MATRYOSHKA
AT FIRST glance, the phrase “Matryoshka Holmes” looks like one of Sherlock’s obscure Russian relatives. And, in a sense, this is correct—by way of China, in more ways than one. … Continue reading
SPACE FRONTIER 1952
DESCRIBED AS “the story of the greatest adventure awaiting man,” Across the Space Frontier is a wonderful book written by top space scientists in 1952. A good many of their … Continue reading
WHAT IS A SPORTS CAR?
THE QUESTION “What is a sports car?” was addressed in Road and Track by no less than John R. Bond. And, indeed, when John and his wife Elaine assumed control … Continue reading
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?
THE U.S. Department of Labor has provided us all with an entertaining and thought-provoking gizmo at http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm. As its name suggests, the CPI Inflation Calculator uses the Consumer Price Index and … Continue reading
ARE THERE OPERA DIVOS?
HOW HAVE I waited this long to write about opera? Wife Dottie introduced me to its joys—and madness—quite a few years ago, and I’ve never looked back. For neophytes, let … Continue reading
A NEED FOR (COMPUTER) SPEED?
MY FELLOW tweeters (see @simanaitis) recently received one derived from my reading Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson’s wonderful book about the post-WWII emergence of the digital age. What’s more, the October … Continue reading
SWEDISH OLD CAR RALLY
A FELLOW automotive journalist and I were motoring down a country road on Sweden’s northwest coast; the car was one of Saab’s new convertibles; the year was 2004. First, a … Continue reading
CATAPULTING INTO SCIENCE
ARTICLES IN The Orange County Register, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, seem to counter each other. One laments the apparently low priority in the U.S. given to mathematics and science. The … Continue reading
MALAMALA GAME RESERVE
MALAMALA GAME Reserve is in northeastern South Africa, its 33,000 acres sharing an unfenced border with this country’s Kruger National Park. Visiting there in 2002, I learned that MalaMala is … Continue reading
BROOKLANDS DOUBLE TWELVE
WEYBRIDGE, SURREY, is a quiet neighborly locale about an hour southwest of London. It has always been quiet and neighborly, except for around-the-clock shenanigans run at the Brooklands Motor Course. … Continue reading
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