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
August 24, 2009
Because we're all in the same exploding monkey factory together.
So far, no paper jams of consequence to report at the department photocopier, but the toner ran out at 11:58 AM Pacific Time. We are hopeful that the student assistant who comes on duty at 1:00 PM will be able to change the toner…
August 22, 2009
In my inbox today:
I'm curious, what credentials (academic or otherwise) does one need to become a philosopher?
For the purposes of employment in a university philosophy department, a graduate degree in philosophy (usually a Ph.D. but sometimes an M.A.) is standard. Kind of like a chemist can be…
August 21, 2009
This week the New York Times reported on the problem of drug company-sponsored ghostwriting of articles in the scientific literature:
A growing body of evidence suggests that doctors at some of the nation's top medical schools have been attaching their names and lending their reputations to…
August 21, 2009
Dr. Free-Ride: So, where do you think land comes from?
Younger offspring: Land comes from ... I don't know.
Dr. Free-Ride: If you had to guess ...
Younger offspring: Land comes from a whole giant island. And then it breaks apart since the dinosaur times.
Dr. Free-Ride: So, like one big continent…
August 20, 2009
My guess is that the first faculty meeting after one's sabbatical year is never an easy one, but when that faculty meeting happens during a state budget implosion the likes of which no one can recall, it's kind of like parachuting into an exploding monkey factory.
The high point:
We got to…
August 19, 2009
At Philosophers' Playground, Steve Gimbel ponders the pedagogically appropriate way to label William Dembski:
I'm wrapping up work on my textbook Methods and Models: A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science and have run into a question. ...
The evolutionary biology track's final…
August 18, 2009
Recently, Steinn brought our attention to some of the difficulties involved in getting a scientific journal to publish a "Comment" on an article. He drew on a document (PDF) by Prof. Rick Trebino of the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics detailing (in 123 numbered steps) his own…
August 16, 2009
It was decided that the Free-Ride offspring are maybe, kind of, old enough to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark without having nightmares. Even though they haven't seen it before, they seem to have picked up at least some general information about Indiana Jones as one of the canonical figures in…
August 15, 2009
Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang shares some thoughts about productive argumentation and a graphic to illustrate various approaches:
I find myself fascinated with the graphic itself. In particular, I'm pondering what rhetorical work the pyramid does here.
If the point is that the lower strata…
August 14, 2009
Thanks again to the generosity of Free-Ride friend LO, the elder Free-Ride offspring will be partaking in this year's Kids Day at SLAC today. And, once again, the younger Free-Ride offspring is chagrined to be too young to participate. Since next year both sprogs will meet the age requirement,…
August 13, 2009
I'm not a regular reader of USA Today, but Maria tweeted this story, and I feel like I need to say something about it or else risk leaving it rattling around in my head like marbles under a hubcap:
About 70% of Americans agree, either somewhat or strongly, that it's beneficial for women to take…
August 10, 2009
PalMD is trying to eat better (and drop a little weight). Dr. Isis has been offering some advice on what sorts of meals might help Pal cut the calories while still being healthy and satisfying. Pal has been taking the advice to heart, but finds time constraints an impediment to the kind of food…
August 7, 2009
For those of you who have been following the various online reviews of and reactions to Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum's book Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, you may be interested in the Firedoglake Book Salon discussion of the book. The discussion takes…
August 7, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, I attempted to talk with the younger Free-Ride offspring about erosion. It would seem, from our conversation, that it is not just rocks that can erode -- recall of material learned in science class can also erode, as can patience.
Below is a rough transcript of our chat. I'll…
August 6, 2009
At bedtime, after the reading of the stories, the younger Free-Ride offspring lay upon Dr. Free-Ride's better half, and Dr. Free-Ride's better half responded by making strangling noises. Of course, I called in from the other room to remind the children that homicide, whether intentional or…
August 1, 2009
Yes, it's a day late. Dr. Free-Ride and Dr. Free-Ride's better half are currently engaged in sprog retrieval maneuvers at the home of the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment. What follows is this morning's attempt to get the Free-Ride offspring to tell us something science-y.
Dr. Free-Ride…
July 24, 2009
At present, the Free-Ride offspring are enjoying the hospitality of the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment, and the Free-Ride parental units are enjoying quieter mornings -- at least in theory.
This morning, some time before 7:00 ...
Casa Free-Ride telephone: RING! RING! RING! RING!
Dr.…
July 23, 2009
Recently, I wrote a post about two researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) who were caught falsifying data in animal studies of immune suppressing drugs. In the post, I conveyed that this falsification was very bad indeed, and examined some of the harm it caused. I also noted…
July 21, 2009
ScienceBlogs is getting a systems upgrade tonight. Among other things, this means that commenting is being turned off at 7:00 PM EST (although deceptively, the comment forms will still be visible), and new posts won't go up from about 7:00 PM EST until sometime tomorrow morning, when we hope the…
July 21, 2009
There are days when I imagine that I'll run out of news reports of scientists caught behaving badly to blog about. Then, I check my inbox.
Today, my inbox featured a news item in The Scientist about two medical researchers caught fabricating data:
Two researchers conducting animal studies on…
July 21, 2009
The other day, it occurred to me that I have a goodly number of friends who have been in Ph.D. programs (and may still be "in" the program in some more or less official way), and who have more or less finished their graduate research, but who haven't managed to get their dissertations written. (I'…
July 19, 2009
Over at Starts with a Bang, Ethan Siegel lays it on the line:
I have a challenge for everyone who reads this.
Donate at least ten dollars (or ten euros, or ten pounds, or whatever's the closest equivalent in your currency) or volunteer at least four hours at whatever charitable organization you…
July 17, 2009
As promised, in this post I consider the treatment of the science-religion culture wars in Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum. If you're just tuning in, you may want to pause to read my review of the book, or to peruse my…
July 17, 2009
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 widely from the lessons the scientists…
July 16, 2009
As I thrash my way through composing my last anticipated post on Unscientific America, I reckoned it was time to give you some more pictures to go with all the words. Thank goodness for the Free-Ride offspring!
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
I am fairly sure the blue squiggles in the…
July 15, 2009
In this post, I continue working through my thoughts in response to Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum's new book, Unscientific America. In this post, I focus on their discussion of the mainstream media and of the blogosphere. You might guess, given that I'm a member of the science blogosphere,…
July 15, 2009
Today Americans for Medical Progress has announced three recipients for academic year 2009-2010 of the Michael D. Hayre Fellowship in Public Outreach, designed to inspire and motivate the next generation of research advocates. From the AMP press release:
The importance of animal research to…
July 14, 2009
Not that the art has anything to do with Bastille Day, but it seemed like as good an occasion as any to share some more of their work.
And, for the record, if art classes somehow lead the Free-Ride offspring to adopt an all-black wardrobe, they are bloody well going to find themselves reading…
July 13, 2009
In the post where I reviewed it, I promised I'd have more to say about Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future. As it turns out, I have a lot more to say -- so much that I'm breaking it up into three posts so I can keep my trains of thought from colliding. I'm going…
July 11, 2009
Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.by Chris Mooney and Sheril KirshenbaumBasic Books2009
In this book, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum set out to alert us to a problem, and they gesture in the direction of a solution to that problem. Despite the subtitle of…