The paradoxical virtues of primacy in science
Primacy is a false virtue imposed by the structures of modern science – yet it is also necessary to right some wrongs.…
Enrico Fermi
6 posts
The real story of 'The Old Guard'
Spoiler alert: Don't read this post if you intend to watch The Old Guard but haven't done so yet. The Old Guard, an action film starring Charlize Theron among others, released on Netflix on J…
To read or not a bad man's book
The Life of Science team uploaded the video of their webinar on July 10, about the construct of the genius in science, on YouTube on July 14. Please watch it if you haven't already. I had also blo…
Review: ‘Salam – The First ****** Nobel Laureate’ (2018)
Awards are elevated by their winners. For all of the Nobel Prizes’ flaws and shortcomings, they are redeemed by what its laureates choose to do with them. To this end, the Pakistani physicist and acti…
Unseating Feynman, and Fermi
Do physicists whitewash the legacy of Enrico Fermi the same way they do Richard Feynman? Feynman disguised his sexism as pranks and jokes, and writers have spent thousands of pages offering his virtu…
What life on Earth tells us about life 'elsewhere'
In 1950, the physicist Enrico Fermi asked a question not many could forget for a long time: "Where is everybody?" He was referring to the notion that, given the age and size of the universe,…