Friday, January 01, 2010
Rare and collectible books continued to fetch high prices, according to Abebooks. Of course, the more frugal shopper could find some of the same books for as much as $10,000 less. But then, you lose bragging rights if you only pay a few hundred dollars for your copy of Darwin when you could have paid 20 times as much.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 01/01 at 10:14 AM
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Johannes Kepler, who was born on 27 December 1571, is the subject of a couple recent interesting articles. These articles are an opportunity to see how Kepler was typical of the early-modern European scholar, a person as interested in astronomy and optics (our notion of sciences) as theology and astrology.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/31 at 12:17 PM
(1) Comments •
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
This post surveys a number of popular lists of best books for 2009 to cull from them a list of the best history of science and science books from the past year. It will, perhaps, not surprise many people that only a few books on the history of science make it onto these best books lists.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/29 at 10:46 PM
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Govert Shilling’s The Hunt for Planet X is the second review in my survey of the literature on Pluto. Unlike Weintraub, Shilling does not think Pluto deserves the status of planet. It seems that for Shilling, the IAU’s decision in 2006 was long overdue.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/20 at 10:49 PM
(1) Comments •
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
(1) Comments •
Thursday, December 17, 2009
This post is the first in series of posts on Pluto, formerly known as a planet. I offer some background to why I am interested in Pluto and provide a sketch of the form this series of posts will take. I do not offer any opinion about the status of Pluto, at least not here.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/17 at 10:15 PM
(2) Comments •
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
A quick pointer to a reconstruction of Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine, currently on display at the Computer History Museum and reported on at NPR.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 12/13 at 12:45 PM
Friday, December 11, 2009
Posted by tbartlow on 12/11 at 09:29 AM
Monday, November 30, 2009
Posted by Darin Hayton on 11/30 at 02:18 PM