Bibliolater 📚 📜 🖋 @bibliolater@qoto.org

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

Fascinating article about Cambridge University scholar Rishi Rajpopat who solved 2,500-yr-old Sanskrit algorithm problem in Panini’s text.
Read here: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/solving-grammars-greatest-puzzle

@cambridge_cpt @camdighum
@histodons @intellectualhistory #history #sanskrit #literature #mathematics #puzzle

Is Santa based on Odin? Is he a Siberian shaman?

These theories are based on selective info, false info, and Mircea Eliade. They revolve around Santa's reindeer.

The key facts are:

* Santa's reindeer were invented in 1820s New York.
* Other Anglo-American Santa traditions are derived from 17th cent. Dutch customs.
* Sleipnir isn't a flying horse.
* 8-legged horses aren't typical in Siberian shamanism.

(Reading time: 15-20 mins.)
#Christmas #Odin #StNicholas #shamanism https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2022/12/reindeer.html

The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), an emission nebula about 8,000 lightyears from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Image: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

Why do French 'école', Spanish 'escuela' and Portuguese 'escola' have a vowel before /s/ that Italian '_scuola' lacks?

It used to be 'iscuola' but initial /i/ was lost when followed by /s/ plus a consonant.

It was preserved in certain fixed phrases, for example: 'per iscritto' (in writing), 'in Isvizzera' (in Switzerland).

"God bless you, my dear":
the last words of Samuel Johnson, lexicographer and critic, renowned for his #dictionary, who died #OnThisDay 1784
#histodons

William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649) was born #OTD, 13 Dec. The leading Scottish poet of the age, his preference for his Lothian home over the Court did not diminish his engagement with wider culture; Ben Johnson once walked all the way from London to converse with him
📷 William Drummond of Hawthornden (1619) – oil on panel; attributed to Abraham van Blijenberch

@litstudies
#Scottish #literature #poetry #Jacobean #earlymodern
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/2309