Blogger: Luboš Motl
URL: motls.blogspot.com
First post: September 2004
Who is the blog written by?
Luboš Motl is a string theorist who until recently was an assistant professor at Harvard University in the US. In July he announced that he would be leaving academia and returning to his native Czech Republic. He has not yet revealed what he will be doing next.
What topics does the blog cover?
String theory and responses to criticisms of it feature heavily; but as a self-described “conservative physicist”, Motl also has a lot to say about politics. He is a fervent critic of the idea that humans have caused climate change and attempts to back this up with frequent posts containing graphs and analysis. He was also one of few scientist bloggers to support former Harvard University president Lawrence Summers, who had controversially suggested that innate differences between the sexes might be one reason that fewer women succeed in science.
Who is it aimed at?
Motl’s posts on string theory are certainly not targeted at the general public or even at physicists outside the field, laden as they are with equations and jargon. However, his acerbic political rants are intended for a wider audience, often concluding with the sign-off “And that’s the memo” in the style of Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly.
Why should I read it?
Love him or loathe him, Motl appears to fascinate the physics blogosphere. He makes frequent appearances in the posts and comments on other blogs, particularly those that deal with string theory. The animosity between Motl and anti-string-theory blogger Peter Woit is legendary, with Motl even blocking surfers accessing his site from Woit’s Not Even Wrong (see “Blog life: Not Even Wrong”).
How often is it updated?
Usually more than once a day and at some length, leading some to wonder how Motl finds the time.
Can you give me a sample quote?
“Just like in most cases, the discussions below Sean’s and Peter’s new articles [on string theory] are discussions among uninformed outsiders — who are convinced how terribly nice and smart they are, the kind of folks that Feynman used to call pompous fools. In these discussions, a third is composed of attacks against string theory, a third is made out of attacks against the rational thinking in general, and a third is represented by attacks against Luboš Motl who is quite clearly the only representative of all the evil from the previous two thirds.”
