On recognizing what one does and does not know: “But hitherto I have not been able to discover the cause of those properties of gravity from phenomena, and I frame no hypotheses; for whatever is not deduced from the phenomena is to be called a hypothesis; and hypotheses, whether metaphysical or physical, whether of occult […]
Isaac Newton as *philosopher* of science Read More »
A contemporary of Galileo’s in reply to his 1610 discovery of Jupiter’s moons: “There are seven windows given to animals in the domicile of the head. From this and many other similarities in nature, such as the seven metals, etc., which were tedious to enumerate, we gather that the number of planets is necessarily seven.
Why there can be only seven planets Read More »
In these days of cultural sensitivity, consider the saga of syphilis. Syphilis is thought to have been brought back from America by Christopher Columbus’s fellow travelers. In Europe, it first manifested in Naples and so came to be called “the disease of Naples,” though most Italians called it the “French Pox.” As it made its
Syphilis and friendly ethnic relations — updated Read More »
[This week in my Introduction to Philosophy course, we’re reading Galileo’s “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina” — published exactly 400 years ago — in which he argues that free inquiry in the sciences is compatible with religion rightly understood. Here is a re-posting of my Galileo and the Modern Compromise.] IN HIS OPEN LETTER
Galileo on religion and science (Introduction to Philosophy this week) Read More »
Researchers say the average woman speaks 20,000 words a day, and the average man speaks 7,000. Apparently, the Foxp2 protein is implicated. So we may now have an answer to this wry question from Austin O’Malley: “Why is the word tongue feminine in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and German?” And this intriguing study of
Is peace or war the natural state of man? Do men fight primarily over material possessions or over women? For decades anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon studied the Yanomamö, a remote tribe in South America, learning about their almost-constant warfare — and his findings put him in open conflict with academic anthropologists and the American Anthropological Association.
Ideological wars in anthropology Read More »
Megapixels are so last year. Ramesh Raskar’s TED talk on imaging at a trillion frames per second:
Ramesh Raskar on femto-photography Read More »
As the wags say, you can’t make this stuff up. The Bolivian Minister of External Affairs has decided, for good astrological reasons, to banish the Coca-Cola company from Bolivia. “David Choquehuanca, the minister in question, explained that Coca-Cola will be expelled from Bolivia on the same day that the Mayan calendar enters a new cycle
Crank economics and astrology in Bolivia Read More »