Janet D. Stemwedel
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.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
February 26, 2006
Yesterday, I discussed what scientists supported by federal funds do, and do not, owe the public. However, that discussion was sufficiently oblique and ironic that the point I was trying to make may not have been clear (and, I may have put some of my male readers at greater risk for heart attack…
February 25, 2006
I don't know how we're doing closing the digital divide between rich and poor, but it looks like the divide between humans and cats is getting narrower.
I'm pretty sure the moment when every cat has a webpage of his or her own is one of the early signs of the apocalypse.
February 25, 2006
Michael Berube is a noted danger to the youth of America (and has the votes to prove it). He is also, it turns out, blogging about ethical issues in the practice of science.
Which, last time I checked with the Central Committee of Academic Mind-Control, was my turf. I trust that Comrade Berube…
February 24, 2006
For those of you readers in the San Francisco Bay Area:
The Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship is coming up (March 8-9) at the McEnery Covention Center in San Jose. Not only are they looking for volunteers, but they are especially in need of judges. (At this point, they…
February 24, 2006
As expected, Derek Lowe has a thoughful post (with a very interesting discussion going on in the comments) about the latest "Expression of Concern" from the New England Journal of Medicine about the VIGOR Vioxx trial.
To catch you up if you've been watching curling rather than following the case…
February 24, 2006
A conversation while driving:
Elder offspring: On library day this week, I got a book called Endangered Desert Animals. Desert animals are really cool.
Dr. Free-Ride: What do you think is coolest about desert animals?
Elder offspring: They can go for a long time without drinking any water at all…
February 23, 2006
Inside Higher Ed is reporting that UT-Austin's Task Force on Curricular Reform has issued its report on the kind of first-year experience that might dop good things for the undergraduates (in terms of making general education more coherent and so forth).
The faculty are commenting on the report.…
February 22, 2006
Can't blog ... grading papers. But, to honor Lawrence Summers' retirement from fair Harvard, here's a musing from one year ago today:
Purely hypothetical case. All the names are made up. SInce it's my thought experiment, I stipulate the facts. Of course, you are encouraged to disagree with me…
February 21, 2006
Hey, remember how I mentioned that there had been some issues with the commenting here? And how I suggested the utterly clunky fix of using a different browser to leave your comments?
We (i.e., our tech guru) think we know why that works and, even better, a less clunky way to achieve the desired…
February 21, 2006
Chad says all the online academics are obligated to respond, somehow, to this New York Times piece on emails from students to professors. So, I shall.
But, rather than digging into the details of the article itself, or worrying about the sample size upon which it is based, or the assertions by at…
February 21, 2006
A reader of this blog reports:
My children went to a [public charter] school in which pseudoscience was taught to them. However, it was something more insidious than "intelligent design." It was Qigong taught as science. One of my daughter's classmates fell unconscious while she was performing…
February 21, 2006
Sign on the door of the San Francisco Zoo's "Insect Zoo" building:
No food, drink, gum, or smoking in the Insect Zoo.
No smoking I understand (an indoor space in a part of the zoo aimed at children -- and it's California). I'm less certain about the gum (but no one wants to step in it).
Why no…
February 20, 2006
Commenting on my last post, Karl thinks PZ and I have missed the boat:
Janet said
"Science isn't just putting forward a point of view, it's inviting the audience to check it out and see how it holds up. Nothing for sale -- the audience already has the critical faculties that are needed."
no! No!…
February 19, 2006
By now, no doubt, you've seen Randy Olson's advice for evolutionary biologists trying to communicate more effectively with members of the general public. While a number of his suggestions are common sense (e.g., try not to be boring), there was something about the ten suggestions, taken together,…
February 18, 2006
I'm a little late to the party on the Richard Cohen "who needs algebra anyway?" column in the Washington Post. As others have pointed out, the column itself is fairly lame. Piling on at this point would be a little mean.
Instead of piling on, I would like to follow the admirable example set at…
February 18, 2006
It has come to my attention that there is an adjectival form of my surname in use. However, none of the extant meanings of it seem applicable to me and the stuff I do. So, dear readers, I'm asking for your help.
But first, here's the usage to date:
Stemwedelian; alternate spelling: Stemewedellian…
February 17, 2006
The offspring brought this book, Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age by Raymond Briggs, home from the library last night. Without even opening it, I agreed to read it for bedtime stories. Opening the book, I discovered that rather than being a straightforward picture book, it's laid out in comic book…
February 17, 2006
A visual addendum to last Friday's bonus entry:
February 16, 2006
A couple of follow-up items to that last "how did I get here" post:
At Confessions of a Science Librarian, John Dupuis shares the story of his transformation from software developer to science librarian. I love stories like this, and I kind of wish more of them had been around when I was trying to…
February 16, 2006
I haven't been posting as much here this week as I'd like because I've been grading papers. You academic types know how much fun that is. But, the batch of papers I just finished with was reasonably enjoyable -- clear, persuasive, and containing some impressive insights.
The question on the table…
February 15, 2006
I know, dear readers, that some of you have been encountering difficulties leaving comments on this blog (and on other blogs in the ScienceBlogs galaxy). Indeed, I've encountered those same problems myself, trying to leave comments for my sibling bloggers. I'm confident that when our tech czar…
February 15, 2006
While you're coming down from that heart-shaped box of chocolate you ate yesterday (or feeling virtuous for not having consumed mass quantities of candy yesterday), make some time to chech out two great carnivals:
The Sixth edition of the Teaching Carnival: a special science edition, collecting…
February 14, 2006
Catching up on news that broke while I was doing stuff: the results of the University of Pittsburgh investigation of Gerald Shatten's conduct are out. As reported in the New York Times:
Dr. Gerald P. Schatten, a biologist at the University of Pittsburgh who was involved with Dr. Hwang Woo Suk and…
February 13, 2006
I meant to post yesterday on Darwin Day, but I was swept up in doing tasks around the house that some have posited women are better at and/or care about more for reasons that lie deep in our evolutionary past. I don't buy it (nor do others, who you are encouraged to read), and the Free-Ride…
February 10, 2006
Because today is the first blogiversary of "Adventures in Ethics and Science", you get a bonus sprog-blog. And possibly cake, if I can find some.
Younger offspring: In nature study at school, we're not studying the planets any more. Now we're talking about Earth.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh? What are…
February 10, 2006
Elder offspring: Nocturnal animals are much cooler than diurnal ones.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do you think nocturnal animals are cooler?
Elder offspring: (with a look of exasperation) Because they get to stay up at night!
Dr. Free-Ride: (to self) And sleep during the day ...
Elder offspring: And, bats…
February 9, 2006
I've retired my old profile picture, but I thought I'd give you a peek at the larger photo from which it was taken. That's me in biology class, my senior year of high school, doing stuff with slides and an alcohol burner and microorganisms. Some dedicated yearbook photographer took the picture (…
February 8, 2006
Last week, I blogged about my own path from chemist to philosopher. Not only did this prompt an interesting post from John Lynch about his trajectory, but it prompted the following comment:
Dear Dr. Free-Ride. Your mechanistic steps to changing from hard science to philosophy of it were more what…
February 8, 2006
Many a time, in the course of doing these memoirs, I have wished that I were writing fiction. The temptation to invent has been very strong, particularly where recollection is hazy and I remember the substance of an event but not the details ... Then there are cases where I am not sure myself…
February 6, 2006
Last week, while I was occupied with Tangled Bank, a reader left me this comment:
I was just wondering, how did you change from chemistry to philosophy? What little career steps were involved -- if you don't mind my asking.
- From an academic considering a career change.
Below the fold, my secret…