Monthly Archives: April 2019

Is STS trivial?

In a recent Making Science Public post, Chris Toumey asked is STS trivial? Since I’ve written about Science and Technology Studies (STS) on a number of occasions, I found it an interesting post and posed a question in the comments. … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy, Philosophy for Bloggers, physicists, Research, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 189 Comments

Social science

On a number of occasions I’ve seen suggestions that those who want to communicate the seriousness of climate change, should aim to understand the social sciences and should listen more to social scientists. I’m well aware that there’s much about … Continue reading

Posted in Climate change, Research, Scientists | Tagged , , , , , | 48 Comments

Jonathan’s Funk

[The following is the second part of my chat with Jonathan. First part is here.] nowhmm, i need to find back eric‘s questionwhat is a reasonable number for how much of the american electrical grid could become renewable in the … Continue reading

Posted in We Are Science | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Climate Change – The Facts

I watched BBC One’s Climate Change – The Facts, narrated by David Attenborough. A pity about the title, as it’s the same as a book with authors that include Anthony Watts, Nigel Lawson and James Delingpole, but I thought it … Continue reading

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Global warming, Scientists, Watts Up With That | Tagged , , , , , | 67 Comments

Six years

I’ve just been reminded by WordPress that this is the sixth anniversary of me starting this blog. I’m somewhat amazed that I’ve kept it going that long. I am, however, finding it more and more difficult to find things to … Continue reading

Posted in ClimateBall, Interview, Personal, Philosophy for Bloggers | Tagged , , , | 116 Comments

Post-normal science

I’ve been reading a paper by Daniel Sarewitz, that was being highlighted by Jane Flegal on Twitter. The paper is called Of Cold Mice and Isotopes Or Should We Do Less Science? There’s quite a lot that could be said … Continue reading

Posted in Policy, Politics, Research, Science, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 125 Comments

Models and scenarios

I was following, or trying to, a Twitter discussion about models and scenarios. It was – I think – about models that forescast technology development, and you can find it here if you’re interested. I didn’t entirely follow it, but … Continue reading

Posted in Science, Research, economics | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Existential threat?

I had a discussion with someone recently who asked if climate change really was an existential threat for humans. I responded that it wasn’t. However, I added that this didn’t mean that it couldn’t be severely disruptive or that it … Continue reading

Posted in Climate change, economics | Tagged , , , , | 90 Comments