What objectivity and the study of philosophy require is not an “open mind”, but an active mind - a mind able and eagerly willing to examine ideas, but to examine them critically.
~Ayn Rand


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Not unexpectedly, seeing as I am a chemist, I have written about science quite a lot. Here are some recurring themes and opinions about science I have covered over 73 entries on this blog:

• Science is, first and foremost, a method.
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I am a man who cares very much about definitions. I would argue that many disagreements arise simply because the ones in disagreement are using different definitions of the words. I have shared my wish that words were more precise, that is, that they did not have such a wide range in meanings.[1] If words have fewer meanings, there is less chance ( Read more... )

a short(er) entry for a change...

One of my earliest entries was on a pet-peeve or "anti-favorite" of mine - the commonly taught error that we have five senses,[1] when all of us have (at least) six - the sixth being balance/spatial orientation, not an ability to see dead people.

If you have ever watched a science-fiction/fantasy movie, you have ( Read more... )

While I've never written directly about them, I have spoken quite a few times on various "paradigm shifts" in science. (One can scan my topics list if interested.)

( definition of a paradigm shift )

Two of the most fascinating questions yet to be answered by science, in my opinion, are how developmental biology works and how the brain works. This is because they are, relatively speaking, some of the most complicated processes known.

On the other hand, while the questions asked by psychology are some of the most fascinating to me, psychology as ( Read more... )

...for Extraterrestrial Life

(This is only the 2nd time in LJ history where I have had a title that wrapped into the body of my post....)

A major scientific discovery was announced yesterday by press conference from NASA, followed by publication later that day in the journal ScienceA NASA researcher has discovered a bacterium that can live ( Read more... )

If you are currently pregnant or expect to be ever in the future, please consider reading at least the end of this entry.

Just recently, I became the uncle of my first niece, E., my brother-in-law S. and his wife C.'s daughter. Since, sadeyedartist and I are the closest, we were the first family to be able to see the baby, and we were able to arrive at the ( Read more... )

The central dogma of biology is often simplified to say that DNA codes for RNA, which codes for protein; or that the genome leads to the proteome; or that ones phenotype can be determined by one's genotype ( Read more... )

I wanted to discuss more about Neanderthals[1] today, particularly in regards to epigenetics, but I think I need to write an entry on the definition of "species" first. I've mentioned in various entries[2] about the problem of classifying species, but I've never really written about it as its own entry.

To quote myself from earlier:We define ( Read more... )