A standard piece of writing advice is to “write what you know.” The proverb probably explains why so many movies are about writers. It definitely covers the endless parade of TV shows focused on mid-life crises.
But occasionally, the person who takes up the advice knows something most others don’t. They have spent years learning and developing advanced knowledge in one or more scientific fields. While such research can be rewarding, the pull of creative writing can draw these brilliant minds out of the lab. Luckily for readers, the resulting stories can be as enriching as they are fun to read.
Here are five science fiction novels written by scientists. If an author is included on this list, they either held an academic position at a university, published extensively in a scientific field, or have been otherwise recognized by the scientific community.
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (1941)
The first law of science fiction may well be, “Any discussion of science fiction will eventually lead to somebody bringing up Asimov.” So we decided to start there.
Asimov was an extremely prolific writer. He wrote and ... Continue Reading »
In 1964, the German journalist Günter Gaus opened his interview with Hannah Arendt by asking about the experience of being a woman philosopher in a profession still largely shaped by men. But Arendt threw him off course straightaway. She objected, calmly but firmly, that she wasn’t a philosopher at all — that she didn’t belong to the circle of philosophers.
Gaus, visibly baffled, kept pressing. After all, Arendt was steeped in the German philosophical tradition. She had studied directly under Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, towering minds of the 20th century. She had authored celebrated works like The Origins of Totalitarianism and The Human Condition, books that pulsed with the intellectual energy of Socrates, Kant, Hegel, and Husserl. Why would a thinker so deeply rooted in that lineage disown the title so many believed she had earned, and instead call herself a political theorist? Yet Arendt held her ground and brought the exchange to a close with a single, unmistakable line: “I’ve said goodbye to philosophy once and for all.”
We know for a fact that Arendt’s rebellion against the title hasn’t ... Continue Reading »
I thoroughly enjoyed this recent episode of The Art of Quality, where my friend William Oliver sits down with Chris Mayer — author of 100 Baggers and one of the more thoughtful long-term investors out there.
Chris talks about what it actually feels like to hold a business for years, and why some of the best investment ideas don’t show up in headlines — they reveal themselves slowly, over time. His story about owning Brown & Brown since day one of his fund is a great example of how patience, attention, and deep curiosity can lead to surprising long-term outcomes.
This episode kicks off William’s new series on the “inner game” — the psychology and mindset behind building things that last. Highly recommend.
Key quote: “I always have this thought that there’s no substitute for ownership — for actually owning a business. You can study it all you want when you don’t own it. And think you know it, but it’s something different when you actually own it. Some kind of intangible quality kicks in. You’re committed. You pay closer attention. And over ... Continue Reading »
In our Universe, quantum transitions are the governing rule behind every nuclear, atomic, and molecular phenomenon. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, which could stably orbit the Sun at any distance if they possessed the right speed, the protons, neutrons, and electrons that make up all the conventional matter we know of can only bind together in a specific set of configurations. These possibilities, although numerous, are finite in number, as the quantum rules that govern electromagnetism and the nuclear forces restrict how atomic nuclei and the electrons that orbit them can arrange themselves.
In all the Universe, the most common atom of all is hydrogen, with just one proton and one electron. Wherever new stars form, hydrogen atoms become ionized, becoming neutral again if those free electrons can find their way back to a free proton. Although the electrons will typically cascade down the allowed energy levels into the ground state, that normally produces only a specific set of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. But more importantly, a special transition occurs in hydrogen that produces light of about the ... Continue Reading »
When you first meet someone, you are forced into the often tedious back-and-forth known as small talk. “How do you know Mark?” you ask, utterly uncaring for the answer. But the most common opening move in small talk, at least in many Western cultures, is the dreaded, “So, what do you do for a living?”
We tend to define ourselves by our work. In some ways, this is unsurprising; most people spend approximately one-third of their lives at work. But it’s also a touch depressing. After all, what does someone’s day job really tell you about who they are? A much better, and certainly more interesting, question would be, “So, what do you do in your leisure time?”
In this week’s Mini Philosophy interview, I spoke with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, the bestselling author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less. Soojung-Kim Pang is the founder of the 4 Day Week Studio and a vocal advocate for working less but doing more.
Here are four reasons why we should take rest more seriously.
1. It makes you better at your job
“I ... Continue Reading »
For the first half hour or so of Warfare, a new film based on the real-life experiences of American Navy SEALs who were ambushed during the Iraq War, the characters act like most soldiers we see on the big screen: methodical, in control, following protocol. Then Iraqi fighters open fire, and an EID (Improvised Explosion Device) traps the platoon inside a civilian home as the unseen enemy closes in. Control gives way to chaos. Soldiers scream in agony, begging for shots of morphine. The others turn to their commanding officer, played by Will Poulter, asking for orders.
Mere moments ago, Poulter’s character would have known exactly what to do. Now he just stands there, overwhelmed by stimuli too numerous to process.
Warfare’s creators — Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland — can relate to this predicament. Mendoza is a former SEAL, a veteran of the Iraq War turned military consultant for film and TV who took part in the very operation the film revolves around. Garland, for his part, is a veteran filmmaker, director of both small and big budgets hits, from 2014’s ... Continue Reading »
What’s the harm in a little white lie? What’s the harm in telling a story that’s more compelling, entertaining, or convincing than the actual truth? What’s the harm in exaggeration or hyperbole, or in attempting to persuade others of a position that’s contrary to reality?
Most of us do these things all the time, often for our own personal gain or to reduce our potential liability. We lie to our loved ones about our activities, seeking to not get into trouble for our actions. We discount robust, fact-based evidence that contradicts our preferred narratives and conclusions, while elevating and emphasizing stories that may not be true but that agree with our preconceptions. And if we’re seeking attention, empathy, the adulation of others, or to stir up strong feelings in our audience, we might make statements designed to arouse precisely those responses, without any regard for whether what we’re stating is truthful or not.
We often think that the opposite of the truth is a lie, but that’s not quite right. Instead, the opposite of being wedded to a fact-based, evidence-based reality, where ... Continue Reading »
The beginning of the space age is generally dated to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Sputnik probe in 1957. But that event was ten years behind a space age of the imagination that had begun on June 24, 1947. On that date, while searching for a downed plane between Chehalis and Yakima, Washington, private pilot Kenneth Arnold saw a group of nine disklike objects flying in the vicinity of Mount Rainier. He estimated their speed to be approximately 1,700 miles per hour, twice the air speed record for a jet plane at the time. Arnold compared their shape to that of a pie plate, but newspapers picked up a different term for their headlines, from Arnold’s comment that they moved “like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.”
The Associated Press picked up the story, which appeared in newspapers across the country. Other mysterious sightings preceded Arnold’s, but this was the moment when “flying saucers” became an American cultural phenomenon. Dozens of reported sightings followed throughout the summer of 1947.
Many witnesses reported these sightings to the ... Continue Reading »
One of the most unfortunate articles to ever appear in the New York Times fashion section is a “confirm or deny” interview that Maureen Dowd conducted with Peter Thiel in early 2017, during his stint on then president-elect Trump’s transition team. “You like Star Trek more than Star Wars,” she asked. “Deny,” he answered. “I like Star Wars way better. I’m a capitalist. Star Wars is the capitalist show. Star Trek is the communist one. There is no money in Star Trek because you just have the transporter machine that can make anything you need. The whole plot of Star Wars starts with Han Solo having this debt that he owes and so the plot in Star Wars is driven by money.”
Thiel’s reading of Star Wars is strange. It’s a stretch, at best, to say that the whole plot—even if we’re just looking at the first movie—is driven by Han Solo’s debt to Jabba the Hutt. Similarly, it’s a stretch to call Star Trek communist—and it’s interesting that Thiel doesn’t seem to like the idea of everyone having whatever they ... Continue Reading »
A standard piece of writing advice is to “write what you know.” The proverb probably explains why so many movies are about writers. It definitely covers the endless parade of TV shows focused on mid-life crises.
But occasionally, the person who takes up the advice knows something most others don’t. They have spent years learning and developing advanced knowledge in one or more scientific fields. While such research can be rewarding, the pull of creative writing can draw these brilliant minds out of the lab. Luckily for readers, the resulting stories can be as enriching as they are fun to read.
Here are five science fiction novels written by scientists. If an author is included on this list, they either held an academic position at a university, published extensively in a scientific field, or have been otherwise recognized by the scientific community.
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (1941)
The first law of science fiction may well be, “Any discussion of science fiction will eventually lead to somebody bringing up Asimov.” So we decided to start there.
Asimov was an extremely prolific writer. He wrote and ... 
In 1964, the German journalist Günter Gaus opened his interview with Hannah Arendt by asking about the experience of being a woman philosopher in a profession still largely shaped by men. But Arendt threw him off course straightaway. She objected, calmly but firmly, that she wasn’t a philosopher at all — that she didn’t belong to the circle of philosophers.
Gaus, visibly baffled, kept pressing. After all, Arendt was steeped in the German philosophical tradition. She had studied directly under Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, towering minds of the 20th century. She had authored celebrated works like The Origins of Totalitarianism and The Human Condition, books that pulsed with the intellectual energy of Socrates, Kant, Hegel, and Husserl. Why would a thinker so deeply rooted in that lineage disown the title so many believed she had earned, and instead call herself a political theorist? Yet Arendt held her ground and brought the exchange to a close with a single, unmistakable line: “I’ve said goodbye to philosophy once and for all.”
We know for a fact that Arendt’s rebellion against the title hasn’t ... 
I thoroughly enjoyed this recent episode of The Art of Quality, where my friend William Oliver sits down with Chris Mayer — author of 100 Baggers and one of the more thoughtful long-term investors out there.
Chris talks about what it actually feels like to hold a business for years, and why some of the best investment ideas don’t show up in headlines — they reveal themselves slowly, over time. His story about owning Brown & Brown since day one of his fund is a great example of how patience, attention, and deep curiosity can lead to surprising long-term outcomes.
This episode kicks off William’s new series on the “inner game” — the psychology and mindset behind building things that last. Highly recommend.
Key quote: “I always have this thought that there’s no substitute for ownership — for actually owning a business. You can study it all you want when you don’t own it. And think you know it, but it’s something different when you actually own it. Some kind of intangible quality kicks in. You’re committed. You pay closer attention. And over ... 
In our Universe, quantum transitions are the governing rule behind every nuclear, atomic, and molecular phenomenon. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, which could stably orbit the Sun at any distance if they possessed the right speed, the protons, neutrons, and electrons that make up all the conventional matter we know of can only bind together in a specific set of configurations. These possibilities, although numerous, are finite in number, as the quantum rules that govern electromagnetism and the nuclear forces restrict how atomic nuclei and the electrons that orbit them can arrange themselves.
In all the Universe, the most common atom of all is hydrogen, with just one proton and one electron. Wherever new stars form, hydrogen atoms become ionized, becoming neutral again if those free electrons can find their way back to a free proton. Although the electrons will typically cascade down the allowed energy levels into the ground state, that normally produces only a specific set of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. But more importantly, a special transition occurs in hydrogen that produces light of about the ... 
When you first meet someone, you are forced into the often tedious back-and-forth known as small talk. “How do you know Mark?” you ask, utterly uncaring for the answer. But the most common opening move in small talk, at least in many Western cultures, is the dreaded, “So, what do you do for a living?”
We tend to define ourselves by our work. In some ways, this is unsurprising; most people spend approximately one-third of their lives at work. But it’s also a touch depressing. After all, what does someone’s day job really tell you about who they are? A much better, and certainly more interesting, question would be, “So, what do you do in your leisure time?”
In this week’s Mini Philosophy interview, I spoke with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, the bestselling author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less. Soojung-Kim Pang is the founder of the 4 Day Week Studio and a vocal advocate for working less but doing more.
Here are four reasons why we should take rest more seriously.
1. It makes you better at your job
“I ... 
For the first half hour or so of Warfare, a new film based on the real-life experiences of American Navy SEALs who were ambushed during the Iraq War, the characters act like most soldiers we see on the big screen: methodical, in control, following protocol. Then Iraqi fighters open fire, and an EID (Improvised Explosion Device) traps the platoon inside a civilian home as the unseen enemy closes in. Control gives way to chaos. Soldiers scream in agony, begging for shots of morphine. The others turn to their commanding officer, played by Will Poulter, asking for orders.
Mere moments ago, Poulter’s character would have known exactly what to do. Now he just stands there, overwhelmed by stimuli too numerous to process.
Warfare’s creators — Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland — can relate to this predicament. Mendoza is a former SEAL, a veteran of the Iraq War turned military consultant for film and TV who took part in the very operation the film revolves around. Garland, for his part, is a veteran filmmaker, director of both small and big budgets hits, from 2014’s ... 
What’s the harm in a little white lie? What’s the harm in telling a story that’s more compelling, entertaining, or convincing than the actual truth? What’s the harm in exaggeration or hyperbole, or in attempting to persuade others of a position that’s contrary to reality?
Most of us do these things all the time, often for our own personal gain or to reduce our potential liability. We lie to our loved ones about our activities, seeking to not get into trouble for our actions. We discount robust, fact-based evidence that contradicts our preferred narratives and conclusions, while elevating and emphasizing stories that may not be true but that agree with our preconceptions. And if we’re seeking attention, empathy, the adulation of others, or to stir up strong feelings in our audience, we might make statements designed to arouse precisely those responses, without any regard for whether what we’re stating is truthful or not.
We often think that the opposite of the truth is a lie, but that’s not quite right. Instead, the opposite of being wedded to a fact-based, evidence-based reality, where ... 
The beginning of the space age is generally dated to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Sputnik probe in 1957. But that event was ten years behind a space age of the imagination that had begun on June 24, 1947. On that date, while searching for a downed plane between Chehalis and Yakima, Washington, private pilot Kenneth Arnold saw a group of nine disklike objects flying in the vicinity of Mount Rainier. He estimated their speed to be approximately 1,700 miles per hour, twice the air speed record for a jet plane at the time. Arnold compared their shape to that of a pie plate, but newspapers picked up a different term for their headlines, from Arnold’s comment that they moved “like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.”
The Associated Press picked up the story, which appeared in newspapers across the country. Other mysterious sightings preceded Arnold’s, but this was the moment when “flying saucers” became an American cultural phenomenon. Dozens of reported sightings followed throughout the summer of 1947.
Many witnesses reported these sightings to the ... 
One of the most unfortunate articles to ever appear in the New York Times fashion section is a “confirm or deny” interview that Maureen Dowd conducted with Peter Thiel in early 2017, during his stint on then president-elect Trump’s transition team. “You like Star Trek more than Star Wars,” she asked. “Deny,” he answered. “I like Star Wars way better. I’m a capitalist. Star Wars is the capitalist show. Star Trek is the communist one. There is no money in Star Trek because you just have the transporter machine that can make anything you need. The whole plot of Star Wars starts with Han Solo having this debt that he owes and so the plot in Star Wars is driven by money.”
Thiel’s reading of Star Wars is strange. It’s a stretch, at best, to say that the whole plot—even if we’re just looking at the first movie—is driven by Han Solo’s debt to Jabba the Hutt. Similarly, it’s a stretch to call Star Trek communist—and it’s interesting that Thiel doesn’t seem to like the idea of everyone having whatever they ...