Wednesday and Thursday at LSE

I have decided to miss Tuesday's on a fairly regular basis from this week onwards - I feel I need to maximise my time usage as, though I am well on top of things at the moment, things could change very soon I think.

Wednesday

Early to the Library and searching for more books on historiography. Another really heavy back to carry round for the day after I find half a dozen interesting things.

The Dissertation seminar is moving to its phase 2, where people are supposed to be homing in on their proposed theme. I have volunteered to go first for this section as I am already fairly well advanced on this. Apparently we then have to have a session with Miklos straight afterwards as well.

I have a lunchtime meeting in the city today related to possible work going forward. This seems to go well and might have major implications for the future.

Back across town and checked into the Edward Hotel, the same I stayed at last week. I actually didn't feel 100% this afternoon and slept for a couple of hours before having a walk round to Paddington station in search of snacks from local supermarkets for tea. And so to an evening of work - six sides of notes on Aristotle's Natural Philosophy, and some of the reading for Philosophy of Economics

Thursday

Awake at 5:30 and time for two hours reading - mainly historiography - then on the tube to LSE for library opening time at 8:00.

I have been trying to find the library copy of Kelley's The Descent of Ideas which I think might be a key text for me to read. It hasn't been where it should be in the library the last few times I have looked so I had another look on Amazon, where it is available secondhand for £36. It appears that I have sold a CD box set for £75 yesterday (Pere Ubu's Datapanik in the Year Zero)and this has inspired me to maybe get the book. The Amazon page says it is being sold from a s/h bookshop on Charing X Rd and I had time to visit there this morning for when it opened at 10:30 - but they don't have it in the shop and I'll have to wait till next week to see it.

At today's History of Science seminar, John Milton confirms our worst fears by wanting to talk the entire time. I have a few questions but it is not easy breaking in (partly as JM keeps his eyes closed a lot of the time!). But one good thing is that his talk does cover most of the points I had thought of yesterday - so it was a good test that my own understanding of the main points is satisfactory, even on a theme that I don't really know well.

I had lunch with Victor today - Leonardo decided he would rather have the Hari Krishna food served from a stand in Houghton Street - perhaps he is short of cash? Victor is more expansive than usual, talking mainly about his dissertation and its poor reception in the department.

Today's Philosophy of Economics seminar is about how people choose - the next session on Rational Choice Theory. Overall I am quite impressed with Richard Bradley - he is clearly very knowledgeable in an area that is well known for deep conceptional confusion. I made a few points about what I see as the limitations of RCT, especially related to "uncertainty" versus "risk". Not a very good reception, though one person had evidently read my article in the Clare Market Review on this subject (my first confirmed reader!)

A phone call on way home related to yesterday's meeting. The response to yesterday was good and things are going to move forward to next Wednesday. I have high hopes that this could be a very significant development, setting up all sorts of new pathways going forward.