ETYMOLOGY—DESPICABLE
HOLDING INNOCENT children hostage in return for building a wall is despicable. And thus, the word “despicable” earns a place in the SimanaitisSays series Etymology for our Times. Merriam-Webster defines … Continue reading
CHIHULY’S BRIDGE OF GLASS
THIS IS a tale of an artist who overcame significant adversity through entrepreneurial spirit. And, with his help, of a city that overcame significant environmental adversity through art. In retrospect, … Continue reading
FUEL CELLS ON THE ROAD—AND ALOFT
HERE’S AN update on fuel cells in several applications. These electrochemical devices, relatively new on the road, have produced electricity in extraterrestrial vehicles for decades. Indeed, the Gemini and Apollo … Continue reading
ALLOMETRY, THOMPSON, AND THE BRAIN
ISN’T IT fascinating how one thing leads to another? An article on whales in The New York Times jogs my memory about D’Arcy Thompson, a scientist whose work got me … Continue reading
R&T 20TH + 51ST ANNIVERSARY ANSWERS
READERS OF R&T back in the 1960s had to wait a year before its June 1968 issue was published with Henry N. Manney’s answers to his June 1967 R&T 20th … Continue reading
R&T 20TH + 51ST ANNIVERSARY QUIZ
IN ITS JUNE 1967 issue, R&T celebrated its 20th anniversary by having Henry N. Manney compose a 39-question quiz. Here, SimanaitisSays selects six portions of these questions for you to … Continue reading
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 2
THE YEAR 1810 was a busy one for Napoleon, for Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (Napoleon’s appointed Prince of Portecorvo), and for King Charles XIII of Sweden. Emperor Napoleon’s goal of conquering … Continue reading
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 1
WITH HOMAGE to Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, 1888, here’s a tale of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte who actually became Sweden’s King Charles XIV John. It’s a … Continue reading
BEREFT OF INSULTS?
THESE DAYS, one can easily run short of invectives. However, in the spirit of literary recycling, we can learn from a master of the English language, William Shakespeare. Here’s a … Continue reading
FUNICULÌ, FUNICULÀ!
THE NEAPOLITAN ditty Funiculì, Funiculà celebrated the 1880 opening of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius. Today here at SimanaitisSays, I celebrate this steep form of rail transportation based on … Continue reading
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