Public Perception of Science:
Since the beginning of March, I've been putting in a lot of time at a part-time job. I needed to get out of the house a lot more than I had been, and a friend needed people for his...
Posted on May 5, 2008 12:57 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
On Sunday, Chris Mooney and Randy Olsen both tried to make the case that Ben Stein's "Evolution Caused the Holocaust" movie was a success at the box office. Both of them have been rather spectacularly condemned for calling Expelled...
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Posted on April 22, 2008 11:27 AM • 23 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There's a widespread consensus that we could, should, and must do a better job of talking to the general public. On this issue, the consensus is wrong.
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Posted on March 6, 2008 2:34 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
For the next few weeks, I'm going to be busier than normal - I'm picking up a few bucks by working for a friend who has a beverage concession at the Houston Rodeo. I'm mentioning this in part because...
Posted on March 5, 2008 12:23 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In a post over at the Nature Network, Henry Gee notes that over the last twenty years, he's seen "an increase in ... a siege mentality among scientists". He's probably right. When there's a horde of angry, armed people...
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Posted on March 2, 2008 6:01 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'm not sure that King and Nisbet are wrong about the "New Atheism". I'm not sure that they're right, either. What I am sure of is this: Nisbet should not have set up this panel without including at least a token "New Atheist". His decision to exclude them was not collegial, it was not respectful, and it certainly was not nice.
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Posted on February 11, 2008 8:59 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Chris Mooney's recently-published article in Seed magazine has stirred a bit of discussion about the role of the Presidential Science Advisor, and just who would be a good choice for that position. Of the two questions, the first is...
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Posted on January 7, 2008 9:19 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Last night, in Oslo, Al Gore delivered a simple, powerful message. It's a familiar message to anyone who has watched him speak since 2000, or watched his movie, or read his books. It's simply a call for nothing more...
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Posted on December 11, 2007 12:22 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
With all of the renewed fuss the Discovery Institute is trying to stir up over the Gonzalez tenure thing, this seems like a really good time to talk about the role of money in the tenure process. I'm not...
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Posted on December 6, 2007 7:41 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
James Watson is many things. He's a noted scientist. He is the co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA. He runs a major research institute. He's a Nobel Laureate. He's also living proof that you can be a...
Posted on October 17, 2007 6:51 PM • 37 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Apparently, Matt Nisbet didn't think that one poorly-reasoned critique of Gore's ability to communicate science was enough for the weekend, because he tossed out another a day later. You might recall that in his first critique, Nisbet claimed that...
Posted on October 15, 2007 8:34 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
As you are undoubtedly aware, this year's Nobel Peace Prize is being split between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore, in recognition of "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change,...
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Posted on October 12, 2007 12:20 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Mike Dunford is a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studies evolution. He's also a contributer to The Pandas Thumb. As is the case with everyone else here, his opinions are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization he is affiliated with. 
