Oxford Symposium
Chickens’ Guts and Chefs’ Tools
Art imitating nature: how chefs treat seeds in just the same ways that seed-eating birds have been doing for millions of years: https://youtu.be/RMuAx4XVa08 My talk at the 2018 Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Start at 2'50" if you want to...
140. The power of curiosity: burning down houses and blowing up schools.
Polymathic scientist George Whitesides, consultant to many commercial ventures, has written a beautiful essay on the power of curiosity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/anie.201800684 It begins with the story of how, as a child, he had heard that...
Life, REF, and the half-loaf principle
One of my favourite writers is the Russian-born Englishman S.J. "Skid" Simon. Unless you are a bridge player, you have probably never heard of him, although he wrote many murder mysteries in the period before the Second World War, the best-known being "A Bullet in the...
Let’s share the thrill and exhilaration of discovery!
A piece recorded for ABC Radio National after the death of Billy Graham, evangelist for Christianity, but before the death of Stephen Hawking, evangelist for science. What more can we scientists do to share the thrill and exhilaration of discovery?...
The science of toffee apples
In 2005 I gave a talk at the Royal Institution on the science of toffee apples. It was, of course, timed for Guy Fawkes night! Recently a few people have asked whether they might have a copy of the script. So for them, and anyone else who is dying to know more about...
Communicating science: a slightly jaundiced view
After 25 years communicating science to different audiences, I finally put it all together in a talk delivered to staff and students at the University of Bristol's physics department. It covers Stephen Hawking's role, talking to politicians, dealing with the media,...
A scientist looks at philosophy
My first (and only) genuine philosophy article published in a genuine philosophy journal. Twenty-five years on, I am still quite proud of it! All about models and what they really mean (and don't mean). A scientist looks at philosophy IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons
The logical way to cut a round Christmas cake
Sir Francis Galton was a Victorian explorer, statistician, student of intelligence and heredity, and all round polymath. In his role as a statistician he came up with a way to analyze the power of prayer by arguing that royalty, being prayed for so frequently in the...
139. Why are the wealthy so wealthy and the poor so poor?
The increasing disparity of wealth in the world is a huge concern to all of us who believe in fairness and equitability. But why does it happen, and what can we do about it? In my latest broadcast for the Australian ABC Radio National Science Show, I reveal how the...
The Insanity of Under-Exertion of the Brain
My latest Science Show broadcast for Australian ABC Radio National, where I argue that lazy and habitual thought processes are causing untold damage. Here is the link:...
World octopus day: What the octopus can teach us about hunting for bargains
October 9th is World Octopus Day, believe it or not. Even more unbelievable, the octopus can teach us quite a bit about the best decision strategies when it comes to hunting for bargains, as I reveal in this blog that was first published in Psychology Today in 2014....
Let’s invite Sarah Palin to present the Nobel Prizes
My opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Sarah-Palin-should-hand-out-the-Nobel-medals-12256755.php). OK, it’s tongue-in-cheek, but there is a serious point here for communicating about science. Too often...
138. What is a Geiger?
Today, September 30th, is the anniversary of Hans Geiger's birth. Geiger was a student of Ernest Marsden at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge, Shortly after he had joined, Marsden decided that it was time for him to get his hands dirty and try a "little...
Systemic Risk: What it Means and What we can Do
Some basic references for a talk that I delivered to the Aon Benfield conference “Risk Re-imagined” (Gold Coast, Australia, September 18-20 (2017)) IRGC Concept Note “Preparing for Future Catastrophes”...
137. Creepy objects
After my radio broadcast on the relics of scientists in museums around the world (http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/preserved-scientists/8624266), I received a number of suggestions for creepy additions. So I'm starting a blog here on creepy...
136. Brilliant bacteria
Sometimes a scientific paper comes out that generates a gasp of admiration at first sight. That is true of a paper just out in Physical Review Letters “Nonlinear self-action of light through biological suspensions" (Anna Bezryadina, Zhigang Chen (San Francisco State...
Making the best decisions
Several years ago I was invited to write a book chapter on how we can make the best decisions in our complex, interconnected world. I wrote the chapter, aimed at a general audience and containing some interesting stories about how Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin,...
Units of measurement
The calving of a huge iceberg from Antarctica is a serious issue in the context of global warming, but has also sparked an ongoing debate on the best unit of measurement to describe its size. "The size of Delaware" screamed the initial, U.S.-based news sources. "Well,...