Mathematician Claims New Yorker Defamed Him from Slashdot by kdawson

An anonymous reader writes, "Last month the New Yorker ran the article 'Manifold Destiny', by Sylvia Nasar, author of 'A Beautiful Mind.' Now a renowned Harvard mathematics professor, Dr. Shing-Tung Yau, is claiming the article defamed him. His attorney wrote the New Yorker a letter (PDF) threatening that Yau will have 'no choice but to consider other options' if Nasar, her co-author, and the New Yorker fail to undo the damage done."

Read the full post here.

The Unconscious Toscanini of the Brain (Radio Lab: Sunday, 29 January 2006) from WNYC's Radio Lab by listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich)

How does the brain produce a thought? Or experience a unitary, whole, synchronized perception of a cup of coffee? For neuroscientists, this is the Mount Everest of questions. We have a look at one possible theory (that a thought is like lots of little neurons singing together in harmony) and then visit neurologist Christof Koch to ask: who conducts the brain chorus? Koch thinks he knows, and he tells us of the cutting edge work of one of science’' great thinkers, Francis Crick...an inquiry which lasted until his dying day.

The Radio Lab story and podcast are here. See also: Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul