Books
Books that I have written.
Media Appearances
Podcasts and Videos in which I have appeared or which I have created.
pyndamics3
Dynamical systems simulation in Python. Includes both continuous and stochastic simulation.
Stats for Everyone
An introductory stats book from a Bayesian perspective, including Python software.
I am a Scientist, Skeptic, and Professor at Bryant University. My goal is to make technical subject matters widely accessible and to use my analytical and computational skills to assist anyone with their science-related problems.
Blog
Did Christians steal Christmas? - 22 December 2007
As part of the Unbelievable Project, I am taking notes and "arm-chair" responding to each of the Unbelievable podcast episodes satisfying a set of simple rules.
See here for a …
#Unbelievable Project
Unbelievable Project: Did Jesus Exist? Bart Ehrman Q&A - 18 August 2012
As part of the Unbelievable Project, I am taking notes and "arm-chair" responding to each of the Unbelievable podcast episodes satisfying a set of simple rules.
See here for a …
#Unbelievable Project
Properly Basic Obscurantism
I was listening to a debate about the irrationality of theism, and the theist, Randall Rauser introduced me to a concept in philosophy that I had not heard of: properly …
#articles
Physics and the Flash Mind Reader
While preparing for physics class, I found this gem: the Flash Mind Reader! So, here is a simple website which claims to read your mind. This is a pretty extraordinary …
#articles
Philosophy and Science - What's the Difference?
In a discussion on The Limits Of Science with Lawrence Krass, Dan Dennett, and Massimo Pigliucci, there is much haggling over the relationship between science and philosophy. Although I think …
#articles
Chess, Morality, and Well-Being
In a discussion on The Limits Of Science with Lawrence Krass, Dan Dennett, and Massimo Pigliucci, Dan Dennett makes an analogy with chess (and its rules) to morality. The analogy …
#articles
The Cover Art for Statistical Inference for Everyone (sie)
The cover art for my book, Statistical Inference for Everyone, is something created by me and I'd like to explain my design. We have a picture of Saturn, taken by …
#projects
Statistical Inference for Everyone - Book Announcement
For anyone interested in statistical inference or probability, you should check out my new book (released under the Creative Commons license). You can download it here:
#wordpress_migration
New Year and New Website
I've completely redone my website, http://web.bryant.edu/~bblais! I may be moving my blog over there at some point, depending on how it goes. For right now I …
#wordpress_migration
Why the new website?
I completely changed the framework that I use for my website, changing it from Rapidweaver (a mac-based, GUI website editor) to pelican, a Python-based framework for making static websites. Why …
#articles
New Website
I completely redid my website, and am still playing with a lot of the organization, etc... I'm hoping that it will be both easier to use, and include more detailed …
#articles
A New Year and a Deepity
A short video by Fr. Robert Barron, to start off the new year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zMf_8hkCdc&w=560&h=315]
Here is the summary:
- He …
#wordpress_migration
Religion and the Illusion of Moral Authority
This post in response to a comment I received about the source of morality in society:
But I realize religion, even with its negatives, remains a net positive in human …
#wordpress_migration
A story of humanity...
Carolyn Porco always finds a way to inspire...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJS77VR2OZI&w=560&h=315]
Check out Session 3 in the excellent Beyond Belief workshop …
#wordpress_migration
Life, Meaning, and Entropy
I just watched a very nice video about our short time on this planet. I particularly like how he says we "defy entropy and impermanence through our films and our …
#wordpress_migration
The Trinity and Coherency
When I hear things like this (taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but could well be from any Christian Church):
The Trinity is One. We do not confess …
#wordpress_migration
Science as Entertainment
This past weekend I was at a Girl Scouts "Mad Science" program, not as an instructor but as a parent. There was a lot of interesting things presented, and the …
#wordpress_migration
Knowledge, Faith, and Belief
Words have meaning, and if we are going to communicate with each other we need to make sure to use words as carefully as we can. Otherwise, misunderstandings abound. It …
#wordpress_migration
Nobel Prize - The "Higgs" and Predictions
So around 50 years ago a number of scientists made a prediction for an unseen particle (typically referred to as the 'Higgs boson' but also sometimes as the 'God particle' …
#wordpress_migration
The Fallacy of All-Natural
I wasreading an article about the anti-vaccine movement, encouraging pro-vaccine supporters to be more vocal - something I support whole-heartedly. In the article there was an awesome quote, that really …
#wordpress_migration
MOOCs and Treadmills
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are a hot topic in education, and no one seems to know quite how it will play out. After sitting in on several of these …
#wordpress_migration
