Author Archives: fbenedictus

About fbenedictus

Philosopher of physics at Amsterdam University College and Utrecht University, managing editor for Foundations of Physics and international paraclimbing athlete

Irrational Happiness

Posted on March 17, 2020

When I started writing this blogpost a week ago, I wrote this: “When times are as difficult and unpredictable as they are today, I find comfort in mathematics. No matter how things turn out, how many more difficulties come our … Continue reading →

Posted in AUC-Big Questions in Science, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy of Physics | Tagged even numbers, happiness, irrational numbers, mathematics, odd numbers, proof by contradiction, pythagoras, rational numbers, smallest divisors, square root 2 | 2 Comments

Back in Utrecht

Posted on March 4, 2020

My wife has decided that she wants to split up with me, so I have moved back to my old home in Utrecht (the Netherlands). I am very sad, because I really saw a future for us together in Sweden, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Changes!

Posted on July 7, 2019

I have great news! No, I’m not pregnant, I’m moving to Sweden. My wife accepted a job as a teacher at an international school in Älmhult (near Malmö), so from August 1 I’ll be driving my tricycle in Viking-country. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Briançon, para, Paraclimbing, worldchampionship | Leave a comment

WK 2019: Briançon, 16/17 juli

Posted on April 9, 2019

De organisatie van het WK paraklimmen 2019 heeft bekend gemaakt dat het WK dit jaar toch niet in Tokio zal zijn. Het wordt gehouden in Briançon (Fr), en niet in augustus, maar op 16/17 juli. Ik vind dat jammer en … Continue reading →

Posted in Paraclimbing | Tagged Briançon, wereldkampioenschap | Leave a comment

A Quantum Leap of Faith

Posted on March 1, 2019

Earlier today, one of my students asked me this: “So in quantum mechanics an electron can be in different orbits around a positively charged nucleus, and each of these orbits require different levels of kinetic energy for the electron. Electrons … Continue reading →

Posted in AUC-Big Questions in Science | Tagged atom, bohr, quantum | Leave a comment

Tokyo augustus 2019?

Posted on January 15, 2019

Het is nog steeds niet helemaal zeker of het WK paraklimmen in Tokio in augustus doorgaat, maar ik ga er in 2019 in ieder geval hard tegenaan!

Posted in Paraclimbing | Leave a comment

The Order of Rovelli’s Time – does time exist?

Posted on November 16, 2018

What is time? Does it even exist? In this paper I will discuss the three main phases of Carlo Rovelli’s philosophy of time, and I will conclude with an analysis of some of the criticism levelled against his view. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy of Physics | Tagged Rovelli, the order of time, time | 4 Comments

Galilean Relativity

Posted on September 26, 2018

At the basis of Newtonian mechanics lies an idea we call galilean relativity, which is the idea that different observers will come up with the same laws of motion as long as their reference frames are not accelerating relative to … Continue reading →

Posted in AUC-Big Questions in Science | Tagged acceleration, galilean relativity, galilean transformation, reference frame | Leave a comment

WK Innsbruck 2018 – Resultaat

Posted on September 12, 2018

Ik ben helaas tijdens het klimmen van de tweede route gediskwalificeerd omdat ik op een metalen bout ging staan (zie foto; kijk goed onder de rechter voet). Door mijn slechte zicht en kleurenblindheid had ik de bout aangezien voor de … Continue reading →

Posted in Paraclimbing | 4 Comments

WK Paraklimmen, Innsbruck 2018

Posted on September 10, 2018

Het NL Paraklimteam (Renske Nugter, Mees Vooijs, onze coach Berber Brouns en ikzelf) is zondag in alle vroegte afgereisd naar het Oostenrijkse Innsbruck, in het bergachtige Tirol. In Tirol doen we mee aan het Wereldkampioenschap paraklimmen. Op de foto hiernaast … Continue reading →

Posted in Paraclimbing | 2 Comments