I’ve been hard at work in recent months on a new textbook on electromagnetic waves, and that has led me to dig deep into understanding a number of subjects, and their history, that I have only really casually considered in … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Recently, I was interviewed for a LiveScience article about how cats land on their feet, and the article came out today! Here is the link for those who are interested in hearing me talk falling felines, yet again! | Continue reading
Hi all, I’ve been rather overwhelmed with work lately (two PhD students defended, working on a textbook draft that is due in a few months, etc.), so I’ve been quite quiet here. I’ve got a few posts in the works, … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Book 5 of my 26 books for 2024 goal! Still behind in my reading, but have another that I will finish within a few days. It doesn’t take me very long to read anything new by Ramsey Campbell — assuming I … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I just wanted to share a quick note that I just received the Italian edition of Invisibility, and it looks fantastic! I am also happy to report that since the word “invisibility” is quite similar in Italian, they were able … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Been rather busy lately, but wanted to drop a short note to let folks know that my friend Darlene has finally released a printed volume of The Story of Jasmine, her fantasy graphic novel (“comic” seems to reductive) that first … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Back in January of this year, I gave a talk about Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and it was one of my favorite presentations on the subject, not to mention my most up-to-date! … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Book 4 of my 26 books for 2024 goal! I’m a little behind, but in fairness, February is a short month. Why 26 books? I normally can read much, much faster than that pace, but the way life and work … Continue reading → | Continue reading
The best demonstrations of physics are those that show you something completely unexpected and counter to the way that physics is supposed to work. One of my favorites is this curious contraption, which I got through a Kickstarter a few … Continue reading → | Continue reading
For those who enjoy audiobooks and haven’t yet gotten my invisibility book, this is just a quick note that Invisibility is now 70% off at audiobooks.com. I get full royalties even with the discount, so I’m totally cool with such … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Book 3 of my 26 books for 2024 goal! Some books look so appealing that I grab them off the shelf at the bookstore without hesitation, but somehow take forever to get around to reading. That is the case with … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I’ve been neglecting my TikTok page as much as my blog, so here’s a video that makes up for both! I talk about the really cool Barkhausen effect, which allows you to actually hear metal being magnetized. I wrote about … Continue reading → | Continue reading
So yesterday I learned that there is a Bricks & Minifigs store in my area, and I had to check it out. LEGO has become so huge in recent years that official LEGO stores are no longer enough, so you … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Book 2 of my 26 books for 2024 goal! Still roughly on track, though I want to pick up the pace. One reason I like book blogging is that I pay more attention to things like book introductions and that … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I have made another history of science video for TikTok, this time focusing on the curious story of how electromagnetism was discovered in 1820 in an experiment that is utterly unique for one really big reason: Like a lot of … Continue reading → | Continue reading
It’s kind of a fun phenomenon that no matter how thoroughly I research my history of science books, after they’re published I always find something that surprises me. In this case, I was tracking down some data on the physics … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Book 1 of my new modest goal of reading and blogging about 26 books this year! This one is a little bit of a cheat, as I read much of it near the end of last year, but I finished … Continue reading → | Continue reading
It’s time to compile all my fake book titles from social media again! You can see compilation 1, compilation 2, compilation 3, compilation 4, compilation 5, compilation 6 and compilation 7 at the links. This is a smaller batch, because I haven’t been as inspired lately and … Co … | Continue reading
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve started to experiment with doing history of science TikToks for fun, and did one not long ago about Frank Perret’s brush with death in the path of a pyroclastic flow on Mount Pelée somewhere around … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I was shocked and saddened to learn this morning of the death of Jennell Jaquays, an early and groundbreaking writer for Dungeons & Dragons and other roleplaying games. Jennell had been hospitalized late last year with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and her wife … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog due to the holiday craziness and a frantic rush to submit a grant proposal before the deadline, but I will hopefully be back on track in the near future. But I wanted … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Hey folks, I posted a new short history of science video on TikTok, telling a slightly eerie story in the spirit of Victorian Christmas ghost stories about the fate of astronomer Charles Delaunay. | Continue reading
This is another classic post that I will probably turn into a TikTok video in the future, but I am very proud of the writing I did here! | Continue reading
Just a short note to let people know that I’ve started experimenting with posting videos on TikTok about the weird history of science stories that I know! Will see how long I can put up with the effort! For those … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I’m currently writing a textbook on Electromagnetic Waves for my graduate optics students. I was reading up on zero refractive index materials for a chapter section and thought it would be fun to write a popularized account of their fascinating … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Thought I’d share an old post from the physics archives, talking about a very important yet largely forgotten milestone in physics: the demonstration that X-rays are in fact another type of electromagnetic wave! | Continue reading
Okay, I finally decided that I needed to read Paperbacks from Hell, by Grady Hendrix, which was first published in 2017! Back in October, I wrote about the 1984 horror novel Carnosaur, and it sent me fondly reminiscing about all … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I have been rather distracted for a few months and haven’t had much time to do old school Dungeons & Dragons threads on social media, but I’m working my way back into the habit! Here’s a compilation of the four … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I’ve been using my blog as a place to keep track of any mentions of my book on Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to Be Seen, which came out early this year, and there’s one big review … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Hi all, just a short note that if you weren’t aware, MST3k is fundraising for season 14, and there’s only a few hours left to make their goal and they’re quite short of the goal. If you were unaware that … Continue reading → | Continue reading
As readers of the blog know, I’ve been on a Valancourt Books world horror kick recently (see here, here and here), as they’ve been releasing English translations of world horror authors, many of the stories and collections appearing in English … Continue reading → | Continue reading
I’m having a lot of fun these days catching up on all of Valancourt Books’ impressive recent releases, which includes stuff never before released and reprints of rare and classic tomes of horror. On a short trip to Chicago to … Continue reading → | Continue reading
In the midst of work and travel, I happened to see that fantastic horror authors and amazing people Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni are raising funds to open a bookstore specializing in horror, sci-fi, and basically everything weird! They wanted … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Thanks to Valancourt Books, I’ve been on a world horror kick lately, aided by their recent slew of foreign language horror collections translated into English, most of the stories translated for the first time. Quite recently, I read A Different … Continue reading → | Continue reading
At first glance, the title of this post probably appears quite paradoxical. After all, the very definition of an object being visible is seeing light coming off of the object! At second glance, you might think the title is referring … Continue reading → | Continue reading
One bonus post for Blogtober: an old post where I look back at Poe’s surprisingly inspirational story and the now-obscure books that he references in it. | Continue reading
For my final day of Blogtober, I look back at another fascinating novel of horror that most people have never heard of! Richard Le Gallienne’s “The Worshipper of the Image” is a short 1899 novel that is about a man’s … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Doing my best to finish Blogtober, in spite of how rough things have been lately! Today I look back on Lucy Snyder’s 2015 collection While the Black Stars Burn, an excellent and haunting collection of cosmic horror that to me … Continue reading → | Continue reading
For day 29 of Blogtober, I thought I would look back at the stories of John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman, especially since they’ve come out in a new edition by Valancourt Books! The stories are a testament to … Continue reading → | Continue reading
For day 28 of Blogtober, I look back at a fun and surprisingly clever book about a Japanese kaiju-hunting organization: Hiroshi Yamamoto’s MM9. | Continue reading
My apologies to all, but I’ll be taking a brief hiatus from the blog. My kitty Zoe went in for a broken leg four weeks ago, and today we learned that the surgery wasn’t successful, and she’ll need to have the leg removed. I’m quite the wreck, and have updated my GoFundMe with det … | Continue reading
Ever since 2007, I’ve been sharing a list of classic horror stories free to read on the internet to provide some chills every Halloween season, and this year is no exception! The past couple of years, I decided it would … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Another classic reblog for day 26 of Blogtober! I’ve still got a couple of new things I want to blog before the end of the month, so stay tuned! This one is a true rarity — Not at Night was … Continue reading → | Continue reading
For day 25 of Blogtober I look at the most recent collection by a fun and talented author of weird fiction! The first time I came across Orrin Grey’s work, it wasn’t even his fiction — it was the introduction … Continue reading → | Continue reading
For day 24 of Blogtober, I look back at Jeff VanderMeer’s Finch! Most people probably know VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, but my favorite work of his is Finch, a story about a fictional city that has been occupied by a … Continue reading → | Continue reading
This is part 7 in a lengthy series of posts attempting to explain the idea of quantum entanglement to a non-physics audience. Part 1 can be read here, Part 2 can be read here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, and Part … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Wouldn’t be a Blogtober if I didn’t give a shoutout to some of the incredible Laird Barron’s work! So for Blogtober day 23, I look back on Laird’s first short story compilation, The Imago Sequence, an incredible collection of horror … Continue reading → | Continue reading
Day 22 of Blogtober, I look at a very old horror/adventure novel by Bertram Mitford! This novel is fascinating because the protagonist is definitely an anti-hero, as he becomes a literal slaver. His journey is both a physical and a … Continue reading → | Continue reading