Monthly Archives: January 2009

THE BIG BANG OR A BIG BOUNCE?

THE BIG BANG OR A BIG BOUNCE? I began this blog with a post expressing wonder that radio static was evidence of the Big Bang. What came before the Big Bang? I used to think that we could never know … Continue reading

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VICTORIAN NOVELISTS AND THE ECONOMY.

VICTORIAN ECONOMISTS AND THE ECONOMY. A famous quote from John Maynard Keynes is: “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.” In today’s Financial Times, there is a letter from … Continue reading

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CHECKLISTS SAVING LIVES (REVISITED).

CHECKLISTS SAVING LIVES (REVISITED). I posted here on Dr. Atul Gutwande’s argument that doctors should use checklists just as house movers, wedding planners and tax accountants do. Today there is a report on a study by Dr. Guwande which tested … Continue reading

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IT’S THE FIELD, NOT THE CHAINS (COMMENT).

IT’S THE FIELD, NOT THE CHAINS (COMMENT). I had posted here on the football ritual involving the ten yard chain and noted a recent game in which the chain did not reach the ten yards between the 20 yard line … Continue reading

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IN PRAISE OF BUSINESSMEN.

IN PRAISE OF BUSINESSMEN. Josiah Wedgwood is an example of a businessman dealing with problems that he did not choose. The problems were presented by his pottery business. Bronowski and Mazlish trace his activities to the problems of his business. … Continue reading

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WEDGWOOD AS A SCIENTIST.

WEDGWOOD AS A SCIENTIST. I bought copies of THE WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION by J. Bronowski and Bruce Mazlish when our children were infants in order to give one to each of them when they were older. I think it’s that … Continue reading

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IN PRAISE OF SALESMEN.

IN PRAISE OF SALESMEN. I want to highlight one sentence in the article about Josiah Wedgwood by Judith Flanders. She writes that for Wedgwood, “Selling was an intellectual pleasure, an art form.” I am pleased to see an undervalued profession … Continue reading

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JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. The historian Judith Flanders has an article on the bankruptcy proceedings for Waterford Wedgwood that celebrates the accomplishments of Josiah Wedgwood, the man who founded the company over 250 years ago. She praises him for his innovations in … Continue reading

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AN EARLY VALENTINE.

AN EARLY VALENTINE. This is a report on a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. The study used MRI’s to measure brain activity of 17 couples who had been married over 20 years and who … Continue reading

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“VOICES” USING SIGN LANGUAGE.

“VOICES” USING SIGN LANGUAGE. We are familiar with mentally disturbed people who tell of hearing voices that no one else can hear—in some cases, voices which order them to kill. Lee Bryant sent me this link about a deaf person … Continue reading

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