A" material, and his essay anthologies, in particular, are slam-dunks (I consider them Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-75896714698967806982010-04-18T09:28:00.001-04:002010-04-18T09:28:00.691-04:00RandomnessRecent article from NPR on "randomness" here:
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125993584
Rvar gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "httpsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-20194479484478556062010-04-12T16:30:00.000-04:002010-04-12T17:25:37.578-04:00"Flyaway"
I haven't read it myself as yet, but "Flyaway" is a highly-rated 2009 volume about the life and times and experiences of a wild bird rehabililtator, Suzie Gilbert. Newly-out in paperback.
a Web review of it here:
http://10000birds.com/review-of-flyaway-by-suzie-gilbert.htm
and some more on Suzie Gilbert here:
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/flyaway
"Flyaway" a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-4294488912676424552010-04-11T06:15:00.001-04:002010-04-11T17:45:06.127-04:00Sunday Morning PassagesA few more of Chet Raymo's musings for a Sunday morning, on 'pattern' and 'order' and woolly bear caterpillars:
http://www.sciencemusings.com/blog/2010/04/whence-pattern-part-2.html
http://www.sciencemusings.com/blog/2010/04/whence-order.html
http://www.sciencemusings.com/blog/2010/04/communion.html
A couple more of Chet Raymo's musings for a Sunday morning, on 'pattern' and 'order' and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-43340787394297415452010-03-20T09:01:00.006-04:002010-03-22T21:32:13.641-04:00"The Genius In All of Us"
"The Genius In All of Us" by David Shenk
Certain thematic conflicts in biology arise over and over in popular writing, the most obvious or frequent one being, evolution versus intelligent design. But right behind it, and slightly related, is "nature versus nurture"... are we humans more the product of our genes or of our environment? And unlike scientific controversies that tend to move Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-17146890381369420762010-03-14T19:06:00.005-04:002010-03-15T14:29:39.728-04:00Not For Math-PhobesFirst, an interesting (lengthy) article on problems with statistics in research here:
http://tinyurl.com/ydfvaqj
On a related and slightly less-technical note, just finished reading Jason Rosenhouse's wonderful 2009 volume, "The Monty Hall Problem," devoted entirely to the "Monty Hall" problem from mathematics (one of the most intriguing, well-covered/debated probability problems oft-presented Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-82042855593383965912010-03-09T10:30:00.008-05:002010-03-14T20:02:26.203-04:00"Supernormal Stimuli""Supernormal Stimuli" is Harvard psychologist's Deirdre Barrett latest book, focusing on how our modern technology plays upon and overwhelms our primitive instincts to ill effect.
Review here:
http://www.newsbag.org/?p=45761
"Supernormal Stimuli" Deirdre Barrett Harvard psychologist talks about how our modern technology plays upon and overwhelms our primitive instincts.
http://Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-55342461079362000602010-03-07T07:11:00.001-05:002010-03-14T20:01:27.159-04:00"Thinking About Thinking"A meditation for a Sunday morning:
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http://tinyurl.com/yfodh7m
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document.write(Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-47192286418945024852010-03-04T06:32:00.003-05:002010-03-14T20:00:47.085-04:00"You Are Not a Gadget"
Some reviews of "You Are Not a Gadget" the controversial "manifesto" by long-time Web guru and now critic of Web 2.0, Jaron Lanier:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/books/15book.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2239466/
http://tinyurl.com/yegcxqo
http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Not-Gadget-Manifesto/dp/0307269647
Some reviews of "You Are Not a Gadget" the controversial "manifesto" by Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-66790751816501030952010-03-02T08:39:00.007-05:002010-03-14T20:00:08.576-04:00"Inside the Human Genome"Below, a review of evolutionary geneticist John Avise's "Inside the Human Genome" (a book which notes that in studying the human genome one is struck more by its UNintelligent design, than the intelligent design so heavily touted):
http://tinyurl.com/ykh28j2
An interview with John Avise here:
http://www.physorg.com/news185119921.html
A review of John Avise's "Inside the Human Genome" Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2276285043566625834.post-66157902399198189652010-02-27T07:23:00.004-05:002010-03-14T19:59:30.157-04:00"The Wauchula Woods Accord"
Primates 'R Us...
Washington Post review of "The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals" by Charles Siebert, a book exploring the human/great ape borderland, here:
http://tinyurl.com/ylpfaar
Interview with author Siebert here:
http://tinyurl.com/ykb6sud
A recent moving WNYC RadioLab podcast about the life of captive chimp "Lucy" based in part on Siebert's book is hereUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0