Monthly Archives: January 2015

All That Is, by James Salter

Posted on 31 January 2015 by Stephen

In 2013 I was captured, captivated by the spare prose of James Salter’s The Hunters, a story of the tense competition between US airmen in the Korean War. All That Is is similarly spare, and like The Hunters quite a masculine book, … Continue reading →

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Stand Up and Be Counted

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Athene Donald

There are times in one’s life when it is important to stand up and be counted. This is a view expressed neatly in a recent blogpost by Hilda Bastian about 7 Tips for Women at Science Conferences  with her sub-heading … Continue reading →

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Moved to poetry by….OMICS

Posted on 24 January 2015 by Steve Caplan

Yes, the unfunny joke of a company called OMICS has moved me. Debating between tears and poetry, I opted for the latter, writing my “Epic Omics Limmerick,” provoked by the email pasted below. Here is my verse: There once was … Continue reading →

Posted in BS, fraud, humor, limmerick, OMICS, Open Access, poetry, Research, science, science journals, Science research, sucker born every minute | Comments Off on Moved to poetry by….OMICS

Am I a Lady?

Posted on 22 January 2015 by Athene Donald

I am of a generation that was brought up with (though most certainly not to laugh at) the joke ‘That’s no lady, that’s my wife’. Classist overtones? Undoubtedly, as well as inherent sexism: the word ‘lady’ to me is not … Continue reading →

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Conspiracy deathmatch

Posted on 19 January 2015 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I realized recently that, in the best tradition of fighting fire with fire, it’s possible to counter some conspiracy theories by invoking other conspiracy theories. The best two examples I’ve come up with so far are as follows: The anti-vaccination … Continue reading →

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Let’s just call it “ideology”

Posted on 19 January 2015 by Steve Caplan

The recent murderous terror attacks in Paris at the weekly “Charlie Hebdo” magazine office and the Kosher supermarket — as well as the policewoman who was killed in the street — probably elicited the same emotions in me that they … Continue reading →

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Open access and the humanities

Posted on 18 January 2015 by Stephen

At the end of 2013 and 2014 I wrote blog posts on Occam’s Corner (over at the Guardian) to list and briefly review the books I read in each of those years. I am trying to develop this practice into a … Continue reading →

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Science Policy and Impact: Lessons from History

Posted on 16 January 2015 by Athene Donald

REF, the Science and Innovation Strategy document (S+I) and the Nurse Review of the Research Councils  collectively mean that the UK HE world of science is stuffed full of current policy issues that matter to us all – never mind … Continue reading →

Posted in Eight great technologies, History of Science, Royal Society, Science and Innovation strategy, Science Funding, Science policy | Comments Off on Science Policy and Impact: Lessons from History

“To generalize is to be an idiot” (William Blake)

Posted on 11 January 2015 by Sylvia McLain

In the 1990s, there was a serial bomber in the USA named Eric Rudolph. Rudolph bombed abortion clinics, gay bars and even the 1996 summer Olympics. To escape the law, Rudolph took to the woods of North Carolina where he … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Hebdo, freedom of speech | Comments Off on “To generalize is to be an idiot” (William Blake)

MOOC review of Think Again: How to Reason and Argue

Posted on 11 January 2015 by Erika Cule

The Coursera course Think Again: How to Reason and Argue started again on Monday – there’s still time to sign up! I took the course in the second half of 2014, making me a Think Again alumnus. If you are … Continue reading →

Posted in Argue, book reviews, Coursera, MOOC, Reason | Comments Off on MOOC review of Think Again: How to Reason and Argue