A recent paper by Davide Punzo et al. describes the importance of 3D software in analysing astronomical data sets, particularly neutral hydrogen. They do a good job of this. However, it also contains the statement :
"A recent development is the use of the open source software Blender for visualization of astronomical data (Kent, 2013; Taylor et al., 2014), but this application is more suitable for data presentation rather than interactive data analysis."
Let's just say I vented my, err, displeasure at this rather misleading statement quite loudly and privately to many and various colleagues. It was also the only mention of my work (which has taken 3 years and runs into 11,000 lines of code) in the whole paper.
So in the astro-ph article below, I redress the balance and give a full account of FRELLED. It can already do some of things Punzo et al. want HI viewers to be able to do. And so it should : unlike the software they reviewed, FRELLED was designed to view HI data. That's what it's for.
Anyway, this is already getting a very positive response, with invites to post this on Wolfang Burg's 3D Astrophysics blog which I wasn't aware of before, but looks very nice, and to the peer-reviewed journal Astronomy and Computing which Punzo et al. published in. Even Punzo admits :
"Thank you very much for the preview of your submission to astro-ph. We think it is a fair representation of FRELLED's capabilities, and advantages and shortcomings in the context of the criteria we mentioned in our paper. "
So unlike most "comment on" astro-ph articles I've been utterly unsuccessful in provoking a fight, but maybe that's for the best. :)
http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.04621
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Monday, 8 June 2015
"I'm not a scientist, but..."
Why Philosophy Matters for Science : A Worked Example
"Fox News host Chris Wallace pushed Republican presidential candidate to expand on his criticism of Pope Francis for talking about climate change.... “if he’s not a scientist, and, in fact, he does have a degree in chemistry, neither are you …So, I guess the question would be, if he shouldn’t talk about it, should you?” "
It's not often I agree with Fox "News" about anything, but I've been saying this for a while. The "I'm not a scientist" defence is fine provided you don't then express an opinion about scientific matters. You don't somehow magically become more qualified to have a scientific opinion by not being qualified. That's not how it works.
"To that Santorum essentially said that politicians have to talk about things they’re not experts in all the time so anything is fair game. ... And Santorum pushed back that fighting action on climate change is about defending American jobs."
Yes, politicians have to talk about things they're not experts in. But you wouldn't formulate a financial strategy without consulting the bankers. Rick, you're either saying that a) you're more qualified than the experts but non-experts shouldn't talk about science, which is self-contradictory, or b) you understand the scientific consensus but just don't care about it. Which is like saying that if a team of engineers have told you a dam is about to burst and flood a town, you don't need to evacuate that town.
At this point, Rick, I see no way to avoid labelling you as an idiot.
"At one point, Wallace notes that “somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of scientists” who have studied the issue agree. But Santorum is having none of it, calling it a “speculative science” and saying that he doesn’t believe anyone who is so sure of their facts. “Any time you hear a scientist say the science is settled, that’s political science, not real science, because no scientists in their right mind would say ever the science is settled.”
Yes Rick, I agree you shouldn't believe anyone who says an issue is settled. But perhaps you should believe everyone if they say an issue is settled. If a single engineer says the damn will burst, then perhaps you've got a problem or maybe you've just hired an incompetent engineer. If, however, 45 out of a team of 50 engineers say the dam will burst, treating that opinion as mere speculation is a recipe for disaster.
See also : http://astrorhysy.blogspot.cz/2014/09/quack-quack.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/07/fox_host_to_santorum_if_only_scientists_can_talk_climate_change_shouldn.html
"Fox News host Chris Wallace pushed Republican presidential candidate to expand on his criticism of Pope Francis for talking about climate change.... “if he’s not a scientist, and, in fact, he does have a degree in chemistry, neither are you …So, I guess the question would be, if he shouldn’t talk about it, should you?” "
It's not often I agree with Fox "News" about anything, but I've been saying this for a while. The "I'm not a scientist" defence is fine provided you don't then express an opinion about scientific matters. You don't somehow magically become more qualified to have a scientific opinion by not being qualified. That's not how it works.
"To that Santorum essentially said that politicians have to talk about things they’re not experts in all the time so anything is fair game. ... And Santorum pushed back that fighting action on climate change is about defending American jobs."
Yes, politicians have to talk about things they're not experts in. But you wouldn't formulate a financial strategy without consulting the bankers. Rick, you're either saying that a) you're more qualified than the experts but non-experts shouldn't talk about science, which is self-contradictory, or b) you understand the scientific consensus but just don't care about it. Which is like saying that if a team of engineers have told you a dam is about to burst and flood a town, you don't need to evacuate that town.
At this point, Rick, I see no way to avoid labelling you as an idiot.
"At one point, Wallace notes that “somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of scientists” who have studied the issue agree. But Santorum is having none of it, calling it a “speculative science” and saying that he doesn’t believe anyone who is so sure of their facts. “Any time you hear a scientist say the science is settled, that’s political science, not real science, because no scientists in their right mind would say ever the science is settled.”
Yes Rick, I agree you shouldn't believe anyone who says an issue is settled. But perhaps you should believe everyone if they say an issue is settled. If a single engineer says the damn will burst, then perhaps you've got a problem or maybe you've just hired an incompetent engineer. If, however, 45 out of a team of 50 engineers say the dam will burst, treating that opinion as mere speculation is a recipe for disaster.
See also : http://astrorhysy.blogspot.cz/2014/09/quack-quack.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/07/fox_host_to_santorum_if_only_scientists_can_talk_climate_change_shouldn.html
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Why Philosophy Matters for Science : A Worked Example "Fox News host Chris Wallace pushed Republican presidential candidate to expand...
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