Molecular Mechano-Electronics

June 21, 2010

Pulling on the ends of a cobalt complex that bridges an electrical junction (as illustrated) changes the geometry of the coordinating ligands, hence the energies of electronic spin states, hence (as it turns out) the low-temperature electrical resistance of the junction. The authors of the paper cited here look toward potential applications for devices that [...]

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Needless Megadeaths:
A Suggestion for Science in the Public Interest

June 16, 2010

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Inquiry in Engineering, Design in Science:
Completing the Matrix

June 7, 2010

The focus of science is inquiry, and the focus of engineering is design. Just as sensory and motor neurons run antiparallel through the structure of the body, so inquiry and design run antiparallel through the structure of knowledge. Eye and hand, perception and action, measuring and making, science seeking knowledge, engineering seeking function.
I’ve been exploring [...]

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Knowledge and causality in inquiry and design

June 3, 2010

The structure of science and engineering, a big mistake, and a book

See also: “The Antiparallel Structures of Science and Engineering”

An effect may have one possible cause, or many. The weight of a stone has a single cause, gravity, but the flight of a stone coming over a wall could have one of many [...]

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