13 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Phonetic Orthography in Spain and Italy
Fonetic spelling, in one form or another, has been,
and is now, used by progressiv teachers in England
and America as an introduction and an aid to the
study of the current orthografy. Their experience is
that children can spel correctly that is, fonetically
the words they ar able to pronounce, as soon as
they hav learnd the alfabet employd, and the principle
of combining letters into sillables.
In languages such as Italian and Spanish, that hav
approximately fonetic alfabets, appro...
1 There is a cost savings that comes with reducing the number of years spent teaching spelling.
16 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
Orwell Notes Hitler's Rigidity of Mind
It is a sign of the speed at which events are moving that Hurst and Blackett’s unexpurgated edition of Mein Kampf, published only a year ago, is edited from a pro-Hitler angle. The obvious intention of the translator’s preface and notes is to tone down the book’s ferocity and present Hitler in as kindly a light as possible. For at that date Hitler was still respectable. He had crushed the German labour movement, and for that the property-owning classes were willing to forgive him almost...He notes that Hitler's ideas did not change at all over 15 years and that is a mark of madness.
29 MAY 2014 by ideonexus
When Science Became a Profession
The possibilities of modem technology were first in practice realised in England by the energy of a prosperous middle class. Accordingly, the industrial revolution started there. But the Germans explicitly realised the methods by which the deeper veins in the mine of science could be reached. In their technological schools and universities progress did not have to wait for the occasional genius or the occasional lucky thought. Their feats of scholarship during the nineteenth century were the ... 1 
notes
notesRising from the prosperous classes and the reliance on occasional genius to a methodology for producing consistent results.
13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Hourglass
Not the flowing waters of time but the falling sands of time have given
modern poets their favorite metaphor for the passing hours. In England,
sandglasses were frequently placed in coffins as a symbol that life's time had
run out. "The sands of time are sinking," went the hymn. "The dawn of
heaven breaks."
But the hourglass, measuring time by dripping sand, comes late in our
story. Sand was, of course, less fluid than water, and hence less adapted to
the subtle calibration required by the v...Folksonomies: engineering invention
Folksonomies: engineering invention
1 notes
notesSand vs water, the evolving art and ingenuity involved in crafting this timepiece.
20 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Archaeology is the Study of Trash
Tedious as it may appear to some to dwell on the discovery of odds and ends that have, no doubt, been thrown away by the owner as rubbish ... yet it is by the study of such trivial details that Archaeology is mainly dependent for determining the date of earthworks. ... Next to coins fragments of pottery afford the most reliable of all evidence ... In my judgement, a fragment of pottery, if it throws light on the history of our own country and people, is of more interest to the scientific coll...Folksonomies: archaeology
Folksonomies: archaeology
1 notes
notesBut it is very important historical trash.
18 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Call for Nitrogen Fixation
England and all civilised nations stand in deadly peril of not having enough to eat. As mouths multiply, food resources dwindle. Land is a limited quantity, and the land that will grow wheat is absolutely dependent on difficult and capricious natural phenomena... I hope to point a way out of the colossal dilemma. It is the chemist who must come to the rescue of the threatened communities. It is through the laboratory that starvation may ultimately be turned into plenty... The fixation of atmo... 1 notes
notesCrookes predicts the failure of farming to support a growing population and calls on chemists to work on improving production.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Dr. Frankenstein is a Amalgam of Scientists of the Time
The actual writing of Mary’s novel can be followed fairly closely from her journal in Switzerland, and then back in England at Great Marlow on the Thames. What is less clear is where she gathered her ideas and materials from, and how she created her two unforgettable protagonists: Dr Frankenstein and his Creature. One is tempted to say that the Creature – who is paradoxically the most articulate person in the whole novel — was a pure invention of Mary’s genius. But in Victor Frankenst...Folksonomies: fiction inspiration
Folksonomies: fiction inspiration
1 notes
notesFrom Shelley's journals.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Space Exploration Costs the Same as Exploring the World
The Solar System is much vaster than the Earth, but the speeds of our
spacecraft are, of course, much greater than the speeds of the sailing ships of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The spacecraft trip from the Earth to the Moon
is faster than was the galleon trip from Spain to the Canary Islands. The voyage
from Earth to Mars will take as long as did the sailing time from England to North
America; the journey from Earth to the moons of Jupiter will require about the
same time as did t...Folksonomies: economics space exploration
Folksonomies: economics space exploration
1 Europe spent as much money proportionally to discover America as it would cost us to venture to Mars.
13 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Science in England
Science in England is not a profession: its cultivators are scarcely recognised even as a class. Our language itself contains no single term by which their occupation can be expressed. We borrow a foreign word [Savant] from another country whose high ambition it is to advance science, and whose deeper policy, in accord with more generous feelings, gives to the intellectual labourer reward and honour, in return for services which crown the nation with imperishable renown, and ultimately enrich... 1 notes
notesEnglish has no term to describe scientists, so it borrows the word "Savant" to describe the noble cause.
