Latest posts

An Iconoclastic and Flirtatious Master

Posted on 27 April 2014 by Athene Donald

I am currently reading Patricia Fara‘s recent book Science: A Four Thousand Year History which cuts an interesting swathe through different cultures, different individuals and different discoveries (sometimes even the same discovery in different places). It is not your average Eurocentric view of progress. Reading the chapter entitled China, Continue reading →

Posted in book review, China, Desmond Bernal, History of Science, Joseph Needham, Lu Gwei-Djen, Patricia Fara | Comments Off on An Iconoclastic and Flirtatious Master

Ectopic scribblings

Posted on 26 April 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It occurred to me this week that I’ve written various things in other venues that I’ve never linked to from this blog, and that it might be a good idea to compile some sort of list to try and mitigate the increasing entropy of my online presence, such as it is.

I wrote a book!

Continue reading →
Posted in blog buddies, career, communication, personal, publishing, Writing | Comments Off on Ectopic scribblings

Jews On Bikes

Posted on 25 April 2014 by Henry Gee

Sometimes the most memorable televisual emissions come from random channel-surfing. So it was last night when Mrs Crox came across a documentary on Sky Atlantic called Jews On Bikes. This follows the fortunes of a group of British Jewish bikers on a road trip in North America, taking part in the Ride to Remember, an annual event to raise awareness Continue reading →

Posted in antisemitism, easy rider, Holocaust, jewishness, Jews On Bikes, Judaism, Liberal Judaism, Writing & Reading, Zen Jewish Buddhism | Comments Off on Jews On Bikes

Cold Shot

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Henry Gee

Inspired in part by Steve’s recent post and prompted by a recent efflorescence of telephonic effluvia, I am moved to write about the increasing incidence of cold-callers who ring my home number (and my mobile number) offering various services, mainly but not exclusively the recovery of money from insurance policies I might have been sold in e Continue reading →

Posted in cold calls, more silliness, Silliness, Technicrox, telemarketers | Comments Off on Cold Shot

The ease of publishing does not reflect the realities of science

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Steve Caplan

Almost every day I am besieged through email to either join editorial boards of new ‘up-and-coming’ journals or submit manuscripts to them. Neither is a trivial matter for me. A submitted manuscript often comes after several years of research by one or even several students, and by the time we are convinced of the merit of publishing, w Continue reading →

Posted in article, fly-by-night, humor, journals, online, Open Access, paper, Research, science, Submission, waste of time | Comments Off on The ease of publishing does not reflect the realities of science

Music Therapy

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Henry Gee

As you both know I have been followed around by the Black Dog for quite some time, and am currently on some fairly strong bongo juice as well as seeing an expanding retinue of brain-care specialists. Most nights I have deeply complex dreams that play out in almost photorealistic detail and wake up groggy, the shreds of the dreamworld loth to dissip Continue reading →

Posted in depression, mental health, Music, musical appreciation | Comments Off on Music Therapy

The Big Apple

Posted on 22 April 2014 by Henry Gee

I can’t believe that it’s less than a year since I first visited the old fire station in Norwich, then at the very start of its transformation into the science- and maths-centric Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form College – so much has happened.
IMG_8421
Even last February there remained much to do. This didn’t stop the first crop of stude Continue reading →

Posted in Domesticrox, education, inspiration trust, sir isaac newton sixth form | Comments Off on The Big Apple

Hacked Off

Posted on 22 April 2014 by Athene Donald

Can one ever escape the workaday grind, successfully avoid slipping over the edge to descend into the chaos I wrote about a little while ago or even manage merely to keep one’s cool despite provocation? There are so many things sent to try us! I went away over Easter weekend to spend some time with my wider family. I did take my computer R Continue reading →

Posted in hacking, Science Culture, social media, twitter, vacation | Comments Off on Hacked Off

Open Access — yes you can

Posted on 20 April 2014 by Stephen

For researchers who have never dipped a toe into the debates on open access that surge across the blogosphere it is all too easy to imagine that they need not get involved. For sure, people are increasingly aware that a decision of some sort needs to be made about OA once their paper is accepted for publication but that’s about as far as it goes. T Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright, elsevier, Open Access | Comments Off on Open Access — yes you can

In which the season turns

Posted on 18 April 2014 by Jennifer Rohn

London is in the throes of springtime, and everything is in bud.

Treebuds

Last year this time, my belly was swelling ever bigger in pregnancy. Now, my son – nearing the seven month mark – grows so fast that he seems almost to lengthen in real time. Continue reading →

Posted in careers, Domestic bliss, staring into the abyss, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which the season turns