Karl Popper’s 582-page Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge seemed a daunting read. It need not have done: the essays within are written in plain English and a lively style. The central theme of the book is that our knowledge, our aims and our standards develop through trial […]
Read MoreKarl Popper’s All Life is Problem Solving is a wonderful collection of his speeches and shorter writings in two parts: Questions of natural science and Thoughts on history and politics. I first discovered Popper through The Open Society and its Enemies, a vehement defence of democracy against totalitarianism. Many of […]
Read MoreSixteen scientists write in the WSJ: A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about “global warming.” Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not […]
Read MoreVia the New Scientist: IT WAS a dramatic declaration: glaciers across much of the Himalayas may be gone by 2035. When New Scientist heard this comment from a leading Indian glaciologist, we reported it. That was in 1999. The claim later appeared in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent […]
Read MoreHaving exposed volunteers to the whiff of sweat from skydivers, researchers concluded that humans can smell fear via Shocking Science 2008 | Science | guardian.co.uk .
Read MoreAn interesting demonstration of standing waves. The Digg poster suggests the effect is on the rice, but I rather think the waves are in the plywood over the speaker and the rice just illustrates the nodes. read more | digg story
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