In “Archimedes: Greek Mathematician,” Gerald J. Toomer (Professor Emeritus of the History of Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island) writes: Method Concerning Mechanical Theorems describes a process of discovery in mathematics. It is the sole surviving work from antiquity, and one of the few from any period, that deals with this topic. In it Archimedes recounts […]
Read MoreAn Archimedian Bio
In “Archimedes,” some folks at famousscientists.org write: Archimedes was, arguably, the world’s greatest scientist – certainly the greatest scientist of the classical age. He was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, engineer, inventor, and weapons-designer. As we’ll see, he was a man who was both of his time and far ahead of his time. Archimedes was born […]
Read MoreMLK on Education
Logic should be part of our education. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his “The Purpose of Education,” published in the Morehouse College newspaper The Maroon Tiger. As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose […]
Read MoreJoan Feynman
Wow! Richard Feynman had a younger sister who also earned a PhD in Physics! Impressive! Cool! But, wow!, when she was young, her mom said to her “women’s brains can’t do science.” Good for Joan in being independent and dong science anyway! She also had to deal with sexist women teachers.
Read MoreTeach Historically, Teach Inductively
Teach historically. Students need to learn the logic, concept-formation, fallacy identification, induction (i.e., generalization), conceptual integration (i.e., making connections, or “theory building”), and thinking skills that only teaching historically (or in a related way) affords. In “Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory,” Dr. Michael Fowler (UVa), writes: In my experience, there […]
Read MoreFeynman On Science
“The job of a scientist is to listen carefully to nature, not to tell nature how to behave.” Dr. Richard Feynam, Nobel Prize winner in physics
Read MoreBe Wise, Not Hasty
“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well, upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object […]
Read MoreBe Authors of Life, Not Destruction
“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or […]
Read MoreReasonRX Podcast Episode 45 Historian Dan Flores on Ecology, Human Ecology, History, and Science
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/42050127 Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more. Dan joins us to discuss– our nature as fission-fusion rational, social animals-how that nature informs how we react to COVID -how that nature has allowed us to survive through history-what “fission-fusion” means-human history in North America-some history of human-animal […]
Read MoreCCERP Podcast 22 MaryAnne Placentini of Katy Prairie Conservancy: How Wetlands and Prairies Help Us Manage Flooding
Mary Anne Piacentini, President, Katy Prairie Conservancy, joins us to discuss:-her background -the Katy Prairie Conservancy: what it does and what it has accomplished -Houston flooding: what and why-the Army Corps of Engineers Interim Report: what it says; what has been accepted and what has been rejected by it-effective, cost-efficient, proven manageable ways to mitigate flooding-what to […]
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