Comet Impact?
When I was a kid living in Scotland, I remember my dad getting us out of bed in the middle of the night to show us a comet in the sky out of our bedroom window. This occurred in the 1950s. The comet was easily visible with the naked eye and had a very...
Nuclear Power – From Long Ago and Far Away
The last place I lived in the UK before coming to the US was a small village in the west of England. The village was distinguished by its great country pub, its history that went all the way back two thousand years to Roman times, and by its close proximity to a nuclear power...
Our Universe
Many people are curious about the universe they live in. Many of them are afraid to ask obvious questions in case they are accused of asking stupid questions. When it comes to matters of science there are no stupid questions; it’s the simple questions that reveal the most interesting findings. Here I want to...
Epidemic Vaccine
Before COVID there was polio, sometimes called infantile paralysis. First identified in the late 18th century it was not isolated as a virus until the early 20th century. Epidemics of polio were identified occurring in Europe in the late 19th century in the US in the early 20th century where it became one of...
John Kerry – Climate Czar
It seems that John Kerry, he of hanging chads fame, is to become Biden’s climate czar. I must admit that I had expected Al Gore to be the pick for this job but perhaps he is busy with other matters such as carbon futures trading. I assume that Kerry is well qualified for this...
How Quickly We Forget
The Friday morning before Thanksgiving week I jumped into the shower as usual and got cold shock; the water was at best tepid at its usual setting. I wondered if my wife had used up most of the hot water by surreptitiously doing a load of laundry or running the dishwasher before I got...
The Matilda Effect
Underrecognized Women of Science and Mathematics There is a lengthy list of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics who have made great contributions to their fields but lacked the recognition they deserved in their time. I’m going to introduce you to some or all of them, and to present to you their achievements...
Anticipating the Biden Administration
Joe Biden will be sworn in as the next president of the United States on the 20th January 2021. What can we expect of this new administration? I’m thinking that Biden will model his policies on those of Obama while adding some more socialism to the brew. I’m expecting an increase in race-based policies;...
My Welcome to Texas
I moved to Texas from Virginia in 2000 after getting a job with a large defense contractor in Austin. The Texas I found in Austin and its suburbs was radically different than my expectations. Having been born and raised in Scotland the only thing I knew about Texas came from cowboy movies. I expected...
Dark Sky
I am and have always been an unapologetic scientist. Worse than that, I’m a hard scientist, a physicist. No soft ‘science’ for me. What’s more, I’m not a person of faith. I’m not a believer that a sentient being created the universe as a playpen for humans. I also do not believe that such...
About Me
I’m a retired physicist born and educated in Scotland; a naturalized US citizen living in Texas...Learn More
