MY LATEST POSTS
Casimir and me
This mini story is about me and my last (maybe really my last) scientific paper. It is also a story of how science really works - through people, rather than structures or organizations or committees. It started with Twitter, which is a major way that I keep in touch...
Catastrophes Small and Large: From Biscuit Dunking to our Global Future
I appeared on the front page of Wikipedia today (April 7th 2021). “Did you know?” asked the editors “that Len Fisher won the 1999 Ig Nobel Prize for physics for his research on the optimal way to dunk a biscuit?” You may or may not have known this. Certainly the story...
Pursuing Power vs Pursuing Understanding: The Root Cause of Society’s Problems
Very proud to have been invited to do a long "Heroes of Mother Earth" podcast interview, where I argued that the problems the world is facing are interconnected in such a way that sudden large changes are not only inevitable, but also largely unpredictable. I talked...
Virtual food
The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery is my favourite indulgence - old friends, good wine, great food. But this year it has to be virtual, and here I will keep a running diary of events to share. Enjoy! The header picture is from last year. That's me holding the...
MY LATEST POSTS
MINI STORIES FROM SCIENCE
Casimir and me
This mini story is about me and my last (maybe really my last) scientific paper. It is also a story of how science really works - through people, rather than structures or organizations or committees. It started with Twitter, which is a major way that I keep in touch...
STRAY THOUGHTS
Catastrophes Small and Large: From Biscuit Dunking to our Global Future
I appeared on the front page of Wikipedia today (April 7th 2021). “Did you know?” asked the editors “that Len Fisher won the 1999 Ig Nobel Prize for physics for his research on the optimal way to dunk a biscuit?” You may or may not have known this. Certainly the story...
PLANNING FOR LIFE’S CRISES
Pursuing Power vs Pursuing Understanding: The Root Cause of Society’s Problems
Very proud to have been invited to do a long "Heroes of Mother Earth" podcast interview, where I argued that the problems the world is facing are interconnected in such a way that sudden large changes are not only inevitable, but also largely unpredictable. I talked...
FOOD & GASTRONOMY
Virtual food
The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery is my favourite indulgence - old friends, good wine, great food. But this year it has to be virtual, and here I will keep a running diary of events to share. Enjoy! The header picture is from last year. That's me holding the...
MY BOOKS
My books are aimed to help people see and understand the world through a scientist’s eyes, with a good leavening of humour, anecdote and the personal stories.
