Heisenberg's recollection of his first meeting with Bohr:

For the first time I understood that Bohr's view of his theory was much more sceptical than that of many other physicists - e.g. Sommerfeld - at that time and that his insight into the structure of the theory was not a result of a mathematical analysis of the basic assumptions, but rather of an intense occupation with the actual phenomena, such that it was possible for him to sense the relationship intuitively rather than derive them formally.

Thus I understood: knowledge of nature was primarily obtained in this way, and only as the next step can one succeed in fixing one's knowledge in mathematical form and subjecting it to complete rational analysis. Bohr was primarily a philosophyer, not a physicist, but he understood that natural philosophy in our day and age carries weight only if its every detail can be subjected to the inexorable test of experiment.

It seems that both of these great physicists held views which resonate strongly with Feyerabend's descripion of science. The continue relevancy and progress of physics does seem to depend on the embrace of many means of validating a scientific theory beyond the purely formal.

Summer is here! And this means that

• I will be updating the blog with original content again
• I will be reconfiguring the site design and template
• I will begin recounting my travels in India and Ireland
• I will be talking more about my recent obsessions: Iceland and languages
• I will attempt to explain some modern theoretical physics in words
• I will enumerate things in lists!

There is much excitement ahead for those of you who are out there in RSS land or have just stumbled onto the site. 
Update: I just realized how silly it is to limit my obsessions to just two things. In reality, I have too many obsessions to list.

Really good graduate level quantum mechanics lecture notes.

Why did I vote for change again? Even if non-discriminatory hiring practices were instituted, the very nature of faith based administration of community services is bound to run into discriminatory practices and proselytizing. I would much prefer it if government and tax-payer dollars were divorced from faith based programs. It would, in my opinion, allow both the church and state to better preserve their respective autonomies.

I love this parody of the Weekender ads. I absolutely detest the real Weekender ads.

 
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
 They send me to eat in the kitchen 
When company comes, 
But I laugh, 
And eat well, 
And grow strong.
 
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table 
When company comes. 
Nobody'll dare 
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
 
Besides, 
They'll see how beautiful I am 
And be ashamed--
 
I, too, am America.
 
--Langston Hughes
A very appropriate poem for today, via The Daily Dish
 

Don't stop questioning Einstein!

Update on my undergraduate thesis work should be forthcoming.

"To be GOVERNED COOKED is to be roasted, shaked, baked, sliced, diced, chopped, sautéed, julienned, broiled, fried, flipped, tossed, steamed, crushed, and lightly garnished by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so"

The most interesting and neglected revolutionary, Aaron Burr. For someone who was involved in so many important American institutions, and the first and so far only vice-president in US history to shoot and kill a Secretary of the Treasury (Paul O'Neill better not attend any pheasant trips with Dick Cheney!), it's a shame I didn't know more about him until now.

cross posted at Georgia Tech Award Winners Abroad

January 17th, Saturday, at The Earl. I highly recommend the band for those who enjoy or think they would enjoy high energy pop-y music from exceedingly young Welshmen/women.

Björk is leveraging her considerable wealth and notoriety to revive Iceland's economy:

As a million bankers flee the plunging markets, one brave Icelandic singer – known for coos, shrieks and a swan dress – is proudly taking their place. Björk has turned venture capitalist, with a new fund that aims to revive Iceland's economy.Björk is working with Audur Capital, a Reykjavik-based investment company founded and managed by women...

"The fund will invest in sustainable businesses that create value through the country's unique resources, spectacular nature, vibrant culture and green energy," the Audur Capital website explains.

Iceland is an absolutely beautiful country with very friendly and intelligent people. With a population of only 300,000 (mainly concentrated in the capital Reykjavik), many people may not even ave Icelan on their radar when considering a global economic stimulus.

Iceland is certainly worth reviving. Among the highly educated public lies a disproportionate, for the size of the population, contribution to the arts (as demonstrated by Björk and Sigur Ros) and science/engineering. One of the highlights of my summer travels was the opportunity to visit a modern geothermal energy plant which supplied the bulk of the energy and hot water to Reykjavik. The potential to export geothermal energy technology still looms large.

There is certainly more worth reviving in Iceland than just the banking sector.

Big Brick has taken over the country's urban planning policy.

Should the Democrats issue an immediate executive order or draft legislation to overturn Bush's executive order banning funding for embryonic stem cell research?
Immediate Executive Order
This has been the 1st edition of "Simple Answers to Simple Questions".

As anyone who has taken a mathematics course or have worked on a mathematically intensive problem can tell you, the course of problem solving can take you through a wide range of emotional ups and downs. Professor Ian Stewart has written a fantastic brief essay describing the emotions behind the mathematics and provides some examples of such emotion, and humanity, behind the work of the great mathematicians.

Évariste Galois combined dramatic work on the equation of the fifth degree with even more dramatic involvement in French revolutionary politics, culminating in a duel over a woman in which he was killed.
David Hilbert was incandescent with rage when Kurt Gödel drove a coach and horses through his massive programme to put all of mathematics on sound logical foundations. This was no surprise: Hilbert had devoted years to the project, and had made what seemed to be a lot of progress. Then it all came tumbling down.

I believe a critical part of both doing and understanding mathematics is to come to terms with the humanity of the subject and how it has been, and will continue to be a thoroughly human construction. Fits of emotion may lead to a creative solution, and should be embraced by even the most rational among us.

Brought to you by Nivea©

Paula Deen makes a doughnut-bun hamburger

Sandra Lee pays tribute to Kwanzaa

Via Cynical-C

Feature: Top 5 restaurants in 2008 - A look at the restaurants that helped make this year not totally suck.Besha Rodell [Shared Items]
For those of you who live in Atlanta and are interested in checking out some new restaurants, per the suggestion of Creative Loafing.

Rent controlled apartments for 500 years, in exchange for a good hearty pray for the Fugger family.

"'Sometimes I forget to pray. But some days I pray extra if there's nothing good on television,' says 74-year-old Barbara Jerger."

Regarding a particular brand of communion wafer

"Some customers say the Cavanaghs have such a big market share because their product is about as close to perfect as earthly possible. 'It doesn’t crumb, and I don’t like fragments of our Lord scattering all over the floor,' said the Rev. Bob Dietel, an Episcopal priest."

I am working out a few technical issues with posting from an iPod touch. If all goes well this should post to twitter.

-- Post From My iPod touch

I've redesigned the site. Now I just have
to come up with some content...
Welcome back everyone!

Normal ordinary guys, playing seemingly strange music in a mirrored and fractal like box in the middle of emptiness. Ok, so the music is not that strange, it's a shuffle!

...will be remembered as being like the people on this show.

Garfield is a lot better without Garfield. It is a study in madness!

Mister Wonderful is a fantastic (and fantastically short) story available for free in its entirety online at the New York Times website. I highly recommend it; once I started reading it I just couldn't stop until I finished reading all of it.

Chris Matthews is Alan Partridge.

Take a break from New Hampshire, enjoy some music.