Recently I came across a blog post discussing two geniuses from the 14th century, Guillame de Machaut and Nicole Oresme. https://yardsaleofthemind.wordpress.com/2023/02/20/timelines/ Machaut was musical and lived from 1300 to 1377. Oresme (~ 1320 to 1382) was a priest, professor, and scientist (natural philosopher). The blogger says that he can’t think of any other genius from [...]
Jupiter, Venus, and the ecliptic
(The two little crescents in the above picture are the planets Jupiter and Venus. Their shape is an artifact of my camera and blowing up the picture beyond what it can manage.) There are two definitions of the ecliptic that are easy to find. One says that the ecliptic is the plane of the earth's [...]
What came before the Internet?
I recently read a fascinating book called The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage (Walker and Company, NY, 1998). The author's thesis is that the telegraph was very similar to the modern internet in its ability to connect people from all over and to send information anywhere, almost instantly. He traces the invention of the telegraph [...]
Guest Post: Dr. Lucy Hancock on dust rings around Earth (bumped)
This is the presentation Dr. Lucy Hancock gave at a session on space weather at the Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society's session on Space Weather, in January, 2022. Dr. Hancock presented an anomaly in solar radiation data, and suggested it be explained as the effect of space dust shading the line of sight [...]
Who is Matilda in the Divine Comedy?
Who is Matilda? When Dante reaches the top of Purgatory he encounters a lady who guides him through the mysteries he encounters. She is on the opposite side of a stream which he has found. And there appeared to me … A lady all alone, who went along Singing and culling floweret after floweret … [...]
Janey's blog 