Oh, there seems to be no decent blog without a blogroll. So, I should have one, too. Now, I decided to put my current (as of the date of this posting) blogroll here. I will post such a blogroll snapshot every few months or so.
Read More --> No comments | ¶Here the current (as of the date of this posting) list of my favorite links. Favorite means that I access these sites very often, or that I find the content of these sites particularly remarkable. I will post such a list every few months or so.
Read More --> Four comments | ¶Telepolis is always a good source of interesting and thought provoking articles. Unfortunately, most of them are in German. The article "Was ist Wissenschaft? :: What is Science?" is a good example which fits nicely with the main theme of my blog. In fact, the discrepancy between the importance of science for our idea of man and our view of the world and the amount of absence of (pubic) reflection upon it is truly astonishing.
35 comments | ¶[Categories :: Jobs]
Within the Graduiertenkolleg Nr. 1463, Analysis, Geometry and Stringtheory, three PhD positions in mathematics or mathematical physics are avaiable. See here for the official announcement and furhter details. One of these positions may be located in my research group. Deadline is 20 March 2009.
[Categories :: Physics]
A good indication that western civilizations are moving towards a new medieval age is the number of people who have and/or nourish anxieties towards the LHC and the experiments which will be conducted there. A further indication is that any rational attempt to relieve these anxieties by scientific argument proves entirely futile. The widespread of superstition, uncritical attitude, absence of scientific education, inability and unwillingness to broaden ones own mindset etc. is more than sufficient sign for this.
Interestingly, many of the people who would like to stop the LHC as they believe in an imminent threat for humanity, our planet or the whole universe, also argue that the LHC is a huge waste of money, because nothing useful will ever come out of the research conducted with it. They are dead wrong.
Read More -->[Categories :: Books]
I have been asked several times which science_fiction novels I would recommend. Now, there are really many many exceptional good ones, so choosing a few is really hard. However, here my current list (as of the date of this posting) of books which left a particular long lasting impression in my mind. Please keep in mind that I recommend for each author just one book, to start with.
Read More -->[Categories :: Mathematics, Physics]
The Fields Medal, often called the Noble Prize in Mathematics, has been awarded several times to mathematicians or physicists, who work on conformal field theory. There is a very interesting article by my PhD supervisor Werner Nahm, Conformal Field Theory: A Bridge over Troubled Water, which explains why mathematicians have so many reservations towards quantum field theory, and why conformal field theory might indeed be the bridge, over which mathematicians and quantum field theorists may come togeher.
Here the three most notable CFT related Fields Medal laureats:
Read More -->[Categories :: Books]
I am a big fan of science_fiction. Recently, I stumbled upon a particularly beautiful jewel in this genre. Its the book Incandescence by Greg Egan. This book, among other threads, ponders about the question whether a pre-industrial civilization might discover general_relativity directly, i.e. before discovering Newton's theory of gravity. Sure enough, Egan finds a (more or less) plausible setting in which precisely this would be the case. Actually, this civilization has no real chance to do otherwise. If they develop a theory of gravity, they are bound to develop something similar to general relativity.
Read More -->[Categories :: Jobs]
Within the Graduiertenkolleg Nr. 1463, Analysis, Geometry and Stringtheory, one postdoctoral position in mathematics or mathematical physics is avaiable. See here for the official announcement and furhter details.
Update: The deadline for this position has now expired. No further applications will be accepted.
[Categories :: Jobs]
Within the Graduiertenkolleg Nr. 1463, Analysis, Geometry and Stringtheory, several PhD positions in mathematics or mathematical physics are avaiable. See here for the official announcement and furhter details.
Update: The deadline for these positions has now expired. No further applications will be accepted.
[Categories :: Jobs]
Within the Graduiertenkolleg Nr. 1463, Analysis, Geometry and Stringtheory, two postdoctoral positions in mathematics or mathematical physics are avaiable. See here for the official announcement and furhter details.
Update: The deadline for these positions has now expired. No further applications will be accepted.
This is the personal blog of Michael Flohr. This blog deals with science, especially theoretical/mathematical physics. This includes its implications to and relations with philosophy, ehtics, society, and culture.
Comments will be moderated to avoid legal problems. However, opinions expressed in the comments are in the sole responsibility of the authors of these comments. I accept no liability for the content of comments to my entries.
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