Fri 2008-03-07 Chris Okasaki is probably best known in the programming world for his book Purely Functional Data Structures but he also happens to be a thoughtful and perceptive teacher, as the following two posts from his blog show:
Wed 2008-03-05 From a post by Henry Gee on the publicizing of scientific results:
The problem, in my experience, is an attitude that whereas it might take years of training and a certain skill to write a scientific paper, any half-baked twit can write a press release, irrespective of experience. Writing press releases is often delegated to the most junior member of staff, when crafting an effective press release is extremely hard, requires a certain authorial skill and, if it is about science, the scientific knowledge equal to that of any science journalist.
Sat 2008-03-01 An aside in a New York Times article by Olivia Judson led me to this paper on jet-propelled 'flight' in squid:
Macia, Robinson, Craze, Dalton & Thomas (2004), New observations on airborne jet propulsion (flight) in squid with a review of previous reports. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 70: 297-299.
Tue 2008-02-26 Among the best blogging over the past couple of months has been Mark Hoofnagle's account of his first few weeks of surgery as a medical student in a US hospital. It has given me a fascinating glimpse into a world I knew nothing about (no, I do not watch hospital dramas on TV). The various posts are: Surgery, My feet hurt, A week of surgery - some impressions, Wounds!, Surgeons have cool tools, A month into surgery - back to the books, and Trauma. Mark ends his latest post thus:
I'd also like to take this opportunity to ask a couple of favors.
One, I'd very much like people to stop shooting one another. It's really terrible what bullets do to a body.
Two, it also might help if you all could wear helmets. If I thought you could avoid hitting your head that would be one thing, but the least you can do is take some precautions. Wear them a lot - riding bikes, motorcycles, skiing, etc. In fact, just wear them all the time. Sitting at your desk? Wear a helmet. Walking in the park? Wear a helmet. We're going to start a new style right here and now. We'll call it the "I'm either about to get on a bike or am prone to seizures" look.
It would make me feel better. Really.
Sun 2008-02-24 Here is a rather nice post by Kai Chang on how one of his teachers used to include one deliberate falsehood in each of his lectures.
