6 officers charged in man’s death in Baltimore Two indicted in bridge scandal in New Jersey 10 men get life sentences in Malala shooting Today when I opened my morning paper (Int’l New York Times), I couldn’t help but be surprised by these three headlines which jumped out at me. Could it be that… Continue reading Authorities Show Their Teeth: My Paper This Morning
The Day John McEnroe Saved My Ass
When my wife and I first arrived in Britain in 1964, we were constantly harangued by Brits because of the war in Vietnam. These early days abroad during the Vietnam War constitute one of the first periods in my life to that point in which I was ashamed to say I was an American. The next time… Continue reading The Day John McEnroe Saved My Ass
Archimedes’ Story: The Link Is Fixed
I know this is boring, but I did promise a great cartoon about why Archimedes leaped out of his bath and shouted Eureka . . . http://archimedespalimpsest.org/images/kaltoon/ the drawings are by Kevin Kallaugher of The Economist.
Migration of Blog and St. Patrick’s Day Greeting
Dear Friends and Followers of my Blog, I recently had my Blog moved from one host to another, a process known as migration. This should make things easier in the long run, but a few mishaps may occur during the interim. So, I should first apologise if you have received repeats. For the record, the address… Continue reading Migration of Blog and St. Patrick’s Day Greeting
News on Fermi’s Fountain in Rome
A friend of mine who lives in Manhattan has just discovered a very interesting article on the internet. Maryann Macdonald has sent me a link which informs that the European Physical Society has designated the Enrico Fermi Fountain I wrote about in my last blogpost as an historic site! (See below). The ceremony took place… Continue reading News on Fermi’s Fountain in Rome
The Benefits of Learning Physics: Archimedes and the Law of Buoyancy
I suffered a stroke in 2011, a haemorrhage in my cerebellum which has affected my body balance quite severely. I have worked diligently on physiotherapy – though my wife thinks I could try a lot harder – receiving help initially from the NHS and later from ARNI (Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury), on a recommendation… Continue reading The Benefits of Learning Physics: Archimedes and the Law of Buoyancy
A Fountain in Rome-Edited
In the Eternal City, physicist J.P. McEvoy reminisces about the Italian Enrico Fermi and visits an unusual artefact of the nuclear age. On the day John Kennedy was shot in 1963, I was busy as a young physicist on a neutron scattering experiment at the RCA Sarnoff Research Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey. I am sure… Continue reading A Fountain in Rome-Edited
1968: Meeting Jean Genet in the East Village NYC
It was a lazy sunny day in the summer of 1968 when I gave in to my brother-in-law’s pleading to visit St. Mark’s Place in New York City to see America’s youth sitting on curbs injecting themselves with heroin. As we came close to our destination, the East Village, I had assured him that no one… Continue reading 1968: Meeting Jean Genet in the East Village NYC
Crossing the Equator: My First Trip to Kenya
It seems to me that there are not many people in the world who have combined a career as a physicist with one as a tour operator. But I have. From the time I received my bachelors degree in 1959 until my last class in 1982, I did research and teaching almost exclusively in physics.… Continue reading Crossing the Equator: My First Trip to Kenya
A Sonnet for Sir Laurence
It’s not every day that you get a note from Laurence Olivier thanking you for attending a performance of his with compliments on the way you expressed appreciation for the work. Yet, that happened to me exactly 50 years ago today. (See letter at the end). Of course, there’s more to the story. It began in… Continue reading A Sonnet for Sir Laurence