CELEBRATING HISTORY EXTRA
I’VE LONG ENJOYED BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE, now rebranded History Extra. Its February 2026 number is no exception, with cover-blurbed features that are varied indeed: Lucy Worsley recounting a competitor of … Continue reading
WHAT’S THE LAST MASS MARKET PAPERBACK YOU’VE READ?
I REMEMBER VIVIDLY THE LAST TIME I read a mass market paperback: It was right after I had my cataract surgery that (thank you, Dr. Rowen!) gave me 20/15 vision … Continue reading
THE PALIMPSEST OF ARCHIMEDES PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN SHARING CLAIRE HALL’S LRB REVIEW “Maths is Second Best” of Nicholas Nicastro’s Archimedes: Fulcrum of Science. Today, we pick up with her analysis of the Hellenistic world … Continue reading
THE PALIMPSEST OF ARCHIMEDES PART 1
THE WORD “PALIMPSEST” MAY JOG THE MEMORY of longtime readers of this website: “Medieval DNA Sleuthing,” SimanaitisSays, August 7, 2017, described “A palimpsest is a piece of writing material, parchment, … Continue reading
CELEBRATING HUMOR IN SEX PART 2
YESTERDAY, BUILDING UP TO TODAY’S ST. VALENTINE’S, Brit humourist Gyles Brandreth began sharing tidbits from his book Even Greater Sexual Disasters. They continue today; again, quotes passages are Brandreth’s. The … Continue reading
CELEBRATING HUMOR IN SEX PART 1
EARLY ON WITH SIMANAITISSAYS, I OPTED to keep topics acceptable to my grandkids. These days, now that Lily and Carter are both in college, I figure what the hell. And … Continue reading
WHA’CHA’ CALL IT? AND WHERE Y’AT?
WE ARE AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING NATION, SORTA. But our regional dialects and slang are entertaining too. I’ve written about this from time to time. And recently I came upon The American … Continue reading
A NEW RESEARCH MENTOR
THERE ARE THOSE WHO ADVISE THAT I’m beyond the age of adopting a mentor, but Edward Brooke-Hitching is certainly in the running. This, I note, arose from Susannah Clapp’s “Not … Continue reading
RESISTING A.I. SLOP—AAAS SCIENCE’S VIEW
H. HOLDEN THORP DESCRIBES “Resisting A.I. Slop,” AAAS Science, January 1, 2026. Given that Thorp is Editor-in-Chief of all Science journals, he’s an excellent source of thoughtful information on this … Continue reading
IN NEED OF A DIVINE COMEDY PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1 WE BEGAN sharing Eric Bulson’s review of Mary Jo Bang’s new translation of Dante’s Divina Commedia. In today’s Part 2, Bulson explores Italian (and its Tuscan … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 