A POND AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, PART 1
HENRY DAVID Thoreau wrote, “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.” His writings on this influenced the thoughts and actions of Mahatma Gandhi, … Continue reading
THE SAD TALE OF BRETT AND HOLMES
BRITISH ACTOR Jeremy Brett portrayed Sherlock Holmes for Granada TV’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes between 1984 and 1994. Basil Rathbone owned this role of the world’s first consulting detective … Continue reading
ICELAND AND ALUMINUM
ICELAND IS a greater producer of aluminum than the United States. This and other tidbits are gleaned from The New York Times article, “American Companies Still Make Aluminum. In Iceland,” … Continue reading
CELEBRATING MATHEMATICIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN CÉDRIC VILLANI
EARLIER THIS year, the French had strikingly different candidates in their national elections and voters exhibited rare wisdom. The brand-new centrist Emmanuel Macron and his Le République en Marche! party … Continue reading
LET’S DIFFERENTIATE “BULLY PULPIT” FROM A WRETCHED BULLY
I AM a lover of the English language, with a deep appreciation of Theodore Roosevelt. It was he who characterized the presidency as a “bully pulpit.” But, I note emphatically, … Continue reading
SPOOKY ACTION AT (REALLY) AFAR
CHINESE RESEARCHERS have sent entangled photons from a satellite to two ground stations 745 miles apart. This distance is by far a new record for what Einstein called “spooky action … Continue reading
THE FIRST BUGATTI IS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD
THE LYON Air Museum is located at John Wayne Airport, not far from SimanaitisSays world headquarters in Orange County, California. Among the museum’s regular displays are an American Airlines Douglas … Continue reading
A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR DISNEY IMAGINEERS
IT IS rare that I turn to Variety, America’s weekly entertainment trade magazine, for political updates. Typically, the Orange County Register and The New York Times suffice for balance, along … Continue reading
MY (NON-FAKE) MAGAZINE COVERS
WHAT WITH the current brouhaha concerning the alternative-fact March 1, 2009, Time magazine cover, I should like to go on record that my eight, possibly nine, covers of R&T are … Continue reading
A HOLMES RIVAL IN DEDUCTION?
THE WORLD’S first consulting detective has exhibited great deductive prowess, but he may have a new rival, a mere junior office clerk in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. I enjoy … Continue reading