While at Cambridge University recently, Emily and I had a nice lunch with Hasok Chang and his wife Gretchen. From Korea originally, Hasok is now in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge. His approach differs from most philosophers: he actually does experiments. Hasok revels in repeating experiments carried out centuries ago, hesitating not one iota in offering fresh reinterpretation.

One of Hasok’s recent works deals with water’s boiling point. Everyone knows that water boils at 100 °C. Hasok shows in fact that that the boiling point is not fixed: it varies depending on conditions. Check out his work on the subject. Also, his clear and articulate lecture on the practice of science may be worth watching.