Robert P. Crease

1 week ago | physicsworld.com | Robert P. Crease

A quarter of a century after he started writing his “Critical Point” column, Robert P Crease reveals his underlying message A quarter of a century ago, in May 2000, I published an article entitled “Why science thrives on criticism”. The article, which ran to slightly over a page in Physics World magazine, was the first in a series of columns called Critical Point. Periodicals, I said, have art and music critics as well as sports and political commentators, and book and theatre reviewers too....

1 month ago | physicsworld.com | Robert P. Crease

Robert P Crease visits the High Energy Photon Source near Beijing, which will be – when it opens later this year – the most advanced fourth-generation synchrotron-light source I’m standing next to Yang Fugui in front of the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) in Beijing’s Huairou District about 50 km north of the centre of the Chinese capital. The HEPS isn’t just another synchrotron light source. It will, when it opens later this year, be the world’s most advanced facility of its type....

1 month ago | physicsworld.com | Robert P. Crease

Robert P Crease reports from the Stand Up for Science demonstration in New York on 7 March 2025 The Stand Up for Science demonstration at Washington Square Park in New York City on Friday 7 March 2025 had the most qualified speakers, angriest participants and wickedest signs of any protest I can remember. Raucous, diverse and loud, it was held in the shadow of looming massive cuts to key US scientific agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation...

2 months ago | physicsworld.com | Robert P. Crease

The mathematical physicist Freeman Dyson once saw scientists as rebels, fighting other academics who don’t respect them.

Jan 22, 2025 | physicsworld.com | Robert P. Crease

People often respond to scientific findings by invoking “stories” of dubious truth.