Another lovely APOD Jupiter and Venus picture ... The Astronomy Picture Of the Day website has a new glorious picture of Jupiter and Venus together in the sky, along with a telescope, and children being shown this wonder. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230315.html ~*~*~*~ I got to thinking about Andrew II of Hungary, again. He seemed to be the [...]
14th century notable, Saint Jadwig, plus a little Dante
Also known as, getting deep in the weeds... ; ) Dante began the 14th century, dying in 1321. Saint Jadwig finished it. She died in 1399, along with her only child, when she was about twenty-five years old. Her footprint is immortalized in the walls of a Carmelite church. She was declared King [sic] of [...]
Chaucer and the tides
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 [...]
