The Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"): a poet meditates on the fateful meeting of science, ambition, and nature I In a solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she. II Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her [...]
On science and the humanities, of and in the world: how closely related are the investigations of the sciences and the humanities? They may begin at a common origin, but they diverge and specialize with different aims in mind where world making is concerned. Science attempts to make a world that remains invariant across human [...]
Education is useless (or rather: is education useless?): a neighborly discussion about what’s worth learning, and where one should learn what's needed -- or useful -- for life. Crimpet: Hello, neighbor. Crumpet: Why are you so happy, Crimpet? You look like you won the office pool. Crimpet: Nothing as wonderful as that. But I’m glad to [...]
The 17th-C. plague in London: now we know. How DNA (and Daniel Defoe) reveal the killer bacteria's identity in one of history's longest cold cases. From the article: Testing in Germany confirmed the presence of DNA from the Yersinia pestis bacterium - the agent that causes bubonic plague - rather than another pathogen. Some authors have previously questioned the [...]
The language of numbers: how learning a language can become the model for acquiring the basics of engineering. From the article: Trying to reprogram my brain sometimes seemed like a ridiculous idea—especially when I looked at the fresh young faces of my younger classmates and realized that many of them had already dropped their hard math and [...]
What was Shakespeare thinking (and why does it matter)? The ways that old, even ancient, methods of learning can produce original results. From the article: You take it for granted that Olympic athletes and professional musicians must practice relentlessly to perfect their craft. Why should you expect the craft of thought to require anything less [...]
Day Labors: a conversation between Night and Day on the circuits of human affairs Day enters, and sits down next to Night. He turns and sighs. Night: Is that you, Day? Aren’t you back early? Day: Maybe a few minutes, at this time of year. But I’m looking to rest before starting again tomorrow. Night: You [...]
Forests of philosophy: how our trail-blazing only leads to passing points of rest. No one like the path-finder himself feels the immensity of the forest, or knows the accidentality of his own trails. Columbus, dreaming of the ancient East, is stopped by poor pristine simple America, and gets no farther on that day; and the poets [...]
Therapy and the nurture of nature: how landscape and the natural world foster (from the Greek, therapeia) wholeness. From the article: For many writers, the act of observing nature has healing properties. Amy Liptrot found it from returning time again to the same spot, and feeling more aware each time of “the height of the tide, [...]
