July 14, 2014
Apropos of our discussion of the proper interpretation of Genesis, Kelly James Clark, writing at Huffington Post, summarizes the state of play at some Christian Colleges:
Shortly after the 2004 publication of his book, Random Designer, biologist Richard Colling was prohibited from teaching…
July 13, 2014
Ever wonder what it looks like to have 300 games of chess going on in one room?
There was a second ballroom, almost as large, which was also filled with players.
Well, we have arrived at round eight. In the prior seven rounds I had scored three wins, two losses, one draw, and one win by…
July 11, 2014
As it happens, the previous post was mostly a digression from what I really wanted to discuss. The set-up here is that back in 2007, philosopher Mary Midgley published a pamphlet discussing creationism, intelligent design, education, and various related topics. Philosopher Nicholas Everitt has…
July 9, 2014
I will conclude my series on the World Open in the next day or two, but I would not want readers to think that I have converted this into a chess blog. So let's go back to our more traditional fare by pondering this pamphlet, by philosopher Mary Midgley. It is called, “Intelligent Design Theory…
July 8, 2014
As happy as I was to salvage the half point in my fourth round game, I was still pretty down about missing that fork. I decided a nice meal would cheer me up. So I hopped on the Metro and went into DC, to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Tono Sushi, conveniently located across the…
July 7, 2014
Hello. I'm still here. Let me get you caught up on some things.
In graduate school I was required to take a battery of four qualifying exams before I could be “advanced to candidacy.” These exams were conducted orally, meaning you had to stand in a room with two faculty members and answer…
May 25, 2014
My SIWOTI syndrome has not returned, the end of the semester notwithstanding. Watching the daily broadcasts from the recently completed U. S. Chess Championship, however, has certainly gotten my chess juices flowing. So here's another installment of Sunday Chess Problem!
Another mate in two for…
May 18, 2014
Clearly there is only one way to celebrate the end of the semester. With the return of Sunday Chess Problem! For our return to the world of chess composition, I have chosen a charming, but not too complex, direct mate problem. It was composed by O. Strerath in 1948. White is to play and mate in…
May 11, 2014
It's the season for graduation speeches, and let's be honest, most of them aren't very good. They tend to be very banal and cliched. So let's begin this post with a strong candidate for best graduation speech ever. I am referring to Woody Allen's speech:
More than at any other time in history,…
May 10, 2014
Graduation was this morning, and it just so happens that I was the speaker. That I am posting the speech below should tell you that I thought it went pretty well. I'll do a separate post describing some of the reactions, and commenting on a few of the other graduation-speech related stories that…
April 20, 2014
Blogging has been a low priority lately, partly because there's been too much other stuff going on, and partly because I haven't had much enthusiasm for it. The end of the semester is always a bit of a grind. But the long-suffering fans of Sunday Chess Problem should not have to wait another week…
April 5, 2014
I guess it's been clear that I haven't been in a blogging mood lately. There's plenty of fodder out there, but somehow every time I sit down to write about it I suddenly remember I had something else to do. But that doesn't mean that fans of Sunday Chess Problem should suffer! So this week I…
March 30, 2014
Well, it's eleven o'clock at night and I just remembered I forgot to do a Sunday Chess Problem for this week. So I guess we'll have to go with one of those charming lightweights whose main point is a shocking key. This one was composed by Gerhardus Goethart in 1952. White is to play and mate in…
March 25, 2014
Recently I mentioned my new book Four Lives: A Celebration of Raymond Smullyan. I see the Kindle version is now available, so if you preferred an e-version, now's your chance!
The book is a tribute volume to mathematician Raymond Smullyan. He is best known for his numerous books of logic puzzles…
March 24, 2014
I'm back from Atlanta. Did anything happen while I was gone?
Well, some people replied to my previous post. Of course, I knew when I posted it that many would disagree with my views. What I had not anticipated was that the main criticisms leveled at me would be so far removed from anything I was…
March 18, 2014
Having thrown some red meat with that last post, I guess it's time to leave town. So, tomorrow I'll be flying down to Atlanta to participate in the Gathering For Gardner Conference. Lucky me! That's Martin Gardner, for those not in the know. The conference brings together mathematicians,…
March 18, 2014
Among those who argue that science and religion are compatible, there is a standard script that goes like this:
In the late nineteenth century, John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White published, respectively, History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion and A History of the Warfare of…
March 17, 2014
Jerry Coyne liked yesterday's post about teaching ID. I do just want to clarify one point, though. Coyne writes:
Jason has a good point. And that point is that although it’s illegal (as well as dereliction of duty) to teach intelligent design creationism in public schools and universities, it is…
March 15, 2014
After our recent excursions into the wacky world of selfmates, it's time to get back to saner fare. This week's problem was composed by Milan Vukcevich, who is a strong contender for greatest problem composer ever. This problem calls for Mate in Three:
Recall that when we write down chess…
March 15, 2014
This one requires some set-up.
Eric Hedin is an assistant professor of physics at Ball State University. Last year, he was accused of teaching intelligent design, and of making disparaging remarks about non-Christian religions, in a science seminar that he was teaching. Some students complained…
March 9, 2014
Last week I introduced the idea of Allumwandlung, abbreviated AUW. This refers to a problem in which all four pawn promotions, to queen, rook, bishop and knight, appear in some way. The problem I showed last week was a crystal clear illustration of the theme, and deservedly won second place in…
March 9, 2014
Check it out!
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My new book Four Lives: A Celebration of Raymond Smullyan has just been released by Dover Publications. Don't know who Raymond Smullyan is? Well, buy the book and find out! Or you can read his Wikipedia page.
Smullyan is best known for his many books of logic puzzles, but he…
March 4, 2014
We just had our second straight snow day around here (in a winter that has already had a lot of snow days). That did provide me with some unexpected free time, which I used to watch the big debate between Sean Carroll and William Lane Craig. All two and a quarter hours of it! Click here for the…
March 2, 2014
Throughout this series I have endeavored to bring to your attention some of the major themes that problem composers use. So far, though, there is one big one that has not been featured. I am referring to Allumwandlung, typically abbreviated AUW. This is a German word that translates loosely as “…
March 1, 2014
The book review I discussed in Wednesday's post is an example of a “hatchet job.” This is a literary form in which the goal is not merely to criticize an opponent's work, but to show that it is utterly worthless. Hatchet jobs are often marked by large amounts of snark and snideness, often at the…
February 27, 2014
I sometimes write about the relationship of the problem of evil to evolution. Darwinian natural selection is a rather unpleasant business, you see, making you wonder why a loving God would employ it as his method of creation. My experience with anti-evolutionists has been that this is a point of…
February 26, 2014
Upon surveying the American landscape these days, it's hard to believe that an over-reliance on science is something we need to worry about. That hasn't stopped some in the humanities from manufacturing the entirely fictitious threat of “scientism.” It's a hard term to pin down, since it is…
February 25, 2014
It's time to get caught up on a few things. The Nye/Ham debate attracted reams of commentary, some of it sensible, some not so much. Two of the sillier entries came from William Saletan over at Slate He's very worked up about Bill Nye's claim that creationism poses a threat to our scientific…
February 22, 2014
Regular blogging will resume next week, once I have finished digging out from the pile of work that didn't get done during my recent travels. But since Sunday Chess Problem waits for nobody, I've picked out a tasty little morsel for you.
One of my favorite motifs in chess is that of a fortress…
February 11, 2014
I've had a chance now to watch Questioning Darwin. Twice. Short review: I liked it quite a bit. Now for the long review.
I'm obviously a bit partial, since this film represents my television debut! I was one of the talking heads interviewed in the film, and it was a thrill to be in the company…
