WE ARE WEIRD
A PROVOCATIVE recent book offers the view that we have a lot to learn from primitive societies—from what we might call uncivilized sorts. What with savage rites and all, I’m … Continue reading
LOUGHEAD AND THE ALCOR C-6-1 JR. TRANSPORT
AVIATION BUFFS may connect a fellow named Allan Loughead with an aircraft company named Lockheed. But I wonder how many recognize one of his aviation achievements, the svelte 1938 Alcor … Continue reading
HOCKNEY ART: STAGE AND i
BRITISH ARTIST David Hockney, age 76, has never shied away from new media. In the early 1980s, he formed scenic montages, each Polaroid snapshot not quite merging with the next. … Continue reading
BLACK BEAUTY = PHANTOM CORSAIR?
I BELIEVE I’ve identified Black Beauty, the car used by the Green Hornet—the real old-time-radio Green Hornet, not some latter-day phony-schmony counterpart in a rudely customized Chrysler, for goodness sake. … Continue reading
FLAME EATER ATMOSPHERIC ENGINE
MY 21ST-CENTURY Flame Eater atmospheric engine is a technical delight that traces its origin back 300 years to the dawn of mechanical power. The very earliest of engines were of … Continue reading
CHRISTMAS BOOKS
I LOVE both giving and getting books. It’s satisfying when the getting responds to my deftly disguised hint (“Gee, I’d like to read…”). And there’s serendipity when I didn’t even … Continue reading
ENZYME HELPS HYDROGEN STORAGE
HYDROGEN IS the energy carrier of the future. What’s more, with production fuel-cell cars only a year away, H2 transport and storage are becoming important right now. A recent article … Continue reading
SHELTON CRUSADER STREAMLINE CABIN PLANE
YEARS AHEAD of its 1933 design, the Crusader Streamline Cabin Plane of Thomas Shelton was a philosophical precursor to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. I came upon this fascinating aircraft … Continue reading
HENRY FORD’S AMAZON ADVENTURE
IN THE early part of the last century, Henry Ford’s social engineering achieved a miracle of capitalism: His workers could actually afford the fruits of their labor (see http://wp.me/p2ETap-tH). Later, … Continue reading
BMW M1 AT GOODING’S SCOTTSDALE
THERE ARE those who consider the Honda/Acura NSX to be the world’s first practical exotic. But my vote goes to another car introduced more than a decade before the NSX—the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 