I recently finished An Essay on Science and Narcissism by Bruno Lemaitre. I found this book really insightful and thought I would write some notes about it here. The book was published in 2016 although I only just got around to reading it. You can grab a copy for free here. There’s an abbreviated form […]
Category: reading
Papers for MD9A8 – 2022 edition
It is an annual event on quantixed to post the papers I have selected for what is now called MD9A8 (the module formerly known as MD997 Frontier Techniques and Research Skills in Biomedicine). Previous selections are grouped here. The list serves as a snapshot of interesting papers published in the previous 12 months or so. I hope it […]
Methods papers for MD997 – 2021 Edition
It is an annual event on quantixed to post the papers I have selected for MD997 Frontier Techniques and Research Skills in Biomedicine. Previous selections are grouped here. The deal is that each student picks a paper from the list and then uses it to write a “grant application” for a research project. They also […]
My Blank Pages VI: Programming in Igor Pro
It has been a long time since I wrote a book review. A few months ago I read on IgorExchange that Martin Schmid had written a book about programming Igor. I snapped up a copy. I’m a competent Igor programmer but I was hoping that this book would be useful for lab members that want […]
Inspiration Information: some book recommendations for kids
As with children’s toys and clothes, books aimed at children tend to be targeted in a gender-stereotyped way. This is a bit depressing. While books about princesses can be inspirational to young girls – if the protagonist decides to give it all up and have a career as a medic instead (the plot to Zog […]
Methods papers for MD997
I am now running a new module for masters students, MD997. The aim is to introduce the class to a range of advanced research methods and to get them to think about how to formulate their own research question(s). The module is built around a paper which is allocated in the first session. I had […]
Start Me Up: Endocytosis on demand
We have a new paper out. The title is New tools for ‘hot-wiring’ clathrin-mediated endocytosis with temporal and spatial precision. You can read it here. Cells have a plasma membrane which is the barrier between the cell’s interior and the outside world. In order to import material from outside, cells have a special process called […]
My Blank Pages V: Raw Data
Raw Data: A novel on Life in Science by Pernille Rørth (Springer, 2016) I was keen to read this “lab lit” novel written by renowned cell biologist Pernille Rørth. I’d seen lots of enthusiastic comments about the book, and it didn’t disappoint. I was frustrated to read two pieces about Raw Data on Retraction Watch and The Node, […]
My Blank Pages IV: Every Song Ever
Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty Ben Ratliff (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) A non-science book review for today’s post. This is a great read on “how to listen to music”. There have been hundreds of books published along these lines, the innovation here however is that we now […]
A Day In The Life III
This year #paperOTD (or paper of the day for any readers not on Twitter) did not go well for me. I’ve been busy with lots of things and I’m now reviewing more grants than last year because I am doing more committee work. This means I am finding less time to read one paper per day. […]