Archive for July, 2005
July 7, 2005 at 10:00 am · Filed under Science & Nature, Clever Ideas
I’ve always fancied myself an amateur theoretical physicist, so I’m a sucker for any book that claims to explain the mysteries of the universe in laymen’s terms. Such was the case with a book I read in the early 1990s called The Holographic Universe, which promised “a remarkable new theory of reality.” The book was not written by a scientist and therefore turned out to be a bit light on scientific detail. But it was to be the first of several books I’d read about an intriguing theory known as the “holographic paradigm.”
The New Physics
To set the stage, let’s turn back the calendar to the mid-1970s. In science, quantum physics was the hot area of research. Eastern religions, meanwhile, were moving into the mainstream in North America, and the New Age movement was in full swing. It was only a matter of time before science and mysticism converged. Books such […]
Original post by Joe Kissell
(159 words)
July 6, 2005 at 10:00 am · Filed under Science & Nature, History
If you asked me to name any three subjects at random about which I know very little, I might very well mention biology, statistics, and genealogy. Somehow I managed to get through high school, college, and graduate school without ever taking a biology course. My mathematical studies never progressed much beyond garden-variety trigonometry. And when it comes to genealogy, I still haven’t been able to work out which one of the Baltic states my paternal great-grandfather hailed from. So you can imagine my dismay when a friend of mine told me about the notion of a Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA). Apparently some Very Smart People had determined based on genetic evidence and statistical calculations that everyone of European ancestry now alive descended from Charlemagne. At first I found this claim utterly ridiculous, but as I began reading up on it my incredulity softened to mere incomprehension. For me, at […]
Original post by Joe Kissell
(157 words)
July 5, 2005 at 10:00 am · Filed under Technology & Computing, Clever Ideas, Society & Culture
R. Buckminster Fuller, a brilliant engineer, designer, and philosopher who lived from 1895–1983, is best known as the inventor of the geodesic dome. More recently, a spherical carbon isotope whose molecules resemble the dome was named Buckminsterfullerene, or “Bucky ball” for short. The dome was certainly an important invention, illustrating Fuller’s intensely logical mode of inquiry: How can basic geometric principles be employed to enclose the maximum amount of space with the minimum amount of weight and materials? His solution, a clever arrangement of interlocking triangles, was elegant and beautiful. And yet, it’s unfortunate that many consider this Fuller’s claim to fame. Geodesic domes—once thought to be a trendy and futuristic design for homes and public buildings—are now seen as rather passé, a quaint artifact of outdated aesthetic sensibilities, like tail fins on cars and beehive hairdos. By inference, their inventor is sometimes regarded as a wacky innovator who was […]
Original post by Joe Kissell
(157 words)
