LANCIA LAMBDA
INDEPENDENT FRONT suspension, a stressed steel unitary chassis, a single overhead camshaft, light-alloy narrow-angle V-4 layout—all in 1922. The car was the Italian Lancia Lambda, built between 1922 and 1931. … Continue reading
VERDI, HITLER & GODWIN
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Joe Greens! In fact, October 10, 2013 is a very special birthday—the 200th of Italian opera composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. Verdi is renowned for such famous operas … Continue reading
RENÉ COUZINET, AIRCRAFT DESIGNER
FRENCH AIRCRAFT designer René Couzinet was only 23 when, in 1928, he devised a three-engine low-wing monoplane specifically for transatlantic mail service. The effort was an early example of crowd-funding, … Continue reading
JEAN MERMOZ, AVIATOR
FRENCHMAN JEAN Mermoz was an extraordinary aviator in an extraordinary era of aviation. His flights crossing the South Atlantic and later the Andes were the first of their kind. Mermoz … Continue reading
iPAD SHENANIGANS
I BELIEVE I’m as moral as the next guy. However, I read an item in the Orange County Register, October 6, 2013, with decidedly mixed feelings. It’s titled “District iPad … Continue reading
BEARS AND COUGARS OH MY
SEVERAL DAYS ago, I related “A Coyote Tale” (www.wp.me/p2ETap-1B6), based on an article in Science magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS article, “Predators … Continue reading
VIRGIN ISLAND KITCHEN
THERE’S SERENDIPITY in organizing old books. Where else would I expect to find my signed edition, from 1969, of Erva Boulon’s cookbook? And why else would I research this Virgin … Continue reading
JAPANESE AESTHETICS, COURTESY OF MAZDA
SOME YEARS back, Mazda offered a short course in Japanese aesthetics through publication of several books. Being the Nipponophile I am, I am delighted to share details here. The four … Continue reading
A COYOTE TALE
IT’S ONE of North America’s more encouraging ecological tales: Coyotes are thriving. Never endangered, never protected, Canis latrans (Latin for “barking dog”) was once indigenous to roughly the U.S. Mountain … Continue reading
HOUDINI—PIONEER AVIATOR
HARRY HOUDINI performed death-defying feats during the early years of the 20th Century. Flying through the air—in the earliest of aeroplanes—was one of these feats, an achievement that got him … Continue reading
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