Nuclear tales
Every year we pump 60 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 100 million tons of sulphur dioxide and 20 000 million tons of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Surely n...
Problems or prophecies?
There is a spectre haunting this book – the spectre of John Horgan, the journalist whose successful book The End of Science tweaked the collective nose of the scientific community when it was pu...
How to write a best-seller
Every morning Caroline Davidson goes into her office in west London and rifles through her “slush pile”. Like all literary agents, she hopes that buried deep within the daily deluge of boo...
Post-genome physics
Once upon a time the news that the budget for particle physics and astronomy in the UK was going to keep pace with inflation for three years (see Physics fails to keep pace in the UK) would have been ...
Clock-watching since the start of time
If you want to learn about atomic clocks or the sophisticated construction of an atomic timescale, then Jo Ellen Barnett’s book is not the right place. However, if you are fascinated about disco...
Hard facts for hard science
Here are two related problems. First, the number of applicants to UK university courses in the physical sciences has fallen by 26% over the last three years. Second, there is an increasing tide of opi...
What revolution?
Physicists tend to shy away from philosophy (and religion, although there are some exceptions). Any dealings with philosophy – other than those concerning quantum theory – tend to be super...
1905: Einstein’s paper revolution
Outside it is a warm May evening, as two friends sit deep in discussion in a coffee house in Berne. “Besso, you must help me, I think I am going mad. How is it even thinkable that a light ray co...
Breaking free from the post-doc trap
Genevieve Haddad is typical of many scientists. She did a degree, a PhD and a post-doc, but then realized she did not want to spend the next few years of her life “getting to know more and more ...
Ten years after
The first news story in that first issue was a sneak preview of the Edwards’ report on the future of physics departments in UK universities, which concluded that 20 staff and 200 full-time-equiv...
