Wonder-Room

The musical work that will make the world dissolve in bliss

2012-03-02T21:20:00.004-08:00

There will not be a single spectator. All will be participants. The work requires special people, special artists and a completely new culture. The cast of performers includes an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation. The cathedral in which it will take place will not be of one single type of stone but will continually change with the atmosphere and motion of the Mysterium. This will be done with the aid of mists and lights, which will modify the architectural contours.

These were the notes of Alexander Scriabin on his last work, Mysterium. He started composing it in 1903 and by the time of his death, 1915, he had done the prelude - which is three hours worth of score and called Preparatory Action. In Scriabin's mind, it would take seven days, be performed at the foothills of the Himalayas, and by the end the world would have been a better place.

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSWuUuySFyU

Make haste slowly

2012-03-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

Festina lente has been the motto of many sovereigns and exemplified in Aesop's fable "The tortoise and the hare".

Even though the dolphin with the anchor has been the most common depiction of the adage, the tortoise with sail, choice of Cosimo I de Medici, is quite something.

An illustration of Festina lente.
This one is the mark of Aldus Manatius, a 15th century Venetian printer.

Cosimo I de Medici's emblem, illustrating Festina Lente.

Dutch prowesses

2011-12-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

http://axanaxplease.com/2011/11/16/sunken-pedestrian-bridge-in-the-netherlands-parts-moat-waters-like-moses/#wpcom-carousel-2171

Thanks Sam for this post.

Have fun in school!

2011-10-26T16:14:00.001-07:00

The word school is from Greek σχολή (scholē), originally meaning "leisure", and also "that in which leisure is employed".

From the Wikipedia page about school.

Thanks Nicole!!

Knowledge overwhelm in the past

2011-10-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

Scholars in the past have dealt differently with the feeling of overwhelm:

We should read everything: Pliny the Elder, who said something like "no book is a bad book".

We should read only the best: Seneca said "ars longa vita brevis" which he meant as life is short but scholars waist in reading stuff that doesn't matter, they should select only the best works - his statement is usually misinterpreted in the opposite direction.

We should read only the oldest: Descartes said something like "There is already too much published, let's just ignore what has been published in the last centuries."

We should read only excerpts: In the Middle Ages the appearance of universities, the rediscovery of works by Aristotle and the entrance of Arabic works into Europe flooded the existing corpus of bibliography. To deal with this editions of excerpts started appearing, called Flowers of Knowledge. The pervasive effect is that the majority of students in universities only knew Aristotle and other philosophers by books that excerpted his best passages, which was criticized by professors.

But regardless of what we read, we will still be confused! Vincent de Beauvais author of an enormous medieval encyclopedia wrote in his preface "It is of my knowledge that philosophers have often disagreed on several topics. As a compiler I have only offered different views, I leave it up to the reader to judge what is right."

From the book "Too much to know" by Ann Blair.

A genetic poem

2011-06-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

A Canadian poet, Christian Bök, wrote a short text such that it could be incorporated into the DNA of a bacteria. Each letter in the alphabet is mapped to a triplet of nucleotides, the composing elements of the genetic code. The sequence of chosen triplets allowed it to be translated into a protein.

The bacteria he selected as a vector, Deinococcus radiodurans, is a capable of living under caustic and hot environments, thus providing a durable recipient for his poem. As long as there is no mutation, the poem will remain the same and be transmitted from generation to generation as is.

Here's some more information about the project:
http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2011/05/deinococcus-radiodurans-future-of.html

(I couldn't find the poem.)

Thanks Sam for mentioning this!

The inspiring discovery of Troy: the story of Heinrich Schliemann

2011-05-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

Portrait of Heinrich Schliemann.

Heinrich Schliemann was born in 1822 in northern Germany.

He made his early life as businessman, working in imports and exports - greatly facilitated by his self-taught knowledge of thirteen languages - and by 1858 he was wealthy enough to retire and devote himself to his childhood dreams, the discovery of the Homeric cities.
In mid 19th century the accepted academic truth was that the cities depicted in Homer's texts were fictional. He was, however, a passionate believer of the opposite. Said to always have carried a copy of the epics in his pockets, Schliemann traveled for ten years, researching possible places for Troy (while earning a PhD thesis). He suspected of Hisarlik, in western Turkey, a suspicion that was solidified after meeting British archaeologist Frank Calvert. Calvert had the same beliefs as Schliemann and had been excavating in Hisarlik - his family owned part of the site as consular agents in Turkey. Schliemann and Calvert got together and focused their energies in digging there.

Map showing location of Hisarlik.

Site of Hisarlik.

Excavations started in 1871, on a background of academic skepticism from the archaeological community.

This turned out to be one of the most fruitful archaeological expeditions. Hurrying to find historical Troy Schliemann and Calvert dig deeper in Hisarlik, beyond the superficial remains of the recent cities. He finally came across a city that matched the description, after passing six layers of buried cities, now named Troy IX to III - a critic that is pointed out to Schliemann as he might have rushed through the Homeric Troy, which is now believed to be Troy VIIa.

Excavation site at Hisarlik in 1902.

Amidst the excavations he also found a large collection of valuable objects, what he thought to be King Priam's treasure.

"King Priam's treasure", photography taken probably before 1880. The treasure is in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Moscow and in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

Scholars were convinced by Schliemann's evidence, which set the ground for Troy's real existence.

Thank you Nicole for telling me this story!

Which famous discovery do you want in your tombstone?

2011-05-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

Bernoulli tombstone. Notice the spiral at the bottom of the stone.

Some mathematicians requested some of their discoveries to be depicted on their tombstones. Here's a list:

http://divisbyzero.com/2011/04/26/what-do-you-want-on-your-tombstone/

Bernoulli asked for a logarithmic spiral, a discovery of which he was proud of, and ironically the carver drew an Archimedean spiral.

Section of a Nautilus' shell showing the logarithmic spiral.

Thanks Sam Gershman for mentioning this (and the author of the blog, Dave Richeson, for compiling the list)!

How the Tsar's fears became true

2011-04-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

While living in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Emperor Paul I of Russia found its large and numerous halls ominous. He feared a conspiracy or an assassination plot and felt that this palace left him unprotected.

Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

In late 18th century he commissioned and oversaw the construction of a palace-castle to overcome his growing concerns. In his words, a permanent "Tsar's residence within an impregnable palace-castle" should be built. The castle should be consecrated to St. Michael Arcangel, the commander of the divine army and thus a good omen for his new residence.

The castle should be surrounded by water, for which rivers had to be diverted, with access only through drawbridges. The walls were unusually thick, and its design resembled a fortress, with rounded corners, an octogonal central square and it featured several secret passages.

Plan of St. Michael's Castle in St. Petersburg.

The construction started in 1797 and 6 thousand people were employed, so that it could ready for St. Michael's day, November 8th. The castle was finished in 1801.

St. Michael's Castle today.

After its completion the Tsar moved to the Castle. The day when he moved was unusually foggy and the provided illumination barely lit the way of the monarch. On the fortieth day after his arrival, he was murdered in his bedroom by a group of generals.

It now houses the Military Engineering-Technical University. Curiously, it was where Fyodor Dostoyevsky undertook his engineering degree (never guessed he did engineering!).

Google Ngrams

2011-04-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

This provides endless amazement. Google released the statistics of word counts for all their database of digitized books. It comprises around 12 million books since 1520. Their estimate of all books that have ever been produced is 130 million. Thanks Carlos Diuk for mentioning this.

Some very curious patterns (click on the images for a bigger size):

- effects of censorship. As an example, compare two architects whose appraisal by the regime went astray, Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus, a school of architecture closed in 1933 by the regime, and Albert Speer, the official architect of the Reich. You can see the reversal of word frequencies between early 1930s and 1945. Other similar patterns happen for Chagall, Picasso, Trotsky in Russian books and many others.

- typing years produces a fast increase in frequency and a slow decay:

- Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and orchestra follow an interesting pattern of rise from 1900 to 1930 and decay in frequency starting in 1940!! (Carlos and I came across this pattern).

There are many more interesting patterns reported by Google and many more are to come!!! The statistics can be found in a series of articles in Science and Nature, here is one: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6014/176.full?sid=92a76a91-797c-47e8-a270-edb232929605. Enjoy.

It's half past carnation.

2011-04-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

Linnaeus Flower Clock.

In 1751, Linnaeus idealized a clock where time was marked by the different opening times of different flower species. Unfortunately, flower clocks are not functional and were tried without success in botanical gardens in the 19th century (I didn't manage to find a 19th century depiction of a flower clock in a garden). He was unaware of seasonal variations of opening times and his list of flowers and respective times would only work in Uppsala. Still it's a very interesting idea. Thanks Patrick Simen for mentioning this!

Excerpt of Philosophia Botanica, page 274, 1755, where Linnaeus orders flowers by opening time so that a clock can be built. The top of the table reads something like "A clock of flowers can be built using the sequence shown in the table below". Opening and closing times are indicated by the waxing and waning crescent moons (I had to look up how to say this in English).

Continuation of the table (page 275).

Here's a translation of the table (taken from the wikipedia page):

Botanical name	Common name	Opening time	Closing time
Tragopogon pratensis	Goat's-Beard	3 a.m.	-
Leontodon hispidum L.	Rough Hawkbit	by 4 a.m.	-
Helminthotheca echioides (L.) Holub	Bristly ox-tongue	4-5 a.m.
Cichorium intybus L.	Chicory	4-5 a.m.	-
Crepis tectorum L.	Hawk's Beard	4-5 a.m.	-
Reichardia tingitana (L.) Roth	-	by 6 a.m.	10 a.m.
Sonchus oleraceus L.	Sow thistle	5 a.m.	12 p.m.
Taraxacum officinale Weber	Dandelion	5 a.m.	8-9 a.m.
Crepis alpina L.	Hawk's beard	5 a.m.	11 a.m.
Tragopogon hybridus L.	Goat's beard	5 a.m.	11 a.m.
Rhagadiolus edulis Gaertner	-	5 a.m.	10 a.m.
Lapsana chondrilloides L.	-	5 a.m.	-
Convolvulus tricolor L.	Bindweed, Morning Glory	5 a.m.	-
Hypochaeris maculata L.	Spotted cat's ear	6 a.m.	4-5 p.m.
Hieracium umbellatum L.	Hawkweed	6 a.m.	5 p.m.
Hieracium murorum L.	Hawkweed	6 a.m.	2 p.m.
Crepis rubra L.	-	6 a.m.	1-2 p.m.
Sonchus arvensis L.	Field milk-thistle	6 a.m.	-
Sonchus palustris L.	Marsh Sow-Thistle	by 7 a.m.	2 p.m.
Leontodon autumnale L.	Hawkweed	7 a.m.	3 p.m.
Hieracium sabaudum L.	Hawkweed	7 a.m.	1-2 p.m.
Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr.	Blue sow-thistle	7 a.m.	12 p.m.
Lactuca sativa L.	Garden Lettuce	7 a.m.	10 a.m
Calendula pluvialis L.	-	7 a.m.	3-4 p.m.
Nymphaea alba L.	White Waterlily	7 a.m.	5 p.m.
Anthericum ramosum L.	St. Bernard's Lily	7 a.m.	-
Hypochaeris achyrophorus L.	-	7-8 a.m.	2 p.m.
Hedypnois rhagadioloides (L.) Schmidt subsp. cretica (L.) Hayck	-	7-8 a.m.	2 p.m.
Trichodiadema babrata (L.) Schwartes	-	7-8 a.m.	2 p.m.
Hieracium pilosella L.	Mouse-ear Hawkweed	8 a.m.	-
Anagallis arvensis L.	Scarlet pimpernell	8 a.m.	-
Petrorhagia prolifera (L.) Ball & Heywood	Proliferous Pink	8 a.m.	1 p.m.
Hypochaeris glabra L.	Smooth cat's-ear	9 a.m.	1 p.m.
Malva caroliniana L.	-	9-10 a.m.	1 p.m.
Spergularia rubra (L.) J. & C. Presl	Sand spurrey	9-10 a.m.	2-3 p.m.
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum	Ice-Plant	9-10 a.m.	3-4 p.m.
Cryophytum nodiflorum (L.) L. Bol.	Ice-Plant	10-11 a.m	3 p.m.
Calendula officinalis L.	Pot marigold	-	3 p.m.
Hieracium aurantiacum	Hawkweed	-	3-4 p.m.
Anthericium ramosum L. (syn. Anthericum album)	-	-	3-4 p.m.
Alyssum alyssoides L.	-	-	4 p.m.
Papaver nudicaule L.	Iceland poppy	-	7 p.m.
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus L.	Day-lily	-	7-8 p.m.

More unusual things

2011-04-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths
Thanks Sam Gershman for this post!

Many, many curious posts in a single one

2011-04-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_articles

Have fun!

Remembering oblivion

2011-03-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

In Ancient Rome the Senate could pass a resolution of officially erasing a person's trace after its death, what was called damnatio memoriae. Statues would be destroyed or defaced, and names would be removed from public records.

The only times it was done legally was for emperors Domitian (51-96 A.D.), for his despotism, Publius Septimus Geta (189-211 A.D.), by his brother and pursuer of the throne, Caracalla, and for the consul and soldier Sejanus (20 B.C.- 31 A.D.), for a conspiracy against Tiberius. There were other occasions in roman history where it was done de facto such as with Nero.
There are other examples of extensive attempts to erase someone's traces: pharaohs Akhenaten (d. 1336 B.C.) and Hatshepsut (1508-1458 B.C.), arsonist Herostratus (4th century B.C.) and the doge Marino Faliero (1285-1355). Below are some pictures illustrating the practice. For more examples see the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae on which this post is based.

Emperor Domitian (51-96 A.D.)

Puteoli block. An inscription honoring Emperor Domitian that was later chiseled off. Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. (I don't how it was known that there was something there.) Domitian was a despot who tried to empower him while removing power to the Senate.

Emperor Publius Septimus Geta (189-211 A.D.)

Tondo showing the Severan dynasty: Septimus Severus (top right) with Julia Domna (top left), Caracalla (lower right) and Publius Septimus

Geta (lower left), whose face is smeared out, probably because of the damnatio memoriae put against him by Caracalla. Berlin State Museum.

Sejanus (20 B.C.- 31 A.D.)

Coin showing the damnatio memoriae of Sejanus. His erased name can be seen on the right image. He was friend of Tiberius and conspired against the emperor (not much of a friend...).

Herostratus (4th century B.C.)

Site of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey. Herostratus sought fame by illegitimate ways and set fire to the Temple, which took 120 years to be built.

Replica of the Temple of Artemis in Istanbul.

Akhenaten (d. 1336 B.C.)

Disfigured Akhenaten's sarcophagus. He started a new and unpopular monotheist religion in Egypt, based on sun god Aten.

Akhenaten's cartouche with his name removed from his sarcophagus.

Hatshepsut (1508-1458 B.C.)

Funerary complex of Deir el-Bahari, Luxor, Egypt, where Hatshepsut is buried. Statues, cartouches were destroyed after her death. It is still debated why this happened. It might be self-promotion of the succeding pharaoh, Thutmose III.

Hatshepsut's figure was removed from this mural (the big profile defined by the small holes to the right of the remaining figure). Royal Ontario Museum.

Marino Faliero (1285-1355)

Detail of the Great Council Hall in Venice. Marino Faliero's portrait was posthumously covered with a painting of a black draping with the inscription "Here's Marino Faliero who was decapitated after a serious crime". He was doge of Venice in the 14th century. He tried a conspiracy against the Republic of Venice by increasing the powers of the doge, which were merely representatice under Venitian laws, and becoming prince. All other paintings in the room are normal head and torso portraits of the doges.

Great Council Hall (Sala del Maggior Consiglio). The 16th century room where the Great Council, Venice's highest administrative organ, gathered (this uncopyrighted picture does not make full justice of its opulence and size). It houses the largest oil painting in the world, shown in the center of the image, Paradise, by Tintoretto (around 1588).

The Great Council gathering at the Great Council Hall, showing the doge seating at the far center (1758-1763). Berlin State Museum.

The Sadness Museum

2011-03-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

An unusual museum made of objects people submit and send, with reasons whey they make them sad. The collection is small but it is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, there is no museum of happiness (maybe I can submit this to the museum).
http://www.buckbeeawriter.com/sadnessmuseum/
Thanks Sam Gershman for this post!

Photographs of the western frontier

2011-03-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

John C.H. Grabill was a photographer of the american western, during late 19th century. His wonderful photographs were just released and can be seen in this website: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/02/23/from-the-archive-frontier-life-in-the-west/2713/

Thanks Sam Gershman for this post!

Red Cloud and American Horse. The two most noted chiefs now living Two Oglala chiefs, American Horse (wearing western clothing and gun-in-holster) and Red Cloud (wearing headdress), full-length portrait, facing front, shaking hands in front of tipi--probably on or near Pine Ridge Reservation. 1891.

The procession to the Temple of Heaven

2011-03-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

The year is 1742, but the ceremony is three centuries old and was held until the 19th century. The crops were harvested and it was time to hope for an abundant yield next year. As the son of Heaven, the Emperor of China was the natural person to intercede with Heaven for this cause.

A day before the ceremony, an amazing procession set out from the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City in the direction of the Temple of Heaven or Tien, where the preparation and prayers would be finally held. This procession at the winter solstice was the most exuberant of the four ceremonies held there at the other solstice and equinoxes.

Map of Beijing (somewhere between 17th and 19th century) showing the procession path from the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City (north) to the Temple of Heaven (south). The length of the procession is about 4 km.

The Meridian (Wumen) Gate of the Forbidden City.

Shutters had to be closed and peeking was prohibited. Streets were covered in blue cloth. The fastidious cortege was composed of 4500 people, restricted to the emperor, nobility, high officers and support staff (see here for the composition, A general description of China, vol. 2, by Jean-Baptiste Grosier, 1788, page 330). The next pictures illustrate a procession in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

Someone decided that images of clouds looked better around these images.

And now that same person added a black background.

And finally the chariot of the Emperor.

Throughout the ceremony great attention was paid to color and numbers. The color of the jade and silk offerings to Heaven was blue-green, the altar was circular in shape, representing the yang, prayers, music and the architecture of the complex were designed around the number nine, also representing the yang. The next figure is a map of the Temple of Heaven showing the buildings used in the rituals.

Map of the Temple of Heaven. The ceremony would start at the Hall of Abstinence (left), then proceed to the Circular Mound Altar and to the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests (I couldn't find a better looking version).

After prayers showing obeisance to the Ministry of Heaven, the emperor would enter the Hall of Abstinence.

Hall of Abstinence, at the entrance of the complex of the Temple of Heaven.

He remained there for three days, fasting and abstaining from women. On the dawn of the fourth day a bull would be sacrificed and set in a green tile next to the altar. Both the smoke of the slaughtered calf and the forthcoming prayers would rise to Heaven. This bull would be fortunate enough to see its last days in the Divine Kitchen and would be taken across a covered corridor, to be uncontaminated by other elements, the Long Corridor, to the tiles next to the Hall.The Emperor, ready for the prayers and clothed in blue, for proximity with Heaven, would start walking to the Altar of Heaven. After a period of worshipping, we walk to the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests.

Long Corridor, connecting the Divine Kitchen with the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

At the Altar of Heaven, built respecting the number nine he would conduct further prayers required for the preparation of the spirit for the final pleads.

Altar of Heaven.

The Altar of Heaven. The Xianfeng Emperor (r. 1851-1861) worshipping at the Altar of Heaven. The central temporary shrine is to Heaven. The other temporary shrines house the tablets of the Emperor's ancestor's, the spirits of the Sun and the Moon and other deities.

The procession to the Hall of Good Harvests from the Altar of Heaven had the emperor face north, which he rarely did. The Emperor was usually directed south, in the Forbidden City. Once he set out walking to the Hall, the ground he had to traverse slightly and slowly steeped. This was to represent the slow ascent and the gradual purification necessary for communication with Heaven.

Ascent to the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests from the Circular Mound Altar. The roof of the Hall is seen behind the gate.

Finally arriving at the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests the Emperor would read jade tablets and ask for a plentiful harvest.

Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests.

This was all I could find about the procession that had reasonable references. Let me know if you find or are aware of any source that has a detailed description of the rituals! Thank you.

Parts of the following books were excerpted in this post: China's Cultural Heritage, The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912, by Richard Smith, 1975, and The Unsullied Dynasty and the The K'ang-hsi Emperor by Louise Lux, 1998.

Intangible cultural heritage

2011-03-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

UNESCO has a list of intangible cultural practices that face the possibility of having no continuity.

It's a very interesting effort, even though some are arguable and many are missing.

Here's the webpage: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011

The mysterious country Fusang

2011-02-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

Carte des Nouvelles Découvertes (1772) by the geographer Philippe Buache, made by Vaugondy.
The orange square shows the region where Fusang is.

Detail of the previous map, showing "Fou-sang des Chinois", near "Mer de l'Ouest".

This 18th century map of the northern Pacific region features a country called Fusang, located in northwestern America. This was based on the account of a Buddhist monk in the 5th century, Hui-Shen. He travelled to a country 20.000 li eastern of China (about 8.000 km). Here's what he wrote:

"Fusang is 20,000 li to the East of the country of Dàhàn, and located to the east of China.(...) On that land, there are many Fusang plants (perhaps agave, perhaps some cacti) that produce oval-shaped leaves similar to paulownia (a plant native to China) and edible purplish-red fruits like pears. The place was rich in copper and traces of gold and silver but no iron. The native tribes in Fusang were civilized, living in well-organized communities. They produced paper from the bark of the Fusang plants for writing and produced cloth from the fibers of the bark, which they used for robes or wadding. Their houses or cabins were constructed with red mulberry wood. The fruits and young shoots of the plants were one of their food sources. They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo, or deer." from the Book of Liang (a history of the Liang dinasty - 502-557 AD).

The most likely place for Fusang is the western coast of the United States. It could also be an account of Mexico.

Curiously, in the same passage Hui-Shen mentions the absence of Buddhism in Fusang and how some Buddhist monks travelled to this country:

"In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but in the second year of Da Ming of the Song dynasty (420-479 AD), five monks from Kipin (from the area of Kabul in Afghanistan) travelled by ship to that country. They propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result, the customs of Fusang changed".
Did the Chinese travel and have colonies in America?

The museum of jurassic technology

2011-02-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is a very intriguing museum in Los Angeles. It is on the boundary of what can be called a museum. I have been told by people that have been there that their credibility is strained. Overall there is a sense of well crafted confusion. Check out the link and see it for yourselves: http://www.mjt.org/

Thanks Sam for this suggestion!

José

A million monkeys... A reply to Borel by Carlos Diuk

2011-02-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

(In response to

http://wonder-room.blogspot.com/2011/01/another-method-for-generating-knowledge.html)

As soon as I read this post, I realized Borel was wrong, but decided to make some calculations to see how wrong he was. And he was very, very wrong. I will calculate the probability that a page produced by one of the monkeys matches any page of any existing book, not even, as Borel pretends, "the exact copy of books of many kinds and languages kept in the richest libraries of the world". In order to perform this calculation, a number of assumptions and approximations are required. First, we need to determine what it is that we'll call a page, and how many possible pages there are. For this purpose, we will assume that a "page" is any of the pages in the Library of Babel, as described to us by Borges: there are 25 symbols, 80 symbols to a line, and 40 lines to a page. This means that every page is composed of a string of 3200 symbols. Given that the symbols are 25, the number of possible different pages is 25^3200. Or 2.55x10^4473. This means that when a monkey types a page, he is in effect "rolling a die" of that many faces. Many, many faces. A 1 followed by 4473 faces. We will let geometricians speculate about the properties of this die.

We now need to estimate how many pages exist in the world, what is the size of the human written oeuvre. In terms of the number of books, a very coarse estimate can be made from the holdings of the Library of Congress, which involve 22 million different volumes. This is certainly an underestimate, but we will concentrate on the existing, modern written word and accept it. What we don't know is the average number of pages in each of these books, so once again we will assume they are all books selected from the Library of Babel. With that assumption, we now know that all of these books have exactly 410 pages. Which results in 9020 million different existing pages.

The probability that a single random page corresponds to an existing page is thus 9020 million/25^3320. This number is, approximately, 3.525x10^-4464. This means that the expected number of pages that have to be generated before an existing one is produced is approximately 2.836x10^4463. Note that we are only considering the case in which a monkey produces a page that starts and ends at the exact same point as pages in existing books. We are not allowing monkeys to produce, say, the last paragraph of page 237 of Ulysses followed by the first paragraphs of page 238. We are being very strict with our monkeys! An interested reader can generalize this result, more lenient on our monkey colony, but still an impossibly difficult task (and remember that we are already being very nice to our monkeys, expecting them to produce existing single pages rather than complete books).

To complete our calculations, let us compare the number of pages actually created by the monkeys to the expected number of pages that would ensure a hit. That number, as we have said, is 2.836x10^4463 pages. According to Borel, there are 1000000 monkeys typing for 10 hours a day. That is a combined 3650 million monkey-hours. A fast typist can type 120 words per minutes. Given that monkeys are allowed to type randomly, let us assume they type 150 words a minute. Each word, in the typing world, is assumed to contain 5 symbols. The result is that it takes a monkey 4.26667 minutes to complete a page. Working for 3650 million hours, monkeys will produce 51328 million pages. That is, 5.1328*10^10. This number is, clearly, much smaller than 2.836x10^4463.

To fulfill his prediction, Borel needs to hire 5.525x10^4472 more monkeys. And this is only to produce a single page.

Perpetual praying

2011-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

In Summeria, now in modern Iraq, statues representing men and women in a praying position were left in temples. The intention was for these statues to intercede for the bearer of the statue perpetually. We can know these were votive statues because of the text some statues had and because of the large awake eyes.

Votive statues from the Square Temple, Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq). c. 2900 - 2600 BCE. Limestone, alabaster, and gypsum. The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago; Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

A modern version of the same is a mechanical monk, from around 1560. It is told that this work was commissioned by King Philip II of Spain, a fervent catholic, as a promise for the recovery of his dying son and thus show perpetual devotion. Actually, this work might have been done in Germany, not Spain and might be unrelated to such an interesting story, but it is still a very curious piece. Here's a link for a full story about this monk. Below is a figure of the monk, and here you can find a video of the monk praying.


Automaton figure of a monk, South Germany or Spain, c. 1560; National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro

2011-01-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro was a portuguese artist from late 19th century best known for his satyrical illustrations and ceramics. He was also the creator of Zé Povinho (literally Joe Little People), the most popular depiction of the average portuguese man in the 19th century. At times, Zé Povinho is strongly opposed to exploitation, as shown in the ceramic work, and in another occasions indifferent to what is happening in the country, as depicted in the last supper of Zé (A Ceia de Zé).

Vinte annos depois (Twenty years later). A self-portrait of the artist. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.

Zé Povinho. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.

A ceia de Zé (the supper of Zé). Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.

Bule janota (Dandy pot). Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro

Another method for generating knowledge effortlessly

2011-01-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

Imagine one million monkeys randomly pressing on the keys of a typewriter, under the surveillance of illiterate foremen. These monkeys work hard ten hours a day on a million typewriters with different characters. The foremen assemble the blackened sheets and bind them in volumes. After one year, these works will encompass the exact copy of books of many kinds and languages kept in the richest libraries of the world.

"(...) Concevons qu'on ait dressé un million de singes à frapper au hasard sur les touches d'une machine à écrire et que, sous la surveillance de contremaîtres illettrés, ces singes dactylographes travaillent avec ardeur dix heures par jour avec un million de machines à écrire de types variés. Les contremaîtres illettrés rassembleraient les feuilles noircies et les relieraient en volumes. Et au bout d'un an, ces volumes se trouveraient renfermer la copie exacte des livres de toute nature et de toutes langues conservés dans les plus riches bibliothèques du monde. (...)" Émile Borel, ``Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité,'' J. Phys. 5e série, vol. 3, 1913, pp.189-196. Thanks Rodrigo for this post! See also the post about Balnibarbi.

The Triumphal Quadriga: a symbol of power

2011-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Triumphal Quadriga is a chariot drawn by four hourses in St. Mark's Basilica. They were originally outside, in the façade, where a replica now stands.

Façade of St. Mark's Basilica seen from St. Mark's Square.

A detail of the main façade, showing the horses of the Triumphal Quadriga.

They probably date from 4th century AD, and were part of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. When the Venetians sacked Constantinople in 1204, in one of the Crusades, they brought the horses and placed them on the Basilica in 1254. Napoleon did the same as the Venetians did and in 1797 took the quadriga from the façade and placed it on the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, in front of the Louvre.

Showing the troops by Hyppolyte Bellangé and Adrien Dauzatz, 1862, at the Louvre Museum.

Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel.

They were returned to St. Mark's in 1815, with the end of the napoleonic period.

An atlas of curious and wondrous travel destinations

2011-01-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting website, Atlas obscura, http://atlasobscura.com/.

The Chinese art of rock contemplation

2011-01-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

In China, starting from Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), naturally occurring eroded rocks were highly appreciated. They were usually placed in gardens or study rooms for meditative or aesthetic purposes. In English they are called scholar’s rocks, because they were often found in scholar’s study rooms.

The most appreciated ones were naturally carved by erosion. However, erosive marks were sometimes craftily enhanced such as in the example below. An artist would drill small holes in a rock of an erodible material and afterwards threw it into a lake or river.

Scholar's rock, from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912 AD), from the Taihu region. Princeton University Art Museum

Bamboo in Wind, about 1460 (1388-1470), depicting a scholar's rock. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Affinities in magic beliefs of ancient cultures

2011-01-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

"Elephant-hunters in East Africa believe that, if their wives prove unfaithful in their absence, this gives the elephant power over his pursuer, who will accordingly be killed or severely wounded. Hence if a hunter hears of his wife’s misconduct, he abandons the chase and returns home. If a Wagogo hunter is unsuccessful, or is attacked by a lion, he attributes it to his wife’s misbehaviour at home, and returns to her in great wrath. While he is away hunting, she may not let any one pass behind her or stand in front of her as she sits; and she must lie on her face in bed. The Moxos Indians of Bolivia thought that if a hunter’s wife was unfaithful to him in his absence he would be bitten by a serpent or a jaguar. Accordingly, if such an accident happened to him, it was sure to entail the punishment, and often the death, of the woman, whether she was innocent or guilty. An Aleutian hunter of sea-otters thinks that he cannot kill a single animal if during his absence from home his wife should be unfaithful or his sister unchaste.

The Huichol Indians of Mexico treat as a demi-god a species of cactus which throws the eater into a state of ecstasy. The plant does not grow in their country, and has to be fetched every year by men who make a journey of forty-three days for the purpose. Meanwhile the wives at home contribute to the safety of their absent husbands by never walking fast, much less running, while the men are on the road. They also do their best to ensure the benefits which, in the shape of rain, good crops, and so forth, are expected to flow from the sacred mission. With this intention they subject themselves to severe restrictions like those imposed upon their husbands. During the whole of the time which elapses till the festival of the cactus is held, neither party washes except on certain occasions, and then only with water brought from the distant country where the holy plant grows. They also fast much, eat no salt, and are bound to strict continence. Any one who breaks this law is punished with illness, and, moreover, jeopardises the result which all are striving for. Health, luck, and life are to be gained by gathering the cactus, the gourd of the God of Fire; but inasmuch as the pure fire cannot benefit the impure, men and women must not only remain chaste for the time being, but must also purge themselves from the taint of past sin. Hence four days after the men have started the women gather and confess to Grandfather Fire with what men they have been in love from childhood till now. They may not omit a single one, for if they did so the men would not find a single cactus. So to refresh their memories each one prepares a string with as many knots as she has had lovers. This she brings to the temple, and, standing before the fire, she mentions aloud all the men she has scored on her string, name after name. Having ended her confession, she throws the string into the fire, and when the god has consumed it in his pure flame, her sins are forgiven her and she departs in peace. From now on the women are averse even to letting men pass near them. The cactus-seekers themselves make in like manner a clean breast of all their frailties. For every peccadillo they tie a knot on a string, and after they have “talked to all the five winds” they deliver the rosary of their sins to the leader, who burns it in the fire.

Many of the indigenous tribes of Sarawak are firmly persuaded that were the wives to commit adultery while their husbands are searching for camphor in the jungle, the camphor obtained by the men would evaporate. Husbands can discover, by certain knots in the tree, when the wives are unfaithful; and it is said that in former days many women were killed by jealous husbands on no better evidence than that of these knots. Further, the wives dare not touch a comb while their husbands are away collecting the camphor; for if they did so, the interstices between the fibres of the tree, instead of being filled with the precious crystals, would be empty like the spaces between the teeth of a comb. In the Kei Islands, to the southwest of New Guinea, as soon as a vessel that is about to sail for a distant port has been launched, the part of the beach on which it lay is covered as speedily as possible with palm branches, and becomes sacred. No one may thenceforth cross that spot till the ship comes home. To cross it sooner would cause the vessel to perish. Moreover, all the time that the voyage lasts three or four young girls, specially chosen for the duty, are supposed to remain in sympathetic connexion with the mariners and to contribute by their behaviour to the safety and success of the voyage. On no account, except for the most necessary purpose, may they quit the room that has been assigned to them. More than that, so long as the vessel is believed to be at sea they must remain absolutely motionless, crouched on their mats with their hands clasped between their knees. They may not turn their heads to the left or to the right or make any other movement whatsoever. If they did, it would cause the boat to pitch and toss; and they may not eat any sticky stuff, such as rice boiled in coco-nut milk, for the stickiness of the food would clog the passage of the boat through the water. When the sailors are supposed to have reached their destination, the strictness of these rules is somewhat relaxed; but during the whole time that the voyage lasts the girls are forbidden to eat fish which have sharp bones or stings, such as the sting-ray, lest their friends at sea should be involved in sharp, stinging trouble."

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by Sir James Frazer. The Golden Bough was a compendium of religious and magic beliefs of cultures across the globe. Thanks Sam Gershman for this post!

Which is the oldest people on earth?

2011-01-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

"Now the Egyptians, before the reign of their king Psammetichus¹, believed themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. Since Psammetichus, however, made an attempt to discover who were actually the primitive race, they have been of opinion that while they surpass all other nations, the Phrygians² surpass them in antiquity. This king, finding it impossible to make out by dint of inquiry what men were the most ancient, contrived the following method of discovery:- He took two children of the common sort, and gave them over to a herdsman to bring up at his folds, strictly charging him to let no one utter a word in their presence, but to keep them in a sequestered cottage, and from time to time introduce goats to their apartment, see that they got their fill of milk, and in all other respects look after them. His object herein was to know, after the indistinct babblings of infancy were over, what word they would first articulate. It happened as he had anticipated. The herdsman obeyed his orders for two years, and at the end of that time, on his one day opening the door of their room and going in, the children both ran up to him with outstretched arms, and distinctly said "Becos." When this first happened the herdsman took no notice; but afterwards when he observed, on coming often to see after them, that the word was constantly in their mouths, he informed his lord, and by his command brought the children into his presence. Psammetichus then himself heard them say the word, upon which he proceeded to make inquiry what peoplethere was who called anything "becos," and hereupon he learnt that "becos" was the Phrygian name for bread. In consideration of this circumstance the Egyptians yielded their claims, and admitted the greater antiquity of the Phrygians." The Histories by Herodotus, excerpt from Book Two, taken from here http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.2.ii.html

¹ Psammetichus (I) was an Egyptian king in 7th century BC.
² Phrygia was a region in what is now northwestern Turkey. It existed as so from the 12th century BC until the fall of the Byzantine empire, in 1453 AD.

As a curiosity, the legend of King Midas is said to be based on the historical figure of a Phrygian King. Also, goddess Cybele, also named Mountain or Earth Goddess, is of Phrygian origin. The plaques found in Lisbon, in Travessa do Almada, in 1753, are dedicated to the worship of Goddess Cybele.

The method for generating knowledge effortlessly, in Balnibarbi

2010-11-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt from Gulliver's Travels relating the visit to the Academy of Projectors in Balnibarbi. The research projects in this Academy are ridiculous and superfluous and it is intended to be a satire of the recently founded Royal Society. Swift was a paladin for the Ancients in the Quarrel between Ancients and Moderns in the 17th century (see the post on Charles Perrault's comment). I mention it as a curious method of creation of all possible knowledge, even though its end is satirical.

"The first Professor I saw was in a very large Room, with forty Pupils about him. After Salutation, observing me to look earnestly upon a Frame, which took up the greatest part of both the Length and Breadth of the Room, he said perhaps I might wonder to see him employed in a Project for improving speculative Knowledge by practical and mechanical Operations. But the World would soon be sensible of its Usefulness, and he flattered himself that a more noble exalted Thought never sprung in any other Man's Head. Every one knew how laborious the usual Method is of attaining to Arts and Sciences; whereas by his Contrivance, the most ignorant Person at a reasonable Charge, and with a little bodily Labour, may write Books in Philosophy, Poetry, Politicks, Law, Mathematicks and Theology, without the least Assistance from Genius or Study. He then led me to the Frame, about the Sides whereof all his Pupils stood in Ranks. It was twenty Foot Square, placed in the middle of the Room. The Superficies was composed of several bits of Wood, about the bigness of a Dye, but some larger than others. They were all linked together by slender Wires. These bits of Wood were covered on every Square with Paper pasted on them, and on these Papers were written all the Words of their Language, in their several Moods, Tenses, and Declensions, but without any Order. The Professor then desired me to observe, for he was going to set his Engine at Work. The Pupils at his Command took each of them hold of an Iron Handle, whereof there were fourty fixed round the Edges of the Frame, and giving them a sudden turn, the whole Disposition of the Words was entirely changed. He then commanded six and thirty of the Lads to read the several Lines softly as they appeared upon the Frame; and where they found three or four Words together that might make part of a Sentence, they dictated to the four remaining Boys who were Scribes. This Work was repeated three or four Times, and at every turn the Engine was so contrived that the Words shifted into new Places, as the Square bits of Wood moved upside down.

Six Hours a-day the young Students were employed in this Labour, and the Professor shewed me several Volumes in large Folio already collected, of broken Sentences, which he intended to piece together, and out of those rich Materials to give the World a compleat Body of all Arts and Sciences; which however might be still improved, and much expedited, if the Publick would raise a Fund for making and employing five hundred such Frames in Lagado, and oblige the Managers to contribute in common their several Collections."

from Gulliver's Travels, Part III: A voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubbdrib and Japan

Engine for generating knowledge in the Academy of Projectors in Balnibarbi

Another literary example of encompassment of knowledge through possible combinations of simple items is the short story "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges. Here, a library contains all combinations of letters in 410-page books. As in the first example, both true and false knowledge are generated or exist indistinctly. Borges portrays the despair of its inhabitants to discern truth and falsehood, among other things, whereas Swift uses this feature of the knowledge being produced in an ironic way.

If you know more examples of knowledge through combinations of letters or words, let me know! I will be thankful.

Charles Perrault and his prospects of the future

2010-11-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

"Read the journals of France and England and glance at the publications of the Academies of these great kingdoms, and you will be convinced that within the last twenty or thirty years more discoveries have been made in natural science than throughout the period of learned antiquity. I own that I consider myself fortunate to know the happiness we enjoy; it is a great pleasure to survey all the past ages in which I can see the birth and the progress of all things, but nothing which has not received a new increase and lustre in our own times. Our age has, in some sort, arrived at the summit of perfection. And since for some years the rate of the progress is much slower and appears almost insensible—as the days seem to cease lengthening when the solstice is near—it is pleasant to think that probably there are not many things for which we need envy future generations."

Taken from The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry at its Origin and Growth by J. B. Bury. Here's the original: Charles Perrault, 1687, Paralelle des Anciens et des Modernes en ce qui regarde les Arts et les Sciences, Tome Premier. pp. 66 and 67.

This was part of a bigger discussion between thinkers in the 17th century, the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. It was debated whether the age of Louis the XIV, the age of the Modernes, was capable of producing at least as excellent, if not better, works as the Greeks and Romans did. Charles Perrault was on the side of the Modernes and wrote an apology of contemporary works in several volumes, each for a specific field of improvements.

It is impressive how Charles Perrault thought that his age was at the summit of perfection. I do not think that this thought can be entertained in the 21st century either. However, our age is technologically far more advanced than the one in 17th century. Since he was drawing a distinction based on scientific grounds, he would be amazed at how much more there was to come.

The first scientific publication in Europe: Journal des Sçavans 1665

2010-08-07T16:50:00.001-07:00

There were certainly written means of communication between scholars before 1665. Maybe this was the first periodic academic publication.

Here's a link for all the editions: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb343488023/date

There are many interesting articles. The announcement of Thomas Willis' proposal that the cortex was the seat of mental faculties and behavior is one that caught my attention very much. Before that, the proposed structure accounting for behavior were the ventricles - an obvious structure if we reason that what explains muscular contractions is a fluid, as was believed at the time. Also he describes the striatum, the cranial nerves and much more. Emanuel Swedenborg, some years later, independently, also challenged the ventricular theory by reinterpreting lesion studies. However, he had no students, did not exchange correspondence with other scientists and did not publish its work. Back to Willis, here's the excerpt, in the Journal des Sçavants, where it is announced his reasoning that lead to emphasis in the role of the cortex:

"First he argues that the spirits [the fluid responsible for behavior] are produced by the distillation of the most subtle component in the blood, that descends from the arteries on the exterior and cortical part of the brain; and he suggests that the blood that is kept in the sinuses of the dura mater perform the function of this distillation, in the same way as fire, in chemical distillations made through descending forces, being on top of matter, separate whatever the subtlest of the components."

Thoughts of a settler, in the 17th century, on animal extinction

2010-04-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Adriaen van der Donck, one of the first settlers to arrive to Manhattan, in the 17th century, wrote about the richness of the fauna and flora on the island and how anyone could easily hunt or fish with great yields.

"There are some persons who imagine that the animals of the country will be destroyed in time, but this is unnecessary anxiety."

from Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898, by Burrows and Wallace

Two origins of the name Manhattan

2010-04-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Both are from Lenape language, the original population living in New York. The most heard is hilly island. Here's a footnote of the book Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898, by Burrows and Wallace, on the alternative etymology:

"More than 150 years later, the Lenapes gave a Pennsylvania missionary their version of what happened when the first white men landed on Manhattan: they sighted a "large canoe or house" moving across the water and decided that it belonged to the Supreme Being, "the great Manitto", who then appeared before them entirely dressed in red. After a preliminary exchange of courtesies , he offered them a toast and they all got happily drunk-whence the site came to be known as Mannahattanink, "the island or place of general intoxication"."

The origin of sharp and flat in music

2010-04-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

"The three principal symbols indicating whether a note should be raised or lowered in pitch are derived from variations of the small letter b: the sharp (♯) and natural (♮) signs from the square "b quadratum", and the flat sign (♭) from the round "b rotundum".

In the early days of European music notation (4-line staff Gregorian chant manuscripts), only the note B could be altered (i.e. have an accidental applied to it): it could be flattened, thus moving from the hexachordum durum (i.e. the hard hexachord: G-A-B-C-D-E) where it is natural, to the hexachordum molle (i.e. the soft hexachord: F-G-A-B♭-C-D) where it is flat; the note B is not present in the third hexachord hexachordum naturale (i.e. the natural hexachord: C-D-E-F-G-A).

This long use of B as the only altered note incidentally helps explain some notational peculiarities:

the flat sign ♭ actually derives from a round b, signifying the B of the soft hexachord, that is, B flat (hence the name of the flat sign in French "bémol" from medieval French "bé mol" — modern French "bé mou" — or "soft b") and originally meant only B♭;
both the natural sign ♮ and the sharp ♯ derive from a square b, signifying the B of the hard hexachord, that is, B natural (hence the name of the natural sign in French "bécarre" from medieval French "bé carre", earlier "bé quarre" — modern French "bé carré" — or "square b") and originally meant only B natural.

In the same way, in German music notation the letter B designates B flat while the letter H, which is actually a deformation of a square B, designates B natural."

From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_%28music%29.

The birth of the equals sign

2010-03-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

In 1557, Robert Recorde proposed the introduction of two parallel lines to stand for equality. This way "the tedious repetition" of the words "is equal to" could be avoided - look at his explanation in the text excerpt. This website contains the whole book, The Whetstone of Witte - I don't know what it means.

Diderot's Encyclopédie on the function of the brain

2010-03-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

"(...), Philosophers regard it as the organ of our thoughts. Mr. Astruc goes even further: he accounts for reasoning and judgment with an analogy between the fibers of the brain and those of music instruments. According to him, it is an axiom that each simple idea is the product of the movement of a specific fiber; that each complex idea results from the isochronic vibrations of several fibers and that the greater or lesser amount of evidence changes the greater or lesser degree to which fibers move."

Musical palimpsests

2010-03-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
based on Corelli's Sonata for violin, violone and harpsichord, Op. 5, No. 12
based on the Folia theme

(I'll add more as I go along)

2008-03-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

The room of Louise de Lorraine at the Château of Chenonceau is decorated with mourning symbols: silver tears, widows' cordons and crowns of thorns and the Greek letter - l - lambda, Louise's initial, intertwined with the H of Henri III.

2008-02-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

In the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo has depicted himself as skin torn from a body, being held by Saint Bartholomew.

Six memos for the next millennium by Italo Calvino

2008-02-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

Lightness
Quickness
Exactitude
Visibility
Multiplicity
Consistency

He wrote them as what was his ideal of literature, although he mentioned that the opposite qualities are as legitimate.

On moderation

2008-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

"Callicles says in Plato that, at its extremes, philosophy is harmful; he advises us not to go more deeply into it than the limits of what is profitable: (...). What he says is true, for in its excesses philosophy enslaves our native freedom and with subtleties makes us stray from that beautiful and easy path that Nature has traced for us." Montaigne, On moderation

Illustrating knowledge

2008-01-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

I think the colorful illustrations of intracellular networks of molecules, like the MAPK/Erk signaling cascade depicted here, could have resemblances with the initial anatomical drawings of Vesalius.

In both cases there is a nascent branch of science which cares for appearance, which in turn may hinder some levels of knowledge. In other words, Vesalius bodies were graceful, but did not stand in a uniform position, the standard anatomical position, which is now universal in anatomy atlases. Therefore it would be more difficult to understand the relative position of anatomical structures. Regarding representations of molecular networks, are they in standard anatomical position?

On the origin of species

2007-12-28T03:59:00.000-08:00

It is not on the origin of Darwin' species. It is an anedoctal story about "Espécies", a cookie from the azorean island of São Jorge. I would guess that it has its name from the fact that spices are a strong ingredient. You can see a Espécie in the photo, taken from this blog http://emportopim.blogspot.com/2006/08/doaria-regional-espcies.html.

Espécie - a cookie from the azorean island of São Jorge.

Regarding its origin, I have been told by one friend from Azores that it is thought to have been brought by Flemish settlers. This same friend, while living in Belgium, tried search for the cookie. He looked for it in restaurants, asking people, culinary books, cafés and pastry shops, but he did not find it and no one seemed to know it. Serendipity came and he found a representation of what looked like a "Espécie", although with a different shape, in a 16th century Flemish painting.

This reminds me of a similar event in biology. Some species living in a continent may occupy an island, eventually disappear in the first one and persist in the second.

Another social example with biological resemblances are the festivities to the Holy Spirit. They were widespread and popular in Portugal from the 14th to the first half of the 16th century, a period which included the settlement of Azores. Nowadays they are much less popular in the mainland, although the city of Tomar still hosts an important celebration, but became the most important religious celebration in the archipelago. They are also present in Brazil and North America.

I have no idea how well studied is this phenomenon in sociology and to what extent notions from Biology may apply. Nevertheless, it is certainly interesting to think about it.

On molecular movement

2007-11-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Tim Hunt mentioned how curious it is that physicists and biologists could have different conceptions of movement for the molecular level. The first ones would regard it as a constant and unquiet event of collisions, independently of a functional meaning, while the second ones see it as an aristotelic phenomenon, being that a molecule is moving when is active and arrested when inactive. (Who is Tim Hunt? http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2001/hunt-autobio.html)

2007-11-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

Windows are the eyes of a house and eyes are the windows of the soul (Alec Guiness in The Ladykillers).

2007-11-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

While visiting the center of operations of Paris' subway, a technician said that people were the main cause for delays. He then concluded, in a dedicated and sincere way, that the ideal subway, which would always be on time, would have no one using it.

Major and minor tonalities

2007-10-06T05:31:00.000-07:00

The intriguing simple contrast between a melody in a major and a minor key.

Frère Jacques:
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNxKeydnEs

and Mahler's version in a minor key:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3tQszZCMr8

(poorly controlled for tempo and instruments...)

On the origin of language

2007-09-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

"The speculations on the origin of language were sufficiently wild in the last century that in 1866 the Linguistic Society of Paris forbade discussions of this topic at its meetings." (Crystal, D. 1987. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language.)