Philosophy
Had lunch with a colleague who is a neuro guy yesterday and one of the things we discussed was the nature of science as an enterprise. Time was that Newton or Darwin wrote a book or Einstein or Planck wrote a paper. But now, scientific articles are almost as long as the list of authors of the article. Science is a corporate endeavor. Not that corporations control it, but that doing science requires a complex community of people doing different jobs that serve a central knowledge producing end. Persons don't do science anymore, people do. So, does it make sense then to give awards to individuals for their work? Sure, there is a head of the research program, but he or she is as much or more of a manager than a visionary. Since science has changed, shouldn't the reward structure change as well?
- Penn State And Corporate Personhood
In response to my post last week on the NCAA's decision to sanction the Penn Sate football program, Gwydion complained that the term "death penalty" ought to be reserved for the real death penalty. Similarly is the compliant I have heard that...
- The Origin Of Species And The Historicization Of Science
Today is the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a book that changed our view of biology, ourselves, and of science itself. What is interesting about it is that it was a book that was never meant to be...
- Astrobiology...word Etymology
Abstract... The research of life in Universe is a ancient quest that has taken different forms over the centuries. It has given rise to a new science, which is normally referred as Astrobiology. It is interesting to research when this word was used for...
- Big Science And The Lhc
Science and society... Gian Francesco Giudice writes "...I would like to address a question that, although foreign to the immediate research goals of the LHC, necessarily concerns every large scientific project that requires enormous financial, technological,...
- White House Recruits University Of British Columbia Physics Professor
"UBC physics prof Carl Weiman takes science job in White House" by Stephen Thomson September 23rd, 2010 straight.com Carl Weiman, a Nobel Prize-winning University of B.C. physics professor, is taking a job in the White House. Weiman will become Associate...
Philosophy
Are Nobel Prizes Obsolete?
Had lunch with a colleague who is a neuro guy yesterday and one of the things we discussed was the nature of science as an enterprise. Time was that Newton or Darwin wrote a book or Einstein or Planck wrote a paper. But now, scientific articles are almost as long as the list of authors of the article. Science is a corporate endeavor. Not that corporations control it, but that doing science requires a complex community of people doing different jobs that serve a central knowledge producing end. Persons don't do science anymore, people do. So, does it make sense then to give awards to individuals for their work? Sure, there is a head of the research program, but he or she is as much or more of a manager than a visionary. Since science has changed, shouldn't the reward structure change as well?
- Penn State And Corporate Personhood
In response to my post last week on the NCAA's decision to sanction the Penn Sate football program, Gwydion complained that the term "death penalty" ought to be reserved for the real death penalty. Similarly is the compliant I have heard that...
- The Origin Of Species And The Historicization Of Science
Today is the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a book that changed our view of biology, ourselves, and of science itself. What is interesting about it is that it was a book that was never meant to be...
- Astrobiology...word Etymology
Abstract... The research of life in Universe is a ancient quest that has taken different forms over the centuries. It has given rise to a new science, which is normally referred as Astrobiology. It is interesting to research when this word was used for...
- Big Science And The Lhc
Science and society... Gian Francesco Giudice writes "...I would like to address a question that, although foreign to the immediate research goals of the LHC, necessarily concerns every large scientific project that requires enormous financial, technological,...
- White House Recruits University Of British Columbia Physics Professor
"UBC physics prof Carl Weiman takes science job in White House" by Stephen Thomson September 23rd, 2010 straight.com Carl Weiman, a Nobel Prize-winning University of B.C. physics professor, is taking a job in the White House. Weiman will become Associate...