Bibliolater 📚 📜 🖋 @bibliolater@qoto.org

Terrific column by LA Times' @hiltzikm looks with appropriate distaste at Big Publishing's campaign to ban book ownership (what it all boils down to), especially by libraries, in the e-book era. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-12-08/which-last-longer-ebooks-or-physical-books-the-answer-may-surprise-you

"Most assume writing systems get simpler. But 3,600 years of Chinese writing show it’s getting increasingly complex" -- https://theconversation.com/amp/most-assume-writing-systems-get-simpler-but-3-600-years-of-chinese-writing-show-its-getting-increasingly-complex-194732

#linguistics @linguistics

Public Service Warning

Mastodon has a very big surge of new users right now. There's no way to tell if it will be sustained, but at this early point it looks similar to Nov 18 when when Musk pulled the employee purge.

It is very challenging for system administration to accommodate so many new users. If your server starts to struggle, it is not broken and will get sorted out.

We're all in this together. It's our social network. Be patient. What we are building is amazing.

#twittermigration

Having a #Christmas tree is participating in one of the world’s oldest religious traditions, originating in ancient #WinterSolstice celebrations.

The modern Christmas tree has come full circle, carrying meanings both religious and secular, promoting brightness in literally the darkest time of the year for half of the world

Bonus: find out about Queen Victoria's role in making 🎄 a popular American custom
https://theconversation.com/the-christmas-tree-is-a-tradition-older-than-christmas-195636

I see more new arrivals here on Mastodon. Welcome! Over 1,000 history scholars, teachers, and graduate students on this self-submitted list of people you might consider following:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zmuH0ffMpCNOEjsReMk5iiqGwiUvhO2TtrM8QKu98SE/htmlview#

Lots more lists for various academic fields here:
https://github.com/nathanlesage/academics-on-mastodon

#histodons #history

#introduction

My name is Michaela and I’m a #PhD candidate in #linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. I’m researching #Korean sound change, more specifically looking at tonogenesis in #phonetics and #phonology. I also like #statistics and #rstudio . Looking forward to meeting new #linguists and #academics !

For those that don't know me, I'm a somewhat notorious, online historian of science. Mostly the Early Modern mathematical sciences–mathematics, astronomy, astrology, cartography, instrument making–but I also wander all over the historical map, from time to time. I blog as The Renaissance Mathematicus and my alter-ego the HIstSci_Hulk likes to stomp on bad history of science.

Physicist Freeman Dyson was born #OTD in 1923.

He was known for his work in quantum electrodynamics and – among many other things – his eschatological musings about physics and the prospects for life in the far-flung future.

To the best of my knowledge, Dyson was the most prominent physicist of the modern era who never completed a PhD.

Photo: Heka Davis / AIP

Perhaps for some of us the simplified schematic of the cell structure that they used in school didn't grab our imaginations as deep, real and intricate. Maybe some color and texture would have engaged us to think about that incredible complexity and function. Hope this German chart from the 1990's invoked a sense of wonder for students of the time. #maps #map #biology #biotech

#OTD in 1832, birth of Gustave Eiffel. This engineer and industrialist will leave a deep mark on France and the world with realizations such as the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty as well as many bridges and other works. #history #france #usa  #eiffel #histodons @histodons