Mark writes:

“This tattoo is the Zermelo-Fraenkel with Choice axioms of set theory. These nine axioms are the basis for ZFC set theory, which is the most commonly studied form of set theory and the most well known set of axioms as well. From these nine axioms, one can derive all of mathematics. These provide the foundation of mathematics, a field that you can likely tell that I love dearly.”

Carl: Mark is making an encore appearance at the Emporium. See his Y combinator here…

Continue reading “Fitting the Foundations of Mathematics On One Arm” →

Just a quick note to say that, if all goes according to plan, I will be appearing on the Internets on bloggingheads tomorrow, and on the radio show Coast-to-Coast in the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning. In both cases I’ll be talking about–you guessed it–Microcosm. I’ll be swilling coffee Saturday night because I’ll be talking from 2 am to 5 1 to 2 am EST Sunday. If you’re not quite such a night owl, I believe they’ll archive it on their site.

A couple other Microcosm-related notes: Discover Magazine gives a nod: “With Microcosm, this award-winning science writer has turned out an illuminating biography of one of biology’s most influential–and underappreciated–players.”

Continue reading “Bloggingheads and Coast-to-Coast: Both Get A Serious Does Of E. coli Tomorrow!” →

At last we come to the fifth winning question about Microcosm, from Ceph. Once again, thanks to the ~240 people who entered the contest. I hope my answers to these five questions give you a sense of what my book’s about and why I’m so excited by this little germ. If you want to learn more about it, and about life, pick up a copy.

Ceph asks,

What is your favorite thing that has been done to E. coli (making it glow, smell like bananas, etc)?

My answer below…

Continue reading “Microcosm Winner #5: What’s Your Favorite E. coli Trick?” →

Here’s the fourth winning question about Microcosm, from Sigmund:

Creationists often point to the bacterial cell and say something to the effect of “the cell is so complicated it is highly improbable that it could have spontaneously formed – therefore God-did-it. Are there any particular features of E.coli that reveal simpler origins?

The answer below the fold…

Continue reading “Microcosm Winner #4: What Does E. coli Have to Say About Creationism?” →

Now we come to the third winning question about Microcosm. Kenatiod writes,

Long ago, in bacteriology class, the teacher (an ex-nun at an ex-Catholic college) was telling us about the type “F” pili that are used to pass DNA so coli can have sex. One of the students asked “Why do they call them type F?” The teacher started to answer, but stopped, and then she turned bright red. The class start laughing, and then she did as well, and then someone asked, “What other kinds of pili are there?” She pulled herself together, said “Thank you” and class continued.

Continue reading “Microcosm Winner #3: How Long Has E. coli Been So Sexy?” →