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Michael Barany

@mbarany.com

610 followers 560 following 750 posts

Historical and cultural theories about maths and science theories. Fields Medal killjoy. Scotland enjoyer. @mbarany on birdsite and @[email protected] on fediverse

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · Apr 17

I wrote a little essay in honor of my dad's retirement, "Reading Between the Lines in the Barany Lab" (open access) doi.org/10.1007/s109...

Reading Between the Lines in the Barany Lab: Lessons on Written and Unwritten Science and Mathematics - International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics

Purpose I reflect on my childhood experiences in the Barany Lab and connect them to several findings and themes from my subsequent career researching the history and culture of science and mathematics...

doi.org

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 9h

in other news I was not aware Claude Lévi-Strauss had his own shop

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 9h

building of the first newspaper to call the Fields Medal a Nobel Prize of mathematics (almost certainly a joke that went over the journalist’s head), now a starbucks

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 3h

here I’d expect to be told course packs are inaccessible, not screen reader friendly, expensive, bad for the environment, etc

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Benjamin Tausig @burrata.bsky.social · 3h

Reverting to blue books for writing
assignments and paper for exams seemed hard, until it wasn’t. That’s been my new standard for a while.

I see no reason why course packs would be different. There are still places to print things, including on campus. Obv class size matters, but generally …

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Cara L. Lewis @carallewis.bsky.social · 3h

I'm contemplating options for next semester. Tired of students not reading online PDFs (or not reading them well) and wary of increasing LMS surveillance. Trying to figure out what's doable without the infrastructure of the college town copy shop.

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Sharon Machlis @smachlis.bsky.social · 1d

This is a professor at Rutgers who teaches a class on the history of anti-fascism. He also teaches about human rights. He has received multiple death threats and been doxed. He is relocating to Europe for his safety. This is where we are in the US now. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 8h

Some would say it was foolhardy - maybe even deeply insensitive and cruel - to conduct a survey about a given university's 'Values' while a large section of its staff is in scope for redundancy.

'Still Employed' or 'Not Working Under Threat' are values, of course. Especially with Free Text options

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 8h

alternate universe where L-S theorised everyone was constantly MacGyvering

Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 8h

lol thought of tagging @nickseaver.website but then I thought nah he’ll see this, it has to be that way

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 9h

in other news I was not aware Claude Lévi-Strauss had his own shop

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 9h

building of the first newspaper to call the Fields Medal a Nobel Prize of mathematics (almost certainly a joke that went over the journalist’s head), now a starbucks

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Chad Topaz Queer DEI Race Traitor @chadtopaz.bsky.social · 2d

Happy Nobel week, when I will tally for you how many prizes go to white guys. Follow this thread! We’re kicking off with 1/3, possibly the lowest share I’ve seen. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”

www.nobelprize.org

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 13h

I assumed some people have funding and like to travel and this is a plausible/deniable means of funded travel, but just an assumption

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Nina Markl 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @ninamarkl.bsky.social · 13h

pals, does anyone know if the scam conferences we are all constantly invited to actually happen? has anyone tried risking the integrity of their devices and personal data to try and attend? is it just a website? or is there a real event happening?

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James Harland @jmharland.bsky.social · 17h

Interdisciplinarity is fun because it’s something job ads in humanities HE say they want but it often feels like it actively disqualifies you (in the sense of having degrees in, and published in leading journals of, multiple distinct disciplines). Everyone believes you’re not in their discipline.

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 1d

you mean the nous math

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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 1d

So many Australian colleagues put through a year of worries and uncertainty. All because Nous Consultancy only thrives on a scarcity narrative?

Bit if a reminder that those cuts can never be justified in pedagogical or academic term, whatever the spin.

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 3d

New analysis by The Australia Institute finds the Australian National University has a $90 million surplus, not a $142 million deficit!

The ANU’s hidden $90m budget surplus

New analysis by The Australia Institute reveals there is no financial crisis at the Australian National University.

australiainstitute.org.au

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 2d

to too for, theres a spectra

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Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 2d

Today I got told off by a new computational system at work as I tried to book a meeting room more than 23 days in advance and that is AGAINST POLICY even tho I have meetings in my diary booked years ahead, thus creating more work for me at a time we are all having to do “more with less”. K Thanks 👍

a man is sitting at a desk with a panda bear on his shoulders

ALT: a man is sitting at a desk with a panda bear on his shoulders

media.tenor.com

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susannah glickman @susglickman.bsky.social · 4d

have a new piece out that asks the question: is it good to run the pentagon like a private equity firm?

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 2d

FOR YE HAVE HIDDEN THE CHALK

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Nina Markl 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @ninamarkl.bsky.social · 2d

i don’t think resisting automation (of reading, writing, synthesising, evaluating, teaching etc) is enough to protect the idea and reality of universities but it really has to be an essential part of it

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 3d

✨ trusts in sciences ✨

Adia Benton @ethnography911.bsky.social · 3d

Which “science”? Trust is relational, dynamic and not singular in terms of its ‘security’ or status (perhaps it is constantly negotiated, transacted)? What is trust intended to mediate or facilitate?

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Jordan S. Carroll @jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 3d

if I hadn't included in this citation that the publisher was based in New York you'd be so lost right now

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Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 3d

and if a foreign adversary snuck into our pantry and rustled up a hearty stew we would probably consider it an act of hospitality, I suppose, in an equally meaningful hypothetical

“If a foreign adversary snuck into our Federal budget and cut science research and education the way we're cutting it ourselves — strategically undermining America's long-term health, wealth, and security — we would likely consider it an act of war." - Neil deGrasse Tyson