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: March, 2021

A NECKLACE WITH LEGS   PART 2

NO ONE IN Part 1 of our tale seemed to covet the fabulous necklace commissioned in 1772 by Louis XV for his mistress Madame du Barry. However, in Part 2 … Continue reading

March 21, 2021 · Leave a comment

A NECKLACE WITH LEGS   PART 1

“IF ‘SOMETHING HAS LEGS,’ ” says VOA Learning English, “it means people have interest in it.”  Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, I offer an example of … Continue reading

March 20, 2021 · Leave a comment

THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS, THEN AND NOW

A FELLOW ALUMNUS of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, class of ’65, inspired me to learn more about the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1965 versus 2021. The Dow’s evolution is a suitable … Continue reading

March 19, 2021 · Leave a comment

INNES’S CALIFORNIA   PART 2 

INNES IRELAND WAS awed by California redwoods in yesterday’s Part 1 of “California Gold Rush Country,” R&T, February 1987. Today in Part 2, he encountered California lore specifically linked to … Continue reading

March 18, 2021 · Leave a comment

INNES’S CALIFORNIA   PART 1

INNES IRELAND, WINNER of the U.S. Grand Prix, Watkins Glen, 1961, and regular contributor to R&T, was a man of many talents and multiple sides. Wife Dottie and I knew … Continue reading

March 17, 2021 · Leave a comment

TRIPPIN’ THRU TIME IN LONDON

DAUGHTER SUZ SHARED “In London, Looking Backward to Move Forward,” by Henry Wismayer in The Washington Post, March 4, 2021. In particular, she recommended its link to Layers of London, … Continue reading

March 16, 2021 · 1 Comment

ETYMOLOGY—FILIBUSTER    PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN a review of “filibuster,” its etymology, and its use as a delaying tactic in the U.S. Senate. Here in Part 2, we discuss its history, other filibuster … Continue reading

March 15, 2021 · Leave a comment

ETYMOLOGY—FILIBUSTER    PART 1

THERE IS NOTHING good to say about “filibuster.” Even its etymology is embarrassing. As noted in Merriman-Webster, the word comes from the Spanish filibustero, literally “freebooter.” “Filibuster” made its first … Continue reading

March 14, 2021 · Leave a comment

PLANCK CORES—A NEW COSMOLOGICAL MODEL

SCIENTISTS ARE MODELERS. They devise mathematical models to explain what they perceive as reality. Pre-Copernicus, with human-centric and religious fervor, their model located Earth at their reality’s center. Newton refined … Continue reading

March 13, 2021 · 1 Comment

MATHEMATICS AND Moby-Dick

I’VE MET SEVERAL world-famous mathematicians, including Lotfi Zadeh, 1921–2017, the discoverer of fuzzy logic. And my life has also been enriched by learning from those I’ve not had opportunity to … Continue reading

March 12, 2021 · 3 Comments