Author: Josh Witten

http://www.thefinchandpea.com

Consumer Information in 1991

consumer-information-cover

A few months ago, Alexis Rudd sent my kids some of her science books from her childhood. They have greatly enjoyed the books. My wife and I, being 30-somethings, greatly enjoyed finding a 1991 Consumer Information Catalog produced by US General Services Administration.

A catalog of free and low-cost federal publications of consumer interest

It is a spectacular snapshot of what US Federal Government thought “consumer interest” was in the Autumn of 1991. Continue reading “Consumer Information in 1991”

Quanta Sutra

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent more than 42 seconds on the Internet that there is a small, but erudite niche of love/sex humor based on particle physics and quantum mechanics. I like to refer to this branch of comedy collectively as the Quanta Sutra. I’m telling you this, because I recently found the following effort, at the expense of physics students, by Zach Weiner of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.


Continue reading “Quanta Sutra”

An argument between Dawkins & Wilson

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal features an argument between Richard Dawkins and EO Wilson, with a cameo by Michael Lynch.


*I fear this may be a very inside evolutionary biology joke which greatly oversimplifies the positions held by all three individuals.

When Dr. Seuss sold things other than books

Contractor postal cards, between 1930 and 1940, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego (Fair Use)
Contractor postal cards, between 1930 and 1940, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego (Fair Use)

The Mandeville Special Collections Library at UC San Diego has a special exhibit of the artwork of Dr. Seuss from before he made a living selling books when he helped other people sell things.

You may notice much of the work is signed “Dr. Seuss”, which drove me to spend a significant chunk of time reading up on Theodore Geisel and when he started using the pseudonym. If that was my rabbit hole, then that signature was my white rabbit.

It is really interesting to see versions of recognizable characters, like Horton the elephant, appear in the ads. It’s like finding old commercials done by celebrity actors when they were young (except that these ads are more good-looking and stylish than embarrassing).

*Hat tip to Neatorama.

 

Giving credit where credit is due

Earlier this week, the very popular Facebook science outreach site, I Fucking Love Science, came under fire for its seemingly systematic use of copyrighted material from a variety of artists without attribution or their permission. This sparked a “conversation” – most of which is depressing and not worth reading – about how content should be shared. Over at the Symbiartic blog at Scientific American, artist (and the guy you want to design your tattoo for you) Glendon Mellow has, in the words of Peter Edmonds, composed an “important, smart post” summarizing his thoughts on the issue.

As members of the online culture, we don’t have to accept that image theft will always be the dominant way of sharing visual information online: culture matures. Expectations change. But right now, large portions of science communication online are part of the problem. – Glendon Mellow, “Mash-Up This! Science Communication’s Image Problem”

*Hat tip to Peter Edmonds.