Monthly Archives: October 2010
“The Story of Stuff”: rethinking the materials economy
This week, the scientist-philosopher bloggers on 13.7: Cosmos and Culture are exploring ways of rethinking and reimagining our materialistic, consumer-based society. Following that conversation brought me to Ursula Goodenough’s insightful evolutionary perspective on our self-absorbed human culture — “If there … Continue reading
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A new look
I thought I’d experiment with some different themes and layouts; the old theme was starting to feel a little cramped and cluttered to me. The site’s appearance may change at times over the next few days. If you’re a regular … Continue reading
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Parchment, pens, and pigments: videos from the NYPL’s “Three Faiths” exhibition
If, like me, you geek out over calligraphy, manuscript illumination, parchment-making, and other aspects of the scribe’s craft, these videos — from the New York Public Library’s new exhibition, “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam” — are a must-see: More videos … Continue reading
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Quarks to quasars: the scale of the universe
This is very cool. Click on the image (or on this link) to activate Cary and Michael Huang’s interactive program, which lets you zoom in and out to see the relative sizes of everything in the cosmos — from neutrinos … Continue reading
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Why libraries matter, cont’d
Because without librarians, public radio would suck. Left to his own devices, NPR host Scott Simon admits he would regularly confuse Monet, Manet and Matisse; Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal; Socrates and Sophocles; Crete and Sicily; and Grover Cleveland and William Howard … Continue reading
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“The Poetry of Science”: Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about everything
Got an hour and a half? Here are evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, talking about — well, quite literally, life, the universe, and everything. I highly recommend the whole thing, but if you’ve only got a … Continue reading
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“The 600 Years”: A medieval clock tower comes to life
This is absolutely wonderful: So many levels to this. Art has been an integral part of architecture since architecture began, of course; buildings have always served not just functional needs but aesthetic ones, expressing the myths, stories, and philosophies of … Continue reading
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Behold the exoplanets
There’s no substitute for the visceral experience of seeing something amazing with your own eyes. I’d always known about the Declaration of Independence, but it was something else to see the yellowed papers, in Jefferson’s own hand, on exhibit at … Continue reading
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It gets better
I really have nothing more to add. Except this: Our long-suffering fellow human beings deserve full recognition in the human community, and full and equal rights under the law. Everywhere. NOW.
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