Science
Books
Experimentation and measurement, by
W.J. Youden
One of the primary tasks of all explorers – and scientists are
explorers – is to prepare a map of an unknown region. Such a
map will serve as a valuable guide to all subsequent travelers.
The measurements made by countless researchers have been
studied by mathematicians and much of the world of measurements
has been mapped out.
Articles
The Passionate Scientist: Emotion in Scientific
Cognition, by Paul Thagard
Current research in cognitive science is increasingly challenging the view that
emotions and reason are antagonistic to each other.
The new science of Memetics (Chapter 11 from The
Selfish Gene) by Richard
Dawkins
A new kind of replicator has recently emerged on this very planet. It is staring
us in the face. It is still in its infancy, still drifting clumsily about in
its primeval soup, but already it is achieving evolutionary change at a rate
that leaves the old gene panting far behind.
Finding Feynman, by Alan Alda
Alan Alda's Commencement speech to the Caltech class of 2002, about physicist
Richard Feynman.
Audio
Yellow Fluff and other Curious Encounters
A grand tour of characters and their stories of love and loss in the name of
science.
Images
The Normal Law of Error, W.J. Youden (typesetting by the author)
Links to book descriptions
Beauty
and Revolution in Science, by James W. McAllister
The first systematic study of the aesthetic evaluations that scientists pass
on their theories.
Chance:
The Life of Games & the Game of Life, by Joaquim P. Marques de
Sá
The mathematics of chance in a broad variety of contexts.
"Big
and Difficult Challenges"
Resources on public policy in the areas of science, engineering,
and medicine from National Academies Press, organized around Barack Obama's
State of the Union address.
Links
Stochastikon
Stochastic methods for modelling, for reducing, and for controlling uncertainty,
in contrast to the methods of traditional science.