Michael D. Gordin
Historian of science, especially of Russia, of nuclear weapons, of languages, of things fringy. And now Einstein. Recovering editor of .
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Science’s English dominance hinders diversity—but the community can work toward change
Science | AAAS 126d 1 tweets
For nonnative English speakers, publishing and presenting their work can be a significant burden, as a new study highlights
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Michael D. Gordin I know everyone has a lot on their minds right now, but the difficulties the (almost total) universality of English in the sciences imposes on non-Anglophones is still out there. Here's an article in Science on this issue, including some thoughts from me. 126d
Democracy counts: On sacred and debased numbers
Press.princeton.edu 131d 2 tweets
Democracy depends on numbers. This was recognized from the founding of the American republic. The US Constitution defined terms for periodic elections and for the reapportionment of representatives among the states as their populations grew.
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Michael D. Gordin Ted Porter on our present dire moment: Democracy counts: On sacred and debased numbers | Princeton University Press 131d
Suicide Missions - Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books 203d 2 tweets
Historian Michael D. Gordin reviews several books in order to tackle the problem of deferred solutions — the fact that we seem rigged to defer suffering.
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Michael D. Gordin Here's a review I wrote about trading off the present and the future, involving outer space, ecosystems, and some pandemic: Los Angeles Review of Books: Suicide Missions via 203d
Just Use Your Thinking Pump!
The New York Review of Books 260d 11 tweets
What is the scientific method, and when, where, and how did it become, as the kids say, a thing? Authoritative definitions of “the scientific method” often state that it consists of a set of procedures including observation, experimentation, and the...
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Michael D. Gordin The scientific method doesn't exist, and this is a review of a book about it. 264d
Quantum Conversations, Entanglement, and the American Cold War “Physics Bubble” - Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books 390d 1 tweets
Historian of science Michael D. Gordin reviews his former lab partner’s new book on the fuzziness of the quantum world.
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Michael D. Gordin Just out: my review of David Kaiser's latest book, Quantum Entanglements, in , featuring bombs, neutrinos, and a hapless lab partner. via 390d
The Age of Hiroshima
Press.princeton.edu 456d 1 tweets
A multifaceted portrait of the Hiroshima bombing and its many legacies
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Michael D. Gordin It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of _The Age of Hiroshima_, edited by G. John Ikenberry and myself, a project built over 4.5 years to explore the nuclear revolution on the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 456d
Is There a Crisis of Truth? - Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books 456d 10 tweets
Historian of Science Steven Shapin turns the screw on the notion that “truth” is in crisis.
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Michael D. Gordin "When science becomes so extensively bonded with power and profit, its conditions of credibility look more and more like those of the institutions in which it has been enfolded." Steven Shapin being interesting again: Is There a Crisis of Truth? 456d
What Makes Science Trustworthy
Boston Review 482d 9 tweets
The “scientific method” of high school textbooks does not exist. But there are scientific methods, and they play an essential role in making scientific knowledge reliable.
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Michael D. Gordin The unparalleled Philip Kitcher is at his thoughtful best engaging with 's Why Trust Science?: "The time is ripe for reassurance. Even to pose the question indicates that something has gone wrong." 482d
History of Science & Knowledge | Princeton University Press
Press.princeton.edu 517d 1 tweets
As the publisher of Albert Einstein, Princeton University Press has a grand tradition in the history of science. We publish books in the history of knowledge and science in the broadest sense. Our list encompasses the history of the natural and...
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Michael D. Gordin It looks like has unveiled a slick 21st-century website, along the way revealing the treasures of History of Knowledge/Science. Worth checking out. #histSTM 517d
Is Science Political?
Boston Review 560d 10 tweets
Many take the separation between science and politics for granted, but our understanding of science has its own political history—developed, in part, as an anti-communist tool of the Cold War.
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Michael D. Gordin My review of Freedom’s Laboratory by ⁦⁩ is out!:!Is Science Political? | Boston Review 560d
It’s time for a robust philosophical defence of truth in science – Michela Massimi | Aeon Essays
Aeon 765d 13 tweets
Truth is neither absolute nor timeless. But the pursuit of truth remains at the heart of the scientific endeavour
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Michael D. Gordin Worth reading. I am not convinced that this helps with demarcation issues, but this piece is thought provoking about where positivism has left the philosophy of science — and sensitive to #histSTM too. 764d
the fringes of science explored in our free e-book for January
T.e2ma.net 791d 1 tweets
The Pseudoscience Wars Immanuel Velikovsky & the Birth of the Modern Fringe This is the January 2019 free e-book notification. What is science and what is bunk? Our free e-book for January is The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth...
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Michael D. Gordin Look at what did: The Pseudoscience Wars is their free e-book for January! Come for the exploration of the fringes of science, stay for the Velikovsky. No excuse not to get your own copy... 791d
A Radical ’70s-Era Group Is Relaunching to Help Scientists Get Political Under Trump
Slate Magazine 917d 5 tweets
It’s called Science for the People, and its awareness of how science fits into policy and politics is deeply necessary in 2018.
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Michael D. Gordin This is not something I would have expected, but it sure is welcome: A Radical ’70s-Era Group Is Relaunching to Help Scientists Get Political Under Trump 917d
Application | Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts
Sf.princeton.edu 947d 3 tweets
Online Application Form
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Michael D. Gordin Some good news (and not just for me): The Society of Fellows is looking for new postdocs! Due 4 August. 292d
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Michael D. Gordin This application season, you should *definitely* consider the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts ! 947d
It’s Time for Academics to Write Books That Are Actually Meant to Be Read
Slate Magazine 952d 27 tweets
I wonder how many books on reading lists are ever read in depth, for pleasure, by people who have to study them.
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Michael D. Gordin A plea to reform reading and writing of academic history. I’d be glad to see more diverse styles and structures, but there is no way to avert some gutting. You’ll eventually butt up against “Too much to know.” A lot of stuff happened. A lot of it mattered. 952d
LRB · Pankaj Mishra · Watch this man: Niall Ferguson’s Burden
London Review of Books 1315d 6 tweets
‘Civilisation’s going to pieces,’ Tom Buchanan, the Yale-educated millionaire, abruptly informs Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. ‘I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read The Rise of the Colored Empires by this man...
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Michael D. Gordin Why read pirated emails when all you need to know about Niall Ferguson is laid out in Pankaj Mishra's own superb oppo research in the #LRB already 6.5 years ago: via 1006d
The Ashtray Has Landed: The Case of Morris v. Kuhn - Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books 1019d 13 tweets
Much of "The Ashtray" is witty, ebullient, and generous. Errol Morris shares his wide range of interests, and his enthusiasm for philosophy is infectious.
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Michael D. Gordin Philip Kitcher is typically brilliant on Kuhn, and also on Morris: The Ashtray Has Landed: The Case of Morris v. Kuhn - Los Angeles Review of Books via 1017d
Apply - Interfolio
Apply.interfolio.com 1030d 1 tweets
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Michael D. Gordin New position: visiting asst prof at NYU Gallatin at the intersection of environmental sci and soc sci/humanities. 1030d
Dispatches from Princeton’s History of Science Colloquium: Jutta Schickore’s “Contributions to a History of Experimental Controls”
J. History of Ideas - JHIBlog 1067d 2 tweets
By Guest Contributor Alison McManus Princeton’s History of Science Colloquium series recently welcomed Jutta Schickore, professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, to pres…
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Michael D. Gordin Dispatches from Princeton’s History of Science Colloquium: Jutta Schickore’s “Contributions to a History of Experimental Controls” via 1067d
Can You Criticize Science (or Do Science) Without Looking Like an Obsessive? Maybe Not.
Slate Magazine 1073d 9 tweets
We need to normalize the pursuit of accuracy.
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Michael D. Gordin Clear articulation of the crucial asymmetry in scientific publishing that works against corrections/exposés. (Despite the picture, Russell Crowe has nothing to do with it. This time.) 1073d