Category Archives: teaching
America the Beautiful
A stirring rendition, courtesy of Beyoncé at HBO’s “We Are One” Inauguration Concert.
McCain’s VP
So, Senator John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate. Wow. It’s taken me a while to get my head around this. Sarah Palin is a political neophyte — if your main charge is that … Continue reading
Throwing Out the Textbook (Part II)
(Part I gives the background.) Since the date to order a textbook has long since passed, I’m pretty committed to not going with one for “Space Science & Astrophysics”. I’ve taken the plunge. The problem is, I don’t know exactly … Continue reading
Throwing out the Textbook (Part I)
(You can skip to Part II.) Some of you might remember that this is nominally a blog about education. It’s time again to shunt aside all the personal and political things I like to blog about, and to instead post … Continue reading
What I’m Reading: 2008 July
This is the first in a regular series of posts meant more for myself than anyone else. I just want to keep a record of what I’m reading. So far in July: Public Enemies: The True Story of America’s Greatest … Continue reading
Thespiatic
Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything. Someday soon I’ll document what a blur my April and May have been, as explanation if not excuse. Meanwhile, let me share my tiny contribution to the recent play The … Continue reading
Faith in an Age of Fear
Today the Hun School had its second annual Convocation to commence the year. As the current holder of the Distinguished Faculty Endowed Chair, it fell to me to present a speech. (I did this last year, too; you can find … Continue reading
Old nuggets
Anyone checking the frequency of blogging for this site need not be told that I am not a natural diarist. I keep trying to start a regular compilation of my thought but never quite get in the habit. I have … Continue reading
The Mongrel Dogs at Sea (11): Solar Sight
I experienced something today that I’ve heard a lot about but never quite believed in: the infamous green flash. I’d read that, sometimes, during sunsets, just at the moment the Sun sinks below the horizon, it flashes green. However, the … Continue reading
Irksome metric
Today, there’s a piece by Maya Jasonoff in the Sunday magazine of the New York Times on the Americans loyal to Britain during the Revolution, and it has me irked. It’s not the thesis, which I agree with, that we … Continue reading
