This weekend I'll be attending the venerable PhilCon science fiction convention, at the Crowne Plaza hotel in scenic Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Here's my schedule of events:
Friday, November 18, 8:00 p.m., Plaza III: Utopias That Make Us Cringe — I'll be moderating a panel on utopian societies in science fiction that don't actually seem very utopian at all.
Saturday, November 19, 10:00 a.m., Executive Suite C: Taking Your Game from Concept to Creation — I join a distinguished group of panelists to discuss how to actually design and publish a game.
Saturday, 11:00 a.m., Crystal Ballroom Three: Writing For Aliens: Constructing Languages — This time I'll be the most obscure member of a powerhouse panel talking about alien communication.
Saturday, 3:00 p.m., Plaza II: Psionics: Where Did They Go? — A group of writers tackle the question of why psychic powers were once ubiquitous in science fiction and why that has changed.
Sunday, November 20, 12:00 noon, Plaza II: The Prehistory of SF — I'll be moderating a panel about early works going back to ancient Rome, in which we try to settle whether or not they were science fiction and how they influenced the field.
Jim,
While you may not consider Wikipedia wholly reliable (see part of entry below), there any number of other sources that will also verify that it was Roger and not Francis Bacon who is usually considered the father of the scientific method. I was so certain, having recently read parts of his Opus Majus. Darrell Schweitzer was certain because, well, he's Darrell Schweitzer
Richard Stout
Roger Bacon (c. 1214 – c. 1292), an English thinker and experimenter, is recognized by many to be the father of modern scientific method. His view that mathematics was essential to a correct understanding of natural philosophy was considered to be 400 years ahead of its time.[134]:2 He was viewed as "a lone genius proclaiming the truth about time," having correctly calculated the calendar[134]:3 His work in optics provided the platform on which Newton, Descartes, Huygens and others later transformed the science of light. Bacon's groundbreaking advances were due largely to his discovery that experimental science must be based on mathematics. (186–187) His works Opus Majus and De Speculis Comburentibus contain many "carefully drawn diagrams showing Bacon's meticulous investigations into the behavior of light."[134]:66 He gives detailed descriptions of systematic studies using prisms and measurements by which he shows how a rainbow functions.
Posted by: Richard Stout | 11/21/2016 at 02:22 PM