tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post7526956835596026193..comments2023-11-02T12:15:47.847+00:00Comments on Quinquireme: The Invention Of Airpatroclushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-16083200861269220882009-01-13T17:42:00.000+00:002009-01-13T17:42:00.000+00:00Crikey, thanks all. Blue Kitten-wise I'm very fort...Crikey, thanks all. Blue Kitten-wise I'm very fortunate to have the lovely Mr BC at home 99% of the time, sharing nappy-changing duties, taking the Kitten for walks, entertaining her with (frankly terrifying) silly faces etc. I can't imagine I'd have time to blurble about 18th century scientists if he wasn't here. I'm very aware that I have things very easy compared with almost all other mothers.patroclushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-52965290852089745362009-01-13T13:43:00.000+00:002009-01-13T13:43:00.000+00:00God, I am just so deeply impressed that you can wr...God, I am just so deeply impressed that you can write such amazing blogposts when the blue kitten is still a young babe - all I was capable of was watching Phil 'n' Fern for about a year after giving birth. You rock!Lucy Diamondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11831060852859704680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-14885457173293795732009-01-13T09:59:00.000+00:002009-01-13T09:59:00.000+00:00What? Good grief that's so depressing. I guess tha...What? Good grief that's so depressing. I guess that's what it's primarily aimed at, MPs that 'don't do science' but it's good for the scientists too, to see how their work might have an actual application - something that scientists aren't generally very good at! Off the top of my head, I've got a feeling that the guy who invented ultrasound could see no good use for it beyond confirming elephants are pregnant. But maybe I dreamt that. <BR/><BR/>I wish you'd been MY science teacher! I hated it. Science at school bears no relation to actual science. If my dad hadn't been a scientist I never would have gone near it. Stories like the ones in your post are exactly what's needed. Your blog on the curriculum, I'm all for it.Karen's Mouthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16398621248761437631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-82440438895591051102009-01-13T09:46:00.000+00:002009-01-13T09:46:00.000+00:00You are either the cleverest person I know or you ...You are either the cleverest person I know or you have waaaay too much time on your hands. Possibly both. Actually it must be the former as I know you've got a kitten to nurture. <BR/><BR/>Am far too stoopid to write an intelligent and informed comment. I shall go back to looking at the picture of the piglet squid and giggling.Jaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821105000840199542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-31817693902005147122009-01-12T21:14:00.000+00:002009-01-12T21:14:00.000+00:00Thank you KM. I wish you'd been my science teacher...Thank you KM. I wish you'd been my science teacher - I was so rubbish at science that I never even made it to O-Level in chemistry or physics, which I really regret. It was all (and still is) utterly mystifying to me.<BR/><BR/>The MP/scientist exchange programme is interesting - especially as Steven Johnson's book starts out by quoting Mike Huckabee telling someone not to ask him anything about science, because he's a politician and politicians don't 'do' science.patroclushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-35435560306522990462009-01-12T17:43:00.000+00:002009-01-12T17:43:00.000+00:00Yes! What a great post. The science is ALL about t...Yes! What a great post. The science is ALL about the tinkering. If ever I go to a prof-level lecture and they start banging on about their Nature paper, Nobel prize or whatever, their stories always involve "and then we got this really weird result".<BR/><BR/>I'm quite keen on communicating science to school children, but with the emphasis on the fact it's ALL about lateral thinking and solving sticky problems rather than making colourful explosions, which is what a lot of school engagement stuff is based on. <BR/><BR/>And I think science is once again at a stage where discipline hoping is highly valued. I think each specialism has gone off and sorted the basics, and now they're all being encouraged to form collaborations. I'm funded by a fellowship specifically created for interdisciplinary work, and lots of funders offer similar grants. And someone (Royal Society?) run a MP/scientist exchange programme. All we need now is a full moon to meet by.<BR/><BR/>Sorry. Long comment.Karen's Mouthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16398621248761437631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-76201101875573846102009-01-12T14:34:00.000+00:002009-01-12T14:34:00.000+00:00Ooh, I must have missed that one when I was in Slo...Ooh, I must have missed that one when I was in Slough. Good fun.patroclushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-19460429445175180392009-01-12T14:24:00.000+00:002009-01-12T14:24:00.000+00:00I'm sure you didn't have either time or inclinatio...I'm sure you didn't have either time or inclination to read it, but the relevant post (including some remarks from ladies who seem to have loosened their stays somewhat, and your father in a derby, riding a velocipede) was <A HREF="http://dave-east.blogspot.com/2009/01/out-of-time.html" REL="nofollow">here.</A>Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403853324345062446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-47979023875063115422009-01-12T13:22:00.000+00:002009-01-12T13:22:00.000+00:00John: Yes indeed, although when Priestley's house,...John: Yes indeed, although when Priestley's house, laboratory and equipment get burned to the ground by an angry mob, he proves to be quite sanguine about it.<BR/><BR/>Dave: Brilliant, I'll dig out my fossil-hunting bustle and stonemason's parasol.<BR/><BR/>Thumper: Hello! Yes, it would appear that science is more the result of tinkering, false starts and blind alleyways than the application of common sense. The chaotic nature of scientific enquiry in the Enlightenment is brilliantly described by Neal Stephenson in 'Quicksilver', where Robert Hooke and chums are holed up in some country seat performing weird and unspeakable experiments on dogs.patroclushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-7954765270867999602009-01-12T10:27:00.000+00:002009-01-12T10:27:00.000+00:00Great post.I think the whole phlogiston story illu...Great post.<BR/><BR/>I think the whole phlogiston story illustrates perfectly how science is often counter-intuitive. I think there's this misconception where ccience as being "common sense", but in the experiments with the mice in the bell jars, common sense would have pointed to a gas being released.Hawkfallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17869783230626158753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-22299662384342974832009-01-12T10:20:00.000+00:002009-01-12T10:20:00.000+00:00I'm not sure Victorian clergymen were encouraged t...I'm not sure Victorian clergymen were encouraged to emulate Dr Who, and travel around with a young female companion.<BR/><BR/>The idea, though, has always appealed to me.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403853324345062446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-62440456263438637962009-01-11T21:38:00.000+00:002009-01-11T21:38:00.000+00:00The full moon simply made it easier for the Societ...<I>The full moon simply made it easier for the Society's members to find their way home in the early hours of the morning.</I><BR/><BR/>And greatly reduced the chances of being mugged due to the darkness, in fact.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-50716310976703489662009-01-11T13:08:00.000+00:002009-01-11T13:08:00.000+00:00Dad: Yes, sorry about Lavoisier, I do seem to have...Dad: Yes, sorry about Lavoisier, I do seem to have left rather a lot out. Like the whole section about Priestley's role in the founding of America, which I'm ashamed to say I found a bit dull.<BR/><BR/>Dave: That all sounds brilliant - can I join you? Although, for the last time, it's Oghams, not runes.<BR/><BR/>Tim: You can be my headline writer any time.patroclushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01933476561340044351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-22153449600953210392009-01-11T10:40:00.000+00:002009-01-11T10:40:00.000+00:00Franklin mint. Hee hee.Franklin mint. Hee hee.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-54063549225468326462009-01-11T09:11:00.000+00:002009-01-11T09:11:00.000+00:00As I commented at my place last week, I was born a...As I commented at my place last week, I was born at least 100 years too late. I see myself as a dilettante clergyman, cycling around my parish, stopping to make observations about naure, carving pictish runes onto stones and collecting previously-undiscovered fossils.<BR/><BR/>Specialists spoil things for the rest of us.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403853324345062446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3607123.post-76388443416736834762009-01-11T09:10:00.000+00:002009-01-11T09:10:00.000+00:00Super post. (But where is Lavoisier?)The free flow...Super post. (But where is Lavoisier?)<BR/><BR/><EM>The free flow of ideas between disciplines is one of the reasons for the sudden flowering of science and culture in the late 18th century.</EM> Ah, too true. The New Critics and reductionists have a lot to answer for.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14227767014123557100noreply@blogger.com