jrosenhouse | May 12, 2012We're two games down in the big World Chess Championship. The challenger is Boris Gelfand of Israel, squaring off against the defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Both games were quick draws, but things have been a little more interesting than that makes it sound. Gelfand whipped out the Grunfeld Defense in game one, which has never been part of his repertoire. Game two was a Semi-Slav. Gelfand, perhaps, had slightly the better of it in both games, but neither ever strayed far from equality. Ten more games to go, so let's see what happens after we get past the feeling-out phase.…
jrosenhouse | May 11, 2012I will now follow-up on my post from Tuesday. In that post I made some criticisms of a recent talk given by philosopher Elliott Sober at the University of Chicago, the video of which is available here. In the ensuing comments, couchloc linked to this paper that Sober had written, the early sections of which discuss essentially the same material as what was presented in the talk.
Since it seems to me that the paper confirms everything I said in my original post, I felt it was worth diving in once again. Let me preface this, however, with something that really should go without saying.…
jrosenhouse | May 10, 2012I'm planning to do a follow-up to Tuesday's post about Elliott Sober's recent talk. That is likely to be a long post, so ti may be a day or two before I can get to it.
In the meantime, go have a look at my new post over at The Huffington Post. I suggest that on the subject of evolution and creationism, Americans would benefit from a bit more cynicism. Let me know what you think!
jrosenhouse | May 9, 2012I only have time for a quick post today, so let us take note of the happy fact that Obama has now come out squarely in support of gay marriage. In an interview today he said:
I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask…
jrosenhouse | May 8, 2012For anyone who likes chess, the next few weeks are going to be very good indeed. The United States Chess Championships started today in St. Louis. The first round started a little over ninety minutes ago, but there has already been a strange occurrence. Have a look at this position:
Playing white was Alexander Stripunsky, On the black side was Alexander Onischuk. We are eleven moves in to a very unusual line of the Caro-Kann Defense, with white to move. He uncorked the interesting 12. d3?? It seems natural enough, since it prepares to develop the bishop and attacks the black queen…
jrosenhouse | May 7, 2012If you spend any significant amount of time doing science or mathematics then some amount of philosophical reflection is inevitable. At some point you are going to take a step back and wonder what it is you are actually doing. I think it is good that there are people out there who ponder such things professionally.
That said, I think it is also true that scientists and mathematicians tend to view the philosophers of their disciplines as a bit eccentric. As far as I know, I have never met a mathematician who finds it interesting to ask whether numbers exist, or who enjoys debating the…
jrosenhouse | May 6, 2012I recently had a conversation with Greg Gorey of Think Atheist Radio about my book Among the Creationists. We discussed the history and cultures of creationism, the problem of evil, methodological naturalism, my experiences socializing with creationists and several other things besides. From my end I can honestly say it was one of the most interesting conversations I have had on these topics, so I hope you enjoy it. The discussion is fifty minutes long. So go have a listen and let me know what you think!
At the bottom of the web page linked above, there is a crawl at the bottom showing…
jrosenhouse | May 6, 2012Stephen King has been on a roll lately. His most recent novel 11/22/63 was a welcome return to form and his best work in years. And now he has this excellent essay, in The Daily Beast, on the subject of taxes:
Chris Christie may be fat, but he ain't Santa Claus. In fact, he seems unable to decide if he is New Jersey's governor or its caporegime, and it may be a comment on the coarsening of American discourse that his brash rudeness is often taken for charm. In February, while discussing New Jersey's newly amended income-tax law, which allows the rich to pay less (proportionally) than the…
jrosenhouse | May 5, 2012As swamped as I've been for the past two weeks, I nonetheless found time to visit the Virginia Antiquarian Book Fair on April 28. It was held at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.
The drive to Richmond is a little over two hours each way, and I had to leave the fair early to hold a Saturday office hour for my students with Monday finals (are you impressed by my dedication?), but it was well worth the trip.
Somewhere between thirty and forty book dealers were represented.
Unsurprisingly, there was a heavy emphasis on American history, especially books related to the Civil…
jrosenhouse | May 4, 2012It is finished. My grading, I mean. Over the last few days I have graded roughly one thousand math problems, some of which were even done correctly. But that's all finished now. Except for graduation tomorrow, the semester is now over! Yay!
So what better way to celebrate than with a little Joss Whedon film festival? For the clueless ones among you, Whedon is responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. (And Firefly, of course.) First up was The Cabin in the Woods, which Whedon co-wrote with Buffy writer Drew Goddard. Brilliant! A masterpiece! If you have any taste for…
jrosenhouse | April 29, 2012As you have probably guessed from the blog drought around here, it's the end of the semester. That means tons of grading, office hours, meetings with students, deadlines to meet, and all around not much time for blogging. Final exams are this week. Once those are graded I reach the promised land of summer break. So regular blogging will resume shortly.
In the meantime, here's a guest post I wrote for the Oxford University Press blog. I offer a few thoughts about my two recent experiences with atheist gatherings: The Reason Rally and the American Atheists Convention. I enjoyed both…
jrosenhouse | April 19, 2012I'm in the mood for some math today, so here's an amusing little proof I recently showed to my History of Mathematics class. We shall derive the formula
\[
\frac{\pi^2}{6}=1+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{9}+\frac{1}{16}+\frac{1}{25}+\dots
\]
Note that the denominators of the fractions on the right are all perfect squares.
The problem of evaluating the sum on the right has a pedigree going back to the 1600s, when various mathematicians, including the famed Bernoullis, tried unsuccessfully to solve it. It was Leonhard Euler who polished it off at the age of 28 in 1735, thereby announcing himself as…
jrosenhouse | April 15, 2012I recently attended the Gathering for Gardner conference in Atlanta, held every two years to honor Martin Gardner. Gardner was a prolific writer on a variety of topics, especially mathematics, magic and pseudoscience. Since those just happen to be three major interests of mine, you can imagine how much fun I had! Alas, since we are nearing the end of the semester around here it might be a while before I can do a proper write-up. So in the meantime, enjoy this video from the conference. It opens with the great Raymond Smullyan doing some three-card monte. Smullyan is 93, by the way. The…
jrosenhouse | April 13, 2012As part of my one-man media blitz for my new book Among the Creationists: Dispatches From the Anti-Evolutionist Frontline, let me call your attention to a few posts.
P. Z. Myers has posted a nice review.:
What do you do on airplanes? I usually devour a book or two, usually something popcorny and light, sometimes something I need to get read for work. On my trip home from Washington DC, I lucked out: I was handed a book the day I took off, and it turned out to be a damned good read.
Glad you liked it, P.Z! On the other hand, I do feel I must respond to his one criticism:
Jason Rosenhouse…
jrosenhouse | April 12, 2012
The official publication date for the BECB (that's the big evolution/creationism book for those not up on the local slang) was April 10. Alas, as the tenth drew near I was dismayed to find that the book was only available for pre-order. My previous two books were both available two to three weeks prior to their official release date, you see. Then the tenth arrived, and I found that Amazon had the book listed as out of stock, with an estimated delivery time of one to three weeks. Drat. I sent an e-mail to my publisher, but, alas, have not yet received a reply. Today, however, I see…
jrosenhouse | April 11, 2012Here's the latest from Michael Ruse, over at the blog for the Chronicle of Higher Education. He is discussing the anti-evolution“academic freedom” bill that just passed in Tennessee:
On the left, the New Atheist movement frightens me immensely. Its supporters openly and explicitly link evolutionary thinking with non-belief, sneering at those (like me) who think that science and religion can exist harmoniously together. I don't care what the law says, politically this is moronic. The citizens of Tennessee, the judges of the Supreme Court, are going to believe that if evolution alone is…
jrosenhouse | March 28, 2012Having been back in Harrisonburg for almost two whole days, I've decided it's time to hit the road again. I'll be leaving for Atlanta in a few hours, to attend the biannual Gathering for Gardner conference. I'll be back on Sunday. See you then!
jrosenhouse | March 27, 2012It was cold, and it was pouring rain for much of the afternoon, but the rally was a huge success nevertheless. The official estimate from the Park's Department was 20,000, which seems about right to me. I'm not generally a real social person, and I'm not much of a joiner. But given that I live in a culturally conservative part of the country, and spend so much time reading and thinking about religious right propaganda, it was with a sense of physical relief that I spent the afternoon standing in solidarity with my fellow atheists.
And make no mistake, this was an atheist rally. A New…
jrosenhouse | March 24, 2012I spent the day at the big Reason Rally on the National Mall. I'd say it was a huge success! According to rally host Paul Provenza, the official estimate from the Parks Department was 20,000 people. Not too shabby, especially considering that it was cold and very rainy all day.
I'm sticking around for the Americn Atheist's convention tomorrow. I'll have a full report on everything when I get home.
jrosenhouse | March 21, 2012Truly my career has reached the next phase of its evolution. I have been published at The Huffington Post. Go have a look and let me know what you think!