Monthly Archives: September 2009

Research Excellence Bullshit

Posted on September 24, 2009

So, there’s another consultation document on the Research Excellence Framework — “the new arrangements for the assessment and funding of research in UK higher education institutions that will replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)”. A wonderful document indeed, literate and … Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | 9 Comments

Schubert’s Piano Trios

Posted on September 23, 2009

I buy few new CDs these days, as I already have ridiculously many (and multiple recordings of most pieces that I really care about it). But I was driving home from my aged mother’s the other day, and the BBC … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Praise for Just and Weese!

Posted on September 18, 2009

From time to time I do get more than a bit critical here about books of one sort or another: so it’s good to give praise for once! Over the last couple of days I’ve been reading the first volume … Continue reading →

Posted in Logic | 3 Comments

Student evaluations

Posted on September 12, 2009

I remember, quite a few years ago, giving the same introductory logic course two years running, as far as I could tell doing as a good a job each time. But my student evaluations plummeted between one year and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | 13 Comments

Math logic reading list (updated)

Posted on September 8, 2009

I’ve spent the last couple of days reorganizing and rewriting the reading list for the Part II Math Logic paper (that’s a third year undergraduate paper for philosophers). It was a rather minimalist affair, and I’ve taken a step or … Continue reading →

Posted in Logic | 6 Comments

Congratulations to Thomas Forster

Posted on September 8, 2009

Another logic-seminar regular hits the big time! It is good to see that Thomas’s “The Iterative Conception of Set”, published last year in the new Review of Symbolic Logic was judged one of the ten best papers of 2008 by … Continue reading →

Posted in Logic | Leave a comment

Grumpy old man, #42

Posted on September 8, 2009

I think I’m turning into a grumpy old man … [Cue suppressed laughter off stage, murmurings of "Turning? Turning? Happened years ago", etc. But I shall ignore these scurrilous interruptions.] … and the latest cross-making irritation (especially galling for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | 1 Comment

School maths, from the distant past

Posted on September 2, 2009

I found myself yesterday in a small-town bookshop, kicking my heels for half an hour. Prompted by recent press discussion of the standard of A-levels (the UK 18+ end-of-high-school examination), I browsed through some books intended for A-level further maths … Continue reading →

Posted in This and that | 18 Comments