Skip to content

The Icarus Question

Come for the science, stay for the stories. Because we need both.

  • Home
  • About
  • Book
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use
March 26, 2019 memoir / opinion / science / society / technology

The children of Apollo

Rockets are dreams made into fuel and fire. And if we forget to dream, or if we only dream other dreams, we will lose the sky. (2200 words)

March 15, 2019 opinion / society / universities

We need new stories of the 21st-century university.

For many, our dreaming spires have turned into the stuff of nightmares. Where have things gone wrong? (1400 words)

March 8, 2019 books / memoir / movies / opinion / publications

A return volley

Science fiction — at its best — is always about what it means to be human. (2100 words)

March 4, 2019 astronomy / physics / technology

In praise of astonishment

Does our love of the new and strange, both in literature and science, flow from the same wellspring? On the restorative power of surprise. (900 words)

February 22, 2019 movies / opinion

They shall not grow old

A few thoughts, prompted by the film. (800 words)

February 18, 2019 opinion / physics

We are all the Tin Woodman

In what sense are we the same person today as yesterday? (2200 words)

January 23, 2019 climate / opinion / society

Can we create a climate for hope? Try a reboot

How can we sail against the climate headwinds currently blowing out of Washington? It can help to remind ourselves there are always countercurrents beneath the surface. (1200 words)

January 15, 2019 astronomy / history of science / long form / society

The weightlessness of knowledge

Does the citizen scientist have a long term future? It depends on the future of both the citizen and the scientist. (4000 words)

January 1, 2019 rough cuts / society / technology

Racing with drones and dancing with robots

How can we tell a new technology has become humanized? When we begin to play with it. (800 words + videos; approx. 30 mins. reading/viewing)

May 17, 2018 astronomy / history of science / long form / philosophy of science / physics / publications

Learning to see [Aeon, American Scientist]

One astronomer’s dimpled pie is another’s cratered moon. How can our mind’s eye learn to see the new and unexpected? (3900 words)

Posts navigation

«Previous Posts 1 2 3 Next Posts»

Categories

  • astronomy (6)
  • books (1)
  • climate (7)
  • history of science (5)
  • long form (6)
  • memoir (4)
  • movies (2)
  • opinion (15)
  • philosophy of science (3)
  • physics (4)
  • publications (5)
  • rough cuts (1)
  • science (4)
  • society (15)
  • technology (9)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • universities (2)
Follow The Icarus Question on WordPress.com

Sign up for postings:

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2019 Eugene R. Tracy. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.

Website Powered by WordPress.com.
Cancel