How to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit in your head
When I lived in the Netherlands, along with my attempts to learn Dutch I also tried to get used to thinking of temperatures in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Of course, I’d grown up with the formula $latex F = 1.8 C + 32$ for converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit, so in principle, anytime someone mentioned […]
The magnetism of language
It’s one of the great wonders of our universe that certain chemicals make electricity, and electricity makes magnetism, and magnetism makes things move. One of the classic experiments is to run an electric current through a wire to see the needle on a nearby compass swing around: I remember doing this experiment as a child, […]