ON QUARKS, ROBOTS, AND PANDEMONIUM
PROFESSOR MURRAY GELL-MANN died, age 89, on May 24, 2019. He was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of … Continue reading
GODZILLA—AND CHANGING TIMES
SINCE ITS 1954 film debut, Godzilla has doubled in size, breaking all sorts of guidelines in evolutionary theory. It’s more along the lines of the Hollywood dictum that if one … Continue reading
SHERLOCK HOLMES—THE SPORTSMAN
IN INITIAL ASSESSMENT of Sherlock Holmes—his Limits, chronicler Dr. John H. Watson made no mention of sports other than “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.” This was recounted … Continue reading
FAUX PIT STOPS IN F1 PART 2
YESTERDAY IN Part 1, fake F1 pit stops were frowned upon by the Fédération International de l’Automobile. But there was a time…. The Good Old Days with Stirling and Alf. … Continue reading
FAUX PIT STOPS IN F1 PART 1
PIT STOPS in modern Formula 1 are marvelously orchestrated affairs. Four tires are changed, maybe aerodynamic devices are adjusted, and the car is gone, all in a mere 2 seconds … Continue reading
THOUGHTS ON AUTO THEFT
AS REPORTED EARLIER this year in USA TODAY, January 9, 2019, “Thieves stole more vehicles in 2017 than they had in any single year since 2009—and the biggest reason might … Continue reading
RACING LINKS TO R.E. OLDS, THE SULZER BROTHERS, AND A COMMER KNOCKER PART 2
AS UNLIKELY AS it seems, engines with two pistons per cylinder have powered lots of British-built trucks and buses around the world. Today, in Part 2 of our Commer Knocker … Continue reading
RACING LINKS TO R.E. OLDS, THE SULZER BROTHERS, AND A COMMER KNOCKER PART 1
SCORES OF BRITISH bus and lorry drivers have been propelled by a highly unorthodox engine with a racing link. Based on a 1934 patent of Ransom E. Olds, or maybe … Continue reading
SMALL LATIN, LESS GREEK… BUT CHURCHILL HAD A POINT TOO
Hi ENGLISH PLAYWRIGHT Ben Jonson wrote that his late colleague William Shakespeare had “smalle Latine, and lesse Greeke.” Well, come to think of it, me too. I was never encouraged … Continue reading
LEAF MATHEMATICS
HOW COME THE common Japanese shrub Orixa japonica breaks all the rules of leaf arrangement? Basil, for instance, is decussate: Each leaf is about a quarter-turn, 90 degrees, from the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 