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Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
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Category: Methodology
Back before I was sucked into the vortex of paper-grading, an eagle-eyed Mattababy pointed me to a very interesting post by astronomer Mike Brown. Brown details his efforts to collaborate with another team of scientists who were working on the...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:35 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Astronomy/astrophysics
Over at Starts with a Bang, Ethan Siegel expressed exasperation that Nature and New Scientist are paying attention to (and lending too much credibility to) an astronomical theory Ethan views as a non-starter, Modified Netwonian Dynamics (or MOND): [W]hy is...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 3:46 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Astronomy/astrophysics
There's been a continuing discussion, in various online venues (including this blog), of Unscientific America, a book which notes the "demotion" of Pluto as an instance where the lessons the American public drew from the scientists' decisions may have diverged...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 1:07 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Astronomy/astrophysics
Over at Cosmic Variance, Julianne Dalcanton describes a strategy for scientific communication that raises some interesting ethical issues: Suppose you (and perhaps a competing team) had an incredibly exciting discovery that you wrote up and submitted to Nature. Now suppose...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 3:38 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Astronomy/astrophysics
I've mentioned before that I grew up in a family that was fairly captivated by the U.S. space program, especially the Apollo program that brought humans to the Moon. But as impressive as those manned missions to the Moon...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 7:29 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Book review
Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science: An Astronomer among the American Romantics by Renée Bergland Boston: Beacon Press 2008 What is it like to be a woman scientist? In a society where being a woman is somehow a...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:58 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Astronomy/astrophysics
This week, in SprogCast #4, the younger Free-Ride offspring sings and then suggests that the song bears on the planetary subject of the very first Friday Sprog Blogging entry, which also involved singing. You can download the sound file for...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:45 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Reader hp asks: Do you (or your commenters) know what to look out for in a small-child-friendly telescope? My daughter (now aged 4.5) has been space-obsessed for over a year now, and I'd like to encourage her but am nervous...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 1:47 PM • 23 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
How public are data in a conference presentation? And what happens if someone else gives them more exposure?
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 6:12 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Go to Cosmic Variance at once to read Julianne Dalcanton's musings on why spherical jerks (not the word she uses) are preferable to the asymmetric ones: No one is surprised when a known, calibrated asshole acts up. We all just...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 3:28 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
PZ Myers 11.19.2009
Tim Lambert 11.18.2009
James Hrynyshyn 11.20.2009
PZ Myers 11.14.2009
Ed Brayton 11.20.2009
