Blog Entry

Science Shelf Blog, January 2018

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These regular blog posts are for educated but non-expert readers who love science. For many years, I regularly sold freelance book reviews to major metropolitan newspapers. Over the past few years, the market for such reviews dried up, but I did not want to leave the field entirely. Fortunately, publishers still send me their catalogs … Read more

Why all the buzz about inflation?

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If you are not a physicist, you may be asking yourself why so many science reporters are suddenly abuzz about gravitational waves and the phenomenon known as Cosmic Inflation. Perhaps this blog post can help answer that question. As an author of nearly 30 science books for young readers, I may be well equipped to … Read more

Richard Muller shows what it means to be a climate change skeptic

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We interrupt your weekend with MAJOR SCIENCE/POLITICAL NEWS. As the headline of this ThinkProgress blog entry notes, this is indeed a political bombshell. MacArthur “genius” grantee Richard Muller, a highly respected physicist and self-declared climate change skeptic has changed his mind in precisely the way a scientist should: He examined the evidence. As far as … Read more

Review of The Violinist’s Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code

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The Violinist’s Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean (Little, Brown, 416 pages, $25.99, July, 2012) Reviewed by Dr. Fred Bortz See other reviews archived at the Science Shelf Note: This review is the copyrighted property of Alfred B. Bortz. Individuals may print … Read more

More about Hidden Biases and Fukushima

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About six weeks ago, I posted a blog entry called Subtle and not so subtle biases shape assessment of Fukushima. It led to some interesting and intelligent discussion about whether nuclear energy should be part of the future worldwide energy mix. I wrote that entry as a reaction to critical reviews that described my new … Read more

Opinion: Hostile Alien Invaders Are Unlikely

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Sorry Stephen Hawking, I agree with Jill Tarter. Hostile alien invaders are unlikely–at least not the kind envisioned in SciFi movies. I received the news release reproduced below and it reminded me of a book manuscript that I now have under consideration at a major publisher of books for young readers. That manuscript looks ahead … Read more

More on Pioneer Anomaly

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This new information makes it pretty clear that the cause of the Pioneer Anomaly, that is the deviation of the Pioneer spacecraft from the trajectories dictated by gravity alone, is due to thermal sources internal to the spacecraft. A satisfying result, though it produces no new physics.

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James Webb Space Telescope on Chopping Block

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URGENT from Heidi Hammel: “The House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed termination of the James Webb Space Telescope. Now is the time to contact your representatives in Washington, as well as members of the Appropriations Subcommittees, if you support JWST.”

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What do extreme weather events tell us about climate change?

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“Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”

That famous quotation from science fiction great Robert A. Heinlein captures the difficulty climate scientists have when trying to share the science behind global warming to the general public through the media.

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