exceeding our materials
After tearing through Jonah Lehrer's How We Decide, I decided to give his debut book a try. I haven't even got past the prelude, and I'm already taking notes. He ends this prelude with this lovely paean to art and science:
It is ironic, but true: the one reality science cannot reduce is the only reality we will ever know. This is why we need art. By expressing our actual experience, the artist reminds us that our science is incomplete, that no map of matter will ever explain the immateriality of our consciousness.

The moral of this book is that we are made of art and science. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, but we are also just stuff. We now know enough about the brain to realize that its mystery will always remain. Like a work of art, we exceed our materials.

...The experiment and poem complete each other. The mind is made whole.
He's got a nice touch with verbage--thoughtful, poetic and heartfelt. I'm doing my best to save this read for the coming Thanksgiving holiday, so I can enjoy it at home in our cozy living room, rather than on a cramped Bart or bus ride home.
Labels: art, books, cool science, eyeshurt, inspiration, reading

:: ewee 12:36:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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:: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 ::

Chumby guts!
Stayed up a bit too late last night with my newest distraction--Chumby Guts!. It arrived about a month earlier than I expected, and was easier to put together than I'd anticipated (in great part thanks to mtbf0's helpful flickr photos, and *despite* the ikea-like directions that came with the package).

Still tinkering to figure out why it's hanging up when downloading the control panel, but pretty happy I did it. Makes a great present for the geek in your life, btw. (And yes, they can borrow my soldering iron.)
Labels: chumby, chumby guts, cool science, diy, geeky, make, makers faire, making

:: ewee 12:15:00 PM [+] :: 1 comments ::
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:: Sunday, May 04, 2008 ::

Maker!

I made it! The makers faire ran outta the minty usb kits so i tried this one instead. And it works! TVs beware :)
Labels: cool science, geeky, makers faire, photos, tv-b-gone

:: ewee 11:13:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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:: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 ::

cool science: heating a balloon
another random but cool find (with links to other neato science videos from here). a little video that shows you how you can put a balloon into a lit candle without having it pop! science is cool!

Labels: cool science, links, random

:: ewee 3:47:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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