A FAMILY AFFAIR IN KIWI AVIATION
FOR THE WALSH siblings of Auckland, New Zealand, early aviation was very much a family affair. Unlike fellow Kiwi Richard Pearse, they didn’t have to devise everything (including spark plugs!) … Continue reading
PLAYING A JAPANESE DICTIONARY GAME
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE, it’s said, can be a dangerous thing. My knowledge of the Japanese language certainly qualifies as meager, though the game I’ve been playing isn’t dangerous at all. … Continue reading
BEV LOVE OR BEV MEH?
WITH GASOLINE AS cheap as it is, battery electric vehicles in the U.S. aren’t exactly selling like hotcakes–or full-size pickup trucks either. Yet, automakers are covering their electric bets in … Continue reading
OED’S OUTRAGEOUS MOOBS
THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, the OED, is an authority of English language usage and its history. From time to time, it reflects the expansion of the language, as described in … Continue reading
NANOCAR RACING
HERE’S RACING that makes Formula 1 look low-tech. Nanocar racing is right up there, er… down there with the 1966 sci-fi flick Fantastic Voyage. In Fantastic Voyage, a submarine with … Continue reading
TRUTH AND PROOF: AN EXAMPLE FROM EASY NUMBER THEORY
THIS PARTICULAR election campaign–thank goodness it’s almost over!– has been littered with innuendo, accusation and downright prevarication. As a counterpoint, I offer an example of truth, verified by genuine, unadulterated … Continue reading
FATHER DIVINE: CHARISMATIC, CONTROVERSIAL
WHEN WE left Reverend Major Jealous Father Divine, indeed only yesterday and 1932, he was sentenced to a year in stir because his Long Island commune disturbed the peace. Ironic, … Continue reading
FATHER DIVINE: GOD, SCAMP–OR A BIT OF BOTH
.THE THRONE CAR of evangelist Father Divine was yesterday’s topic. Today (and tomorrow) I celebrate this man who was an early role model of racial equality for many, and yet … Continue reading
A DIVINE DUSIE
THIS PARTICULAR DUESENBERG is more than divine; in a sense, the car was Divine’s. Namely, it was specially built as a Throne Car for the complexly charismatic African-American evangelist Father … Continue reading
SCIENCE AND THE CITY
A NEW BOOK, Science and the City: The Mechanics Behind Metropolis is a must-read. A book review titled “Street Smart,” by Sybil Derrible, is in the latest Science, October 21, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 