Scott Rosenberg interviews Steven Johnson about his latest book, The Ghost Map. I liked Johnson’s thoughts on the evolution of popular theories and the role of public intellectuals. “Part of what you’re supposed to do as an educated intelligent person is try and figure out the giant weird invisible elephant in the room that nobody’s talking about — the thing that everybody’s missing. But it’s hard. They’re blind spots for a reason.” Reminds me of Mises’ thoughts on ideas.
Category: Science
An article all about matching the wine glasses with the wine inside, and the anatomy of the container itself: “The ideal shape reveals all the aromas and taste components in a particular varietal; it creates a balanced interaction between fruit, mineralogy and acidity while de-emphasizing the evidence of alcohol.” [via megnut]
A cool new version of the periodic table. I don’t know what was wrong with the old one. A little ungainly, sure, but it has served loyally for decades.
In the latest issue of Wired magazine, a long feature about the ‘New Atheism’.
Alan Nelson links to a sweet collection of photos from the Hubble space telescope. I’m glad we got that lens fixed.
Visualizing Meaning is a project among scholars at Cornell, who were asked, “Of the many charts you have seen in your life, which has been the most important, remarkable, meaningful, or valuable?” [via rebecca’s pocket crediting seat 1a linking to infosthetics]
On beautiful days like we had today, you might want to take a minute or two to appreciate our friend, the Sun. Save your eyesight, and get live images of the Sun from the Solar and Heliosheric Observatory.
—Here are some links & photos to some of the worst-named government documents. I’m particular fond of “Distinguishing Bolts from Screws,” and would gladly recommend “Everything you always wanted to know about shipping high-level nuclear wastes.”
–The age-old “medical honey” trick is proving itself superior to many antibiotic wound treatments.
–An interview with Paul Buckley, book cover designer for the Penguin Group.
–Now you can goof off on the internet at work peacefully and free from anxiety. WorkFRIENDLY makes websites look like Microsoft Word documents.
–Paul Graham on “Good and Bad Procrastination.”
Mark Larson 