Colin Baxter

Colin Baxter Heraldry — Books — Physics

Table of Contents

If you have come here looking for my physics academic research publications, then, they are listed on Academia.edu and Google Scholar. They are also available via publons.com and ORCID. Please contact me should you require help. I have taken a break from active physics research to pursue other interests — I intend to resume August 2019.

About this Web-Site

This site hosts my articles on heraldry, books and physics. Most of them are quite general, although there will be some specialist articles in the physics pages. All the articles are posted simply in the hope that they might be useful or interesting.

My physics academic research papers are elsewhere — see above text box for details.

Some articles currently have uncertain publication and copyright issues, and are therefore password embargoed. I will remove these restriction when the issues are resolved.

This web-site is not a blog, but please email me any comments. You will find me receptive.

Uploading material here is very much work in progress and right now the web-site is quite sparse in content. So either check back to see updates, or contact me and I will keep you up-to-date. I apologise for my slowness.

Contact me

I do not use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, nor do I have accounts with any of those sites. I do have a flickr page, however.

Gnupg Fingerprint

DEB5 2044 0DE9 1B6A 14A1 C896 D10B 67C6 F1E8 CB94 About me It appears to be customary on a personal web-site to add a pocket biography. So here is mine: scrubbed clean and wholly redacted.

For many years, I wandered about living and working in different parts of the World. Tiring of that life or maybe finally growing up, I returned home to study for a PhD. Someone had once told me that I seemed to behave as a perpetual student; I think it was meant as a mild criticism, but I have long treasured that remark. Being a student is something Joseph de Maistre😃 should have considered. After my PhD, I joined the band of academic hangers-on, seeking publications, grants and positions. Luckily, I escaped and now enjoy the World through eyes of that perpetual student. I count myself fortunate indeed.

😃 Joseph de Maistre claimed that only by being a Soldier or a Monk could one avoid the horror of the bourgeois. He appears not to have followed his own advice. He is quoted in Perpetual Euphoria by Pascal Bruckner, Princeton University Press (2000), a book which I consider to be a very good read.

On Heraldry

Heraldry has long fascinated me, not simply as a system of visual identification but as a living language of symbols that encodes history, allegiance, and personal narrative. The art and science of blazon — the formal description of a coat of arms — demands precision analogous to that required in physics: a single misplaced word can alter the entire meaning. I approach heraldic research with the same rigour I applied to my academic work, though here the laboratory is the archive and the data are centuries-old manuscripts and rolls of arms.

My articles on heraldry aim to bridge the gap between specialist scholarship and the curious amateur. I explore topics such as the evolution of heraldic authority, the role of heraldry in legal identity, and the challenges of modern assumption of arms. Where possible, I draw on primary sources, and I am always mindful of the international variations — what holds true in Scotland may not apply in Canada or South Africa. For those keen to delve deeper, see my Articles about Heraldry.

On Books

Books are both my refuge and my second laboratory. I collect and read widely, with a particular weakness for early printed works on natural philosophy and emblem books. The physical book — its binding, provenance, marginalia — tells a story beyond the text. I find that bibliographic research complements my other interests neatly: tracking the dissemination of scientific ideas through early editions sheds light on how knowledge actually moved through society, rather than the sanitised version found in modern textbooks.

In my writings on books, I often touch on the intersection of bibliography and intellectual history. I am not a dealer, but a perpetual student of the printed word, and I enjoy sharing discoveries that might pass unnoticed. A list of my more formal bibliographic data can be found under Bibliographical Data. For a broader look at my reading life, visit Articles about Books.

On Physics

Though I have stepped back from active research, physics remains the bedrock of my intellectual formation. My doctoral work focused on theoretical aspects of condensed matter, and I retain a keen interest in the foundations of quantum mechanics and classical electrodynamics. I believe that much of the public discourse around physics is either oversimplified or needlessly mystified; my articles attempt to offer a middle way — clear exposition without sacrificing nuance.

I am also drawn to the history of physics, particularly the 19th-century developments that set the stage for relativity and quantum theory. Understanding Maxwell, Boltzmann, or Gibbs on their own terms reveals just how contingent our current formulations are. You can explore these themes in my Articles about Physics and the History of Physics and a selection of my Physics Articles. A broader Academic Overview is available for those interested in my formal research career.