http://physics.about.com/ Get the latest headlines from the About.com http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hh http://www.about.com/ 118 20 en-us 2012-02-17T16:00:06Z Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:06 +0000 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/19/peerreview.htm <p style="text-align: left;"><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/3/i/3/-/-/ReinventingDiscovery.jpg" alt="Reinventing Discovery by Michael Nielsen" />Following up my recent post "<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/17/physicscranks.htm">A Word to Physics Cranks</a>," I received some interesting comments and follow-up over at my <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=https://plus.google.com/113898425766485520077/posts">personal Google+ stream</a> (the Physics-specific stream is <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=https://plus.google.com/109429535006334167389/posts">here</a>). One of my followers commented on the fact that scientific journals are "riddled with prejudice and cronyism" ... which naturally sparked my desire for more specific information.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/19/peerreview.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/19/peerreview.htm Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:32:50 +0000 2012-02-19T17:32:50Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/17/physicscranks.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/9/D/2/-/-/seancarroll.jpg" alt="Cosmologist Sean Carroll" />On a recent episode of the podcast <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://www.theskepticsguide.org/sgu.aspx?MasterPodcastId=1">The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe</a></em>, there was a great interview with physicist Sean Carroll. (Here's a link directly to that episode's <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcastinfo.aspx?mid=1&#038;pid=341">show notes</a>.) Sean is a cosmologist who explores fundamental mysteries of the universe, such as the nature of time, which he explored in his book <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/cosmologybooks/gr/frometernitytohere.htm">From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time</a></em>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/17/physicscranks.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/17/physicscranks.htm Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:06 +0000 2012-02-17T16:00:06Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/01/febphysicsbooks.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/9/1/4/-/-/RelativityDog.JPG" alt="Cover of How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog by Chad Orzel" />February's physics books seem to be loaded toward the end of the month for some strange reason, so there's still plenty of time to preorder. Of particular interest to the average reader are probably Neil deGrasse Tyson's <strong><em>Space Chronicles</em></strong> and Chad Orzel's <strong><em>How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog</em></strong>, although space enthusiasts may well find multiple tempting prospects in the full&#160;list of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/BookListsbyDate/tp/Feb2012PhysicsBooks.htm">February 2012 physics books</a>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/01/febphysicsbooks.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/02/01/febphysicsbooks.htm Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:15 +0000 2012-02-01T07:00:15Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/bbt100.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/9/T/3/-/-/BigBangSeason4.png" alt="The Big Bang Theory" />Season 5 of <strong><em>The Big Bang Theory</em></strong> has picked up, right as they reached the 100th episode of the series. The three latest episodes have had some of the funniest moments of the whole series, and seems to be setting the stage for the rest of the season to play out in a way that I'm really looking forward to. You can check out the coverage of the science that shows up, as well as some notable quotes from each episode, in the individual episode reviews from this month:</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/bbt100.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/bbt100.htm Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:55:20 +0000 2012-01-28T16:55:20Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/quantumuniverse.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/3/w/3/-/-/QuantumUniverse.jpg" alt="The Quantum Universe by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw (book cover)" />Books on quantum physics are pretty common, but few of them do a very good job of balancing the complexity of the subject with the need to get these core ideas across to the lay readers. Usually, the core ideas and experiments are discussed, and the real complexities are only hinted at.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/quantumuniverse.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/28/quantumuniverse.htm Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:35:57 +0000 2012-01-28T13:35:57Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/22/mangarelativity.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/3/p/3/-/-/MangaGuideRelativity.png" alt="Manga Guide to Relativity" />It's really amazing to think about what you can get into a comic book, especially if your goal is to teach about scientific concepts. I've highlighted some of the gems that have come my way over in our <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/physicsbooks/tp/ScienceComics.htm">science comic books</a> list, and I've just had the opportunity to get through a new one: <strong><em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/einsteinrelativitybooks/fr/MangaGuideRelativity.htm">The Manga Guide to Relativity</a></em></strong>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/22/mangarelativity.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/22/mangarelativity.htm Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:01:29 +0000 2012-01-22T22:01:29Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/janphysicsbooks.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/3/t/3/-/-/UniverseNothing.jpg" alt="A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss" />Every month, I get physics books from all over the place. I only get an opportunity to review a fraction of these books, though I feel bad about each one that I have to pass up. Plus, it's kind of hard to remember which books came out in a given year when I'm working on my "Best of the year" posts in December.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/janphysicsbooks.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/janphysicsbooks.htm Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:47:45 +0000 2012-01-07T15:47:45Z http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/teachingsciencevalues.htm <p>I've been thinking a lot about scientific values lately, since <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://youtu.be/eeJrcVhtzYo">watching a talk</a> by neurologist <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://atheism.about.com/od/godlessatheistpolitics/tp/SamHarrisProfileBeliefs.htm">Sam Harris</a>, where he is speaking on whether science can say anything about morality. I won't speak to his larger point (other than to direct readers to his book <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://about.pricegrabber.com/mrdr.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fabout.pricegrabber.com%2Fsearch_getprod.php%2Fisbn%3D9781439171226%2Fsearch%3Dmoral+landscape+sam+harris&#038;mode=about_physics">The Moral Landscape</a></em>), but I will pull this one quote out of his statements (starting around the 19:30 minute mark on the video):</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/teachingsciencevalues.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2012/01/07/teachingsciencevalues.htm Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:58:25 +0000 2012-01-07T11:58:25Z http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigstories2011.htm <p>Two physics stories in 2012 easily eclipsed all the others, making headlines all over the place. Here are the two stories that caused the entire physics world to sit up and take notice:</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigstories2011.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigstories2011.htm Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:25:53 +0000 2011-12-31T09:25:53Z http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigbangreviews.htm <p><img class="alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/physics/1/H/L/3/-/-/BigBangSeasonOne.jpg" alt="The Big Bang Theory - Season One" /></p> <p>First, I have posted an article about the most recent season 5 episode, "<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/SeasonFive/fr/BBT-ep511.htm">The Speckerman Recurrence</a>," which features Sheldon watching the <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/od/NobelPrizeinPhysics/p/2011NobelPrize.htm">2011 Nobel Prize in Physics</a> awards streaming live online. This episode, therefore, took place on December 10, 2011.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigbangreviews.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://physics.about.com/b/2011/12/31/bigbangreviews.htm Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:22:55 +0000 2011-12-31T08:22:55Z