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
ON FRACKING, EGS, AND QUAKES
MOTHER NATURE DOESN’T take kindly to poking, even when administered with the best of intentions. Science has documented that the extraction of petroleum or natural gas by fracturing subterranean rock … Continue reading
1932 FORD HIGHBOY ROADSTER—A HOT ROD TO THE MAX PART 2
HOT RODS HAVE technical sophistication that belies their home-built heritage. The ’32 Ford Highboy Roadster offered at Gooding & Company Auction, Pebble Beach, 2011, is a perfect example of this. … Continue reading
1932 FORD HIGHBOY ROADSTER—A HOT ROD TO THE MAX PART 1
WHEN I WASN’T imagining MG TCs in study hall, this was the prototypical car I was sketching back then: a modified 1932 Ford roadster, sans fenders and hood, with all … Continue reading
RENAVIGATING WITH CAPTAIN JAMES COOK PART 2
WE LEFT Captain James Cook in yesterday’s Part 1 during his first exploration of the Pacific, 1768–1771, the success of which depended heavily upon consummate skills of Polynesian navigator Tupaia, … Continue reading
RENAVIGATING WITH CAPTAIN JAMES COOK PART 1
AS A KID, I picked up lots of misinformation. For instance, that the famed British explorer James Cook discovered a bunch of Pacific islands and, on his return trip, got … Continue reading
CHINA’S NEW SILK ROAD
THE SILK ROAD was a classic trade route connecting the East and the West. From about 115 B.C. to the 1450s, this trade by land and sea involved China, the … Continue reading
MOVING HOUSE TO THE HUNTINGTON
IT’S SORT OF Meiji-Mura with the vast Pacific in between. Readers may recall Meiji-Mura (“Meiji Village”), consisting of more than 60 Japanese buildings from the Meiji Era (1868–1912) relocated to … Continue reading
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