MetaFilter posts tagged with physics and history

If you wouldn't like living that way (in the lowest status slot in the pecking order), you're doing it wrong.

The Whelk — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:47:48 -0800

Metafilter's Own Charlie Stross asks the question; " You, and a quarter of a million other folks, have embarked on a 1000-year voyage aboard a hollowed-out asteroid. What sort of governance and society do you think would be most comfortable, not to mention likely to survive the trip without civil war, famine, and reigns of terror?" engrossing commentary follows. (via)

Selected Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society

Electric Dragon — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:05:07 -0800

To celebrate the start of its 350th year, the Royal Society has put online 60 of its most memorable scientific papers. The Royal Society's head of archives, Keith Moore, talks about some of them in an audio slideshow. The papers (warning - they're all PDFs) include: Isaac Newton's New Theory on Light And Colors. (1672) Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's observations of Little Animals in Rainwater. (1677) The Electrical Kite of Benjamin Franklin. (1752) Thomas Young's Wave theory of light. (1802) Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden's gold foil experiment which led to the nuclear model of the atom. (1909)

Mayan Muons and Unmapped Rooms

homunculus — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:34:04 -0800

Ghost Particles & Pyramids: How physicists and archaeologists “see” inside ancient monuments.

"The simplest example of the truly complex"

amyms — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:57:25 -0800

Anything but clear. It is well known that panes of stained glass in old European churches are thicker at the bottom because glass is a slow-moving liquid that flows downward over centuries. Well known, yes, but long known to be wrong. Scientists still disagree about the nature of glass, and researchers continue to try to understand its dual personality . Is Glass Liquid or Solid? Glass: Liquid or Solid - Science vs. an Urban Legend Statistical Calculation and Development of Glass Properties A Brief History of Glass More Glass History Links

Physics milestones of the past 50 years

Wolfdog — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:28:29 -0800

Physical Review Letters' 50th anniversary retrospective promises to be an interesting survey of the physics landscape for the past half-century.

A delightfully nerdy page for nerds

sergeant sandwich — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:51:35 -0800

Dr. James B. Calvert, professor emeritus of engineering at the University of Denver, has an incredibly rich and deep personal webpage, which includes such gems as Latin for mountain men, the correct corn-hog ratio, travel by brachistochrone, anomalous sound propagation and the guns of Barisal, and about a billion other awesomely nerdy topics.

Vintage Radio and Scientific Equipment

mediareport — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:35:48 -0800

The Spark Museum John Jenkins' collection of vintage wireless, radio, scientific and electrical equipment, including Crookes and Geissler tubes, Barlow wheels and other early electric motors, loud speakers and many more oddball electrical devices. [via TeamDroid]

handprint: watercolors & watercolor painting

ijoshua — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 09:14:40 -0800

i began cataloging the colors, and put the color list on the web. over time, the paint catalog turned into a web site.

The Sceptical Chymist

thatwhichfalls — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 07:23:16 -0800

The Works of natural philosopher Robert Boyle (1627 - 1697) at the Robert Boyle Project, based at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Widely regarded as the first modern chemist (his book The Sceptical Chymist is perhaps the founding text of chemistry as a science), he was also an alchemist and made significant contributions in physics (for example Boyle's law) and physiology.
The Robert Boyle homepage has as its centrepiece a large collection of images of Boyles' papers. Images and transcriptions of his marvellous work diaries are available at the AHRC Centre for Editing Lives and Letters.

TheManWhoKnowsMostThings — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 10:23:18 -0800

Mayonnaise. It spawned the discovery of the Casimir effect, which proves that the universe will always expand. Invented in 1756, George Washington Carver seemed to have his hand in it. Not to be confused with its more-disgusting knockoff, mayonnaise has a lot going for it. A favorite Spelling Bee word, a racial litmus test, a hair conditioner--is there anything mayonnaise can't do? Mefi says you can even win prizes with it! What other condiments have spawned theories? Sunday school kids learn about faith and mustard seeds, but is there anything out there for ketchup?