When we think of great names in science, say Darwin, Einstein, or Curie, we mostly focus on their exceptional achievements, not necessarily on the persons themselves. But like everyone else, long before they became great names, they were children. What were the things that influenced them as they were growing up? As we know, children’s…
Science Tidbits
Science bits and pieces
A Tricky Business?
Years ago, I read in a science magazine somewhere that in order for someone to increase one’s probability of winning the Nobel Prize, one has to be 1) white, 2) male, and 3) belonging to the upper class. That was based on the demographic analysis of Nobel laureates in science and medicine awarded so far. There…
Moebius Transformation Revealed
I would just like to share this interesting video explaining Moebius Transformation. In geometry, a Moebius transformation is a function defined by F(z) = (az+b)/(cz+d), where z, a, b, c, d are complex numbers satisfying the condition that ad-bc ≠ 0. (See Moebius transformation in Wikipedia). In simpler terms, this transformation sends each point on a plane…
Poster or Oral?
Presentations in conferences are typically classified into oral or poster presentations. Obviously, oral presentations are reserved for those topics which are considered “hot” and of higher appeal to the intended audience. If you want to increase your signal-to-noise ratio (here, signal pertains your scientific work, in contrast to noise, which is what everyone else is talking about), oral presentation is the…
Scientists, Know Thy Hirsch Number!
The Hirsch number (otherwise known as the h-index) tries to quantify the (scientific) productivity of a scientist. The Hirsch number was first described by the physicist J.E. Hirsch in a 2005 PNAS paper: An index to quantify an individual?s scientific research output. Hirsch says: I propose the index h, defined as the number of papers…