Links for 2009-12-04

"It looks as if the accreditation groups decided that they were faced with a choice: commit themselves to judging what sorts of presentations should count for CE credit (which you might think was their job), or just toss out anything that has any connection with industry. That way you can look virtuous and save time, too. My apologies if I'm descending into ridicule here, but as an industrial scientist I find myself resenting the implication that my hands (and those of every single one of my colleagues) are automatically considered too dirty to educate any practicing professionals."

"aka Common Myths about Science That Bug The Hell Out Of Me"

Awesome animal puppets for all your historical physics re-enactment needs.

"I just finished reading Anathem, which is enjoyable if huge and somewhat difficult in spots. It gradually turns into a more typical Neal Stephenson novel as it goes on (though the ending is better than most).

Lots of other people have written detailed reviews, and often concentrate on Stephenson's weird alternate-history worldbuilding and use of language, and the initially slow pacing of the novel. I just have a few spoileriffic comments about Stephenson's use of physics:"

"[W]hat is it about a college education that is truly essential? And how do we arrive at that conclusion? We can start with the curriculum, but if there is an institution out there that has not suffered through lengthy debates about the components of that curriculum, neither of us knows where it is. The only thing constant about the "essential" components of a curriculum has been the regular change each institution imposes on it. "

"The study tracked more than 24,000 students who entered a community college in Virginia in 2004, to determine their patterns in reaching and passing (or not) the gatekeeper courses. Most students never completed the gatekeeper courses, but in many cases that's because these students never enrolled in them, having started and finished their educations in remediation. The rates of reaching college-level work were particularly low for those requiring multiple remedial courses to reach college work."