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srdfrench.bsky.social
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@srdfrench.bsky.social

Philosopher of science in a previous life, short story writer in this one and comics and music lover in both.

Steven Richard Douglas French is an emeritus professor of philosophy at University of Leeds.

Source: Wikipedia
Philosophy 36%
Physics 21%

Michel Janssen of the Univ. of Minnesota and Anthony Duncan of the Univ. of Pittsburgh have been awarded this year’s Abraham Pais Award for their two volume historical work, Constructing Quantum Mechanics. Very well deserved!

cse.umn.edu/physics/news...

#phys
#philsci
Janssen wins Abraham Pais Prize
Professor Michel Janssen of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in History of Science, Technology and Medicine has won the American Physical Society (APS) 2026 Abraham Pais Prize for H...
cse.umn.edu

Good for him!

Reposted by Steven French

More from the conference this past weekend - Chris Fuchs being sassy!

#philsky #philsci 🧪
You have been wondering about the argument for Bas van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism? In this paper forthcoming in the HOPOS journal, I provide some answers!
#philsci #hps
Maarten Van Dyck, Defending constructive empiricism - PhilPapers
Bas van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism has significantly shaped the debate on scientific realism. However, many commentators have been puzzled by the precise nature of the argument for this positi...
philpapers.org

Reposted by Steven French

Moments after the Big Bang, clusters of exotic particles could have collapsed to form bizarre objects called cannibal stars and boson stars. These could have then collapsed to form primordial black holes – say physicists at SISSA. 🧪⚛️ ow.ly/LLCJ50Xy7GN
Did cannibal stars and boson stars populate the early universe? – Physics World
Objects formed by exotic particles could have created primordial black holes
ow.ly
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

Reposted by Steven French

Another Budget, another attempt to pretend that endlessly frozen fuel duties will be raised at some point in the future

Reposted by Steven French

"The first complete translation of Albert Camus’s personal notebooks written between 1933 and 1959, published for the first time in one comprehensive volume."

HUGE NEWS.

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
The Complete Notebooks
The first complete translation of Albert Camus’s personal notebooks written between 1933 and 1959, published for the first time in one comprehensive volume.   Throughout his career, French writer and ...
press.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Steven French

Our Comic of the Week is Galactic #1 from @dstlry.bsky.social by @curtpires.bsky.social @amilcarpinna.bsky.social Lee Loughridge & @micahmyers.bsky.social - It’s ambitious, stylish, & unafraid to ask big questions about power, survival, and identity in the far reaches of space ^KB wp.me/p8WCuG-3Q3

Reposted by Steven French

Our newest, BLACK HOLE SCIENCE IS FILLED WITH APOLOGIES by @never.horse , is coming out in Jan, so we've reopened orders for all the little books! If you've been eyeing one/some of them, it's a great chance to mix and match 👀
ITCH: traumbooks.itch.io/the-little-b...
PAYHIP: payhip.com/b/EV3Kq

Reposted by Steven French

⚛️ After a long summer break, more physics stories.
Find previous ones in my timeline.

Houtermans and the Lifespan of the Sun

In the 1950s, Fritz Houtermans was sitting in a café in Bern with a colleague, explaining how long, according to his calculations, the sun will continue to shine.
1/2
You may be cool, but you'll never be as cool as these two cats wearing sunglasses in the window of an optician's Boulevard St Germain in 1925

Reposted by Steven French

Just accepted

The Unanimous Consent Approach to Value Management in Citizen Science
– Andrew Allison

Abstract in alt text or read it here:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

#philsci #philsky

Reposted by Steven French

The Editor in Chief of #HOPOS, Matthew J. Brown, sets out his vision for the future of the journal in a new #openaccess editorial. It is "part manifesto, part call for papers, part love letter to one of my favorite fields of study."

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

Reposted by Steven French

Good morning, while everyone is waiting for the budget to be announced it’s a good time to say that immigration is a source of prosperity for the UK and painting Britain as a hostile state is sabotaging the country. Thanks!

Reposted by Steven French

Voyager 1 is almost one light-day from Earth. The intrepid #spacecraft will cross a major distance milestone in November 2026 - 16.1 billion miles. #Voyager1 #lightday

Link for more information: www.popsci.com/science/voya...

Reposted by Steven French

When @masterreplicas.bsky.social announced Star Trek: The Starship Library, I obviously shared the news, but I hadn't planned on buying them. I'm not interested in 8-10cm replicas anymore. 😅

They sent them to me for review anyway, and... I had forgotten how cool this small format with a booklet is.

Reposted by Steven French

Become a Visiting Fellow or Postdoc!

Applications for 2026-27 now open for Visiting Fellows and Postdoctoral Fellows!

More info and application link is available on our website at https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/programs/overview/

#PhilosophyOfScience #ResearchFellowship #PostdocOpportunities

Reposted by Steven French

Attended this fantastic conference over the weekend to mark (~)100 years since the birth of quantum mechanics!

#philsky #philsci 🧪

Reposted by Steven French

New from the BJPS Review of Books

Fruitfulness: Science, Metaphor, and the Puzzle of Promise
– Chris Haufe

Reviewed by Samuel Schindler & Patrick Duerr

www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook...

#philsci #philsky
Chris Haufe, Fruitfulness | BJPS Review of Books
Samuel Schindler and Patrick Duerr review Fruitfulness, by Chris Haufe
www.thebsps.org

Reposted by Steven French

Unused energy from particle accelerators can be repurposed to produce medical isotopes like copper-67, supporting cancer diagnosis and treatment without disrupting core research activities. doi.org/hbcmjt
Particle accelerator waste could help produce cancer-fighting materials
Energy that would normally go to waste inside powerful particle accelerators could be used to create valuable medical isotopes, scientists have found.
phys.org
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.

🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.

This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com

Reposted by Steven French

Two of my favorite people :)

Reposted by Steven French

What an interesting choice of words

I seem to have something in my eye …

xkcd.com
Fifteen Years
xkcd.com

Reposted by Steven French

The European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ENPOSS) invites submissions to its 15th Conference at the University of Helsinki, 26-28 August 2026. More info here: enposs.eu
European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ENPOSS)
enposs.eu
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Star of The Harder They Come had hits including You Can Get It If You Really Want and I Can See Clearly Now
www.theguardian.com
My amazing friend and MetaMelb co-director @simine.com has won the 2025 Einstein Foundation Award! @unimelb.bsky.social @psychunimelb.bsky.social and @replicats.bsky.social are so lucky to have you

Reposted by Steven French

The OK Comics Pop-Up November SALE starts today (Monday 24th) at 11am.
In-store only. First come, first served. No reserving.
Everything is individually priced. Everything is limited.

OK Comics, 19 Thornton’s Arcade, Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6LQ