The Useless Tree

Science

  • Confucius and the Pope

    The Catholic Church has released a new document, "Instructions Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions," that applies to a broad range of topics: In a resounding confirmation that the Catholic church's pro-life concern extends to the brave new world of… Continue reading

  • It’s Called Way…

    An article in Discover magazine (hat tip: Sullivan) reports on physicists thinking big thoughts.  Really big thoughts.  Like this: …Our universe may be but one of perhaps infinitely many universes in an inconceivably vast multi­verse. Most of those universes are… Continue reading

  • The Tao of Rachel Carson

    Time slips away….but I'm back now… On Friday I saw a one-woman play, a story based on the life of Rachel Carson, the great scientist-writer who is now seen by many as one of the founders of the modern environmentalist… Continue reading

  • Why is Glass Hard?

    I saw this story in today’s NYT, about scientists baffled by the nature of glass, and it sparked some Taoist thoughts.      First, I thought: a Taoist might not ask that question.  Glass is hard; it simply is.  As to… Continue reading

  • The Needham Question…..and the Chuang Tzu Answer

           Jonathan over at Frog in a Well has a post about the the "Needham Question," named for the great historian of Chinese science, Joseph Needham: Why didn't China develop theoretical science in the manner of early modern Europe? … Continue reading

  • The Tao of Neuroscience

        I’m not a big fan of David Brooks, but a friend brought today’s column, "Neural Buddhists," to my attention, and it seems right for a post here.     Brooks is thinking about the intersection of recent popular… Continue reading

  • This Just In: Confucius is Right

         Here’s an AP story: CHICAGO — Newsflash for rock stars and teenagers: It turns out everything doesn’t go downhill as we age _ the golden years really are golden. That’s according to eye-opening research that found the happiest… Continue reading

  • Way is Vast – More Vast than even the Best Scientists can Know

        About two weeks ago I did a post on synthetic biology, a term that struck me as ironic, if not fully oxymoronic.   The Taoist response came quite… naturally, dare I say.  Today there is something of a follow… Continue reading

  • Synthetic Biology

        I have drifted away from Taoism in recent weeks.  A trip to an election in another country will do that to you… But I saw a story in today’s NYT that had my Taoist antenna tingling: Scientists Take… Continue reading

  • More Taoist Cosmology

        A story today in the NYT describes some of the debates among physicists over the apparent order of the universe.  Is the seeming law-like "order" something that transcends space and time – something timeless and absolute – or… Continue reading