Chikara @chikara@qoto.org

LIGHTHOUSE WITH ROTATING LIGHTS

In the 1870s, the Japanese government built lighthouses with rotating lights. Some of these Meiji era lighthouses are still in use today.
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Eight lighthouses were first brought into service in the 1870s with the same mechanical light rotating system. This apparatus was designed and manufactured in Scotland; and then the equipment was shipped to Japan. The Japanese government hired Richard Henry Brunton to oversee this technology transfer process.-- see Richard Brunton (1991). "Building Japan: 1868-1876," pp. 24-25. https://books.google.com/books?id=q6GOdFknNDYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
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The heavy glass lens mechanism is only part of the optical instrument assembly in Japanese lighthouses built using European designs.
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The heart of the lighthouse is the light rotation apparatus which moves the lens. In the earliest Western-style lighthouses, the bulk of the lens and rotation gear is supported in a mercury bath. Mercury was used because of its low rotation friction. -- see Japan Coast Guard, Maritime Safety Department, "Past and Present of the Aids to Navigation of Japan," p. 6 (PDF p. 7 of 12) https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/image/41_the%20aids%20to%20navigation%20of%20japan.pdf
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In the mechanical drawing below, the mercury bath is shown below in blue.
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The Kashinozaki Lighthouse in Wakayama Prefecture is one of the eight sites where the "modern" mercury bath pedestal support mechanism was installed by Brunton. -- see Wikipedia "Kashinozaki Lighthouse" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashinozaki_Lighthouse; and see Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), "Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 83." https://www.jsme.or.jp/kikaiisan/heritage_083_en.html
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QUESTION: The fact that the Japanese lighthouse apparatus was modeled on equipment used in Scotland begs a few questions -- for example, where were similar mercury bath pedestal support mechanisms in use in Scotland in the 1870s? Are there sites where this 19th century technology is still in use in the United Kingdom?
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

LIGHTHOUSE SYSTEM IN JAPAN
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One of the Japanese lighthouses designed by Richard Henry Brunton is the Kashinozaki Lighthouse on the island of Kii Ōshima in Wakayama Prefecture. It was built in 1870. The original second order Fresnel lens is still in use today. -- see Wikipedia "Kashinozaki Lighthouse" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashinozaki_Lighthouse; and see "Fresnel lens" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens
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In 2010, the optical Instruments of this lighthouse were officially designated part of Japan's mechanical engineering heritage. This apparatus was the heart of the first of eight Japanese lighthouses with rotating flashing lights. -- see Wikipedia "Mechanical Engineering Heritage (Japan)"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Engineering_Heritage_(Japan)#Collection_2
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QUESTION: I wonder why this specific lighthouse was the first using a rotating flashing light? My best guess is that the explanation isn't about hidden rocks in shallow waters close to shore.
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

LIGHTHOUSE SYSTEM IN JAPAN

In 1868, the Meiji government of Japan hired Richard Henry Brunton to oversee an ambitious lighthouse-building program. He formulated the basis of Japan's coastal navigation safety system and he built the initial infrastructure of lighthouses. -- see Japan Coast Guard, Maritime Safety Department, "Past and Present of the Aids to Navigation of Japan," p. 2 (PDF p. 3 of 12) https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/image/41_the%20aids%20to%20navigation%20of%20japan.pdf
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The Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1858 included a Japanese promise that the coast would be lighted and buoyed for the safety of general navigation. But the Japanese were slow in following up.-- see "Obituary - Richard Henry Brunton," Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 145 (1901), pp. 340–341. https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/imotp.1901.18577
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On December 7, 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate explained the delay, "It is impossible to decide where the lighthouses should be erected until accurate enquiries have been made, but in the meantime, we intend to procure the required apparatus." -- see Richard Brunton (1991). "Building Japan: 1868-1876," p. 23. https://books.google.com/books?id=q6GOdFknNDYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
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The process of procuring modern lighthouse equipment began in Japan on this day 153 years ago. Some of the original apparatus is still in use today. -- see below, two views of the rotating gear box at Kashinozaki in Wakayama Prefecture
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Scottish lighthouse builders David and Thomas Stevenson designed the first 13 lanterns and apparatus which were shipped to Japan. Brunton was in charge of building the lighthouses and installing the equipment.-- see Brunton. "Building Japan," pp. 24-25.
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Brunton would become known as the "father of Japanese lighthouses." He supervised the building and maintenance of more than 20 lighthouses still in use today.-- see Wikipedia "Richard Henry Brunton." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Brunton#cite_note-5; and see Existing Meiji-era Historical Lighthouses in "Past and Present," p. 5 (PDF p. 6 of 12) https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/image/41_the%20aids%20to%20navigation%20of%20japan.pdf
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In 1868-1912, the cadre of specialists and experts like Brunto were called o-yatoi gaikokujin (御雇い外国人 honorable hired foreigners). -- see Wikipedia "Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_government_advisors_in_Meiji_Japan
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QUESTION: Did you know that the scientific study of lighthouses and signal lights, their construction and illumination is called "pharology"? -- see Wikipedia "Pharology" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharology
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

WATER-FILLED BOTTLES + LIGHT
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In the images below, Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks are being carved using traditional methods, including the lighting
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A glass flask full of water hangs between the woodblock and a light bulb. When the light from the bulb hits the flask it is refracted in all directions and eliminates shadows from the surface of the woodblock, enabling the artisan to see the finest of lines. -- see Brigitte Koyama-Richard, "Modern-day Artisans Carry On the “Ukiyo-e” Tradition." Nippon. March 6, 2014. https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b02306/modern-day-artisans-carry-on-the-ukiyo-e-tradition.html
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QUESTION? I wonder how the many uses of optics and lighting technology developed in Japan? My best guess is that the use of a water-filled glass globe to affect light was introduced to Japan by the Dutch.
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

WATER-FILLED BOTTLES + LIGHT
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SPOTLIGHT. In the 1700s, spherical glass bottles filled with water were used to focus candlelight for fine work such as lace making and surgery. -- see "Water sphere lens" https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/water-sphere-lens; and see Brian Lemin, "The Great Deception, Lace-makers lamps"
https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_lamps.pdf
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DIFFUSED LIGHT. In a modern-day emergency, a clear plastic bottle filled with water can be used to diffuse light -- converting a flash light into a lantern which illuminates an area instead of just one spot -- see "Plastic Bottle Lantern" https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/radio/bosaiweb/craft/craft_20.html
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Sometimes I come across curious tidbits -- like this -- when I'm actively searching for something else. And I'm posting this just in case others might be interested, too.
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QUESTION? I wonder how the many uses of optics and lighting technology developed worldwide? My best guess is that the genesis of this story is probably in Europe.
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

@freemo Is it possible that the oldest ginkgo tree in Europe is alive and thriving in Utrecht?
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CONTEXT. In 1690-1692, Engelbert Kempfer worked at Japanese outpost of the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC). He was the physician for small group of European men on Dejima island in Nagasaki harbor.
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In 1712, an account of Kempfer's time in Japan was published in Europe. Also, he published the names and botanical descriptions of 325 previously unidentified plants native to Japan. -- see Nagata, Toshiyuki dt al. (2015). " Engelbert Kaempfer, Genemon Imamura and the origin of the name Ginkgo," Taxon. 64 (10). March 2015. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273159910_Engelbert_Kaempfer_Genemon_Imamura_and_the_origin_of_the_name_GinkgoI; and see 1712 botanical illustration of the ginkgo below
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GINKGO IN UTRECHT.
According to Wikipedia, Kempfer was "the first western scholar to describe the tree Ginkgo biloba. He brought some Ginkgo seeds back that were planted in the botanical garden in Utrecht. The trees have survived to the 21st century." -- see "Engelbert Kempfter," Siam and Japan, 2nd paragraph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Kaempfer#Siam_and_Japan
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QUESTION? Is this trivial fact about a very hardy Japanese tree well known in Utrecht? If so, what do you know?
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

@design_RG Looking ahead, I'm going to be clicking on these hash tags several times a week
#agriculture
#botany + #botanie
#garden + #jardin
#art

I know how to send a DM in response to a toot which sparks an interest.

But what if I wanted to initiate a new thread? Is this the way to go about it?

I just want to confirm that I understand the process.

#agriculture
#botany + #botanie
#garden + #jardin
#art

La collection d'aquarelles pomologiques du Département de l'agriculture des États-Unis (USDA) est une archive numérisée de 7,500+ illustrations botaniques.-- https://usdawatercolors.nal.usda.gov/pom/home.xhtml

Et il y a un bot informatique qui publie une de ces images toutes les trois heures. -- see fruit toots
@pomological

La haute qualité de cette illustration scientifique est remarquable. Vous pouvez voir par vous-même ci-dessous.

L'habileté de l'artiste qui a peint une coupe transversale d'une fraise a attiré mon attention - vous serez peut-être intéressé aussi.

Le détail des épines sur la tige de l'aquarelle d'une vigne à la framboise m'a incité à jeter un deuxième coup d'œil - et c'est seulement à ce moment-là que j'ai remarqué les fins poils des feuilles de framboise.

Il y a 3,800 aquarelles de pommes. Comme moi, peut-être que le sujet des variétés de pomme ne vous intéresse pas vraiment; mais peut-être existe-t-il une autre bonne raison de tirer parti de cette bot informatique.

HYPOTHESE: Puis-je entraîner mes yeux à être plus observateur en regardant simplement des milliers d'aquarelles de peaux de pommes?

THÉORIE: Chaque artiste de l’USDA n’utilisait que la compétence et la couleur pour persuader l’œil de percevoir une surface courbe au lieu d’un plan. Que se passerait-il si j'essayais de façon décontractée de comprendre comment cela se produit? Sans vraiment y travailler, j'imagine que je vais probablement mieux "voir" de subtiles variations de couleur dans les peaux de pomme. Et avec le temps, cette pratique répétée aura peut-être des conséquences sur ce que je peux observer dans le monde réel.

Juste une pensée. Qu'est-ce que vous pensez?

Le français n'est pas ma langue maternelle. S'il vous plaît corriger mon français écrit. Alors peut-être que je ne ferai pas les mêmes erreurs à l'avenir.

Fabrice Tual
@Fabrice_tual

Je me demande si ces illustrations botaniques à l'aquarelle pourraient vous intéresser?

HYPOTHESE: Le fait d’entraîner votre œil à voir les fines variations de détail des couleurs utilisées dans les aquarelles conventionnelles peut vous aider à reconnaître les variations de couleur dans les ukiyo-e japonais

#agriculture
#botany + #botanie
#garden + #jardin
#art

You may not know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pomological Watercolor Collection is a digitized archive of 7.5K botanical illustrations. -- https://usdawatercolors.nal.usda.gov/pom/home.xhtml

And there's a Fediverse bot which posts one of these images every three hours. -- see fruit toots
@pomological

The high quality of this scientific illustration is noteworthy. You can see for yourself below.

The skill of the artist who painted a cross-section of a strawberry caught my eye -- maybe you'll be interested, too.

The fine detail in the thorns on the stem of the watercolor of a raspberry vine caused me to take a second look -- and only then did I notice the fine hairs on the raspberry leaves.

There are 3.8K watercolors of apples. Like me, maybe you're not really interested in the subject of apple varieties; but maybe there's another good reason to take advantage of this bot option.

HYPOTHESIS: Can I train my eyes to be more observant by simply looking at thousands of watercolors of apple skins?

THEORY: Each USDA artist used only skill and color to fool the eye into perceiving a curved surface instead of a flat plane. What would happen if I try in a casual way to figure out how this happens? Without really working at it, I'd guess that I'll probably get better at "seeing" subtle color variations in the apple skins. And over time, maybe this repeated practice will produce consequences in what I'm able to observe in the real world.

Just a thought. What do you think?

#introduction + #introductionfr
#seismology + #seismologie
#volcanology + #volcanologie
#geology + #géologie
#metallurgy + #métallurgie
#agriculture
#botany + #botanie
#garden + #jardin
#fishing + #pêche

I'm interested in these subjects in the 18th century. How do these pieces of a puzzle fit together?

Je m'intéresse à ces sujets au 18ème siècle. Ces pièces d'un puzzle, comment s'emboîtent-elles?

#citation
#lecture

PLUTO + Percival Lowell
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IMO, the most important thing about Pluto isn't its "discovery" in 1930.
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In truth, I'm not much interested in whether Pluto is or isn't labeled or classified as a "planet"
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What does fascinate me is Percival Lowell. In 1914, this American polymath predicted that there must be an object in the location where Pluto was eventually found. He used mathematical calculations to "guess" the existence of something that was not otherwise observable using the technology of the early 20th century. -- see "February 18, 1930" https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pluto-discovered
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One sentence captures my imagination in the 1930 news story which reported the first photographic evidence of a previously unknown object in space. -- see "Ninth Planet is Found Far from Neptune" (AP). Hartford Courant. March 14, 1930. https://www.courant.com/courant-250/moments-in-history/hc-march-13-1930-pluto-discovered-20140305-htmlstory.html

"All observations indicate
the object to be the one
Lowell saw mathematically."
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I'm fascinated by the phrase "saw mathematically."
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Today Pluto is no longer considered a "planet;" however, the search for a ninth solar system planet is ongoing -- see "There’s probably another planet in our solar system," MIT Technology Review. March 5, 2019. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613060/theres-probably-another-planet-in-our-solar-system/

The Associated Press news story published on March 13, 1930 reported that the first photographic image of a previously unknown object in space was made on January 21 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. -- see "Ninth Planet is Found Far from Neptune" (AP). Hartford Courant. March 14, 1930. https://www.courant.com/courant-250/moments-in-history/hc-march-13-1930-pluto-discovered-20140305-htmlstory.html

This object was named Pluto in 1930. Did you know that an Italian astronomer, Emilio Bianchi, is credited with proposing the name we all know. -- see "Italian Scientists Propose 'Pluto' as New Planet's Name" (AP). Hartford Courant. March 25, 1930; and see "Emilio Bianchi," Pontifical Academy of Sciences. http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/academicians/deceased/bianchi.html

Pluto was called a planet between 1930 and 2006. -- see "February 18, 1930" https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pluto-discovered

@khird Thank you for explaining that "copypasta" is a colloquialism for content that gets duplicated.

I worry that the words in the bulleted segments below are copypasta. What I was trying to do is to use the words of the Oxford dictionary to make my meaning clear and easy to grasp.

I wrote, "The Mastodon Covenant functions as an axiom defined by Eugen Rochko for the Mastodon federation and for each Mastodon instance, yes? In other words,

• "the Mastodon Covenant is "a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure [of the federation of Mastodon 'instances'] is based."

• "the Mastodon Covenant is "a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure [of each Mastodon 'instance'] is based."

• "the Mastodon Covenant is "a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure [of QOTO.org] is based."
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Three organizationally distinct entities are functionally the same in the unique context of words I copied from the Oxford dictionary. What I'm trying to do with this copypasta is clear, right?.
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In the diagrams below, the relationships may be more easily described and understood, yes?
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A. A and B are disjoint sets where
U = Mastodon Covenant
A = @QOTO.org
B = Any Mastodon instance other than @QOTO.org
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B. B is a proper subset of A where
U = Mastodon Covenant
A = Mastodon federation of instances
B = @QOTO.org
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QUESTION/AXIOM? The study of Mastodon federation, Mastodon instances and QOTO.org, including questions about QOTO arising from the Mastodon Covenant, is a STEM subject.
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

@design_RG Aha, at last. I get it.
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Sometimes I'm very slow. It took me more than an hour to figure out that "copy link to status" also requires one to click "paste" in the toot editor window -- a simple step, of course, but not immediately obvious to me
-- see "link to status" about lucky cats https://qoto.org/@design_RG/103194295398861618
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But I'm not always slow. For example, three days ago, you shared a ukiyo-e image of a man selling lucky cat figurines.
I knew at a glance that this mid-19th century street scene was only part of a larger print. A digitized version of the 1852 Hiroshige print is attached below. Please accept this as a small gesture of thanks. -- see Hiroshige, 5th of 7 views of street vendors in Edo https://www.hiroshige.org.uk/Other_Series/Other_Series.htm#FlourishingBusinessBalladtown