FORD DEALER STARTS OWN AIRLINE
IT SEEMS improbable today, but a car dealer starting his own airline was a sound business model back in 1927. The country was abuzz with Lucky Lindy’s transatlantic solo, Jack … Continue reading
PETROGRAD NIGHTS—AND DAYS
IN THE long view of history, St. Petersburg, Russia, was called Petrograd for only the briefest of periods, 1914 to 1924. During that decade, though, it was central in a … Continue reading
NATURE’S ORIGAMI
“LADYBUG, ladybug, fly away home…” These tiny polka-dotted insects invariably complied with this childhood entreaty so quickly that I knew nothing about their winged travel. Coccinellidae are known as ladybugs … Continue reading
SNIFFING OUT A MYTH
IT IS CONVENTIONAL wisdom that many mammals, dogs especially, have far better senses of smell than humans. However, recent research suggests that this is a myth perpetrated by 19th-century science … Continue reading
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE AND THE ART OF THE DEAL
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE began as street theater in 16th-century Italy. It continues today around the world, reaching as far as the antipodes. Matriark Theatre, in New South Wales, Australia, has among … Continue reading
HOLMES AND OUR STAR QUARTERBACK
IT IS A tenuous tie indeed between the world’s greatest consulting detective and our high school’s star quarterback, but typewriters provide the link. Sherlock Holmes used the unicity of typed … Continue reading
TRAVEL ADVICE
THIS WEEK’S U.S. foray into the world scene prompts me to follow along, armchair style, by way of my Baedeker’s Handbooks for Travellers. I rather doubt that these books would … Continue reading
SEEKING PERSPECTIVE, PART 2
AS NOTED yesterday, it was Renaissance artists who learned to transform flat renderings into more realist images through perspective. Four centuries later, the invention of photography presented new challenges of … Continue reading
SEEKING PERSPECTIVE, PART 1
IT’S PERSPECTIVE of the artistic sort that I have in mind. Back in 1967, the Whitney Library of Design published a fine collection of architectural interiors accompanied by erudite commentary … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
A TALE OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER TECHNOLOGY
I’M NOT surprised that the guy who prefers coal to renewables is also in favor of steam over electromagnetics. Indeed, his latest encounter with science and technology is textbook Trump. … Continue reading →