Driving on Route 7 in Northern Virginia in late November poses a special challenge. There are a few days when the sun rises directly in line-of-sight down the road. Because it is so early in the morning the sun is low in the sky and blinds drivers. Traffic slows down as you come over certain [...]
Category: science and engineering
Economics of a skein of yarn, or thinking about the Industrial Revolution. Take your pick.
I’ve been doing research for one of my fiction stories and came across this article in the process. https://www.fashionroundtable.co.uk/news/why-skills-are-more-important-than-ever The author of this article visits a ‘mill’ in Wales. This mill does not grind wheat; it is a place for weaving cloth out of sheep fleece, with all the steps that that implies. The article [...]
Astronomer, geologist, cartographer, agriculturist, missionary, warrior for justice …
This guy was born in the south Tyrolean Alps in 1645 in Segno. His brilliance was recognized early and he was sent to school. When he was fifteen his father died. His family liquidated their land to keep him in school. (He had three sisters and no brothers so his sisters were probably taken care [...]
More about Mary Evershed and Dante
I'm still reading Mary Evershed's own book about Dante and the early astronomers. She begins with a useful set of chapters explaining various theories and discussing Ptolemy. Part II is then her discussion of Dante. I'm not there yet. However, I did finish the biography that George sent me by Tracy Daugherty. Besides being interested [...]
The astronomers and Dante
George sent me a book called Dante and the Early Astronomer. It was published in 2019 and written by Tracy Daugherty, an English professor at Oregon State University. The book is about a woman named Mary Ackworth Orr Evershed. She, herself, wrote a book called Dante and the Early Astronomers. That 's' is important to [...]
Janey's blog 