This past week I was in Washington DC on business. I’ve only been to DC a couple of times, and each time left little room on the schedule for sightseeing. But this time, as I was being driven back to … Continue reading
Category Archives: Public Intellectuals
Scholarly and intellectual types have a reputation for not being grounded in the real world. The stereotype is that such persons are lily-handed types with about as many work-related calluses as a bowl of Jell-O. The reputation is undeserved; there … Continue reading
I know it is not the best form to follow one post with a second on the same subject, especially when one makes pretentions of being a generalist. But an article by William Fisher on The Weapons of Mass Change … Continue reading
I confess I approach this post with some trepidation. Elsewhere I have lamented the passing of what used to be called the “public intellectual”; individuals both in and out of academia who helped bridge the gulf between what was going … Continue reading
I am packing for a trip to the west coast this coming week, so this entry must needs be short. In at least one previous blog I have lamented the demise of Whole Earth Review, which reincarnated itself briefly as … Continue reading
Publishing is one of the big barriers that face independent scholars and amateur scientists. In years past, people who didn’t have a Ph.D. or some other kind of institutional affiliation didn’t have a snowball’s chance of getting published in a … Continue reading
NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen has leaped into the headlines after he made allegations that he was subjected to political pressure to keep him from expressing his findings on global climate change. Dr. Hansen, director of the agency’s Goddard Institute … Continue reading
The pursuit of knowledge and discovery is one of the most characteristic of all essential human activities. It is far too important and way too much fun to be left to academics and professional scientists. One of the greatest things … Continue reading