DALLAS at centre of Synthetic Biology Revolution
“I think synthetic biology will be more transformative than any other technology set of capabilities that we have on this planet.” That bold declaration was made at SXSW by Ben…
The English Were Mathematically Obsessed
Image: John Collins (1625-1683) While some Continental advances in mathematics are covered, this book is largely about the practice of mathematics in Great Britain. By the late 18th and early…
A TRIBUTE TO DR. CLIFFORD CUNNINGHAM
UniSQ alumnus Dr Clifford Cunningham explores the untold history of the cosmos Image: Dr Clifford Cunningham (middle) with the two titans of the history of astronomy, Harvard University’s Professor Owen…
The Book of Genesis Lay in Ruins
When I first saw the title of this book, Impossible Monsters, I thought it was about members of a certain state legislature whose prime purpose for existence appears to be…
Before Our Time
Special Editorial Note: This article will appear in the 10th anniversary edition of The Covent Gardener, a superlative magazine published in London. It was written by David Rooney, and is…
Beautiful, Wonderful, Deep Mathematics
Image: Eratosthenes teaching in Alexandria “I would plead for more attention to the history of mathematics. It seems to me to be extremely desirable, if not actually indispensable, for entering…
Building a Quantum Computer
Quantum computing has a great allure, but last year the physics Nobel Laureate Alain Aspect issued a caution. “It may be that quantum computers are as fantastic as we think…
TALKING TREE in Austin
One of the treats that UK House at SXSW offered to Austin was a ‘talking tree.” Anyone passing along the hike & bike trail at the foot of Guadalupe Street…
Lunar Mascot Contest
Image: astronaut Reid Wiseman and his mascot Despite all the high tech in space, the astronaut’s most reliable friend is a mascot. In a session on the opening day of…
Deep Time and Poems of the Highest Antiquity
What is deep time? Author Noah Heringman (Prof of English at the Univ. of Missouri) describes it in setting out the main argument of his book: “the history of deep…