Chitosan, derived from the chitin in squid pen, has been used to produce proton-conducting transistors. (* memo sent to Doctor Who producer after the word was mispronounced on an episode)

For those of you who don’t know (and shame on you if you don’t), David Hilbert was one of the giants of 19th-20th century mathematics. Despite his very English-looking name, he was German by birth and by upbringing and lived almost his entire life in Königsberg and later Göttingen. Although Hilbert wrote instrumental papers in [...]

Norm Geras, whom I usually rely on to write thoughtful exercises in clear thinking, has let me down by praising a review by Marilynne Robinson. It’s not that I disagree with the point that attracted Geras to the review in the first place. Robinson was reviewing Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion for Harper’s, and she [...]