homunculus

Postings from the interface of science and culture

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Google Books suits me fine

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It seems that Google Books is one of the talking points of the Frankfurt book fair this year. Angela Merkel has waded into the fray to cond...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Shaking hands with robots

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[This is my forthcoming Material Witness column for Nature Materials , which seemed sufficiently low-tech to warrant inclusion here.] Shou...
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Monday, October 05, 2009

What toys can tell us

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[My latest Muse for Nature news…] Sometimes all you need to do scientific research is string, sealing wax and a bit of imagination. Wh...
1 comment:
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

In Praise of Erasmus

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I’m aware that I risk derision and worse by saying, with attempted insouciance, that I have just been reading Erasmus’ Praise of Folly , but...
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Punishment is different in China

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[This is my latest Muse article for Nature News. I have the feeling that I’ve encountered guanxi several times in a personal context, and...
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Friday, September 25, 2009

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Darwin on screen For a limited time only, I can be heard on BBC Radio 3’s Nightwaves talking about the new Darwin biopic Creation . The fil...
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

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Truly wonderful It’s official, then: the Royal Society Science Book Prize goes to The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. The decision was an...
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Friday, September 11, 2009

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The soul and the embryo Perhaps you noticed this article in the Guardian last year by David Albert Jones, a bioethicist at St Mary’s Colle...
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Friday, August 28, 2009

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Francis Collins and his God – but no, not more of that New Atheist stuff… [ Well, not really. This is the pre-edited version of my latest co...
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

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The weather forecast [Here’s the pre-edited version of my review of Giles Foden’s new book Turbulence , which appears in the latest issue o...
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Monday, August 10, 2009

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Don’t call me sir The Financial Times has a little article on the Royal Society Science Book Prize, on the back of an interview with Jared...
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Friday, July 31, 2009

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Artificial babies are so last century [Here’s the pre-edited version of my latest Muse for Nature’s online news.] The best way to understan...
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

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Finally on the Reason Project Now that the dust has settled somewhat, I’m in a position to see what people made of my debate with Sam Harris...
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Monday, July 20, 2009

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Why astronomers are twittering Here’s my Lab Report column for the August issue of Prospect… Visitors to the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Che...
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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In praise of (New) Humanists Ever since the kind folks at New Humanist decided to put me on their mailing list, my spirits rise when it pop...
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Sunday, July 12, 2009

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They all shall win prizes? So the judges of the Royal Society science book prize, of which I am one, have come up with our shortlist for th...
Monday, July 06, 2009

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I’m a fan of Jerry Coyne and PZ Myers, but… .. not particularly of what they have to say about my debate with Sam Harris of the Reason Proj...
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Thursday, June 25, 2009

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And another thing… My exchange with Sam Harris below has attracted some interesting comment on the Reason Project site. While it is natural...
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About Me

Philip Ball
I am a London-based writer, and the author of several books on aspects of science and its interactions with other aspects of culture. My latest book is The Modern Myths (University of Chicago Press, 2021).
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