-
A look at the most common verbal tic of scientists.
Uncertain Principles
Physics, Politics, Pop Culture
Search
Profile
"Uncertain Principles" features the miscellaneous ramblings of a physicist at a small liberal arts college. Physics, politics, pop culture, and occasional conversations with his dog.
You've read the blog, now try the book: How to Teach Physics to Your Dog will be published December 22nd by Scribner.
"Prof. Orzel gives the impression of an everyday guy who just happens to have a vast but hidden knowledge of physics." (anonymous student evaluation comment)
Emmy is a German Shepherd mix, and the Queen of Niskayuna. She likes treats, walks, chasing bunnies, and quantum physics.
Recent Posts
- Why Traditional Publishing Is Better Than Blogging
- Unscientific America by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum
- links for 2009-07-06
- Genesis 11:1-9 (Slight Variation)
- Death to the Un-Noted Endnote
- Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson
- links for 2009-07-05
- Ad Astra Per Aspera
- links for 2009-07-04
- Two-Word Lyrics: Independence Day Edition
Recent Comments
- internet marketing on Genesis 11:1-9 (Slight Variation)
- Thony C. on Death to the Un-Noted Endnote
- chris y on Unscientific America by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum
- Eric Lund on Death to the Un-Noted Endnote
- Tim Eisele on Genesis 11:1-9 (Slight Variation)
- Greg on How Not to Break Into Publishing
- Brian on Genesis 11:1-9 (Slight Variation)
- Anon on Genesis 11:1-9 (Slight Variation)
- chezjake on Death to the Un-Noted Endnote
- Jann on Death to the Un-Noted Endnote
Greatest Hits
- What's With the Name?
- A Week in the Lab
- Domestic Security: A Dialogue
- "Perfect Albums"
- Poetry for Physicists
- Top Eleven: The Greatest Physics Experiment Ever
- How to Tell a True Lab Story
- Bunnies Made of Cheese
- Many Worlds, Many Treats
Chateau Steelypips
- How to Teach Physics to Your Dog
- Older Uncertain Principles
- The Library of Babel
- Japan Stories
- Outside of a Dog
- Kate Nepveu's LiveJournal
- Steelypips Main Page
- Chad's photosets on Flickr
- Chad's bookmarks on del.icio.us
Blogroll
Scientists
- Mixed States
- Angry Physics
- Arcane Gazebo
- Backreaction
- bento-box
- BioCurious
- Cocktail Party Physics
- Cosmic Variance
- Entropy Bound
- Female Science Professor
- Horganism
- In the Pipeline
- Life as a Physicist
- Musings
- Nanoscale Views
- Michael Nielsen
- nOnoscience
- Not Even Wrong
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
- A Quantum Diaries Survivor
- Quantum Pontiff
- The Scientific Curmudgeon
- SciTech Daily
- Shtetl-Optimized
- Tales from the Learning Curve
- View From the Corner
- What's New
Academics
- Acephalous
- Chronicles of Dr. Crazy
- Confessions of a Community College Dean
- Crooked Timber
- Brad DeLong
- Easily Distracted
- Knowing and Doing
- Learning Curves
- The Little Professor
- Musical Perceptions
- Notional Slurry
- Pub Sociology
- Word Munger
- What Now?
- Yes, YelloCello
Interesting People
- Boing Boing
- Diary de la Vex
- Fafblog!
- Izzle Pfaff
- Making Light
- Open Reading Frame
- Paw Talk
- Republic of T.
- See You at Enceladus
- Snarkout
- Unmistakable Marks
- Whatever
Books
- Book Slut
- Tobias Buckell
- The Humblest Blog
- The Library of Babel
- Outside of a Dog
- Weasel Words
- Westerblog
Punditry
- Balkinization
- Grim Amusements
- Newsrack
- Off the Kuff
- Political Animal
- The Poor Man
- The Reality-Based Community
- Slacktivist
- Talking Points Memo
- Through the Looking Glass
- Unqualified Offerings
- Matthew Yglesias
Categories
- Academia
- Add category
- Basic Concepts
- Biking
- Blogs
- Book Writing
- Booklog
- Conferences
- Dog
- Education
- Food
- Guest Bloggers
- Humanities
- Journalism
- Links Dump
- Maintenance
- Math
- News
- Personal
- Physics
- Pictures
- Politics
- Polls
- Pop Culture
- SF
- Science
- Science Writing
- Silliness
- Social-Science
- Society
- Sports
- Technology
- Video
- War On Science
Archives
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
« Beer is Not Uncultured | Main | Science-and-Religion Links Dump »
links for 2008-04-27
Category: Links Dump
Posted on: April 27, 2008 5:35 AM, by Chad Orzel
Comments
I've been listening to the Canadian science radio show Quirks & Quarks since January or so (when I very belately discovered their podcast). I'd been struck by the number of scientists (interviewees) who started sentences with "So".
(I haven't noticed it in science writing so much...)
(As in,
Q: "How did you discover that the rhesus monkeys were behaving that way?"
A: "So, we did this experiment...")
The North American scientists seem to use that verbal tic slightly more than the European ones, based on my impressions of the show, but that's just an impression.
Thanks for that link!
Posted by: Wilson Fowlie | April 28, 2008 2:16 PM