:: Michael Flohr ::

:: Miscellanea ::

This page collects everything which I found worth putting on my home pages, but which does not fit in one of the other categories. Have fun browsing through the links you find here.
Categories:    Noteworthy   ::   Books   ::   Links   ::   Blogs.


:: Noteworthy ::

22 Aug 2006 :: Wendelin Werner gets awarded the Fields Medal “for his contributions to the development of stochastic Loewner evolution, the geometry of two-dimensional Brownian motion, and conformal field theory”. As SLE is related to logarithmic CFT, this is an enormous ennoblement of the importance of my own research.
18 Aug 1998 :: Richard Borcherds gets awarded the Fields Medal “for his work in the fields of algebra and geometry, in particular for his proof of theo so-called Moonshine conjecture.” His work in automorphic forms and mathematical physics made in particular use of conformal field theory and vertex operator algebras. This are also two of my own research interests. Actually, I would like to understand the geometrical meaning of logarithmic CFTs by constructing their corresponding vertex operator algebras. Also, Maxim Kontsevich received the Fields Medal. He is a mathematical physicist and achieved deep results in algebraic geometry, algebraic topology and knot theory with methods from string theory and unified field theories.
08 Sep 1990 :: Edward Witten, Vaughan Jones and Vladimir Drinfield get awarded the Fields Medal. As all three are mathematical physicists, this emphasizes that modern mathematical physics, in particular fields as conformal field theory, quantum groups, string theory and supersymmetry, have now been accepted in the mathematics community. All three employed methods from mathematical physics to achieve results in mathematical fields such as number theory and knot theory. Moreover, Edward Witten greatly contributed towards establishing certain quantum field theories, namely rational conformal field theories, as entities which have a mathematical rigorous definition.


:: Books ::

Consider Phlebas :: Consider Phelbas is a very remarkable science fiction by Iain M. Banks. The genre is space opera, and it the first of a series of novels featuring a very interesting society, called The Culture. -->
Solaris :: This classic novel by Stanisław Lem uses remote space exploration as a metaphor for whether the human mind will ever understand a truly alien life form. Furthermore, going beyond this theme, it also ponders notions of remoteness, loneliness and what apparitions humans are likely to call divine. The movie Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky is based on this novel.
Canopus in Argos :: This sequence of science ficton novels by Doris Lessing (Nobel Laureate in Literature) is proof that science fiction can be very good literature in every respect. It tells the history of Humanity on Earth from the perspective of a benign super-civilization observing and caring for Earth in very subtle ways.
Hyperion Cantos :: This series of science ficton novels by Dan Simmons, and in particular the first volume, Hyperion (a frame story similar to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), is proof that science fiction can be very poetic (the poetry and character of John Keats plays a cental role), very philosophical (there are extensive references and allusions from many thinkers such a Teilhard de Chardin, John Muir, Norbert Wiener), intelectually very rewarding and at the same time very exciting. This series belongs to the category of soft science fiction and the genre space opera.
The Rediscovery of Man :: This is the definitive and complete compilation of the short science fiction writings of Cordwainer Smith. These stories are rather haunting and bizarre. However, as fantastic as many of the ideas seem, many others appear to become reality much faster than one might have feared in one's worst dreams.
Diamond Age :: This novel, whose full title is The Diamond Age — A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is one of my favourite novels by Neal Stephenson (next come Snow Crash and The Baroque Cycle). It is a postcyberpunk novel, which touches upon themes such as educaton, social class, cultural tribalism and the nature of articifical intelligence. Although many of the ideas about our technological future are highly speculative, the ideas about the future of our civilization and our social evolution are terrifyingly plausible and probable.
Roadside Picnic :: This is a classic science fiction short novel by Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky. A particular interessting feature of this novel is that the aliens which visited Earth, are never depected at all. However, as Stanislaw Lem points out, the novel has some logical deficiencies. Nonetheless, it is more than worth reading it. The movie Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky is loosely based on this novel.


:: Links ::

arXiv :: The arXiv.org e-Print archive. German mirror here.
apod :: Check out the “Astronomy Picture of the Day”.
CWP :: Contributions of 20thCentury Women to Physics is an archive presenting and documenting some important and original contributions made before 1976 by 20th century women.
Edge :: Edge The Third Culture. To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themeselves.
freesfonline :: Free Speculative Ficiton Online hosts quite a number of remarkable and classics science fiction stories with free access to the full text.
heise online :: Access the German heise online News. There are now also English IT news at heise online UK. Or check out the heise feed, or the heise UK feed, respectively.
Integer Sequences :: Access the on-line encyclopedia of integer sequences, maintained by Neil J.A. Sloane. It is presumably the largest source of this kind with more than 105 sequences.
ISFDB :: Access the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
perlentaucher :: Access the German magazine on culture. Or check out the perlentaucher feed.
Perseus :: Access the Perseus Digital Library, a collection of texts relevant for scholarly studies of the Humanities. German mirror here.
plato :: Access the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
sffworld :: One of the largest SF and Fantasy sites on the Internet today.
sfs :: Science Fiction Studies is published by SF-TH Inc. at DePauw University. The Science Fiction Studies Website publishes abstracts of all articles, as well as the full texts of all reviews, historical documents, and selected essays appearing in the journal since its founding in 1973 by R.D. Mullen.
SF Site :: The Home Page for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
SPIRES :: Search the SPIRES-HEP database.
telepolis :: Access the telepolis News. Or check out the telepolis feed.
UDL :: Access the Universal Digital Library at Carnegie Mellon University. Books out of copyright are accessible in full.
WikipediA :: The Free Encyclopedia WikipediA. German site here.


:: Blogs ::

Adventures in Ethics and Science :: “Mus[ing] on responsible conduct of scientific research, communication between scientists and non-scientists about the issues that matter to both camps, and teaching science and ethics”. This blog is run by the philosopher Janet D. Stemwedel alias Dr. Free-Ride. [feed]
Asymptotia :: The blog of theoretical physicist Clifford V. Johnson, about “anything, really, running the whole spectrum of things that take [his] fancy”. [feed]
BackRe(Action) :: “Events on the world lines of two theoretical physicists, from the horizon to timelike infinity. A scientifically minded blog with varying amounts of entertainment, distractions, and every day trivialities”. This blog is run by Sabiine Hossenfelder and Stefan Scherer. [feed]
Bad Astronomy :: The blog of the astronomer Phil Plait. “The Bad Astronomy web pages are devoted to airing out myths and misconceptions in astronomy and related topics”. [feed]
Cosmic Variance :: “random samplings from a universe of ideas”. This blog is run by a group of physicists and astrophysicists: Mark Trodden, Risa Wechsler, Sean Carroll, JoAnne Hewett, Julianne Dalcanton, John Conway, and Daniel Holz. [feed]
Evolving Thoughts :: “One Man's Struggle Against Impermanence”. This blog on philosophy of sciences and biology, or more precisely on “Evolution, culture, philosophy and chocolate!” is run by John Wilkins, a philosopher of biology. [feed]
Thus Spake Zuska :: This blog is about philosophy of sciences from a gender perspective. It is run by Suzanne E. Franks alias Zuska. She is a scientist and engineer who had to quit her job due to cnronic migraines. Be aware, this blog is sometimes quite polemic, sarcastic, cynical! [feed]
Unvertain Principles :: This blog is on “Physics, Politics, Pop Culture”. It is run by the physicist Chad Orzel. Sometimes, you find good musings about science fiction here. [feed]
Not Even Wrong :: The blog of physicist Peter Woit, who became (in)famous by his criticism of string theory, or more precisely, of the current conduct of science in string theory. Be aware, this blog is sometimes quite polemic, sarcastic, cynical. Often enough, his criticism is unscholarly and unscientific, but — unfortunately — so is the reaction of many string theorists. [feed]