Become a Science Writer (was "increase my knowledge of science")

It may not materialize until the fall, though. Stay tuned.

Jordan just mentioned to me the other day. I can’t really believe that it will happen, but if it does, I think I might have a real first stab at this.

I just cannot stand Ira Flatow any longer. I tried to listen to four Science Fridays this afternoon on the way home and clicked through each one because he annoyed me so. He always sounds bored, ill-prepared, irritated, and as if he is not paying the slightest attention to what his guests are saying. Can I please have his job if he enjoys it so little?

1) I’ve started downloading Science-themed podcasts. I ought to be able to listen to at least two or three a week, on the way to work.

2) I’m going to borrow some basic college textbooks from the library and teach myself as much as I can. Biology first.

Went to a talk at the Museum of Science with Ross - heard the father of fractals, Mandelbrot! He is very old and entirely incomprehensible, but I think I understand fractals a little more now. In any case I tried. :)

I listen to radio programs, read articles and books, and above all, talk to Ross about C.S., physics, and mathematics. For me this is a very philosophical endeavour. Among other things, it helps me live less inside my head. ;-)

This is something that is increasingly important to me. I spent most of my school career being a Humanities snob, until I took a Neuroscience class in college, read some wonderful books, and discovered that I had been totally and utterly wrong about things. At the time it seemed like it was too late (and I was too devoted to the notion of being a dilettante) to switch majors, but I almost regret not getting a B.S. So I am determined to fill in the gaping holes in my knowledge. Ross is helping with computer science, there are books and lectures and M.I.T.’s OCW to help. “A Short History of Nearly Everything” is part of this goal, but I’m finding it goes too quickly in the audio version. I need to stare at these ideas and read them ten times sometimes before I understand them.