Math & Science  (I was a physics major) T. Buckingham Thomas physics Oberlin WOBC Richwood Tom Thomas Chyron Infinit Pittsburgh Articles that are largely about scientific or mathematical questions are listed below. To search for specific names or events that might be listed elsewhere, click the icon to bring up a Google search box.  Replace ql in the search box with the word or words you seek.   Genesis Years If we recalculate the Bible's "begats" in a certain way, Methuselah lived only 107 years, not 969. °King Solomon's Pi Does the Bible say that the value of pi is 3.00, not 3.14? 1870 The Edison of Oberlin College Elisha Gray invents the telephone. 1920 Frau im Mond A silent movie takes a woman and her friends on a rocket trip to the moon. 1950 Atomic Ping-Pong Learning about nuclear fission and stereo sound with the help of a very tall bus. . 1960 °The Flying Yardstick Under the stereo-imaged catalpa tree, I invent an inefficient flying wing. Nix to Redox A modest suggestion for a change in chemical terminology. °Alma Mater In letters to my mother, I tell of my studies at Oberlin College and some of the people I met there. °Catalysts Aren't Cheerleaders A lecture from freshman chemistry. °The Relativitator Files Correspondence, possibly flirtatious, about a whimsical "scientific instrument." Passing Notes A quarky tale of two physics majors. Apollo on the Moon My reactions to that historic year, from letters. Carbonstock "We are stardust: billion-year-old carbon," wrote Joni Mitchell.  Carbon's in all living things.  They're organic. . 1970 Determination of Audience Size Preparing to leave Syracuse, I propose how ratings could be measured at Marion CATV. The Ted Baxter System WJM-TV's fictional newscaster invents a method for betting on football that actually works. Science and Computers Musing about scientific issues, I acquire calculators and an early "home computer." Superegg  Adjusting the exponents in the formula for an ellipse gives it superpowers. °Banachek! Be skeptical of the mentalist with a balloon. 1980 °The Arctangential Error Meter When is an analog display like a fence? The MENKY The 1988 design for a one-handed computer keyboard. . 1990 Clouds in My Coffee Another physics major was curious about these swirls until I found a relevant article.  Bad rhymes ensued. Left on Base Doesn't Matter Correlating baseball statistics with winning. °Powers of Ten Museum An imagined vist to a museum of models on widely different scales, from atoms to galaxies. Augie and the Topology of Leashes Why the pup next door had to bark for help. . 2000 The Year 2001 Should it be prounounced twenty-oh-one? Pickover's ESP Experiment A link to a web page for the credulous. Oberlin College Science Center A photo tour of the new and remodeled labs and classrooms, October 2002. Close Encounter of the Imaginary Kind A nervous pilot believes his radar altimeter when it suggests Something else is shadowing his plane. The Diamond Brick Road A graphical representation of one season's race in a baseball division. °Merchant of Nothing Playing the probabilities to make the gullible think they're buying something of value. °I Need a Stat, Stat! The statistic doesn't actually have to be relevant; it just needs to seem that way. Socrates and Leadfoot Two philosophers discuss why Pittsburgh drivers slow down for tunnels. Divine Digits Zoey's ideal dollhouse, my three simultaneous equations in two unknowns, and our idealized concept of God. °Inoculated If we can be immunized against certain diseases, does the same principle work for homeopathy?  No. Mirror Images Why does a mirror swap things left-for-right?  Why not top-for-bottom? 2010 How Tomorrow Came To Be On February 1, a wager to decide when spring begins. Homecoming Weekend 2014 Oberlin welcomes back my classmate the science radio star. The Hyperope Cataract surgery clears up my vision. Phooey on the Eclipse Those dark glasses to protect our eyes from the solar eclipse were a conspiracy to hide something, says Fui. 2020 Earthbound Bobbles The live reveal of the first pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope isn't a smooth telecast. Solo Eclipse I drive to Ohio to see the total eclipse of the sun. Finding a Problem for a Solution We have these pills; now we need to convince folks that they do something. Where Do We Draw the Line? Are two daily red wines better than abstinence?   This website's home page often features shorter notes about physics, geometry, and such.  Click the boxes for lists of links in the following categories: General Science Space Bio, Psych, Pseudoscience Mathematics Tech Climate & Coronavirus

The public is grossly misinformed about how the real world works, the media feeds that ignorance, and we urgently need to address this situation before we are populated by a generation of affluent but unaware citizens who can lead our species back into another Dark Age — and are already forming up ranks to do just that. No, that is not overstating the case. A lot of people hate my skepticism, and I think I understand why.  The psychics offer wonders and endless possibilities in a world that often seems difficult and mundane.  They promise health, wealth, wisdom, eternal life.  But if you examine the record, it's not the psychics but the hard-nosed scientists who have actually delivered the things that improve human life.  And, to me, science describes a world far more interesting than any psychic fantasy.  It's a good world — not perfect — but it's ours.  So we'd better learn to live with it, the way it is. — James Randi   One of the problems we face in the United States is that, unfortunately, there is a combination of an antiscience bias.  ...For reasons that sometimes are inconceivable and not understandable, [people] just don't believe science and they don't believe authority.  ...Science is truth ... and it's amazing sometimes the denial there is. — Dr. Anthony Fauci, June 17, 2020   Tucker Carlson of Fox News“repeatedly blamed Fauci and other scientists for changing their minds based on new evidence — the bedrock of scientific progress.  In Carlson's calculus, such reversals equal lying.” — Science Magazine   Being anti-science is un-American.  This country is the aspirational child of the enlightenment, not the idiot son of biblical literalists. — Bradley Whitford   Mr. Givens:  “Good luck at CalTech, Sheldon.”  I don't believe in luck.  “Well, here's hoping that a random universe works out in your favor.” — “Young Sheldon,” season 7, episode 12   The more that the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.  There are laws — we are discovering those laws — but they are impersonal, they are cold.  There is no point to be discovered in nature itself.  We are not actors in a drama that has been written with us playing the starring role.  There is no cosmic plan for us. — Theoretical physicist Steven Weinberg   Science flies us to the moon.  Religion flies us into buildings. — Victor J. Stenger