Simon During makes an interesting argument about defending the humanities in his essay in Public Books. Our debate about STEM versus the humanities may have it all wrong. In attempting to argue for the humanities value to society, we are instead missing the point entirely. […]
Ian Sefferman shared this interesting map on Twitter–50 percent of the country’s GDP comes from the blue areas and 50 percent from the orange.
Matt Asay is exactly right. Let’s here it for the English major. Every tech company needs one. “Why? Because as important as the technology is that powers our lives, businesses also depend on humanities-oriented communicators to articulate why the technology matters.” English majors can tell […]
The Guardian asks scientists and thinkers alike, “What scientific idea is ready for retirement?” It’s a good question, and the responses are very interesting. Writers include noted scientists such as Richard Dawkins, but also the novelist Ian McEwan and actor Alan Alda, a lover of […]
New research suggests that cats do indeed recognize their owner’s voice, they just choose to ignore it. Researchers in Japan conducted research by measuring 20 house cats’ reactions (movement of their ears, paws, head, or tail and whether they meowed or dilated their pupils) when […]
Last month, pianist Christian Zacharias was interrupted during a concert in Gothenburg Concert Hall. He stopped playing in the middle of Haydn’s Piano Concerto, after a cell phone began ringing.
Early on in his first round match against Ryan Harrison, Rafael Nadal runs down this overhead and makes an amazing shot. A sign of things to come for the rest of the tournament for sure. I just got back from a weekend at the tournament […]
Let’s hear it for the English major. In the Chronicle for Higher Education, Mark Edmundson argues that every college student should be an English major. “English majors want the joy of seeing the world through the eyes of people who—let us admit it—are more sensitive, […]
Much has been written in recent days about the release of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences report called The Heart of the Matter, which examines how the humanities are losing their place in education and in […]
A delightful animated video from CERN scientist Tom Whyntie and TED Ed and TEDxCERN about The Big Bang Theory and what we know about how the universe began. Courtesy of Brain Pickings.