Tag Archives: Enrico Fermi
The paradoxical virtues of primacy in science
Primacy is a false virtue imposed by the structures of modern science – yet it is also necessary to right some wrongs. Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged attribution, Bibhas De, citation, Enrico Fermi, history of science, Knabenphysik, Meghnad Saha, Nobel Prizes, primacy, scientific journals, scientific literature, scientific publishing
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The real story of ‘The Old Guard’
Spoiler alert: Don’t read this post if you intend to watch The Old Guard but haven’t done so yet. The Old Guard, an action film starring Charlize Theron among others, released on Netflix on July 10. In a scene in … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged apoliticism, Charlize Theron, compassion fatigue, Enrico Fermi, history of science, human experimentation, medical experimentation, medical imperialism, medical research, Netflix, Paul Feyerabend, profiteering, rationalism, The Old Guard, violence
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To read or not a bad man’s book
The Life of Science team uploaded the video of their webinar on July 10, about the construct of the genius in science, on YouTube on July 14. Please watch it if you haven’t already. I had also blogged about it. … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged #MeToo, Enrico Fermi, genius, Geoffrey Marcy, Georges Lemaître, Gita Chadha, Jeffrey Epstein, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, scientific genius, The Life of Science
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Review: ‘Salam – The First ****** Nobel Laureate’ (2018)
Awards are elevated by their winners. For all of the Nobel Prizes’ flaws and shortcomings, they are redeemed by what its laureates choose to do with them. To this end, the Pakistani physicist and activist Abdus Salam (1926-1996) elevates the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Abdul Kalam, Abdus Salam, Abdus Salam ICTP, Ahmadiya sect, Benito Mussolini, Enrico Fermi, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Nobel Prize for physics, Nobel Prizes, Pakistan, religious presecution, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Steven Weinberg, theoretical physics, Zia-ul-Haq, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
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Unseating Feynman, and Fermi
Do physicists whitewash the legacy of Enrico Fermi the same way they do Richard Feynman? Feynman disguised his sexism as pranks and jokes, and writers have spent thousands of pages offering his virtues as a great physicist and teacher as … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Enrico Fermi, feminism, Leo Szilard, nuclear weapons, Richard Feynman, science and society, sexism, Szilard petition
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What life on Earth tells us about life ‘elsewhere’
In 1950, the physicist Enrico Fermi asked a question not many could forget for a long time: “Where is everybody?” He was referring to the notion that, given the age and size of the universe, advanced civilizations ought to have arisen in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged astrobiology, Carl Sagan, Enceladus, Enrico Fermi, exoplanets, extrasolar systems, hydrocarbons, life, Saturn, starstuff, Titan
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