The idea is in my head to put it down is nothing.

The idea is in my head to put it down is nothing.

For a smart material to be able to send out a more complex signal it needs to be nonlinear. If read more

For a smart material to be able to send out a more complex signal it needs to be nonlinear. If you hit a tuning fork twice as hard it will ring twice as loud but still at the same frequency. That's a linear response. If you hit a person twice as hard they're unlikely just to shout twice as loud. That property lets you learn more about the person than the tuning fork. - When Things Start to Think, 1999.

There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of read more

There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.

Through the magic of motion pictures, someone who's never left Peoria knows the softness of a Paris spring, the color read more

Through the magic of motion pictures, someone who's never left Peoria knows the softness of a Paris spring, the color of a Nile sunset, the sorts of vegetation one will find along the upper Amazon and that Big Ben has not yet gone digital.

What is more difficult, to think of an encampment on the moon or of Harlem rebuilt? Both are now within read more

What is more difficult, to think of an encampment on the moon or of Harlem rebuilt? Both are now within the reach of our resources. Both now depend upon human decision and human will.

The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are read more

The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are initiated into the mysteries. Communication then is secondary: it is perpetuation which is important. For this only one good reader is necessary.

We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.

We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.

The internet is a great way to get on the net.

The internet is a great way to get on the net.

The only thing you will ever be able to say in the so-called 'social' sciences is: "some do, some don't.".

The only thing you will ever be able to say in the so-called 'social' sciences is: "some do, some don't.".