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Chad Orzel "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)

The miscellaneous ramblings of a physicist at a small liberal arts college. Physics, politics, pop culture, and occasional conversations with his dog.

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Academia:

NYC Trip: Bad and Ugly at the Met

You might think that modern sculpture is a complete waste of time, but what does that make avant-garde haute couture?

NYC Trip: American Museum of Natural History

I have fond memories of the AMNH from when I was a little kid, but was disappointed by yesterday's visit.

Interdisciplinarity

Timothy Burke has some interesting thoughts about the College of the Atlantic, which represents a real effort to build interdisciplinarity on an institutional level. "Interdisciplinary" is the buzzword of the moment in large swathes of academia, and the College of...

Novels of Science

Writing in Scientific American, Mark Alpert argues that we need more novels about science: A good work of fiction can convey the smells of a laboratory, the colors of a dissected heart, the anxieties of a chemist and the joys...

Put Down the Laser Pointer

For all the ranting people do about the evils of PowerPoint, it seems to me that people are missing the one bit of technology that is most responsible for incomprehensible presentations in science: the laser pointer. Having watched a bunch...

On the Bitterness of Academics

Jake Young points to a Bloggingheads conversation between Dan Drezner and Megan McArdle about, among other things, whether academics are bitter and why. This mostly comes out of a post Megan wrote (link is a leap of faith-- the site...

Dorky Poll: Non-Abelian Sciences

Chemical Physics or Physical Chemistry? And what's the difference, anyway?

Sigma Xi Film Festival: Short Films About Water

Sigma Xi is running a competition for three-minute student films about water, with a $1,000 prize.

Familiarity and Lies-to-Children

Schoolhouse rock, framing, and thrilling tales of physics pedagogy, all in one convenient post...

Scientists Don't Have to Do Everything Themselves

The Mad Biologist is mad at Chris Mooney, but his anger is misplaced.

A Flock of Dodos

Randy Olson's movie A Flock of Dodos comes up again and again in the course of arguments about public communication of science, but I had never gotten around to seeing it. I finally put it on the Netflix queue, and...

Physics to Finance

Notes from a frank and detailed talk by an alumnus who went to Wall Street.

Athletics and Alumni

Inside Higher Ed reports on a new study of the connection between college athletics and alumni giving, with some interesting findings: First, they find that male alumni who played on teams while they were undergraduates are more likely to donate...

Matter and Interactions by Chabay and Sherwood

Today's episode of "Thrilling Tales of Physics Pedagogy" is brought to you through a comment by CCPhysicst who picks up on the implications of last week's schedule post: You are ripping right along in that course. You do E and...

Beer is Not Uncultured

Every Friday (more or less) there's a "Faculty Social Hour" on campus. They have cheese and crackers, a fairly random assortment of beer, and a couple of bottles of wine, and various faculty come by to wind down a bit...

Abstraction, Compartmentalization, and Education

Given the amount of time I've spent writing about academic issues this week, it's only fitting that the science story getting the most play is about math education. Ed Yong provides a detailed explanation, and Kenneth Chang summarizes the work...

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