Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Monthly Archives: June, 2018

FUEL CELLS ON THE ROAD—AND ALOFT

HERE’S AN update on fuel cells in several applications. These electrochemical devices, relatively new on the road, have produced electricity in extraterrestrial vehicles for decades. Indeed, the Gemini and Apollo … Continue reading

June 30, 2018 · Leave a comment

ALLOMETRY, THOMPSON, AND THE BRAIN

ISN’T IT fascinating how one thing leads to another? An article on whales in The New York Times jogs my memory about D’Arcy Thompson, a scientist whose work got me … Continue reading

June 29, 2018 · Leave a comment

R&T 20TH + 51ST ANNIVERSARY ANSWERS

READERS OF R&T back in the 1960s had to wait a year before its June 1968 issue was published with Henry N. Manney’s answers to his June 1967 R&T 20th … Continue reading

June 28, 2018 · 3 Comments

R&T 20TH + 51ST ANNIVERSARY QUIZ

IN ITS JUNE 1967 issue, R&T celebrated its 20th anniversary by having Henry N. Manney compose a 39-question quiz. Here, SimanaitisSays selects six portions of these questions for you to … Continue reading

June 27, 2018 · 11 Comments

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 2

THE YEAR 1810 was a busy one for Napoleon, for Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (Napoleon’s appointed Prince of Portecorvo), and for King Charles XIII of Sweden. Emperor Napoleon’s goal of conquering … Continue reading

June 26, 2018 · 1 Comment

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 1

WITH HOMAGE to Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, 1888, here’s a tale of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte who actually became Sweden’s King Charles XIV John. It’s a … Continue reading

June 25, 2018 · Leave a comment

BEREFT OF INSULTS?

THESE DAYS, one can easily run short of invectives. However, in the spirit of literary recycling, we can learn from a master of the English language, William Shakespeare. Here’s a … Continue reading

June 24, 2018 · 3 Comments

FUNICULÌ, FUNICULÀ!

THE NEAPOLITAN ditty Funiculì, Funiculà celebrated the 1880 opening of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius. Today here at SimanaitisSays, I celebrate this steep form of rail transportation based on … Continue reading

June 23, 2018 · 3 Comments

HARRY NILE, SEATTLE P.I.

THE GLORIOUS ERA of radio detectives ran from the 1940s into the 1960s. Private investigators such as Johnny Dollar, Philip Marlowe, and Sam Spade entertained me back then. And, through … Continue reading

June 22, 2018 · 3 Comments

ETYMOLOGY: DEVIL, DIABOLICAL

DEVIL AND DIABOLICAL are perfect additions to the SimanaitisSays series of Etymology for our Times, what with the Trump administration’s Wall hostage program of children. The words’ origins trace to … Continue reading

June 20, 2018 · 1 Comment