soapbox
I listened to some of the inaugural episode of Late Night with Chemjobber & Friends last night. As a whole1, I think it was a decent start. There were some technical issues (the audio cut out several times), some glitches (at one point Chemjobber accidentally hung up on the callers)
scientists
Chemists are trained to use lab notebooks, whether paper or digital, to record their observations, measurements and preliminary conclusions. Good lab notebooks include not just what you tried, but why you tried it and even what expectations you had for the outcome. Lab notebooks are a record; reading over previous
culture
Back in February when I posted some thoughts from the fall about clothes and professionalism, someone left an anonymous comment that I chewed on for several weeks. I think it's worth replying to in full, but I didn't take the opportunity before. Now that the semester&
scientists
Reset your "days since a sexism-in-science incident" counters to zero. A Nobel laureate dug himself a pretty deep and boggy hole when, among other things, he explained why he thought men and women shouldn't be in labs together. Apparently, the womenz are just too irresistible and
scientists
This is your weekly reminder that science isn't sexist. In other news, we have always been at war with Eastasia and these are not the droids you are looking for.
culture
It's Nobel Prize season, and everyone has their picks for which chemists might get a phone call from Sweden. All the names I've seen are of accomplished people who've done excellent, influential work. There's a problem with all these lists, though: I
womenInScience
I have a few more things to say about how taking a break from science/academia could kill a woman's career. First, the Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation wrote a letter to the New York Times about retaining women in STEM (emphasis mine): The work-life balance challenge
soapbox
From SciLogs: When Adam Spencer asked if female scientists should consider taking an extended break of two or three years, the answer was a resounding “No.” “Science is really a fast-moving world,” [Suzanne] Cory said. “If you get out, even for three years, it becomes very difficult to get back
scientists
Joe Palca asked me on Twitter this morning,1 Who is the best scientist you know, and what qualities make her/him the best? I had to think a moment about this. I'm sure many people who love science have a favorite historical scientist. My shortlist is mostly