News
BEST AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE WRITING 2012

A chapter from Physics on the Fringe is included in the volume Best Australian Science Writing 2012, edited by Elizabeth Finkel, an accomplished science writer herself and an editor at Cosmos magazine. BASW has been reviewed widely and well, with the Physics on the Fringe chapter singled out for praise. 

See here for  Canberra Times review, Cosmos review, and a beauty (below) from the Australian Review of Books by beloved ABC science radio commentator Robyn Williams. Congratulations also to Elizabeth for the publication of her own fine book this year The Genome Generation.

                                

PHYSICS WORLD - BEST BOOKS OF 2012

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Physics World has announced it's list of the Top Ten physics books for 2012. Physics on the Fringe is on the list.

Says the magazine's editors:

"Margaret Wertheim’s sociological study of physics crackpots is one of the year’s most thought-provoking books. Well argued and suffused with dry wit, this book asks important questions about what constitutes science and who gets to participate in it."

Please go online here and Vote for the Book to be No. 1. It's up against some awesome competition, including David Kaiser's How the Hippies Saved Physics, a literally fantastical account of a group of San Francisco-based physicists in the 1970's who dropped acid and reconcieved the foundations of quantum science.

Here's the lovely review of Physics on the Fringe that ran in Physics World earlier this year.

 

AUSTRALIAN TOUR - AUGUST/SEPT 2012

In late August, I'll be traveling Down Under to talk about Physics on the Fringe and the work of the IFF. The book, has just been released in Australia and the tour will include media appearances in Melbourne and Sydney. My first port of call will be the Melbourne Writers Festival then I'll be heading up to give a talk at the University of Sydney.

 
Melbourne Writers Festival Events
Fri. Aug 31 @ 10am: Physics on the Fringe.
A discussion with Wilson da Silva, editor-in-cheif, Cosmos magazine. At the ACMI in Federation Square. Melbourne.
 
Fri. Aug 31 @ 9pm: Friday Night Live.
On friday night at the MWF I'll be part of a Lettermanesque late-night talk-show hosted by comedian Libby Gore. Other guests include legendary Australian feminist Germaine Greer. At BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne.
 
Sat. Sept 1 @ 1pm: The Story of Science.
As a festival highlight, I will be participating in a wide-ranging discussion about the narrative of science. Other panels include science journalist Elizabeth Finkel and Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty (co-discoverer of the heliobactor pylori virus responsible for causing stomach ulcers, a beautiful example of how science-on-the-fringe can sometimes result in astounding success.) Event takes place at the Wheeler Center.
 
University of Sydney - Lecture
Thurs. Sept 6 @ 6-7:30pm: Not the Higgs Boson
In July the world went "Higgs mad," as New Scientist put it. In this talk for the Sydney Ideas series at the University of Sydney, I'll be discussing the discovery of the Higgs boson within the context of physics on the fringe, inside and outside the academy. The event will be hosted by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at the Science Foundation of the Physics Department, University of Sydney. Venue: Eastern Auditorium, Eastern Avenue. Click here for event map.
 
 
Australian Media Appearances:
Mon. Sept 3 @ 10:30am : ABC Radio 702
I will be a guest on the ABC morning radio show.
 
Tues. Sept 4 @ 10pm : First Tuesday Book Club.
I will be a guest on the national ABC-TV book program hosted by Jennifer Byrne.
 
Thurs. Sept 6: Talk-back radio with Dr Karl.
I'll be appearing on Dr Karl Kruszelnicki's wonderful science talk-back radio show.
 
AUGUST 2012

- PHYSICS AND PUPPETS: On Saturday August 11th (3pm), I'll be talking about physics on the fringe inside and outside the academy with WIRED writer Lizzie Wade. The event will take place at Automata, the radical puppet collective in Chinatown run by Janie Geiser and Susan Simpson. Automata operates from a lovely new space in Chung King Road, just across the street from the Institute For Figuring, where the exhibition of Physics on the Fringe is currently on show. After the conversation we'll walk over to the IFF for a viewing of the show along with drinks and further conversation.

- In July I recorded a an hour-long conversation for the 7th Avenue Radio Program at KUSP. Host Robert Pollie specializes in in-depth interviews - what he calls "thinking persons radio" - and has devoted previous programs to general relativity, string theory, and the Higgs Boson. 

- At the end of the month I'll be heading to Australia, where Physics on the Fringe has just been released. I'll be speaking about the book at the Melbourne Writers Festival and Sydney University, plus appearances on Dr Karl's beloved science-talkback radio program and on the First Tuesday Book Club with Jennifer Byrne on ABC-TV.

JULY 2012

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NOT THE HIGGS BOSON

On July 4th physicists at CERN announced they'd discovered the Higgs Boson, the most sought-after member in the pantheon of subatomic particles. What does this mean? Why does the Higgs matter? And to whom?

In the coming weeks I'll be discussing this momentous discovery in the context of fringe physics at three events in the LA area,

- On Sunday July 15, I'll be speaking about the Higgs at the Center for Inquiry West, one of LA's leading venues for public discussions of science. The talk will be at 11am in the CFIW's Hollywood location and then repeated in Costa Mesa at 4:30pm. 

- On Saturday August 11th, I'll be discussing all this at Automata, the radical puppet collective in Chinatown run by Janie Geiser and Susan Simpson. Automata have just moved in to a beautiful new space across the road from the Institute For Figuring, where the exhibition of Physics on the Fringe is on show. After the conversation we'll walk over to the IFF for a viewing of the show.

 

- In mid-July I'll be speaking about the book on the SF radio program The 7th Ave Project at KUSP. Host Robert Pollie specializes in hour long, in-depth interviews - what he calls "thinking persons radio" - and has devoted previous programs to general relativity, string theory, and - yes - the Higgs Boson.