Category Archives: Scientists

The origins debate

Posted on March 13, 2023 by ...and Then There's Physics

I’ve mostly tried to avoid the Covid origins debate, but I listened to a very good Guruspod episode, where they covered this. It was an interview with Eddie Holmes, Kristian Andersen, and Michael Worobey, and was partly intended as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 493 Comments

Climate science as a social process

Posted on February 5, 2023 by ...and Then There's Physics

I came across a paper that might be of interest to regular readers of this blog. It’s by Hans von Storch and is a Brief communication: Climate science as a social process – history, climatic determinism, Mertonian norms and post-normality. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, physicists, Research, Resilience, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 74 Comments

Plausible scenarios

Posted on January 16, 2023 by ...and Then There's Physics

New Scientist has a recent article about [t]he worst-case climate scenarios are no longer plausible today. This is a topic that has been covered here before, and is partly motivated by a paper discussed in this post. The basic premise … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, ClimateBall Bingo, economics, Scientists, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 242 Comments

Hansen’s 10C

Posted on January 11, 2023 by ...and Then There's Physics

A recent comment asked about James Hansen’s recent paper in which it is claimed that equilibrium global warming for today’s GHG level is 10°C. I’ve finally had a chance to look at it and I think I understand what is … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate sensitivity, Research, Scientists | Tagged , , , , | 70 Comments

No, a cherry-picked analysis doesn’t demonstrate that we’re not in a climate crisis

Posted on October 7, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

This is a repost of an article that I wrote for Skeptical Science, with help from @TheDisproof, who has been very active on Twitter debunking various climate myths. A group of Italian scientists recently published a paper in which they … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Global warming, physicists, Scientists, Severe Events | Tagged , , , , | 320 Comments

The role of mathematical modelling

Posted on September 18, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

Christina Pagel and Kit Yates have an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on the Role of mathematical modelling in future pandemic response policy. It’s part of a series in the BMJ on the UK’s covid-19 inquiry. I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 203 Comments

The importance of science communication

Posted on August 27, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

I’m just back from teaching at a summer school on the Dynamics of Exoplanetary and Solar System Bodies. It started in Inverness and then moved to Skye, which was a lovely place to visit. I gave a couple of lectures … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy for Bloggers, Research, Scientists | Tagged , , , | 251 Comments

Limits to Growth?

Posted on July 23, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

Tom Murphy, who is a physics professor at UC San Diego, runs a blog called Do the Math. Just over 10 years ago, he had a popular blog post asking can economic growth can last?, which I discussed in one … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, GRRRRROWTH, Philosophy for Bloggers, physicists, Scientists | Tagged , , , | 199 Comments

The science-society interface

Posted on May 8, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

I came across an interesting paper by Dietram Scheufele on Thirty Years of science-society interfaces: What’s next, which focusses mostly on science communication. Although – as the article mentions – this isn’t the only possible science-society interface. Since I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Scientists, The philosophy of science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 121 Comments

Moral models

Posted on February 28, 2022 by ...and Then There's Physics

I thought I would highlight a recent video presentation by Eric Winsberg, called Moral Models, Crucial Decisions in the Age of Computer Simulations. Some may remember that Eric co-wrote a post here about extreme weather event attribution. The theme of … Continue reading →

Posted in ethics, Policy, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments