Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Beard of the Week XLV: Work Makes Heat
This week's impressive beard belongs to British physicist James Prescott Joule (1818-1889), the same Joule who gave his name (posthumously) to the SI unit for energy. Wikipedia's article on Joule and his most noted contribution to physics is admirably succinct: Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work (see energy). […]
The Majestic Unity of the Natural World
Awhile back I was doing my lunchtime reading in the very interesting book The two-mile time machine : ice cores, abrupt climate change, and our future, by Richard B. Alley. In short, the book is about deep ice cores taken from the ice cap in Greenland and the incredible amount of information they give us […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science, Reflections
Beard of the Week XLIV: Infinity and Beyond
This week's beard belongs to Georg Cantor (1845–1918), the German mathematician who advanced set theory into the infinite with his discovery/invention of transfinite arithmetic. Why I hedge over "discovery" or "invention" we'll get to in a moment. I first encountered Cantor's ideas in college in my course of "mathematical analysis", which was largely concerned with […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, It's Only Rocket Science
From the Pad I
By the reclining chair from which I watch movies on our television set I keep a pad of paper. Occasionally someone in one of the visual treats we are enjoying will say something that I think worth making a note of, so I write it on the pad. Many months later I notice that I […]
Remembering a Story
A week ago I finished a short story, the first fiction I'd written since my father died late last December. The story is called "The Last Night at Nan's Han-N-Egger". Oddly, for me at least, there are no gay men in the story (so far as we know) and there is no sex. There is […]
Byzantine Style in Commercial Art
The apse mosaic at the church of St. Paul's Outside the Walls, near Rome, Italy, is a gorgeous work of Byzantine style art. Here is a photograph Isaac took of the central figure of Christ, shown in a variant of his portrayal as "Christ Pantocrator". Near the Christ's right foot is a small, white thing […]
In: All, Music & Art, Plus Ca Change...
Beard of the Week XLIII: Let's Make a Deal
This week's beard belongs to David Flannery, a lecturer in mathematics at the Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland. He is shown with his daughter Sarah Flannery, author of the book In Code : A Mathematical Journey (New York : Workman Publishers, 2001); David Flannery is listed as her coauthor. The book is a fascinating, […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Books
An Easement in Gross
We have a friend who has just finished taking her Maryland Bar Exam (congratulations, Nina!), which really more significantly she's finished studying for and worrying about taking the Maryland Bar Exam. Among her list of interesting and amusing take aways from the experience, she lists this item: I could [sic] care less about the difference […]
All Pleasure is a Risk
Isaac asked me to post this where we could find it easily, since it is these days frequently referenced in conversation. This little sign seems to have great predictive powers, eliciting gratifying responses–or non-responses–from people we find more fun to be around–or less so. [via Arnold Zwicky at Language Log ("Today's little amuse-bouche") whose attention […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Marriage Still More Equal
I still feel the excitement, particularly since we live much closer to Massachusetts than to California, being on the right coast of the US. Anyway, you may recall that same-sex marriage, although legal in Massachusetts, was restricted to those couples for whom marriage would be legal in their home states. This was a parting gift […]
On A Bus, Irregularly
It's not something that happens regularly on a bus. — RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Colwell at a news conference, talking about a gruesome incident on a Greyhound bus from Edmonton to Winnepeg in which a man apparently stabbed to death and then beheaded his seat partner [source]
A Summer Menu II
This week's dinner party was a more casual affair so I went with a more casual arrangement of dishes, what I've come to think of as a "salad menu". Brandy Alexander, featured cocktail Olives & Marinated Mushrooms (store bought) Cantaloupe sprinkled with coconut Pork Loin Braised in Milk & Herbs (slow cooker) Oven Roasted Potatoes […]
Personal Chocolate Cake
I am so enchanted by this concept–and ultra-simple recipe–for a personal, one-serving size, made-from-scratch-in-the-microwave recipe for chocolate cake that I'm putting a link to it here so I won't lose it before I get to try it. Y'all are free to try it, too. It's called "Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes!" and takes only 3 […]
I've Been Feeling Unreasonable Lately
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw
In: All, Common-Place Book, Reflections
Beard of the Week XLII: The Pyramidiot
This week's beard belongs to one Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819–1900), who served as Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888. That's not the reason for my interest, however. It's his pioneering work in pyramidology that I found out about today and wanted to bring to your attention. At the center of it all: the […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Books, Curious Stuff
Aspirations
I've always aspired to be a polymath, But so far I've only made it to dilettante. —me, last night
In: All, Briefly Noted, Reflections
Lambeth Focused on Bishop Robinson
There's the woman in the short, red dress who brought on her own rape because she dressed provocatively. Or any number of black men in the south who had to be lynched because they got uppity. Martin Luther King, Jr. got plenty of advice from helpful white folk about how he could help his movement […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
A Summer Menu
We had some good friends over for dinner last night. I tried to keep our menu on the light, summery side, but it was also the case that the supermarket had a really good sale on (beef) top round roasts, so that was to be our main course. Here's the menu we settled on: Cold […]
Update: Science-Book Challenge 2008
The year–that would be 2008, if memory serves–is now half over so it seemed like a good time for me to give a brief update on the official Ars Hermeneutica "Science-Book Challenge 2008". I am pleased to report ample success at the same time I can note the year is only half over and anyone […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science
Ars Volunteer II
Ars Hermeneutica and I are looking for a very special volunteer, just the right person to double our full-time volunteer staff. I intend this to be a volunteer-to-hire position since our top priority will be to bring some projects to the money-bearing stage sooner rather than later so that we can pay ourselves and hire […]
In: All, Personal Notebook, Speaking of Science