Dr Keith Walker @SteelFolk@qoto.org

Ok, well done…

"Philosophy is the continuous search for meaning - broader, clearer, negotiated, articulated."

Susanne K. Langer American philosopher and educator was born #OTD in 1895. She was one of the earliest American women to achieve an academic career in philosophy. Langer is best remembered for her 1942 book Philosophy in a New Key which was followed by a sequel Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art in 1953. via @wikipedia

Books by Susanne K. Langer at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/51344

#books #philosophy

Like all sensible people, I have strong feelings about the correct place for the comma in 'God rest ye merry, gentlemen'.

And every year at the old place I used to tweet about this important topic.

But now such exertions are redundant, by reason of this fine video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfxy-3dGz0

(Btw, the correct place for the comma is after 'merry' - and if you disagree, you are wrong.)

Gods rest ye merry, followers.

Dorothy L. Sayers English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic died #OTD in 1957. She wrote numerous mystery stories featuring the witty and charming Lord Peter Wimsey combined the attractions of scholarly erudition and cultural small talk with the puzzle of detection. In her later years she turned from detective fiction to writing theological plays and books. She made scholarly translations of Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio.

Dorothy L. Sayers at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/45867

#books

William Thomson, Baron Kelvin Irish engineer, mathematician, and physicist died #OTD in 1907.

Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a coldest possible temperature, known as absolute zero, was known prior to his work, Kelvin is known for determining its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius. Kelvin's work in thermodynamics led to the idea that energy can not pass spontaneously from a colder object to a hotter object.

#physics

#Jasper
is an opaque variety of silica with a diverse range of colors and patterns. While most people associate it with red, the reality is much more diverse. Here's an overview of the different types and colors of jasper:
https://www.geologyin.com/2023/12/jasper-types-and-varieties-of-jasper.html?fbclid=IwAR1Vimh8LJl5aoBXaN9Ba2LTdrvlT9mCXXgnhXSEywrJXz5s4NXO4NuEQfE
By #GeologyWonders
#Geology #GeologyPage #Nature #minerals #crystals #gems #Nature #NatureLovers #NaturePhotography #Photographer

In August 1908, Hans Geiger published the first “gold foil” experiment which he conducted under Ernest Rutherford. There were many gold foil experiments, but this was the first. These experiments, also called the Geiger-Marsden experiments, were a driving factor behind the shift away from J. J. Thomson’s “plum pudding.” Then, in the gold foil experiments, alpha particles were shot at a very thin sheet of gold foil.

via Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics

#physics

The cherry on top of the shit sundae that is this climate denier president of the #cop28, is that his comment about "No science" backing up the need to phase out fossil fuels was while he spoke over (or mansplained) the actual guests in a talk called SHE CHANGES CLIMATE, a women-only panel about female perspectives on climate change.

He also topped it off by saying "I'm the man in charge".

The metaphor of ignorant toxic patriarchal capitalism would be too on the nose for fiction. But it's real

Police make 630 arrests of climate protesters in London in one month.

U.K.'s ‘staggering and shocking’ statistic as anti-protest legislation is enacted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/04/police-arrest-climate-protesters-london

Belgian philosopher, cartographer & mathematician Gerardus Mercator died #OTD in 1594.

He made the group of stars we know as Coma Berenices into an official constellation. He also made terrestrial & celestial globes and was one of the 1st to show the now-obsolete constellation Antinous on a star globe, this being on one he made in 1551. The 47 km diameter lunar crater Mercator, located on the south western edge of Mare Nubium, is named in his honour. via SocietyHistoryAstronomy

#astronomy

Really, really interesting.

Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell | Ep 17 Can Parliament Take Back Control? on Podbean. https://www.podbean.com/ea/dir-jh7cs-1c27e0d5

Russian mathematician and geometer Nikolai Lobachevsky was born #OTD in 1792.

He is known primarily for his work on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry, and also for his fundamental study on Dirichlet integrals, known as the Lobachevsky integral formula.

Another of his achievements was developing a method for the approximation of the roots of algebraic equations (Lobachevsky method). via @wikipedia

#science #mathematics

We would like to make tungsten needles for doing our dissections. Does anyone know where we can get size 0.008 tungsten wire? We would prefer to have it in the form of 3 ft rods if possible. #Drosophila #microscopy

"We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us."
The Anne of Green Gables Chronicles

Canadian Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born #OTD in 1874. Most of her novels were set on Prince Edward Island, and those locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site – namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park.

L. M. Montgomery at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36

#books

For those wondering what #feminist solution is, there is a helpful book 'Feminist Solutions for Ending War'.
https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/52008

“Climate change is a man-made problem and requires a feminist solution,” said the former President of Ireland Mary Robinson 👏 👏 👏
https://www.bcheights.com/2022/04/24/former-president-of-ireland-speaks-at-boston-college-hosting-earth-conference/

#climatechange is #climatecrisis
#feminism

My piece on the repugnant economics of hostage-taking explains why Israel releases far more prisoners than Hamas does hostages, and why Hamas treats hostages better than Israel does Palestinian prisoners.
https://coppolacomment.substack.com/p/hostage-economics

A guy in an SUV yelled sexual harassment while biking at night, stalked me for 4 miles, popped around the corner to drive directly at me in the wrong lane of traffic to continue yelling bc I ignored him; tried to ram me into parked cars or directly into his car's grill. I had only a few feet and 1 second to maneuver.

Roads need protected bike lanes to reduce this violent, shitty behaviour! It's easier to advocate for infrastructure than for not being treated like property or murdered. *sigh*

Fascinating Atlantic Monthly piece on America's falling economy.

It's complicated, of course, but finds a place for racism, RFK, LBJ, the rise of college educated voters, the rift betw/ white working class & the Dems, Nixon, global events, Reagan, etc.

Makes it seem so inevitable.

#news #politics #economy

tinyurl.com/u3r3y7ex

Make no mistake. Trump wants to TERMINATE healthcare for millions by gutting the Affordable Care Act.