“Above all, you must not fool yourself; and you are the easiest one to fool.” – Richard Feynman

What is a BMD?

A BMD is a Brave Maverick Doctor. Unfortunately, they are a prolific species: their pronouncements make great headline-fodder, and provide fuel for (often well-meaning) readers and listeners of anti-establishment leanings.

Note that I am not referring to publicity-hounds like Dr. Mehmet Oz or Dr. Joseph Mercola, who have all but given up even pretending to be real doctors while they pursue their visions of fame, glory, and riches. The true BMD is motivated by ego and reward (with perhaps an unhealthy dose of paranoia), conducts “experiments” with real patients, and remains convinced, despite all evidence, that he (she) has found the one true answer to a perplexing medical question, usually one of enormous public health significance.

The BMD believes that the “rest of the medical profession” is in the pay of Big Pharma, has been brainwashed by the AMA, lacks the imagination to recognize true genius, or simply runs on institutional inertia without bothering to question.

Herewith, a few of the most infamous (and dangerous to the public) BMD’s: Continue reading “Beware the BMD!”

We all (OK not all, just the geeks among us) remember how excited we were in 2015, when the date March 14 became 3/14/15, which is the first five digits of π (the ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference, among other things). Pi day! We had chicken pie for dinner ¹ and apple pie for dessert!

As cool as pi day was, 2018 will bring us two such excellent days: φ day and e day! ²

Continue reading “2018 will be a banner year for numbers!”

“To do mathematics, one needs a pencil, paper, and a wastebasket. Do do philosophy, the pencil and paper will suffice.” – Author unknown

In school, we were all taught about the “scientific method”, wherein an idea (hypothesis) is tested by experiment. The hypothesis is invalidated by any single failure, whereas a successful experiment does not necessarily validate the hypothesis. Yes, this is important to science, but this is merely one part of the “toolbox”, just as an instrument is only one part of making music. Continue reading “What is science?”

Welcome to Doctor Robert’s blog! I hope that this blog will be entertaining and informative, but never misleading.  I can dream.

About the photograph

The cover photo ¹ is Voltaire’s home in Ferney (now Ferney-Voltaire), France, outside Geneva. François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778) wrote under the name Voltaire, reportedly because it seemed more edgy. As is often true with intelligent and outspoken young people, he frequently found himself on the wrong side of authority, resulting in a two and one-half year exile to London, and eleven months in the Bastille. By the time he died, he was revered throughout all of Europe, had been close friends with Frederick the Great and Benjamin Franklin, and had written books and letters that fill entire wings of modern libraries.

Voltaire lived in Ferney from 1758 until just before his death in 1778. Voltaire, though a deist ² , was antagonistic toward organized religion, and never hesitated to make his views known; it has been said that he chose Ferney so that if the French Catholics came for him, he could duck over the border into Geneva; if the Swiss Calvinists were on his case, he could scoot back to the French side! Despite his views on religion, he had a chapel built in Ferney for his friends and neighbors; it is for this, and similar reasons, that he is referred to as the Patriarch, and the town was re-named for him.

I will probably devote a post to Voltaire sometime in the future.

I especially like the open door in the picture.

About the blogger

Doctor Robert ³ is a father, a family practice doctor in rural New Mexico, and a performing musician. He has been a construction worker (journeyman electrician, framer, and inept plumber), car mechanic and sound tech; has appeared in a few musicals; and spends far too much time commuting to rural clinic sites (in other words, has Too Much Time On His Hands). ⁴ Despite having a head full of useless knowledge, he failed to make the first cut to be on Jeopardy!.

About the blog

Content-wise, the blog will mostly address scientific topics (including the Queen of Sciences, math), with forays into music, linguistics, medicine (of course), and whatever else strikes my fancy. I will avoid politics like the plague.⁵ Comments will always be welcome, as long as they are reasonably polite! And just who will decide that?

Who do you suppose?

Future posts may include:

• What is science?
• Yes, Pi day 2015 (3/14/15) was cool, but 2018 will be twice as cool
• How did knowing “units” (ie meters, seconds etc) help me pass the MCAT?
• My objections to libertarianism

I will add new posts as they happen, hopefully weekly.

Comments welcome! Please share widely!