Monthly Archives: January 2011

Astrology (again) and skepticism

Posted on January 28, 2011 by

I have another post on the topic of “Astrology is rubbish, but…” thas has just appeared as a guest post on Martin Robbins’ The Lay Scientist. Very many thanks to Martin for agreeing to host, and offering his readers a different view … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Where the fuck are we?

Posted on January 26, 2011 by

The problems involved in determining ones position on the surface of the Earth were well known to the Greeks in antiquity, the first people to produce mathematical cartography. Determining latitude, that is one position north or south relative to the … Continue reading →

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A One-Way Ticket to Mars?

Posted on January 25, 2011 by

Men have long been fascinated with Mars. Historically, it has been thought of as a dead world, a planet teeming with life, as well as a dying world with little left save the vestiges of an intelligent and cooperative civilization. … Continue reading →

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“Astrology is rubbish”, but…

Posted on January 23, 2011 by

Over the past week or two I’ve seen a steady trickle of tweets from astronomers, science writers and journalists having a good laugh about astrology. Fair enough, perhaps, except that this all began with a story on NBC News (and … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History, Science | 82 Comments

Copernican hypotheticals!

Posted on January 22, 2011 by

Alun Salt is doing what historians are not supposed to do and indulging in counterfactual speculations. He asks the question, “Would Copernicus have been more convincing if he’d been more accurate?” He continues:

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The blatherings of Mr Wrong

Posted on January 22, 2011 by

I stumbled across Chris Wright’s post “Measuring Hell” at the Boston Globe Website, via 3 Quarks Daily, more than a week ago and briefly considered blogging about it and then couldn’t be bothered. At the end of this week Darwin’s … Continue reading →

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From Contractional theory to modern geology

Posted on January 22, 2011 by

Modern Plate Tectonics is the Grand Unified Theory of modern geology, however like many other theories it developed slowly, and in it actual form is only 50 years old. Plate tectonics is essential to understand the shape and distribution of … Continue reading →

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David Hume on the Reduction of Sentiments

Posted on January 21, 2011 by

Thomas Hobbes thought that human emotions could be explained in terms of their reflection of self-interest.  David Hume, writing much later, thought that it was absurd to portray genuinely benevolent sentiments as the result of some “abstruse” mental calculation.  Far … Continue reading →

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A shot of caffeine and GS #31

Posted on January 16, 2011 by

Morning Coffee Physics has found a new source of caffeine and on his bright shinny new revivified blog he has posted The Giants’ Shoulders #31. For a dose of the best history of science from the last month make yourself a … Continue reading →

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Mount Etna: Significance in the history of volcanology

Posted on January 16, 2011 by

Mount Etna on Sicily returns in the headlines, since last week his activity increased again displaying large lava fountains on the summit. Etna is the largest, most active and most popular volcano in Europe, historic description and legends of eruptions … Continue reading →

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