MIND THE GAP
HURRAH FOR the London Underground, 150 years old today! It was on January 10, 1863, a Saturday, that thousands of Londoners queued up to ride the Metropolitan Railway underground from … Continue reading
LE BUGATTI ENGLOUTI
WITH HOMAGE to Claude Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral), I offer the story of Le Bugatti Englouti—a tale at least part of which happens to be true. The … Continue reading
EUCLID’S ELEMENTS
ONE OF the best examples of the elegance of mathematics, The Elements of Euclid, was composed more than 2300 years ago. The Greek mathematician Euclid lived in Alexandria around 300 … Continue reading
SPITFIRES IN RANGOON
AIRCRAFT HUNTERS hope to find as many as 36 Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft that were buried next to a Burma airfield at the end of World War II. According to … Continue reading
GOODING AUCTION
THERE ARE 156 cars coming up at the Gooding & Company auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 18 and 19, 2013. For full details of the auction, see http://www.goodingco.com. More than … Continue reading
E15: CORN-FED GARBAGE
ETHANOL IN gasoline is making the news—again. Because of the garbage I’ve read and heard recently, it’s time to share information on the matter. Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol … Continue reading
THE NAME’S THE THING
A RECENT news item got me looking up patronymics, matronymics and related naming around the world. Throughout all this I’ll base my examples on Dennis Doe, son of Algert and … Continue reading
THE ART OF KABUKI
KABUKI THEATER is to Japan as Shakespeare is to our culture—and more. Originating around 1600, coinciding with the Elizabethan theater of Marlowe, Jonson and Shakespeare, Kabuki continued to add repertoire … Continue reading
AERO CLONING
NEWS EARLIER this week reported that an American “small commercial aircraft” was forced to make an emergency landing at Ahvaz International Airport, the busiest airport in Iran. Two subtexts are … Continue reading
2012 HIGHS—AND LOWS
A JOYOUS New Year to you! I turn to Science magazine, published weekly by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to celebrate the top scientific achievements of the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 