October 12, 2014
If you're in the mood, go have a look at the new Problem of the Week. It's a Shakespeare-themed alphametic this week, with bonus sonnet! It's a bit more challenging than last week's problem (a solution to which has now been posted at the above link), but still doable if you look at it right. So…
October 12, 2014
The Spetember 2014 issue of The Problemist showed up in my mailbox this week. That's the official magazine of the British Chess Problem Society, as I'm sure you're aware. It included the problem below. It's one of those delightful compositions that makes you wish you had thought it of it…
October 9, 2014
Recently I discussed an essay by David Barash that appeared in The New York Times. Barash discussed a talk he gives to his animal behavior class about evolution and religion. More specifically, he explains why, in his view, evolution and religion are just incompatible. I mostly agreed with the…
October 7, 2014
I have written before about my admiration for Bill Maher. I think he is generally one of the funniest and most insightful commentators on American culture and politics, and I rarely miss his show on Friday night. Sometimes he goes south, as with his views on vaccination, and sometimes he goes for…
October 6, 2014
The Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals from five states on the subject of gay marriage. As a result, lower court rulings that struck down gay marriage bans have been allowed to stand, making gay marriage fully legal in those states. Among them is my current home in Virginia. The other…
October 6, 2014
After taking last week off, Problem of the Week makes a triumphant return. Problem Five is now ready for your consideration.
The main problem for this week, in keeping with the arithmetic theme for this semester, is an especially famous “alphametic” problem. If you like that sort of thing, then…
October 3, 2014
My book Among the Creationists contains a chapter called “Why I Love Being Jewish.” Of course, as an atheist, I reject totally all of the underlying theology of Judaism. I have no use for the Torah, which I regard as a nasty and often vile piece of work. Most Jewish ceremonies leave me cold,…
October 1, 2014
University of Washington biology professor David Barash published this op-ed in The New York Times recently. The title: “God, Darwin and My College Biology Class.” Intriguing! Let's have a look.
EVERY year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isn't,…
September 30, 2014
My latest book project has been coediting the proceedings of the 2013 MOVES Conference held in New York City, which has turned out to be a lot harder than I anticipated. For the last few weeks it's been all-consuming, and spending so many hours in front of the computer staring at other people's…
September 14, 2014
This week I want to build on something I discussed near the end of last week's problem. I mentioned that a problem's genre should in some way complement its theme. So, if your problem is a selfmate, it is better if the theme employs logic that is specific to the selfmate genre. If your idea…
September 14, 2014
The title pretty much says it all. I have a new teaser for you, along with some discussion of palindromes that you might enjoy. The solution to last week's problem has been posted as well. Let me know what you think!
September 7, 2014
I'm feeling a bit bereft now that the Sinquefield Cup is over. Fabiano Caruana won his first seven games, and then drew his last three, to win the tournament by a ridiculous three points (ahead of World Champion Magnus Carlsen). This is certainly one of the great tournament performances in chess…
September 7, 2014
The second POTW has now been posted, along with one possible set of solutions for the first problem. This week's problem has a similar flavor to last week's, so if you liked that one you'll like this one.
August 31, 2014
If that last post did not satisfy your need for brain food, then let me mention that as of today the Problem of the Week returns. This semester's theme: Fun With Arithmetic! What's that? You don't like arithmetic? Well, let's see if you're still saying that at the end of the term.
In general…
August 31, 2014
The Sinquefield Cup is turning out to be not just one of the strongest chess tournaments in history, but also one of the most exciting. In today's round five all three games ended decisively, but the commentators were lamenting that the games were not as thrilling as in previous rounds. The…
August 27, 2014
The start of the school year, coupled with the looming deadline for the book I'm coediting, has left little time for blogging. I do, however, feel compelled to point out that six of the world's top ten chess players have gathered in St. Louis for what is arguably the greatest chess tournament in…
August 6, 2014
The blog will be quiet for a bit longer, since I'll be hitting the road tomorrow. I'll be working out of my NJ office for a few days, which is to say I will be visiting the 'rents. See ya when I return!
August 3, 2014
Last week I introduced the Dombrovskis theme: Black has a certain move which, in one phase of the problem prevents a mate and in a different phase provokes the same mate. Last week's problem came from the master himself, and coupled two such variations with an astonishing key move, which granted…
August 2, 2014
Assisted suicide is not the happiest topic in the world, so I think it's time to lighten the mood around here. And what better way to do that than with some cute animal pictures?
Let's start with Emily keeping me company while I am at the computer:
I was making revisions to my paper about…
July 31, 2014
I hadn't intended to turn this into assisted dying week, but that's how it's turning out.
After his recent debate with Christian apologist William Lane Craig, Sean Carroll expressed frustration that the debate followed a certain pattern. Craig would make an argument, then Carroll would rebut it,…
July 29, 2014
Wesley Smith and David Klinghoffer have now replied to yesterday's post, here and here respectively.
Smith's reply simply ignores all of the main points that I made. He's mostly sore that I did not discuss two specific cases from his original essay, of people who faced great physical suffering…
July 28, 2014
Consider this profile of NPR reporter Diane Rehm, in which she relates the harrowing story of her husband's final days:
His Parkinson's disease had become unbearable. “He just kept getting weaker,” the NPR host told NBC News. “We called in the doctor and John said to him: `I am ready today.' He…
July 27, 2014
Today I have a charming little bagatelle for your consideration. It was composed by Alfreds Dombrovskis in 1958. In the diagram position, white is to play mate in two.
Keep in mind that white is always moving up the board and black is always moving down. Vertical files are labeled a--h from…
July 25, 2014
From the current issue of The New York Times Magazine:
One of the most vivid arithmetic failings displayed by Americans occurred in the early 1980s, when the A&W restaurant chain released a new hamburger to rival the McDonald's Quarter Pounder. With a third-pound of beef, the A&W burger…
July 23, 2014
That title is somewhat facetious, of course, but I do think the multiverse is far more than an idle speculation. I think it is an idea that is sufficiently well-supported that it is those who deny it who should be on the defensive.
I would make an elaborate argument in defense of that claim, but…
July 21, 2014
There's plenty of science and religion stuff out there, but I think talking about anything else right now would be to ignore the elephant in the room.
There's a basic moral principle that I subscribe to that goes like this: When your neighbor is relentlessly firing rockets at you in an attempt to…
July 20, 2014
My renewed interest in chess has not just extended to tournament play. I am composing chess problems again as well. Here's one I came up with recently, and which will eventually be published in The Problemist magazine. In the position below, white is looking for selfmate in thirteen moves:…
July 17, 2014
The anti-evolutionists just never get tired of the second law thermodynamics! The latest bit of silliness comes from Barry Arrington, writing at Uncommon Descent. Here's the whole post:
I hope our materialist friends will help us with this one.
As I understand their argument, entropy is not an…
July 16, 2014
I've been a fan of Weird Al Yankovic ever since “Eat It”
He just keeps getting better and better. His new video, “Tacky”, a spoof of Pharrell Williams' “Happy,” has just been released:
Great stuff! Be sure to pay attention to the lyrics. They're hilarious!
I also like his palindrome song:
July 15, 2014
Over at The New York Times, Gary Gutting has an interview with philosopher Michael Ruse. It is part of a series on philosophy and religion. There are several interesting nuggets in the interview, but I just want to discuss this one:
G.G.: Do you think that evolution lends support to the…
