I'm in the middle of thinking about Saint Bernard and reading the lovely book George sent me about Dante and astronomy but not ready to write. So today two pictures. One from the Episcopalian cathedral several years ago at Easter. And two, a picture of Thor when he was a baby... ; ) (I think [...]
Dante: Art from Paradiso.
Nora Hamerman, the friend who took me to the National Gallery last week, did a lecture series on Dante in Paradise last year. I completely missed it. (To be honest, I was just getting started on Dante and was intimidated.) It has PICTURES. And quotes. Gorgeous pictures. Gorgeous quotes. You can look at her slide [...]
Dante at the National Gallery, plus a gorgeous church picture, April 2023
I went to the National Gallery of Art with a friend yesterday. There is an exhibition of the National Gallery's own holdings with portrayals of Inferno.** It included the Auguste Rodin sculpture known currently as The Thinker. This sculpture of a seated man was originally supposed to decorate an entire piece known as the Gates [...]
Water on the moon
There is a longstanding argument about water on the moon. Does it exist? Hence, if the Chinese say that their lander has found water there (and they do), that's a big deal. If this is tl:dr skip down to the *** In fact there is a longstanding argument about exactly where the water on earth [...]
Francesco Faa di Bruno, priest, mathematician, & ?
As I wandered through the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia the other day I stumbled over Father Francesco Faa di Bruno. Born in Alessandria, Piemonte (later part of Italy) in 1825, he died in Turin, Italy in 1888. The Encyclopedia said that he was an Italian mathematician and priest. It also said he was a captain in [...]