08 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
The Mechanic's Wisdom
The Mechanic's Wisdom.
Probably the most characteristic attitude of the mechanic toward the forces and materials with which he deals is unquestioning acceptance of the fact that he cannot change or anywise modify the laws of nature or the qualities of materials.
The mechanic, like the rest of us, wants to accomplish a multitude of purposes. Having determined upon the object of his desires, be it a machine to do something, or a change in the location of physical things, he proceeds upon th... 1 
notes
notesAn insightful and empirical perspective of our place in the Universe and our potential.
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.
13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Clock as the Mother of All Machines
PRECISELY because the clock did not start as a practical tool shaped for a single purpose, it was destined to be the mother of machines. The clock broke down the walls between kinds of knowledge, ingenuity, and skill, and clockmakers were the first consciously to apply the theories of mechanics and physics to the making of machines. Progress came from the collaboration of scientists—Galileo, Huygens, Hooke, and others—with craftsmen and mechanics. Since clocks were the first modern measur... 1 notes
notesIt required a number of sciences, was based on multiple engineering developments, and contributed itself to science by allowing the measurement of time.
30 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Chemistry Logic is a Triumph of the Human Mind
The ingenuity and effective logic that enabled chemists to determine complex molecular structures from the number of isomers, the reactivity of the molecule and of its fragments, the freezing point, the empirical formula, the molecular weight, etc., is one of the outstanding triumphs of the human mind. 1 notes
notesIt is ingenius and effective logic.
19 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
How Euclid Became a Physician
Let me tell you how at one time the famous mathematician Euclid became a physician. It was during a vacation, which I spent in Prague as I most always did, when I was attacked by an illness never before experienced, which manifested itself in chilliness and painful weariness of the whole body. In order to ease my condition I took up Euclid's Elements and read for the first time his doctrine of ratio, which I found treated there in a manner entirely new to me. The ingenuity displayed in Euclid...Folksonomies: wonder mathematics
Folksonomies: wonder mathematics
1 notes
notesBolzano reads a mathematical doctrine by Euclid when he is ill and immediately feels better.
20 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
I Think; Therefore, I Am
I suppose, then, that all the things that I see are
false; I persuade myself that nothing has ever existed of all
that my fallacious memory represents to me. I consider that I
possess no senses; I imagine that body, figure, extension,
movement and place are but the fictions of my mind. What,
then, can be esteemed as true? Perhaps nothing at all, unless
that there is nothing in the world that is certain.
But how can I know there is not something different from
those things that I have just... 1 notes
notesDescartes most important contribution to philosophical thought.
