Friday, December 18, 2009
This is the first review of the literature on Pluto. Here I look at David Weintraub’s Is Pluto a Planet? Weintraub supports Pluto’s planetary status and is, probably, still upset that the IAU’s definition of a planet excludes Pluto.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/18 at 01:25 AM
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A team of scientists has be given permission to exhume Tycho Brahe’s body so that they can take samples of hair to test for the presence of mercury. They hope to determine Brahe’s cause of death, and clearly expect that cause to be mercury poisoning. This is the latest attempt by scientists to retro-diagnose historical diseases.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 11/17 at 10:30 PM
Friday, December 03, 2010
Brahe may have died, but speculations about how he died and who killed him seem to be alive and well these days (even proliferating). Such conjectures remain pointless. Further, they deny historical expertise and, at least in this instance, represent a secular form of hagiography.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/03 at 10:25 PM
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The popular podcast, “The Stuff You Missed in History Class” offers an interesting case study in disseminating the history of science to a broad audience. There are lessons to be learned here, lessons to emulate and to avoid.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/19 at 10:42 PM
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