Archive for August, 2009
Friday, August 14th, 2009
David Sloan Wilson’s Tanning Theory of Warfare
My critique of biological theories of warfare in New Scientist last month has provoked a counter-critique from the evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, best-known for touting group selection and using it to explain religion. Wilson says that my article “fails Evolution 101. I wish a basic tutorial wasn’t necessary, but here goes.” I was honestly [...]
8 Comments » - Posted in The Scientific Curmudgeon by John Horgan
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
“Give Peace a Chance” on Slate
Slate, the online magazine, just published yet another screed on the end of war by yours truly. By the way, the West Point War Museum, which I quote in the lede and visited just last week with my son Mac, also credits Plato with the famous, fatalistic quote, “Only the dead have seen the end [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in The Scientific Curmudgeon by John Horgan
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
The Science Shapers Speak
The Center for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology highlights the importance of books, articles, and other writings that shape public perceptions of pure and applied science, including engineering, medicine, and mathematics.
The CSW is seeking funds to create a free, open-access, online audio and text archive, “Science Shapers Speak.” The archive will consist of [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in The Science Shapers Speak by Rand HOPPE
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
Fall 2009 Events
“Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century.”
A talk by Peter W. Singer, senior fellow, Brookings Institution.
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
“Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking.”
A talk by Charles Seife, physics journalist.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
“Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn.”
Louisa Gilder, [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Events by Rand HOPPE
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Gwynne Dyer on Climate Wars
The podcaster KMO just had me on his show along with the fearless Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer, whose major beat is war and other forms of human mayhem. Dyer talked about, among other things, his new book Climate Wars, which investigates how global warming may destabilize societies around the world. Dyer says that while Bush [...]