What a misleading book title! What I had expected was a book about… well… seven different types of atheism. A reasonable assumption, isn’t it? But no. It’s not about seven types of atheism. It’s a very interesting book nonetheless—but it’s… Read More ›
Month: April 2021
The Mattapan-Ashmont “High Speed” Line in 360°
When I first moved to Boston, the Red Line went from Harvard to Ashmont (red because it’s close to crimson). Then the northern portion was extended from Harvard to Alewife. It was supposed to go to Arlington and Lexington, but… Read More ›
What? A model railroad can be a computational device and a musical instrument?!
Surely you’re joking, Mr. Aaronson. I can (just barely) believe the musical instrument claim, but a computational device??? Actually, both claims are true, hard as it is to believe. For the musical instrument, watch this short video and you’ll see… Read More ›
A Murder of Magpies
An outstanding first novel from Judith Flanders, published seven years ago, A Murder of Magpies is a mystery that will hold your attention and keep you entertained. In a recent post I wrote about another Judith Flanders book, but in… Read More ›
A new unit of distance?
No, this sign isn’t at a Starbucks:
They both have samples of my DNA. Why do they disagree about my ancestry?
My ancestry, says ancestry.com, is 100% Ashkenazy Jewish! No, says CRI Genetics, it’s 66.1% Ashkenazy Jewish! So who’s right? It’s always a good idea to ask for a second opinion. I trusted ancestry.com, which is respected and has a well-known… Read More ›
A supposedly “new” way to solve quadratics
What’s wrong with the Quadratic Formula? Let me count the ways: It’s pure magic to 99% of high-school students, who have no idea why it works. It lends itself to sign errors because of the subtraction under the square root… Read More ›
An outstanding dinner from Tavolo
Barbara and I had an outstanding dinner tonight from Tavolo, with lots of leftovers: chef’s burrata with basil pesto, prosciutto, grape tomatoes, parmesan & parsley crumb, and vincotto; seafood fregola with shrimp, mussels, tomato broth, and garlic butter; confit duck… Read More ›
What’s in a (color) name?
Who cares what names Crayola chooses to use for the colors of its crayons? Do you? Do I? There was only one color name that used to bother me when I was a kid: “flesh.” Even then, I guess, I… Read More ›
Adequate Yearly Progress
If you write a novel about teaching, how realistic should it be? If, in particular, it’s supposed to be a satire, then how realistic should it be? Can you distinguish a satire from reality? Sometimes it’s hard to do that…. Read More ›
