CELEBRATING SIR FRANCIS BEAUFORT
THIS SUMMER has had a lot of hot air, everywhere from Washington, D.C., to Helsinki, and back. This got me thinking of how we measure its forceful expenditures. Add to … Continue reading
ADA LOVELACE REDUX
AN ARTICLE in the London Review of Books, June 21, 2018, taught me a new word and more about Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer. Indeed, Ada invented the … Continue reading
CELEBRATING RUSSELL BROCKBANK
I WAS recently recalling the old days of Formula 1 in reading the R&T August 1967 report of the 25eme Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco. Henry N. Manney provided the … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY—TREASON, TRAITOR
RECENT HAPPENINGS in Helsinki have added the words “treason” and “traitor” to the SimanaitisSays Etymology for our Times. What follows here focuses on the words’ English language usage and origin, … Continue reading
NEW ZEALAND REVISITED—50 YEARS ON
OLD GUIDEBOOKS can function as time capsules, especially for places visited well after the book’s publication. I recall using old Baedekers to get around Europe in early-retirement adventures following business … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR SCIENCE—AND THE HUMANITIES!
THERE’S EXCELLENT reason to promote STEMM and HACD. As unwieldy as it appears, STEMMHACD (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Humanities, Arts, Crafts, and Design) can play an essential role in … Continue reading
PREPARING FOR A SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE, 50 YEARS AGO
THE WISDOM of old guidebooks is often found charming and occasionally even timely by today’s travelers. Donald Sea Briggs certainly had a way with words in his Briggs South Seas … Continue reading
A MOVEABLE FEAST OF ELEGANCE—THE BUGATTI TYPE 50T
HAVE THERE ever been automobiles more elegant than Bugattis? I doubt it, and I offer this 1932 Type 50T as an example. The Type 50 and its variants are the … Continue reading
AN ENLIGHTENING T-SHIRT
I LEARN something every day. Well, sorta every day. Recent enlightenment came when I solved a personal sartorial shortcoming by ordering new T-shirts from March for Science. The March for … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY—RIDICULE, DERISION, MOCKERY
MINIONS SHAMED in restaurants. A giant balloon to float above London. A ballad celebrating inarticulate ramblings about mouth, brain, and Elton John. What a perfect time to add the word … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 