What went wrong with conservativism

I missed this when it was published but someone sent me this editorial by David Brooks on what went wrong with conservatism. I think this is a great must read essay. Conservatism used to be about ideas. Then it was changed into silly class or social warfare and “deciding from the gut.”

Creationists declare war over the brain

Creationists declare war over the brain.

Fusion Dying on the Vine?

Fusion project hanging in limbo. I never worked on magnetic fusion but when the magnetic fusion project at LANL was cancelled a lot came over into our inertial confinement fusion project. I’m mixed on this. I’m a big supporter of basic research but some of these projects are ridiculously expensive with little [...]

Moral condemnation and visceral disgust

Moral condemnation and visceral disgust may be more closely related, then, than you think. I’ve long thought aesthetics and ethics were tied together although Eric’s point is slightly different.

Why the GOP must lose

Why the GOP must lose to save the GOP. Hard to disagree.

Review of the Princeton Companion to Mathematics

Woit reviews the The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. Looks pretty good. I was going to pick up a copy until I saw the price.

Artificial DNA computer created inside a yeast cell

Artificial DNA computer created inside a yeast cell. Eventually this technology might be able to run inside human cells checking for disease. Not anytime soon I suspect though.

Peirce on Maps

Brandon has a short post with links on Peirce’s map projection called “Peirce’s quincuncial.”

Romantics and Science

The Romantics and Science. Contrary to many popular mischaracterizations the Romantics were hardly anti-science. Often they were inspired by science. Interesting review of a book on the complex relation of the two, The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science.

How Bad Was Einstein?

How poor at math was Einstein? Interesting review of the new book Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius. Doesn’t look like I’ll ever buy the book though.

Every Man a Derrida

Every man a Derrida. An article on the mainstreaming of postmodernism at Reason. Unfortunately there are tons of errors in the article. (For instance Lakoff hardly invented framing - he just popularized a particularly bad and egregiously widespread version of it)

The Certainty Bias

The certainty bias

The Bible of Physics

The Bible of physics OK, not really. But everyone seriously ought have a copy if they are interested in science. Although I’d not want to learn Freshman physics from them. (I liked Serway for that)

What to Look For

What to look for tomorrow to see if the crisis is over. Note that the credit markets were closed today for Columbus Day, or as I like to call it Thanksgiving.

Derrida and the Logophobic

Angry criticism and the name. Derrida and the logophobic.

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