Monthly Archives: February 2014

The Accidental Audiobook

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye! I knew that the Shameless Plug was soon to come out as an audiobook.

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Relative oblivion and revivals

Penny Candy paperback edition, by Jean Kerr While on vacation in California, I had the U.S. version of a famous online bookstore locate and then send me a copy of a collection of essays I once enjoyed in the very … Continue reading

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In which I admire their honesty

Kudos to Mateja Erdani Kreft of the University of Ljubljana and Horst Robenek from the University of Münster for telling it like it is: You don’t often see such candor in the methods section of your local journal article – … Continue reading

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There’s More to Us than Lab Coats

This book review first appeared in Times Higher Education on February 27th 2014 Are We All Scientific Experts Now? By Harry Collins Polity, 168pp, £35.00 and £9.99 ISBN 9780745682037 and 82044 Published 28 February 2014

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Squishy

When a colleague of Mrs Crox learned that Crox Minor (15) wanted to go to medical school and study to be a surgeon, the colleague recommended that Crox Minor read Brain Matters: Adventures of a Brain Surgeon. So she did, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, brain matters, careers, glioblastoma, healthcare, katrina s firlik, neurosurgery, reading and writing, Research, Science Is Vital, sexism, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Squishy

My fair book

Yesterday afternoon I participated in the Omaha Public Library’s annual author fair, featuring (mostly) local authors and their books. The highlight, of course, was my own table featuring the “new genre of Lab Lit” and my 3 modest contributions to … Continue reading

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In which we discover a new song

After months of relentless rain and wind, today London felt suddenly and inexorably whalloped over the head by spring. Complete with Disney-style stars and birds orbiting its head. Our garden has gone ballistic with spring bulbs.

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In which sexism leaves me speechless

There’s a lot of talk about sexism in science these days – blogposts, op-eds and tweets roll out on a daily basis, and even Parliamentary committees get worked up about it. It’s no longer a minority of isolated people concerned … Continue reading

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Writing Spaces

At the beginning of his memoir Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall, Spike Milligan wrote After Puckoon I swore I’d never write another book. This is it. I know, I know, I swore I wouldn’t, either.

Posted in a field guide to dinosaurs, before the backbone, by the sea, Cromer, cyclostomes, Domesticrox, gnathostomes, in search of deep time, jacobs ladder, The Accidental Species, the sigil trilogy, vertebrate origins, vertebrates, Writing, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Writing Spaces

What Does it Take to Get to the Top?

Readers of my blog will not need to be reminded that the numbers of women successfully climbing through the ranks to the top of the academic tree are small. The same is true of administrative staff: many women set out, … Continue reading

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