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
December 2, 2006
Revere stirs the pot (of chicken soup) to ask why alternative therapies are presumptively regarded as pseudo-science. The reflexive response of the quackbusters has been that alternative therapies fall on the wrong side of some bright line that divides what is scientific from what is not -- the…
December 1, 2006
The most recent Ask A ScienceBlogger question is:
What's the funniest lab accident you've ever had?
Those who know me can tell you I like to laugh, but I'm having trouble coming up with a lab accident that I'd call funny.
During my doctoral research in chemistry, lab accidents were anything but…
December 1, 2006
Dr. Free-Ride: What science have you been learning in school lately?
Younger offspring: We've been learning what animals are nocturnal and what animals are diurnal.
Dr. Free-Ride: What other science have you learned this year?
Younger offspring: Oh, lots of different things.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, if…
November 30, 2006
On the heels of my post wondering where the science is in elementary school, I'm interested in your sense of how things stand now and what, if anything, you think we should do about the situation. Draw on your experience as a former (or current) student, a parent, an educator (including educating…
November 29, 2006
It turns out I've been a member of the Americal Chemical Society for three years now. How do I know?
They sent me a new mug.
While I enjoy my weekly issue of Chemical & Engineering News -- which, I imagine, most ACS members see as the most tangible benefit of their membership -- I must confess…
November 28, 2006
My better half has been a frequent classroom volunteer leading science lessons in younger offspring's kindergarten class. This has made it fairly apparent to us that there's very little of what either of us would identify as science in these lessons.
Most recently, the science lesson centered on…
November 28, 2006
Scott Eric Kaufman wants to know how fast a meme can sweep the blogosphere. And it's not just a matter of idle curiousity: his MLA presentation depends on it.
He writes:
What is the speed of meme? People write in general (typically truimphant) terms about how swiftly a single voice can travel…
November 28, 2006
I have a question for the scientifically informed hive-mind:
Why is it that no matter what I do, I end up with a head-cold by a few days after Thanksgiving?
Back when I was doing the frightening make-fifteen-dishes-to-bring-to-the-potluck Thanksgivings (with graduate classes and teaching and…
November 27, 2006
Robert Krulwich made my ride home today way more interesting than it had a right to be.
If you haven't heard it already, check out his piece on how to build your own universe. It includes implausible (but cute) sound effects for watermelons being squeezed into tiny little black holes.
The basic…
November 24, 2006
The Free-Ride offspring spent Thanksgiving with the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment, cutting into the opportunities for the Free-Ride parents to ask them about matters scientific. Nonetheless, the sprogs have been doing science-y things on their vacation from parents. Two highlights:
A…
November 22, 2006
The New York Times has taken notice of the history and philosophy of chemistry in a small piece about a new book, The Periodic Table: Its Story and Significance by Eric R. Scerri. In particular, the Times piece notes the issue of whether Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was "borrowing" from the work of…
November 22, 2006
Some readers have called to my attention a pair of recent stories from the New York Times that you may find interesting.
First, Audrey noted another dispatch on the eternal struggle over how math ought to be taught:
For the second time in a generation, education officials are rethinking the…
November 22, 2006
As promised, I bring you some gift recommendations for kids who are into math or science (or could be if presented with the right point of entry). The first installation: books.
Books are the best. They don't need batteries or assembly. They don't have lots of little parts that will end up…
November 20, 2006
Just a little more follow-up on the Karpova-Tonegawa dust-up at MIT:
First, the report from the Ad Hoc Committee at MIT was posted on November 2 ... but apparently has been removed:
The ad hoc committee is currently receiving comments on the report that it issued on November 2, 2006 and pending its…
November 18, 2006
This morning, younger offspring asked me what "hyperbolic" meant. (Yeah, I'll admit that this is because I used it in conversation with younger offspring. It was not a conversation about conic sections or trigonometry, though, so cut me some slack.)
Anyway, long story short, I now have a product…
November 17, 2006
There are some days I run into a piece of writing that just floors me. For instance this piece from The Cornell American, whose author, a freshman, proclaims:
I've got it made. As an attractive, professional female chemical engineer attempting to graduate a year early from Cornell, I find it hard…
November 17, 2006
A conversation this morning:
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, do you have any pictures you'd like me to scan in for today's sprog blog?
Younger offspring: No.
Dr. Free-Ride: You mean to tell me you haven't made any drawings at all this week?
Younger offspring: I've made drawings, but I don't want to scan any of…
November 16, 2006
If you're ready to admit that we're almost done with 2006 and that it might be OK to start making plans for 2007, check your calendar and think about coming to the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference, a "free, open and public event for scientists, educators, students, journalists,…
November 16, 2006
The liquid in question, of course, is breastmilk.
As reported by the Burlington Free Press:
Emily Gillette of Santa Fe, N.M., was asked to leave a flight departing from Burlington after she declined to cover her baby as she breast-fed.
Gillette said she began to nurse her 22-month-old daughter as…
November 16, 2006
Apparently John Murtha lost his bid to be the new Majority Leader in the House of Representatives to Rep. Steny Hoyer. In the run up to this decision, Murtha was reported as saying the House ethics reforms being proposed by Nancy Pelosi were "total crap".
As you can imagine, that got my attention…
November 15, 2006
On the way home, I heard a story on NPR about a study done at UC Berkeley about the "performance gap" between black kids and white kids in the public schools. I can't say much about the details of the report -- it comes out tomorrow -- but one of the people interviewed for the story, Ross Wiener…
November 15, 2006
Like sailors we are, who must rebuild their ship upon the open sea, never able to dismantle it in dry dock or to reconstruct it there from the best materials.
Otto Neurath, "Protocol Sentences"
* * * * *
The Neurath quotation above was offered to explain something about scientific theories and…
November 15, 2006
I don't usually blog about baseball, but today I'm riled. I'm not a hard core baseball fan, but I'm not an enemy of the game either. Beside watching my brothers play little league (and even acting as scorekeeper for their games on multiple occasions), I quite enjoyed the handful of Major League…
November 13, 2006
Yeah, I'm grading. (Maybe you would be too if you weren't reading the blogs, hmm?) But I wanted to check in.
I pulled my back loading the car for the last soccer game of the season. What's the proper inference to draw from that (besides the obvious: that I'm getting old and all this grading is…
November 10, 2006
This is not a "cute" story. It's an infuriating story about a school climate gone mad. And, although I suspect an organizational psychologist could give a nuanced analysis of the situation, that's not my area of expertise, so I'm just going to tell the story.
Elder offspring was sent to the Vice…
November 9, 2006
Pencil ready? To mark the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, here's a brief quiz (essay format, of course) on the epistemology lesson embedded in his comments from a February 12, 2002 Department of Defense news briefing. The comments, poetically transcibed by Slate, are as…
November 9, 2006
I want to blog, but I'm trying to catch up with grading and grant-writing and such in the aftermath of the PSA. I won't offer a detailed list of excuses like some bloggers I could name. (However, I will say that I'm going to check WebMD to see if intracranial bleeding is a normal reaction to a…
November 8, 2006
The 110th Congress has been elected. Whether it's the crowd you voted for or not, there's quite a lot of talk now about a new direction, a new civility, possibly even a new pony (but I might not have heard that last part right).
So, given that the Congresspersons will be looking for our votes…
November 7, 2006
Actually, after filling out all four sides of my absentee ballot last night (stupid California legislation-by-ballot-measure!), it was really no problem to drop off the ballot at a polling place this morning -- there was one in the library of our elementary school, so I swung by after dropping off…
November 7, 2006
I voted. If you're registered to vote, you should, too. If you don't know your polling place, you can check here. If you think you are registered, but you don't appear on the voter rolls at your polling place, ask for a provisional ballot.
If you have trouble, don't let it slide! Make some…