Re: This weeks finds in the science journals

Robin Hanson (hanson@econ.berkeley.edu)
Fri, 06 Nov 1998 09:38:58 -0800

On 11/6/98, Anders Sandberg wrote:
>Just a quick list of interesting papers that caught my eye this week
>(some of this earlier reported on or from the transhumantech list):
>
>* Beta-amyloid precursors as memory enhancers
>* Geocybernetics: controlling the world
>* Tisse-engineering of large tissues
>* Growing neurons on patterned substrates
>* Quantum key distribution through air
>* NP=P if QM is nonlinear
>* The street performer protocol for funding public works
>* Networked schools
>* Controlling complexity

Anders, I'm glad you're reading widely, but I have to comment on your poor taste in economics sources. The physics articles and journals you cite are top-notch, and I'll presume the biology articles are as well (I don't know that field very well). But I looked at "The street performer ..." and "Networked schools", and they are really lousy economics - you probably couldn't get them published in a poor economics journal.

I'll give the authors credit for trying to tackle neglected problems, and they may even have the germs of some interesting thoughts on them. But compared to the physics articles you cite, well there really is no comparison.

Did you ever try browsing some good economics journals, like American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, or Quarterly Journal of Economics?

Robin Hanson

hanson@econ.berkeley.edu     http://hanson.berkeley.edu/   
RWJF Health Policy Scholar             FAX: 510-643-8614 
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 510-643-1884