Notes for April 12th

• I don't know if I understand completely what this sentence is even suggesting:  "the art of rope making has been strangely neglected by mathematicians over the centuries."  However, I'm happy to say that the neglect is apparently lessening.
• Americans, when it comes to science literacy, are not just idiots, they are getting dumber. 
• Another observation of how increasing numbers of authors on papers is leading to less understanding of who is actually responsible for good science.  On the one hand, the author is correct, it is really hard to understand how 1400 people could write anything, let alone a scientific paper (I typically go through several dozen drafts on papers with 4 co-authors).  On the other hand, the particular paper he highlighted isn't really a paper at all, its a technical update of an on-going project.  
• Poisoning carnivorous plants via insects.  Yes.  We've done it.
• E.O. Wilson, he of biodiversity fame, has written another book.  A novel.  A what?  Yes.  A novel.