Humans have accomplished some pretty amazing things, from putting men on the Moon (with old technology!) to sequencing their own heredity. But stubborn problems that look much easier persist.
An enormous apparatus for scientific research is finding only what was expected. This bothers scientists.
Our chief consultant explores an unexpected feature of scientific magazines.
Our astronomer describes how an assumption widely made in his science in past years turned out to be completely erroneous.
Our astronomer offers an apology and an explanation.
Scientists, especially astronomers, use several incompatible theories in their calculations. How? And why?
Some scientists have an unusual skill for extracting precise data from their instruments. Sometimes this leads others to question their results.
You have many tasks, large and small, difficult and otherwise. For each one you have to choose a way to get it done. A problem arises when you find such a wonderful means that you forget the end.
As we mentioned last week, our navigator was out of the office teaching a professor how to use his sextant. Having decades of experience in both the observations and the calculations involved, he certainly has a firm grasp of the subject. But that’s not always the quality you need in a teacher.
One of the advantages of living in the Washington, DC area is the wealth of cultural opportunities. Expositions of science, history and the arts are going on all the time. Our astronomer attended one of these recently, telling the story of how multicolor imaging allowed scholars to read a text that had been erased centuries ago.