Delivery Day

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff, Maynooth on September 3, 2021 by telescoper

At last I have been re-united with the belongings from my Cardiff house! I have to say, though, that it nearly didn’t happen. When I booked the removal as a return load I was told delivery to my Maynooth residence would happen “sometime in the week beginning 30th August”. I was further told that I would be contacted nearer the date to confirm date and time. That second bit didn’t happen and it was a surprise to me when two guys turned up this morning with all my stuff in a 40-ft wagon; I was in the house at 9am when they arrived so they just got on with unloading my stuff. I don’t know what would have happened had I been out. It wasn’t the fault of the two blokes who came with the lorry of course. In fact they were really helpful. Probably someone in an office hadn’t done their job.

Anyway, a couple of hours later they had unloaded my possessions and I made a start at the unpacking. I managed to get most of the 20 boxes of books onto shelves and also put up most of my pictures. I’ll probably move some of them later but they’re out of the way when they’re on the wall. Having worked at this all day without a lunch break, I stopped at 6.40pm. I haven’t yet started on the kitchen things but I’m satisfied nevertheless with progress.

I should be able finish the unpacking over the weekend. The kitchen will be slow because having been accumulating dust for the best part of two years all the pots, pans, crockery and glassware will have to go through the dishwasher before I put them away. I’ll also have to disinfect the fridge/freezer too. Then I’ll have to think about what to do with all the empty boxes and waste packing materials. They can all be recycled, but there’s far too much to fit in one wheelie bin!

So here I am. just over a year since I got the keys my Maynooth residence is definitely starting to feel like home. Better late than never!

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The AAS goes for Gold

Posted in Open Access, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , , on September 2, 2021 by telescoper

Yesterday there was a big announcement from the American Astronomical Society (AAS) , namely that all its journals will switch to Open Access from 1st January 2022. This transition will affect the Astronomical Journal (AJ), the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL), and the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (ApJS). Previously authors were able to opt for Open Access but from next year it will apply to all papers.

The positive aspect to this change is that it makes articles published by the AAS freely available to the public and other scientists without requiring the payment of a subscription.

On the other hand, these journals will require authors to pay a hefty sum, equivalent to an Article Processing Charge (APC), that increases with the length and complexity of a paper. AAS journals have in the past levied “page charges” from authors for standard (non-OA) publications. In the new regime these are merged into a unified scheme. Here is a summary of the rates.

What’s on offer is therefore a form of Gold Open Access that switches the cost of publication from subscribers to authors. In my view this level of APC is excessive, which is why I call this Fool’s Gold Open Access. Although the AAS is a not-for-profit organization, its journals are published by the Institute of Physics Publishing which is a definitely-for-profit organization.

The Open Journal of Astrophysics charges neither subscribers nor authors; this form of Open Access is usually called Diamond or Platinum Open Access.

The terminology surrounding Open Access is confusing not least because its usage is evolving. In the current jargon, “Gold” Open Access refers to publication that is free to access at the journal. The principal alternative is “Green” Open Access, which means that free access is offered through depositing the paper in some form of repository separate from the journal. Some astronomical journals allow authors to deposit their articles on arXiv, for example, which is probably the main way in which astrophysicists achieve Green Open Access.

Nowadays “Gold” Open Access refers to anything that is made available freely by a journal regardless of whether an APC is charged or not. The Diamond Open Access provided by the Open Journal of Astrophysics is thus a special case of Gold Open Access. A classification in which Diamond and Platinum are subdivisions of Gold must confuse the heck out of chemists, but that’s where we are at the moment. At least it’s not as bad as in astrophysics where the only terms used to describe chemical elements are hydrogen, helium and “metals”…

While I am glad to see the AAS move its journals into Open Access configurations, I can’t agree with the level of APC. The Open Journal of Astrophysics may be relatively small but it has plenty of capacity for growth while remaining entirely free. The more people realize that it costs tens of dollars rather than thousands to publish a paper the more likely it is that they’ll see the moral case for Diamond Open Access.

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Maynooth University Library Cat Update

Posted in Maynooth on September 1, 2021 by telescoper

It occurred to me today that I haven’t posted anything about the famous Library Cat of Maynooth University for a while. He has generally been away on his wanders whenever I’ve passed his usual spot.

I therefore took a detour on my way into the office this afternoon and found him at home and in fine fettle, though still bothered a bit by the wasps circling his food dish. Hopefully they’ll vanish soon and soon there will also a bit more company for him when the students return.

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Talking About Open Access

Posted in Open Access, The Universe and Stuff on September 1, 2021 by telescoper

By way of a sequel to my Colloquium in the same series earlier this summer, a fortnight today (on 15th September 2021) I will be doing another talk for the Ecole Internationale d’Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge – Hector de Vega. This won’t be an actual science talk but instead will be about Open Access publishing in general and about the Open Journal of Astrophysics in particular.

The talk is of course free but you need to register here to get the Zoom link. It’s at 4pm Paris Time (which is 3pm Irish Time).

 

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The Irish Population

Posted in Art, History, Politics, Television with tags , , , , on August 31, 2021 by telescoper

Not long ago I did a post about a documentary series called The Hunger which was broadcast on RTÉ just before Christmas. It was, of course, about the Great Irish Famine, which led to the death of one million (mainly poor) Irish people and the emigration of over two million in the subsequent years. It was a shattering episode that altered Ireland for ever. I remarked at the time that “the population of this island still hasn’t recovered to pre-Famine levels”.

Well today saw the announcement of a significant milestone in the trajectory of Ireland’s population. According to the Central Statistics Office, in April 2021 the population of the Republic of Ireland exceeded 5 Million for the first time since 1851. To be precise Ireland’s population was estimated to be 5.01 million in April 2021, which is the first time the population has risen above five million since the 1851 census, when the comparable population was 5.11 million. By “comparable” I mean the population of the 26 Counties that now constitute the Republic of Ireland.

The total population on the island of Ireland in 1851 was 6.6 million. Including the population of Northern Ireland brings the current population on the island of Ireland to about 6.9 million. The population of Ireland (ie the whole island) in 1841 was over eight million.

The following (rather old) graphic shows that catastrophic drop that was an immediate consequence of the Great Hunger but also the long period of decline caused by emigration and poor public health leading to low levels of fertility. The population did not begin to grow significantly until the 1970s.

Although the population is still nowhere near the level it reached in 1841, Ireland is in the grip of a housing shortage that the present Government seems reluctant to do anything about, not surprisingly when you realize that the present Government represents the property-owning classes in whose interests it is to keep housing scarce and rents correspondingly high. Ireland’s housing crisis is not an accident, it’s a matter of policy. Irish landlords oppressing the poorer classes and exploiting them for monetary gain. Some things haven’t changed…

It fascinates me that, with political will, human societies have made enormous changes – including financial interventions, inventing new vaccines and delivering mass vaccination programmes – to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Poverty and homelessness do not require new inventions – we already know very well how to build houses – only the political will is needed, and that’s just not there.

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Back to School….

Posted in Biographical, Covid-19, Education, Maynooth on August 30, 2021 by telescoper

It’s a Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom but not here in Ireland; we had our August Bank Holiday at the start of the month. In fact this week sees school students of various ages returning to the classroom. That reminded me of this, from last year:

On my way back from the shops just now I passed a group of boys who were obviously going home after their first day back at school. Their uniforms look very new and in pristine condition. I bet that won’t last.

Three weeks today, on September 20th, we are supposed to start teaching returning students; first years won’t start until 27th September. I wish I could say I was optimistic about this. With Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations climbing it feels very much like it did at this time last year. Nevertheless the powers that be are insisting that we proceed with full lecture theatres without social distancing, with mask wearing not mandatory and with no vaccine certificates. Students can crowd into lecture theatres and rub shoulders with others for an hour, but to use the Student Union bar they have to show a vaccine certificate. This seems to me to be madness. I hope I’m proved wrong but I give it two weeks maximum until we’re forced to revert to online teaching yet again.

In the Department of Theoretical Physics I have a particular headache to deal with on top of this. One of the three temporary lecturers we have appointed this year was supposed to start on 23rd August but he hasn’t got a visa yet. I have therefore to plan on him not being able to arrive in time for the start of teaching. It’s not unusual at this time of year to be wondering how many students are going to be with us at the start of term, but this year we have the additional worry about how many staff we’re going to have available to teach them.

And on a personal level I am hoping for my belongings to arrive sometime this week, although I am yet to have this confirmed and to be given the precise date and time. If the delivery is postponed doesn’t happen before the end of September it’s going to be very difficult, as I will probably be teaching every day from September 20th until Christmas.

Waiting for things to happen that are outside your control is a major cause of stress, but please don’t tell anyone I’m feeling stressed or I’ll be forced to attend a resilience webinar. I think I’d rather resort to the remedies on offer in the picture…

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The Liffey Swim, by Jack B Yeats

Posted in Art with tags , , on August 29, 2021 by telescoper
The Liffey Swim, by Jack B. Yeats (1923, 61cm x 91cm, oil on canvas)

I posted the above painting because I was reminded that today is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jack Butler Yeats, brother of the poet William Butler Yeats. That in turn reminded me that a major exhibition of art by Jack B. Yeats opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on Saturday 4th September. I hope to squeeze in a visit before teaching starts.

Although it was a style he only started to experiment with around 1920, The Liffey Swim is clearly an Expressionist work – the unusual colour palette and texture of the paint are characteristics of that movement- but it also serves as an interesting bit of social history. The Liffey Swim is a regular event in Dublin (or was, in pre-Covid days) but only began in 1920 so it was fairly new when Yeats painted it. He captures the excited atmosphere surrounding the event by placing the viewer in the middle of a huge crowd struggling to get a good view, with the swimmers only shown in cursory detail. You see far more of the spectators than you do of the race!

There’s another interesting thing about this painting. It won a Silver Medal for Ireland in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. In fact it was Ireland’s first ever Olympic Medal, coming just a couple of years after independence. It may surprise you to learn that art competitions were a part of the Olympic Games from 1912 until 1948, as were competitions in music and literature. The 1924 Gold Medal for painting was won by an artist from Luxembourg called Jean Jacoby who specialised in sporting themes.

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The Wasp, by John Kendall (aka Dum-Dum)

Posted in Poetry on August 29, 2021 by telescoper

Of those uncertain creatures
Who take a simple joy
In swelling up one’s features
On purpose to annoy,
Things void of natural sweetness,
Aggressive and inhosp.
(Pardon the incompleteness)
You are the first, O wasp.

There is no place we visit
In England’s pleasant land
(It isn’t your place, is it?)
But you must take a hand;
You set the nerves a-jangle,
You turn the tan to chalk
Of anglers when they angle,
Of walkers when they walk.

In no uncertain manner
You bid the bather flee;
You foil the caravanner
Who merely wants his tea;
You raid the earnest hopper,
You break upon our sports,
And are, I’m told, improper
To river girls in shorts.

We slap at you and swat you;
We fell you as we may
(The rapture when we’ve got you
Is more than words can say);
One may see great deeds daily
When men unused to strife
Brave you, albeit palely,
For screaming child or wife.

And we have learnt to fashion
A lure that cannot fail,
Born of a lasting passion
That you confess for ale;
An artful jar that cozens
You in and, when you’re tight,
Drowns you in drink by dozens,
A most immoral sight.

But when the day is sinking
And you retire to rest
That, to my private thinking,
Is where man comes out best;
Armed with his apparatus
He tracks you to the comb
Whence you come forth to bait us;
Then, when the last wasp’s home,

Bring forth, O man, your funnel;
With oil and poison come;
Take heed lest haply one’ll
Pass down a warning hum;
Insert with care the former;
Pour down the latter thick;
That should have made things warmer;
That will have done the trick.

Thus with discreet defiance
We tackle you, and yet,
For all the arts of science,
You don’t seem much upset;
Alert and undiminished
You still appear to prosp.;
I leave the word unfinished
To rhyme with you, O wasp.

by John Kaye Kendall (aka Dum-Dum)

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The Old Man of Killeaney

Posted in History, Maynooth with tags , , , on August 28, 2021 by telescoper

I stumbled across this remarkable little clip completely by accident and thought I would share it here. It is part of an interview, broadcast in 1965, with a retired farmer by the name of Michael Fitzpatrick who was 107 when the interview was recorded. Mr Fitzpatrick was born in County Clare but moved to Killeaney, a townland just a couple of miles north of Maynooth, in 1940.

He would have been in his eighties in 1940 and moved as a result of a Land Commission scheme. I guess he moved with his family who would have run the farm and looked after him in his retirement.

He talks about the infamous Bodyke Evictions, which took place in the late 1880s, and which he witnessed personally. It’s amazing to imagine what those old eyes had seen in his lifetime, not only the cruelty and brutality of the system of land ownership in Ireland through the latter half of the 19th Century, the War of Independence and the Civil War of the 1920s, but also the dramatic changes in farming he mentions. Michael Fitzpatrick passed away a couple of years after this interview, at the age of 109.

I posted this in the local history Facebook page for Maynooth and it seems there are people who remember Michael Fitzpatrick and that his grandson, also named Michael, passed away recently after a long life of his own.

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I am a successful.

Posted in Biographical with tags , on August 27, 2021 by telescoper

The other day a friend of mine pointed out the existence of a website called CelebsAgeWiki.Com which has a page about me. I’m not sure why they considered me worthy of inclusion, although I suspect they just use some sort of bot to trawl through pages on Wikipedia (and I happen to have one of those, although I know not who created it nor who keeps updating it). If that is the case then whoever wrote the software is obviously incompetent.

Anyway you can see from the above grab I took on my phone that my page is full of information about me. For one thing they know that I am a successful. For another they know that I am from. They also know that my “net worth” grew considerably from 2020 to 2021, which is news to me. I won’t comment on their estimate of my “net worth” except to say that I was briefly a millionaire some years ago, but then Italy abolished the Lira.

At least they got my age right.

P.S. I am slightly alarmed that my salary for last year is “under review”. I hope my employer doesn’t expect me to pay it back….

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