Episode #803

Episode #803

News Items

• The Popularity of Principia
• Supersized Wind Turbines
• A Magnetar is Born
• Plant Personality

Who's That Noisy

• Answer to last week: Jet generator

Science or Fiction [ Show Answers ]

• Item #1 Science

  Lady Margaret Cavendish, a 17th century philosopher, scientist, poet, fiction writer, and playwright, anticipated many of the naturalism arguments credited to Thomas Hobbes and David Hume. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/margaret-cavendish/#IntCapMat

• Item #2 Science

  Marcello Malpighi, an Italian physician and biologist, who founded the science of microscopic anatomy, was criticized by his peers for suggesting that his discoveries would be of any use to medicine. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcello-Malpighi

• Item #3 Fiction

  Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, the inventor of the first precision thermometer in wide use, died at the age of 50 of mercury poisoning. https://www.britannica.com/science/boiling-point

Skeptical Quote of the Week.

‘I frequently advise my female students who are in academic positions to be patient and focus on their science first. That’s how they can make the most difference. I have often said that the best thing that I can do for women in science is first to do good science.’ Jacqueline K. Barton