- Written by Peter Edwards, Editor, Global Gypsum Magazine
I recently came across ‘Guitar Zero,’ a book by Gary Marcus about whether musicians are born or raised. It follows the author’s own experience of learning to play the guitar - a lifelong dream - at the ‘grand old age’ of 38. Despite trying and failing many times before, Marcus applies his expertise as a cognitive scientist to work around his limitations, with great success. Along the way, he takes in detours into musical theory, popular psychology, teaching methods, the ageing process and the nature of music itself.
- Written by Peter Edwards, Editor, Global Gypsum Magazine
In 2001 my school physics class went on a field trip to the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion experiment close to Oxford, UK. That day, we learned that the JET condenses hydrogen nuclei and ‘bashes’ them together to produce helium. This is the reaction that takes place inside the sun and it produces a LOT of energy. However, the strong magnetic fields required to create stable plasmas at temperatures of up to 150,000,000°C - 10 times hotter than the centre of the sun - also consume a LOT of energy. Due to this, for the first 65 years of development, no fusion reactor produced more energy than it consumed. This, along with the high cost and extremely short lifespan of the refractories and other consumables used to contain a rotating swirl of plasma, as well as the sheer difficulty of the task itself, are just some of the major barriers to fusion becoming a viable source of energy. Hence the popular joke: Fusion is the power of the future... and always will be.
- Written by Peter Edwards, Editor, Global Gypsum Magazine
Readers may well be familiar with the British television show Top Gear, which has taken various forms over the years. Currently enjoying something of a newfound maturity, the show recently looked at whether talented amateur racing drivers could perform well at high levels of motorsport.
- Written by Robert McCaffrey, Editorial Director, Global Gypsum Magazine
I’ve recently finished reading a book entitled ‘Why the Germans do it better,’ by John Kampfner, and it says some interesting things about how Germany has evolved in the last hundred years or so, and how it has transformed itself from the wreckage of two world wars into the economic powerhouse of Europe. I thought I would share some of its most interesting points with you.
Firstly, the book tackles head-on the devastating effects of World War II on Germany and its population (and the world). An internal conversation and reckoning on the country’s behaviour during the National Socialist years has been taking place for decades, but there is a growing disconnection between the generations that were alive during the war, and those that came afterwards (who can now be in their 80s) and who were not involved in any way. Today’s German youth may have no personal connection to the war years at all. The author underlines that Germans are now prepared to discuss, debate and re-interpret the past, in contrast to the frozen view of the war years in some other countries - if it is debated at all.
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Gypsum Magazine
This month, I want to address an issue that has puzzled me for many years: Why do people - why does everyone - occasionally do bad things? This is not a new question, of course. It has been asked throughout history, and there are plenty of accounts in ancient documents of ‘bad’ behaviour (for example - ‘causing’ 42 children to be eaten by bears after being called a ‘baldy’ - check out 2 Kings 2:23-24 in the Bible).
