Related papers: Amy Ogle
The paper is based on a talk given to celebrate {\O}rsted's discovery of electromagnetism in 1820. It gives a brief account of {\O}rsted's life and work, before using the evidence of articles on electricity and magnetism in the…
In the last years it is becoming more and more evident the importance in providing to the students, and people in general, a more realistic view on the scientific research world. In this framework many initiatives are beeing carried out to…
Students face diverse pathways as they journey through undergraduate study. The analysis of student course records can untangle common patterns in course progression, and identify group trends in student outcomes. The current work examines…
Patrick Moss (1947--2024) had two distinct lives as a mathematician. The first was as a ring theorist in the late 1970s, in which he worked with Ginn and Lenagan as a student. After a long career as an inspirational mathematics teacher,…
This chapter makes needed corrections to an unduly negative scholarly view of Ada Lovelace. Credit between Lovelace and Babbage is not a zero-sum game, where any credit added to Lovelace somehow detracts from Babbage. Ample evidence…
For more than 3.5 billion years, life experienced dramatic environmental extremes on Earth. These include shifts from oxygen-less to over-oxygenated atmospheres and cycling between hothouse conditions and global glaciations. Meanwhile, an…
Efforts to combat continuing gender inequalities in academia need to be informed by evidence about where differences occur. Citations are relevant as potential evidence in appointment and promotion decisions, but it is unclear whether there…
Enrico Fermi lived from 1901 to 1954, a period of great progress in physics and a period in which opportunities for women to study and work in institutions of higher learning increased significantly in Europe and North America. Though there…
I analyze the postdoctoral career tracks of a nearly-complete sample of astronomers from 28 United States graduate astronomy and astrophysics programs spanning 13 graduating years (N=1063). A majority of both men and women (65% and 66%,…
Barriers to women's education and employment in Europe and the U.S. in the nineteenth century made it unlikely that any women would be among the few physicists whose ideas are taught in high school and college courses. This paper explores…
This article is an extended version of a talk given in Oxford in June 2021 as part of an online meeting `Ninety minutes of CCC' to mark the 90th birthday of Sir Roger Penrose. I assemble some questions that I have been asked or have asked…
The observation that we are among the first 10^{11} or so humans reduces the prior probability that we find ourselves in a species whose total lifetime number of individuals is much higher, according to arguments of Carter, Leslie, Nielsen,…
Topology of urban environments can be represented by means of graphs. We explore the graph representations of several compact urban patterns by random walks. The expected time of recurrence and the expected first passage time to a node…
This book presents a personal account of the mathematics and metamathematics of the 20th century leading up to the discovery of the halting probability Omega. The emphasis is on history of ideas and philosophical implications.
On the 40th anniversary of the last human expedition to the Moon, I review the scientific legacy of the Apollo programme and argue that science would benefit from a human return to the Moon.
The early start to life naively suggests that abiogenesis is a rapid process on Earth-like planets. However, if evolution typically takes ~4Gyr to produce intelligent life-forms like us, then the limited lifespan of Earth's biosphere…
In this concluding article I recall the early history of the Gaia mission, showing that the original science case and expectations of wide community interest in Gaia data have been met. The quarter-century long partnership involving some…
In writing this biographical memoir of John Hammersley, we have tried to communicate something of the character of the person, and of the impact of his scientific achievements across lattice models (for example, percolation, self-avoiding…
Initiatives to increase the number, persistence, and success of women in physics in the US reach pre-teen girls through senior women. Programs exist at both the local and national levels. In addition, researchers have investigated issues…
My thesis describes the life and work of the mathematician Major Percy Alexander MacMahon (1854-1929). His early life as as a soldier in the Royal Artillery and the events which led to him embarking on a career in mathematical research and…