Comments for Mary Mulvihill http://marymulvihill.net Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:21:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ Comment on No scientists on RTE’s greatest Irish shortlist?? by marymulv http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/22/no-scientists-on-rtes-greatest-irish-shortlist/#comment-585 marymulv Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:21:56 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=577#comment-585 Thanks John -- I had just been thinking of King yesterday, as June 10 is the anniversary of the day in 1865 when he and Rowney first presented their ideas on eozoon, and I nearly tweeted the anniversary over at @ingeniousie. Interesting that he should be celebrated in Milan. In fairness, we should admit that King was English . . . but your point is well taken. Mary Thanks John — I had just been thinking of King yesterday, as June 10 is the anniversary of the day in 1865 when he and Rowney first presented their ideas on eozoon, and I nearly tweeted the anniversary over at @ingeniousie.

Interesting that he should be celebrated in Milan. In fairness, we should admit that King was English . . . but your point is well taken.

Mary

]]> Comment on No scientists on RTE’s greatest Irish shortlist?? by John Murray http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/22/no-scientists-on-rtes-greatest-irish-shortlist/#comment-584 John Murray Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:42:02 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=577#comment-584 Its probably a little late for this, but I would suggest William King, Prof of Geology at Queens College Galway (now NUI Galway) in the mid 19th Century. Why King? Well he described and coined the term Homo neanderthalensis based on a plastercast of the famous Neander 1 cranium discovered in the Neander Valley in Germany. This was in 1864, five years after the publication of Darwin's Origin. At the time, many of the leading anatomists of europe tried to explain the skull as some sort of deformed individual. King remains (to this day) the first scientist EVER to successfully name a new species of human. Given the amount of religious superstition and dogma which prevailed at that time, this is nothing short of a remarkable achievement and it marks a turning point in scientists view of humans in the context of the natural world. King is really, very poorly known and celebrated in Ireland. On a recent trip to the the Natural History Museum in Milan, I noticed the Italians saw fit to put a picture of him up in the display of neanderthal material. Its probably a little late for this, but I would suggest William King, Prof of Geology at Queens College Galway (now NUI Galway) in the mid 19th Century.

Why King? Well he described and coined the term Homo neanderthalensis based on a plastercast of the famous Neander 1 cranium discovered in the Neander Valley in Germany. This was in 1864, five years after the publication of Darwin’s Origin. At the time, many of the leading anatomists of europe tried to explain the skull as some sort of deformed individual. King remains (to this day) the first scientist EVER to successfully name a new species of human. Given the amount of religious superstition and dogma which prevailed at that time, this is nothing short of a remarkable achievement and it marks a turning point in scientists view of humans in the context of the natural world.

King is really, very poorly known and celebrated in Ireland. On a recent trip to the the Natural History Museum in Milan, I noticed the Italians saw fit to put a picture of him up in the display of neanderthal material.

]]> Comment on No scientists on RTE’s greatest Irish shortlist?? by Humphrey Jones http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/22/no-scientists-on-rtes-greatest-irish-shortlist/#comment-494 Humphrey Jones Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:29:59 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=577#comment-494 I agree with "science writer" to a an extent, that we are responsible for changing the public's mind and teaching people about Ireland's scientist, but RTÉ also have a responsibility to ensure a proper variety in "Ireland's Greatest". Their campaign has proved a complete flop with a lack of interest in their public vote. They should also have never allowed people vote on a group of 40 people when it didn't reflect a wide range of areas and was flooded with popular minor celebrities! Most of the people that have contributed comments to this post are in the business of promoting science, and should continue to do so, while hoping RTÉ change their policy on ignoring science and science history. When you see how the BBC invest so much in scientific and natural history programming, RTÉ's poor attempt is even more obvious. Well done Mary on highlighting RTÉ's ignorance. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there who will commission a programme on Ireland's Greatest Scientists for RTÉ in the future! I agree with “science writer” to a an extent, that we are responsible for changing the public’s mind and teaching people about Ireland’s scientist, but RTÉ also have a responsibility to ensure a proper variety in “Ireland’s Greatest”. Their campaign has proved a complete flop with a lack of interest in their public vote. They should also have never allowed people vote on a group of 40 people when it didn’t reflect a wide range of areas and was flooded with popular minor celebrities! Most of the people that have contributed comments to this post are in the business of promoting science, and should continue to do so, while hoping RTÉ change their policy on ignoring science and science history. When you see how the BBC invest so much in scientific and natural history programming, RTÉ’s poor attempt is even more obvious. Well done Mary on highlighting RTÉ’s ignorance. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there who will commission a programme on Ireland’s Greatest Scientists for RTÉ in the future!

]]> Comment on No scientists on RTE’s greatest Irish shortlist?? by Ireland’s Greatest People of All Time - Bock The Robber http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/22/no-scientists-on-rtes-greatest-irish-shortlist/#comment-490 Ireland’s Greatest People of All Time - Bock The Robber Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:10:40 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=577#comment-490 [...] Mary Mulvihill [...] [...] Mary Mulvihill [...]

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by Ignite Dublin http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-488 Ignite Dublin Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:22:00 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-488 Thanks for the write up Mary; I thought Brian was brilliant, all the Ignite Dublin 3 speakers were. The videos are at http://www.youtube.com/user/IgniteDublin#g/f I thought I better write to say that we aren't trying to make Ignite Dublin a monthly event; we are hoping to do about four a year. We are having two close together this time because we decided to do one in cooperation with the Long Room Hub for Trinity Week. That has given us access to some great Arts/Humanities speakers, including the environmental historian Poul Holm, which is exciting. As for the comparison with TED, we like to think of Ignite as a complementary rather than a rival format. Conor Thanks for the write up Mary; I thought Brian was brilliant, all the Ignite Dublin 3 speakers were. The videos are at

http://www.youtube.com/user/IgniteDublin#g/f

I thought I better write to say that we aren’t trying to make Ignite Dublin a monthly event; we are hoping to do about four a year. We are having two close together this time because we decided to do one in cooperation with the Long Room Hub for Trinity Week. That has given us access to some great Arts/Humanities speakers, including the environmental historian Poul Holm, which is exciting.

As for the comparison with TED, we like to think of Ignite as a complementary rather than a rival format.

Conor

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by marymulv http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-484 marymulv Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:50:33 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-484 Eoin, The Ignite format (and its cousin, Pecha Kucha) is not without its drawbacks, and challenges. My own preference is for 20-minute talks, that being what most people's attention span will tolerate. (which is why, if you're giving a 45 minute presentation, it's good to structure it in two halves) For some excellent examples of 20-minute presentations take a look at: http://www.ted.com/ Mary Eoin,

The Ignite format (and its cousin, Pecha Kucha) is not without its drawbacks, and challenges.

My own preference is for 20-minute talks, that being what most people’s attention span will tolerate. (which is why, if you’re giving a 45 minute presentation, it’s good to structure it in two halves)

For some excellent examples of 20-minute presentations take a look at:
http://www.ted.com/

Mary

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by ScienceWriter http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-483 ScienceWriter Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:03:00 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-483 I've just stumbled upon this Ignite format, and must say it's very impressive. There's nothing worse than sitting through a 45-minute presentation when 5 minutes would do. It would be great to see an event like this spread around the country. Mark Conguista's Death By Bullet Point (see original post) is well worth a look. I’ve just stumbled upon this Ignite format, and must say it’s very impressive. There’s nothing worse than sitting through a 45-minute presentation when 5 minutes would do.
It would be great to see an event like this spread around the country.
Mark Conguista’s Death By Bullet Point (see original post) is well worth a look.

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by Symmetry, Antimatter and the Lhc Mary Mulvihill http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-480 Symmetry, Antimatter and the Lhc Mary Mulvihill Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:50:29 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-480 [...] So I was sceptical when my resident quantum mechanic announced that he would attempt to explain symmetry, antimatter, Dirac’s equation and the LHC’s search for the Higgs particle. It took a huge amount of work, yet I think he pulled it …More Here [...] [...] So I was sceptical when my resident quantum mechanic announced that he would attempt to explain symmetry, antimatter, Dirac’s equation and the LHC’s search for the Higgs particle. It took a huge amount of work, yet I think he pulled it …More Here [...]

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC | Journalist.ie http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-477 Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC | Journalist.ie Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:25:40 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-477 [...] From Mary Mulvihill » Communicating science: [...] [...] From Mary Mulvihill » Communicating science: [...]

]]> Comment on Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC by Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC | Journalist.ie http://marymulvihill.net/2010/03/30/symmetry-antimatter-and-the-lhc/#comment-476 Symmetry, antimatter and the LHC | Journalist.ie Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:34:53 +0000 http://marymulvihill.net/?p=597#comment-476 [...] From Mary Mulvihill: [...] [...] From Mary Mulvihill: [...]

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