The Scientific Odyssey

The Scientific Odyssey Unscripted-The Muon g-2 Experiment Results

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this unscripted episode, we take a look at the announced results from the Muon g-2 experiment recently performed at the Fermi National Accelerator ...

Episode 1.10: Science, Pseudoscience, and Snake Oil

28 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A look at pseudosciences and their characteristics through the lenses of critical thinking and inquiry.

Episode 5.12: Boundaries of Empire

14 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we begin our exploration of the Chinese cartographic tradition.

Solstice 2020

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this special solstice episode fo the podcast, we embark on a winter journey through the writings of John Muir and David Henry Thoreau among others.

Episode 5.11: Itineraries

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we conclude our examination of cartography in the Roman Empire by looking at the development of itineraries and travel maps from the ...

Special Episode 1: Silverado Squatters-Part 1

28 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For many of the crew of the Scientific Odyssey, the next couple of weeks promises to be stressful with the coming US Presidential elections, a rising ...

The 200th Episode

26 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this anniversary celebration of our journey, we turn the canvas over to other voices to explore the intersection between inquiry in the sciences an...

Episode 1.9: Understanding Conspiracy Theories

26 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we look at applying the tools of good critical thinking and skepticism to analyzing conspiracy theories.

Episode 1.8: Barriers to Good Critical Thinking

18 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of our series on "Science as Inquiry" we look at those things that keep people from engaging in good critical thinking practices and h...

Episode 1.7: Characteristics of Good Critical Thinking

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"The fox knows many little things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."-Archilochus We trace this quote from the Archaic Greek poet through the work...

Episode 1.6: Introduction to Critical Thinking

01 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we broaden our focus to consider critical thinking in a more comprehensive way by looking at what it is, why its such a valuable habit...

Episode 5.10: Surveying an Empire

22 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One of the pillars of the Roman Republic and Empire was its ability to survey, divide, assign and tax land.  In this episode of the podcast, we look ...

The Scientific Odyssey Unscripted: The CoVID-19 Global Pandemic

17 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein your Navigator discusses the CoVID-19 virus, the global pandemic, how public health and public policy response is formulated, and how to engag...

Episode 5.9: All Roads Lead to Somewhere

02 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we trace the development of roads from their pre-historic roots (or routes) to the development of the massive arterial network of the...

The Scientific Odyssey Unscripted: Betelgeuse-Is He Going to Blow?

09 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Some recent media accounts have speculated that the red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion is about to explode in a cataclysmic supernova b...

Episode 5.8: Heaven and Earth

24 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we trace the development of Hellenistic geography from the work of Polybius, through Strabo, to its conclusion with Claudius Ptolemae...

Episode 5.7: How Big is Our World?

29 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we examine the development of a more empirically based geography in the Hellenistic period from the voyage of Pytheas to the map of Er...

Episode 5.6: Ocean Around a Wine-Darkened Sea

01 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Beginning with Homer's Iliad, we look at the development of Greek geographical models of the Earth through the Classical Period.

Episode 3.53: The Cassini Dynasty

27 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

For 220 years, the Cassini family was among the most powerful and influential scientific dynasties of Europe.  In we look at their work and lives in ...

Episode 5.5: The Centered Universe

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at cartography in the ancient cultures around the Mediterranean Basin with an eye to understanding the role and purpose of map...

Episode 5.4: Emerging From Connections

23 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We explore the connection between maps and other cultural ideas and technologies such as language, writing and time to see how the physical artifacts ...

Episode 5.3: Dead Reckoning

08 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we discuss the development and use of basic navigational tools and how they lead to map knowledge in ancient cultures.

Episode 5.2: Defining Space

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein we look at mapping as a human activity and begin our exploration of the evidence of the earliest maps known.

Episode 3.52: Interview with Todd Timberlake

14 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we interview Dr. Todd Timberlake about the book he co-authored with Dr. Paul Wallace: Finding Our Place in the Solar System, A Scienti...

Episode 5.1: Uncharted Waters

24 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein we prepare to once again slip our lines in search of new knowledge.  We discuss the effects of modern technologies and what is gained and los...

Episode 4.7: William Whewell-A Victorian Debate

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the years between 1840 and 1866, a debate took place between William Whewell and the philosopher and politician John Stuart Mill over the nature of...

Episode 4.6.1: Supplemental-William Whewell on the General Bearing of the Great Exhibition

26 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our 2018 Christmas episode: In 1851, Dr. William Whewell gave the inaugural lecture of a series reflecting on the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. ...

Episode 4.6: William Whewell-A Potent Life Forgotten

09 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

An examination of the scientific contributions of William Whewell through the early and middle parts of his career.

Episode 4.5: William Whewell-Leaving Home

19 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A look at the early life of the scholar and natural philosopher William Whewell.

Episode 4.4: Out of the Doldrums

06 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein the Navigator discusses the state of the podcast going forward.

Episode 4.3: Probability and Pragmatism

04 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we consider additional solutions to the Problem of Induction include those which rest on determining the certainty of inductively acqu...

Episode 4.2: Hypothetically Speaking

03 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we consider several possible solutions to Hume's Problem of Induction including William Whewell's description of scientific inquiry, t...

Episode 4.1: The Problem of Induction

15 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In our new Science and Certainty mini-series, we take a look at what is known as the Problem of Induction in the junction between epistemology and phi...

Episode 3.51: Epilogue, Finding our Place

02 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein we reach the end of our journey.

Episode 3.50.12: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, War and Peace

26 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In our final episode of the biographical series on Albert Einstein, we look at the last twenty years of his life in the United States.  We consider h...

Episode 3.50.11: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Coming to America

08 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Scientific Odyssey, we delve more deeply into Einstein's religious views and recap the months up to his emigration to the Unite...

Episode 3.50.10: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Politics and Exile

31 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1930, Albert Einstein wrote,  "I believe that the most important mission of the state is to protect the individual and to make it possible for him...

Episode 3.50.9: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Entanglement

23 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the words of physicist John Wheeler,  "In all the history of human thought, there is no greater dialogue than that which took place over the years...

Episode 3.50.8: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Price of Fame

14 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at Einstein's rise to international fame and what it cost him.

Episode 3.50.7: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Best and Worst of Times

07 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When Einstein moved to Berlin in 1914, he entered into a period of intense turmoil, both in his scientific work and in his personal life.  In this ep...

Episode 3.50.6: Supplemental-Einstein's Angels

12 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the period of Albert Einstein's life from 1905-1913 as he moved from one position to another on his rise among the European physi...

Episode 3.50.5: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Most Miraculous Year-Special Relativity

26 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the second half of 1905, Albert Einstein published tow papers that refined humanity's understanding of space and time as well as the relationship b...

Episode 3.50.4: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Most Miraculous Year-Light and Atoms

13 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1905, Albert Einstein published five papers that changed the course of physics and the modern world.  In this episode, we look at the first three ...

Episode 3.50.3: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Bourgeois Bohemian-Part 2

05 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this second part of our examination of Einstein's life before the Miracle Year of 1905, we examine the period between his graduation from the Zuric...

Episode 3.50.2: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Bourgeois Bohemian, Part 1

12 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1896, Albert Einstein enrolled in the teacher preparation program for physics and mathematics at the Zurich Polytechnic.  We look at the events th...

Episode 3.50.1: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Fine Young Swabian

05 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this first episode of our biographical series on Albert Einstein, we look at his childhood growing up in Munich and the various influences that wou...

Episode 3.49.3: Supplemental-Eddington and Chandrasekhar

29 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we look at the dispute between British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington and Indian prodigy Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar over white dwarf...

Episode 3.49.2: Supplemental-Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Seeker's Journey

25 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For A. S. Eddington, the most important thing a think ing person could do, whether they be a scientist or a person of faith, was to follow a path of i...

Episode 3.49.1: Supplemental-Arthur Stanley Eddington, Science and Faith

10 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we consider the question of whether a person can be both religious and a scientist by looking at the early life of the British Astroph...

Episode 3.49: The Present Puzzle

27 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In our final narrative episode of this series, we encounter the last piece of the cosmological puzzle-dark energy.  We look at the way in which is wa...

Episode 3.48: Matters Dark and Mysterious

22 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the work of Vera Rubin and Fritz Zwicky that led to the idea that roughly 85% of the matter in the universe can't be detected exc...

Episode 3.47: Very Big Questions About Really Small Things

14 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, several problems arose with the Big Bang Theory's attempt to explain certain aspects of the early universe.  In ...

Episode 3.46: Lurking in the Background

06 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Wherein we discuss the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.

Episode 3.45: The Stuff of Stars

29 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the work of a number of astrophysicists including Cecilia Payne, Arthur Eddington, Hans Bethe and Charles Critchfield, and Fred H...

Episode 3.44: The Big Bang Hypothesis

22 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1948, one of the most important papers in the history of science was published in the pages of the Physical Review.  In it, authors Ralph Alpher, ...

Episode 3.43.4-Supplemental-George Ellery Hale, Triumph and Breakdown

10 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In our third and final installment of the life of George Ellery Hale, we look at the establishment of the Mt. Wilson Observatory and his other endeavo...

Episode 3.43.3: Supplemental-George Ellery Hale-The Making of a Reputation

03 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the decade between 1890 and 1900, George Hale went from being a promising graduate of MIT to the world famous director of the Yerkes Observatory.  ...

Episode 3.43.2: Supplemental-George Ellery Hale, Rise of a Visionary

25 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we begin a biographical series on George Ellery hale by covering his life from his childhood in Chicago up through his graduation and marria...

Episode 3.43.1: Supplemental-Masters of Reflection

17 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The shift from astronomy to astrophysics necessitated the development of new tools of observation at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th cen...

Episode 3.43: An Expanding Universe

10 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1927 Fr. Georges Lemaitre published a paper in a little known Belgian scientific journal that described an expanding universe.  Two years later, M...

Episode 3.42: Relativity

03 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On November 25th of 1915, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his General Theory of Relativity that by its end had conclusively shown that the Vulcan...

Episode 3.41: Edwin Hubble and the Big Leap

27 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1925, the astronomer Henry Norris Russell read a paper at the 33rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society.  The paper, written by Edwin Hubb...

Episode 3.40: The Great Debate

21 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On April 26th of 1920, Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis presented talks on the idea of island universes to the National Academy of Sciences.  Held at ...

Episode 3.39: Harlow Shapley and Finding Our Place in the Galaxy

06 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1914, Harlow Shapley moved to work at the Mt. Wilson Observatory.  Over the course of five years, using the 60 inch reflector there, he observed t...

Episode 3.37.3: Supplemental-The Harvard Calculators, Cecilia Payne and the Stuff of Stars

30 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In our final episode of this mini-series on the women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory, we dive into the life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin...

Episode 3.38: Digression-For All Men, For All Time

24 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we take a look at the history of the development of the metric system out of the French Revolution.

Episode 3.37.2: Supplemental-The Harvard Calculators, Part 2

16 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Annie Jump Cannon and Henrietta Swan Leavitt would form the core of the calculation staff at the Harvard College Observatory for nearly two decades.  ...

Episode 3.37.1: Supplemental: The Harvard Calculators, Part 1

09 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part of a multi episode series, we look at the lives of two very different women.  Williamina Fleming and Antonia Maury both made signif...

Episode 3.37: Variable Stars and Leavitt's Law

02 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we take an in-depth look at the work done at the Harvard College Observatory on cataloging and classifying variable stars under the directio...

The Scientific Odyssey Unscripted: Weather Forecasting and the JPSS Program

25 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we take a look at weather forecasting after the Navigator's trip to Boulder, CO for the NASA Social event for the launch of the JPSS-1 polar...

Episode 3.36: The H-R Diagram

16 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the years between 1905 and 1911, the astronomer Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Russell Norris developed a way of representing the accumulating astrono...

Episode 3.35.1: Supplemental-The Doppler Effect

04 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, with the help of steampunk attired lady and gentleman bugs, we take a look at the Doppler effect.  We use water waves, sound and light to ...

Episode 3.35: By The Letter

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the spectral classification work of Antonia Maury and Annie Jump Cannon at the Harvard College Observatory.

Episode 3.34: The Harvard College Observatory

21 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode we look at the early work of the Harvard College Observatory under the direction of Edward Charles Pickering.  We discuss his ...

Episode 3.33: Seeing the Stars Anew

14 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When Kirchhoff and Bunsen unlocked elemental spectra, they opened a new avenue of astrophysical investigation.  This work work was originally done by...

Episode 3.32: Light and Spectra

07 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1861, Gustav Kirchhoff published the astonishing results that he could, merely by examining the light received from the Sun, determine what element...

Episode 3.31: To The Stars

30 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at the various methods to determine the distances to the stars including Christiaan Huygens' comparison method, Robert Hooke's...

Episode 3.30: False Gods

23 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we examine the fates of Phaeton, Vulcan and Pluto as they were thought of by Olbers, Le Verrier and Clyde Tombaugh.  We also examine ...

Episode 3.29.2: Supplemental-The Herschel Dynasty

16 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1782, William Herschel entered the service of his Royal Majesty, King George III of the United Kingdom.  Over the next 20 years, he, along with hi...

Episode 3.29.1: Supplemental-William Herschel and the Discovery of Uranus

09 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

William Herschel was a Hanoverian musician turned British astronomer.  In this episode we look at his journey from military band oboist to the court ...

Episode 3.29: Planet Hunters

02 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the work of William Herschel, Giuseppe Piazzi, Heinrich Olbers, Urbain Le Verrier, Alexis Bouvard and Johann Galle as they discov...

Episode 3.28: The Triumph of Mechanics

26 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Following the publication of Newton's Principia, the extended process of adoption began.  In this episode, we look at what barriers there were to New...

Episode 3.27.7: Supplemental-Edmond Halley-Gentleman Adventurer

19 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In our second episode devoted to the life and work of Edmond Halley, we recount his three voyages aboard the Paramour to create a map of magnetic vari...

Episode 3.27.6: Supplemental-Edmond Halley, Always in Motion

12 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the earlier career of astronomer, mathematician and natural philosopher Edmond Halley.  We look at the first part of his career ...

Episode 3.27.5: Supplemental-Isaac Newton, A Public Man

05 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we finally conclude our biographical sketch of Isaac Newton by looking at his life in the years following the publication of the Princ...

Scientific Odyssey Unscripted-The TRAPPIST Discovery

02 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

IN this impromptu and unscripted episode, I talk about the recent announcement of the discovery of severn earth-like world orbiting a nearby class M s...

Episode 3.27.4: Supplemental-Isaac Newton, Principia

26 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1687, Issac Newton, through the hard work and auspices of Edmund Halley, published the greatest scientific work of all time.  In this episode we e...

Episode 3.27.3: Supplemental-Isaac Newton, Magic and Heresy

12 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at Newton's work in the area of alchemy and examine his heretical religious views.

Episode 3.27.2: Supplemental-Isaac Newton, Conflict and Withdrawal

05 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at the emergence of Isaac Newton onto the public stage with the publication of his first work on Optics in the pages of the Ph...

Episode 3.27.1: Supplemental-Isaac Newton, The Miracle Years

29 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In part 1 of our multipart biography of the father of physics, we look at the life of Isaac Newton from his early years in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire t...

Episode 3.27: A New Physics

22 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at the work in mathematics and physics of Isaac Newton from his time at the University of Cambridge to the publication of the ...

Episode 3.26.1: Supplemental-Jesuit Astronomers and the Difficulty of Doing Science

15 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we consider the work of Jesuit astronomers across Europe and around the world before returning to a discussion of weighing the heliocentric ...

Episode 3.26: Setting the Stage

08 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we look at the work of four men who bridge the period between Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton: Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Rene Desc...

Episode 3.25: The Heresy of Galileo

01 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We examine the events leading up to the heresy conviction of Galileo Galilei in 1633.

Episode 3.24: Censuring Copernicus

26 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we look at the 25 months leading up to the Congregation of the Inquisition censuring the two propositions related to the work of Coper...

Episode 3.23.1: Supplemental-The Somnium

24 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the tradition of the Icelandic custom of Jolabokaflod, we read one of the earliest works of science fiction-Johannes Kepler's The Somnium. Break ou...

Episode 2.23: There's a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today

18 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part of a three episode series on the emerging conflict involving Galileo, the Aristotelian natural philosophers of the Italian universit...

Episode 3.22.1: Supplemental-Puy de Dome

11 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this supplemental episode, we look at the study of hydraulics related to pulling water up a pipe by Galileo Galilei.  This leads us to the develop...

Episode 3.22: Scientific Revolution-Matters of Fact

04 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In our third episode discussing the Scientific Revolution we look at the development of the linguistic device we call the fact from Latin legal ideas....

Episode 3.21: Scientific Revolution-The Mathematization of Nature

27 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at the development of the idea of mathematics as a way to represent reality through perspective painting and accounting.  We also d...