Science
Deus ex machina
The rise of the godbots
Circular arguments
Aristotle had long proved that the Earth was spherical, and even the illiterate masses of early medieval Europe were aware of the fact, says James Hannam
The science of horse racing
Everybody in racing is looking for an edge. With 7-4 the field, the punter is looking for a 2-1. The…
Against Nature
Here’s a paradox. Over the past two-and-a-half years, a cadre of senior politicians and their ‘expert’ advisers across the world…
A sentimental journey
Publishers lately seem to have got the idea that otherwise uncommercial subjects might be rendered sexy if presented with a…
A tribute to my friend James Lovelock
The scientist James Lovelock died this week at the age of 103. He was best known for his Gaia theory,…
Waves of feeling
Imagine that all the frequencies nature affords were laid out on an extended piano keyboard. Never mind that some waves…
Wings of desire
In 2014, an exhibition of watercolours by the renowned avian artist, John James Audubon, opened in New York. The reviews,…
The paths that lead to truth
The dust jacket of The Matter With Things quotes a large statement from an Oxford professor: ‘This is one of…
High life
Gstaad Who was it who said good manners had gone the way of black and white TV? Actually it was…
The forgotten Einstein
Why isn’t John von Neumann better known?
Sometimes wrongs make a right
It is interesting to consider what would have happened if the Covid virus had emerged in 1921. Or 1821. Or…
Alan key
Given my affection for M*A*S*H, I can’t think why I haven’t listened to Alan Alda’s podcasts before now, besides the…
Spin doctors
How the Lancet lost our trust
An orange or an egg?
Simon Winchester follows the volatile French mission to Ecuador in 1735 to determine the shape of the Earth
Problems of communication
I could never muster much enthusiasm for the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. His work, on the early universe and the…
Keeping girls out of the lab
Jina and the STEM Sisters is a blatant act of propaganda. And its intentions are excellent. This is a musical…
Letters
Meghan’s adroitness Sir: Tanya Gold suggests that people criticise Meghan Markle because she is mixed race and a woman, and…
Initial impressions
The Finborough’s new show is a love story with the male partner absent. Two women, one Irish and one American,…
Diary
Safe spaces, diversity quotas, gender-neutral pronouns, culturally relative facts, heteronormative hegemony. Are my right-on credentials right on enough? Am I…
The enquiring minds of Egypt
The government has plans to fund a new research agency to back ‘cutting-edge science’. Ptolemaios (Ptolemy) I (367-282 bc), the…
The triggers of memory
Can you remember when you heard about 9/11? Chances are you’ll be flooded instantly with memories — not only where…
Letters
Veritas vincit Sir: Professor Dawkins eloquently and engagingly defines true truth for us (‘Matters of fact’, 19 December). It seems…
Matters of fact
What is truth? You can speak of moral truths and aesthetic truths but I’m not concerned with those here, important…
A singular mind
Roger Penrose on his Nobel Prize, the beauty of physics – and why AI is nothing to fear
