When Artemis II looped around the Moon a few days ago, the astronauts aboard captured a photo of the Moon as it eclipsed the Sun from the astronauts' perspective. Jules Verne had described such an eclipse in his 1870 novel, "Around the Moon," the sequel to his earlier "From the Earth To the Moon." In … Continue reading Artemis II Around the Moon
second Death Starsecond world warsecond atomic bombsecond frontsecond blitzsecond tower second wonderSecond Templesecond sitesecond kingssecond princesecond armysecond populationsecond citizenssecond history second looksecond chancesecond surgerysecond opinionsecond principlesecond explanationsecond introductionsecond sightsecond beautysecond homesecond cropsecond firesecond stormsecond snowseconds to go second birthsecond thoughtsecond soundsecond tracksecond timesecond lifetimesecond attachmentsecond proposalsecond polesecond noonsecond startsecond sidesecond handsecond choicesecond bestsecond bestiesecond voice … Continue reading on the second hand
There’s a popular belief that Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a warning about science “going too far”. But she actually presents Victor Frankenstein as something of a pseudo-scientist, at least when left to his own devices. In his resting state, or when working in isolation, Victor Frankenstein is a romantic more inclined to enjoy nature than to study it, and disinclined to the unglamorous work that scientists must do.
Very near the end of the "Divine Comedy", Dante and his beloved Beatrice leave behind the planets of our solar system and enter what was known as the sphere of the Fixed Stars. "Before you enter further here," Beatrice tells Dante, "look down and see how vast a universe / I have put beneath your … Continue reading Dante’s Pale Blue Dot
To start this short post, two moments from last week's totality, separated by three minutes: 3:23 pm, moments before totality. That's my son running around. 3:26 pm, the sun's disc just beginning to reemerge And how does one prepare in the weeks before a total eclipse of the sun? So glad you asked. With a … Continue reading totality times toys
I invited my family to see the April 8 eclipse, and we found a place on a bay in the St. Lawrence River. We had ourselves a grand little reunion up there on the Canadian border, and a great couple of days together. And we got to see a total eclipse, a first for each … Continue reading Reflecting on the total solar eclipse of April 8
I chose "Contact", the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film based on Carl Sagan's novel of the same, for a recent family movie night. It was new to the kids. I read the book a few years ago, soon after quarantine began. I had been wanting to show the kids this movie ever since we saw "The … Continue reading Contact movie night
These reflections of mine will not be new, but they are new for me. I recently showed my kids one my favorite movies, "Contact", based on Carl Sagan's novel of the same name, about a potential first contact on Earth with extraterrestrial life. We had a great discussion about it, and since then I've been … Continue reading Consider Again that Dot
My ten most memorable reads of 2022, fiction and nonfiction, out of my 42 first-time reads: 1. The Book of Job -- Robert Alter's translation “Oh, let that night be barren, let it have no song of joy.Let the day-cursers hex it, those ready to rouse Leviathan.Let its twilight stars go dark.Let it hope for … Continue reading Favorite reads of 2022
In the beginning, God said, "Let there be light." Or, in translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roqGqhX6_-U "The four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric second rank tensor equals zero". That is the formula for light. In physics, light is defined as a form of electromagnetic radiation. If I understand correctly, what we have in the video above is James Clerk … Continue reading Let there be electromagnetism
