It all started when Mike, a user of the social network X (formerly twitter), asked Professor Matt Strassler whether " Didn't Feynman say that because of QM, some photons go a little slower or faster than c? ". I entered the discussion by replying to Mike that the nonsensical statement was attributed to Andrey Grozin and that what Feynman had really said about the speed of light is that electrons always travel at that speed. Then Strassler replied me with a " Oops--- You mean 'photons'! :-) I think we all agree that Feynman never said that 'electrons' do that... " I reiterated that Feynman had said " electrons " and provided a snapshot of where Feynman said it (click on the image for zoom). Strassler's response to the above visual evidence was: " You're over-interpreting something here. For one thing, this is relativistic quantum mechanics, not quantum field theory, and the former is...

This is my first ePUB. I knew the existence of the format and little else. I do not read ePUBs, I prefer PDFs even on my phone. The ePUB format is based on (X)HTML and my first hurdle was converting LaTeX to HTML. I tried many converters: Pandoc, htlatex, make4ht, LaTeXML... and they all failed. For a complex file with 7237 LaTeX commands, the converters crashed and did not produce any output. These are examples of LaTeXML and make4ht crashing I am not alone in my adventure of trying to convert LaTeX to HTML, see Damien Desfontaines’ detailed round trip [1]. My approach has been different to him. MAKE4HT Since all the converters crashed with the more complex file, I tried a simpler file with 1076 LaTeX commands. Htlatex crashed again, but its cousin make4ht produced an output after reporting tons of errors The output was horrible. Low resolution images for equations, misalignment, only part of the block equations was converted to image and did no...

Engineering science is the discipline that synthesizes systems in an industrial environment, focusing on the general application of scientific principles to solve the complex problems posed by industry and society. Engineering science underpins all modern engineering practice. The term " engineering " derives from the Latin " ingeniare " which means " to devise ". Traditional main branches of engineering science include industrial and engineering chemistry. Some recent branches are engineering biology [1] and nanoengineering. The synthesis generally require a large number of steps, referred to as " unit operations " and " unit processes " in the engineering literature [2]. Many radical advances in modern engineering are only made possible by new materials designed by synthetic scientists to have the properties that engineers need. At the same time, engineering is fundamental to the design of new laboratory equipment. ...

Fundamental science is that part of the science devoted to the development and testing of the basic formalisms [1] and methods that would, in principle, apply to any system subject to scientific study [2]. The term "fundamental" derives from the late Latin " fundamentalis ", from Latin " fundamentum " meaning " primary, original, primary principles or rules ". Fundamental physics is a traditional example due to the generic nature of physics, and recent research in the social and behavioral sciences –for example, cognitive neuroscience– can also be considered fundamental [3]. Image by GarryKillian on Freepik Fundamental science provides a common basis for the development of the rest of scientific disciplines such as analytical, synthetic, or engineering, but it also depends on the technical advances provided by them. For instance, new sophisticated measurement instruments or ultrapure sub...

Descriptive science deals with the study of the properties and structure of systems. For composite systems, this includes the study of the components and their interrelationships to form the whole system. The term "descriptive" derives from the late Latin " descriptivus ", from Latin " descript- ", a past participle of " describere " meaning " write down, transcribe, copy, sketch " a representation or copy of the original. As an illustrative example, consider the part of geology that deals with the description of the interior structure of the Earth and its properties, such as the density, composition, radius, temperature, and speed of rotation of the inner core. Plant tissue systems – Image by brgfx on Freepik Descriptive science not only offers a summary of experimental facts and observations, but its goal includes explaining and understanding the real world by applying the t...

Synthetic science is related to the combination of two or more components to form a new system. This includes ( i ) the design and construction of new parts, devices, and complete systems, and ( ii ) the re-design of existing natural systems for useful purposes. The term " synthetic " derives from the Greek " sunthetikos " meaning " skilled in putting together ", based on " suntithenai " meaning " to put together ". A traditional discipline of this branch of science is synthetic organic chemistry. A recent discipline is synthetic biology, which has as one of its objectives the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found before in nature [1]. Image by Freepik Synthetic science provides systems for the development of other disciplines such as analytical, fundamental, or engineering science, but it also depends on the advances provided by those. For e...

Analytical science is the branch of science concerned with breaking down a system into components and with the identification and quantification of each component. The term " analysis " derives from the Greek " analusis " meaning " a dissolving ". The process of division of a physical, chemical, biological, geological or other system \( S \) can be formalized as \[ S \Longrightarrow a_1 S_1 + a_2 S_2 + \cdots \] where \( S_i \) denotes each component and \( a_i \) its quantity. Analytical scientists try to answer two basic questions: what do I have and how much of it do I have? The first question is answered by qualitative analysis, while quantitative analysis determines how much is present. Analytical chemistry, which studies the division of a given amount of chemical matter into chemical components, is a traditional example; another excellent example is analytical biology [1]. Robert Boyle prize for an...

Analysis is the process of dividing a whole down into components. In analysis of science we take science as the whole. The term "analysis" derives from the Greek "analusis" which means "a dissolving". The process of dividing science can be formalized as \[ \text{Science} \Longrightarrow \text{Component}_1 + \text{Component}_2 + \cdots \] Traditionally, science has been broken down, according to historical criteria, into disciplines such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, sociology... Some recent disciplines are cheminformatics and nanoscience [1]. However, the historical criteria are ambiguous and, consequently, traditional disciplines such as physics, biology, chemistry... overlap due to the absence of sharp boundaries. There are at least two reasons for this overlap: ( i ) the birth of a scientific discipline is not a process that occurs at a particular moment in time, but rather it is a continuous process that can spa...

Didactic methods are a type of scientific methods used for the dissemination of knowledge by teaching students. The term " didactic " derives from the Greek " didaskein " which means "to teach". The term " method " derives from the Greek " methodos ", composed of the terms " meta " meaning " beyond " and " hodos " meaning " way ". Examples of didactic methods include textbooks and lectures. Image by Freepik The net result of the didactic methods can be represented as the irreversible process \[ (T + K_T) + (S + K_S) \Longrightarrow (T' + K_T') + (S' + K_S') \] where \( T \) is the teacher, \( S \) is a student or students, and \( K_T \) and \( K_S \) their original knowledge, respectively. In the common case, both teacher and student are humans; however, the teacher can be a machine [1]. The intriguing possibility of robo...

An axiomatic system is a logical system consisting of the following elements: ( i ) a list of primitive terms, which can be shared with other axiomatic systems; ( ii ) a list of axioms, which are general statements –sometimes called postulates– that are accepted as valid throughout the scope of the axiomatic system; ( iii ) definitions of new terms based on previous terms; and ( iv ) a list of proven theorems that refer to the theory as a whole or to special cases. The term " axiom " derives from the Ancient Greek " ἀξίωμα " which means " a requisite " or " something self-evident ". Each of the classical subjects of physics was originally developed by direct induction from experimental observation. Inductive developments in mechanics later led to axiomatic reformulations that were more elegant, abstract, and concise. The Newtonian formulation of mechanics led to the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations. Other examples of axiomatized scientifi...

The heuristic methods are a type of scientific methods. The term heuristic derives from the Greek " heuriskein ", which means " to discover ". The term " method " derives from the Greek " methodos ", composed of the terms " meta ", which means " beyond ", and " hodos " meaning " way ". An example of heuristic methods is the consistency tests applied to guarantee that a hypotheses is internally consistent and in agreement with previous formalisms [1]. Heuristic methods are used for ( i ) the description, analysis, and synthesis of parts of the observable universe and their transformations, and ( ii ) the recording and organization of the acquired knowledge into testable formalisms and methods. Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik The net result of the heuristic methods is the generation of scientific knowledge, this is an irreversible process, which c...

Scientific methods are the systematic procedures and techniques used for ( i ) the description, analysis, and synthesis of parts of the observable universe and their transformations, ( ii ) the recording and organization of the acquired knowledge into testable formalisms and methods, and ( iii ) the dissemination of this knowledge. These methods have resulted in the technological leaps made by advanced societies. The term " method " derives from the Greek " methodos ", composed of the terms " meta ", which means " beyond ", and " hodos ", which means " way ". Scientific methods can be didactic –from the Greek " didaskein ", which means " to teach "– and heuristic –from the Greek " heuriskein " meaning " to discover "–. An example of didactic methods is lectures, while the consistency tests applied to ensure that a hypotheses is internally consistent and in acordance with previous formal...

Science is the enterprise that deals with ( i ) the description, analysis and synthesis of parts of the observable universe and its transformations, following systematic methods, ( ii ) the registration and organization of accumulated knowledge acquired in formalisms [1] and testable methods, and ( iii ) the dissemination of this knowledge. The term "science" derives from the Latin " scientia " which means " knowledge ". The main traditional branches of science include astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and sociology. Some recent branches are chemoinformatics and nanoscience [2]. Image by Freepik The vast majority of known science has been done by human scientists, but the intriguing possibility of robotic scientists has emerged very recently thanks to advances in artificial intelligence [3]. No distinction of the human or non-human nature of the scientist will be made here [4]. Sci...

In a recent Physics Today article [1], Katie Robertson wonders if the philosophical demons that haunt thermodynamics have been exorcised. She begins by stating that thermodynamics is a strange theory because although it is fundamental to our understanding of the world, it differs dramatically from other physical theories. I do not agree. First, thermodynamics is not a theory. Thermodynamics is a scientific discipline and, as in other sciences, we have theoretical, computational, and experimental flavors. Second, I do not know what she mean when she claims that thermodynamic theory differs dramatically from other physical theories. I do not find any fundamental difference with electrodynamics, with mechanics or with general relativity. In this newsletter, I will avoid "the bizarre philosophical implications" and focus on the scientific aspects. The "many oddities" that Robertson assigns to thermodynamics are actually oddities of statistical mechanics and, more speci...