On Saturday last I hied seventh forth to the picturesque Norfolk town of North Walsham,
to play a gig at the equally picturesque King’s Arms Hotel
with my band Stealer. Our presence had been announced beforehand
along with other forthcoming attractions including this:
Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge is understandably proud of its tradition in medicine. One of its illustrious alumni is William Harvey, who studied there in the 1590’s before going on to publish evidence to demonstrate the circulation of blood. One thing that struck me when reading Thomas Wright’s biography of him, Circulation, is just how r Continue reading
I’ve been chasing dragonflies again, up at the cottage, and have been obsessively trying to identify all of the species. Blame my scientific training, I say. And, as you might imagine, this is not going terribly well, because I’m a molecular biologist, not an entomologist, and I didn’t take any DNA samples.
Readers who are famili Continue reading
After Stephen’s posts about impact factors and the like, I have a couple of serious posts brewing. But for now (and because it’s Friday), I want to admit to my reaction today to an advert I got about a journal, which told me that I should Stand Out in my Field, and Be Visible by submitting to this journal (run by a reputable publisher). Continue reading
.…ask a busy person is the usual way to complete the phrase. But although this may be wise for the person wanting the job done, it’s tough on those paragons who repeatedly get asked to take on new duties. Hence the importance of a workload model to ensure that good citizens are not getting submerged beneath a mountain of committee work whilst other Continue reading
“In this job, you will make enemies,” warned the then editor, John Maddox, not long after I started in my career at Your Favourite Weekly Professional Science Magazine Beginning With N. This isn’t surprising, given that almost everything I receive as an editor gets rejected.
I wish I could tell you the story about the academic who Continue reading
Some of the signs I saw while riding the Montreal metro made me wonder just how safe the system is:
Beware of gigantic creepy tickle monsters!
If you thought I was done open access, think again. The taunting of the journal impact factor beast in recent posts was necessary because it is blocking the path to free dissemination of the research literature and the omnivorous creature has somehow to be slain.
But thanks to an email I received this morning, I want to loop back to another aspect Continue reading
Plagued with an unbelievably busy schedule, I have been a mostly passive follower of the excellent dialog that has resulted from several outstanding blogs on the peer review system, many of them “high impact blogs” by my esteemed colleague, Dr. Stephen Curry.
Just this week, after an extremely concerted and exciting process, my laborato Continue reading
I can announce that Siege of Stars, the first volume of my SF epic The Sigil, will be published this Friday (31 August) as an eBook, and on 4 September in print. And, while you are waiting for that toothsome event, here, hot of the proverbial, is the cover for the second book, Scourge of Stars. The artist really gets that I like pyramids. That̵ Continue reading
