Old Book Covers: Much Cooler Than Today

Book covers used to be so much cooler than they are now.

(I already knew this, but this is a particularly good example.)

I love the lengthy title-pages in some historical books. This one is particularly extraordinary!
- The Flash Mirror (c.1840) pic.twitter.com/K7XGUIYOz5

— Dr Bob Nicholson (@DigiVictorian) September 6, 2018

Ancient Doodles Around the World

This, along with Stonehenge, is another thing that I would do just to mess with people if I had a time machine.

Oh wait...

Mysterious ancient symbols found throughout the world. Source: https://t.co/vzCu3a0mYC pic.twitter.com/gJ7bJku9c2

— Cliff Pickover (@pickover) March 3, 2019

(Tip of the cap to math prof.)

Pondering Social Contagions in the 19th Century

If only they knew about social contagions...

The winner of Answers magazine's big Question Competition of 1888 was Mr. E Bond of Bloomsbury, who submitted this entry: pic.twitter.com/0kU0Mwxlqj

— Dr Bob Nicholson (@DigiVictorian) December 28, 2018

And here is the beginning of the thread.

In 1888, Answers magazine ran a prize competition in which readers were challenged to send in 'The Most Interesting Question On Any Subject.' Reading through the results is like looking at Victorian Britain's Google search history...

Thread 👇👇👇: pic.twitter.com/Z4aQDTtM3E

— Dr Bob Nicholson (@DigiVictorian) December 28, 2018

Why are Pencils Yellow?

"Hardtmuth settled on yellow to communicate the graphite’s geographical origins, while also linking its product to the long-held Chinese associations of royalty, and therefore superiority." https://t.co/Mn1LjGRbYQ

— Samuel Arbesman (@arbesman) October 31, 2018

New Book: "Women in Mathematics"

The book Women in Mathematics (subtitled "Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America") is now available.

I was able to download it for free at UCLA, so this should also be the case at other universities with similar deals with the publisher (Springer).

Romans and the d12 Gaming System

It was clearly for the d12 system of role-playing games. :)

(Tip of the cap to GrrlScientist.)

The Romans left over one hundred of these dodecahedrons across Europe, but we can only speculate their purpose pic.twitter.com/YvlWgbS4AB

— History Lovers Club (@historylvrsclub) November 26, 2017

Grammatical Paraphernalia and the Original Guardian

This — the debut of The Guardian — is interesting for many reasons, including its comma density and other grammatical paraphernalia.

(Tip of the cap to Sam Howison.)

German Caricature Map from 1914

This German caricature map from the onset of World War I is fancy.

(Tip of the cap to I Fucking Love Maps.)

Words Well Hung

I can see myself uttering last words along these lines (though I can do without the hanging).

"I see that you have made 3 spelling mistakes." Last words of Marquis de Favras after reading his death sentence before being hanged (1790). pic.twitter.com/b4aFy7yyJM

— Klaas Meijer (@klaasm67) September 15, 2017

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

The Origin of Zork

Here is a short article about the origin of the landmark text-adventure computer game Zork.

We should calculate some network statistics of the Great Underground Empire map. (See the salient hand-drawn figure in the article.)

A Sweet Early Calculator!

Very cool!

The first calculator to be able to perform all 4 operations automatically was invented by Anton Braun, a German optician, in 1727 pic.twitter.com/j8tj7LTUIA

— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) August 13, 2017

(Tip of the cap to Daniele Avitabile.)

"The Tonight Show" Starring Edward Teller?

Wow. Here are some pictures of Edward Teller as a television-show host.

OMG OMG. Edward Teller tried a run as a television show host in 1955. How did I not know this? These photos are AMAZING. This is so bonkers. pic.twitter.com/lGsPPpQkbz

— Alex Wellerstein (@wellerstein) July 19, 2017

Eighteenth-Century Rotating Table: I Want One!

Not that this is the most practical and efficient 21st-century method to address this issue... but I want one!

A must for every library: eighteenth-century rotating table allowing readers to view multiple volumes at once. pic.twitter.com/p18X8LRpPo

— NSCM (@LitteraCarolina) April 14, 2017

(Tip of the cap to Gabrielle Birkman.)

Long Live Preprint Servers

In the 1960s, the NIH ran 7 airmail preprint services. Journals took "lethal" action. #ASAPbio https://t.co/kJRuvaxllk pic.twitter.com/ote5PLgMX1

— Jessica Polka (@jessicapolka) April 13, 2017

(Tip of the cap to Sam Scarpino.O

"The White House": A New Film by The Coen Brothers

Many years from now, some kids who don't know history are going to express skepticism that "It couldn't have happened like that. That's way too ridiculous and unrealistic!"

And I'm going to respond by telling them to get off my lawn.

(I look forward to the Coen Brothers version. Because we are in a Coen Brothers movie right now. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion from a seat on the train.)

Also: Truth is stranger than fiction. Never doubt that.

Update: By the way, Frances McDormand would make a spectacular Bettsy DeVos.

Update: Last year, I referred to the Brexit fiasco as something out of a Coen Brothers film (and I included the train-wreck comparison), but the way things have been playing out in the US (including last year, but especially since the election) is, hands down, even more extreme in that direction.

Pictures of Hope

Pictures like the still at the beginning of the video in this article give me hope (which is much needed these days).

Update: Here is a Vox article, which includes among the first of the pictures I saw yesterday. I also saw pictures from friends yesterday who were beginning their treks, and of course it's been great to see many pictures of the well-attended Women's Marches today (especially the one in Washington, D.C.).

Update: Here are a bunch of pictures. When the dust settles as to the numbers in the Marches worldwide, I'll post put a link to an article that hopefully gives a reasonable indication of them. I have read that this may be the largest Presidential Inauguration protest in U.S. history. (Many more people have shown up to the Women's March protest in Washington, D. C. than showed up for the Inauguration.)

Update: The protests have been occurring across the globe, including in Antarctica!

Update: The number of protesters worldwide is estimated to be more than 2.5 million people.

Update: Here are more pictures from around the world. Such a historic event! The world will remember this day.

Update: Here are some estimated numbers.

Update: I would like to make the following comment: "20 January 2017: A day that will live in infamy (though, technically, not as much infamy as 8 November 2016). 21 January 2017: A far more important day, and one of the most important days in United States history."

Update: The Women's March protest is now estimated to be the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Excellent! I approve!

Update: In solidarity with the Women's March, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics posted a music video of their song Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves. It's hard to think of a better fit for today.

Update: In Washington, D.C., numerous protesters left their signs at Donald Trump's D.C. hotel.

Update: Apparently, there were a grand total of four arrests in the U.S. Protesting peacefully is the way to do it. Very good!

(Tip of the cap to way too many people to mention.)

Update (1/22/17): One of my favorite pictures from yesterday is this one.

Update (1/22/17): Here is yet another great sign. (Tip of the cap to Wendy Ames.)

Update (1/23/17): Fivethirtyeight.com estimates the total number of participants (I didn't check whether this was an estimate for the U.S. or for the world) in the Women's Marches to be about 3.2 million people, though they were concentrated mostly in Blue states.

Update (1/23/17): Here is another excellent sign, although over the years I have seen many pictures of old people at protests with these words (or similar ones) on a sign. I saw this picture on Saturday, but I forgot to include a link then, so I'm glad to see it again.

Update (1/23/17): Here's another nice sign.

Update (1/24/17): Here are a few more signs. I like the Star Wars one.

History-Book Chapter Title Proposal: "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride"

Inspired by Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, I want to advocate "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride" as the chapter title for history books when they discuss our current adventure (assuming there is somebody left around to write history books).

Please place the royalties next to my grave.

Among my lessons this week is that 24 hours is about how long it takes for my snark to get back up to full blast after very bad news. (It came back in fits and bursts well well before then, and my sense of humor is pretty dark anyway.) Actually, I think I knew this before, but I was reminded of it.

Update: And if you don't know The Wind in the Willows, then I strongly suggest you look up the character Mr. Toad. In certain respects, the resemblance is uncanny. ;)

Making Beds and Falling Dominoes

Anybody who knows me at all knows that of course I am not happy about the result (to say the least). But it is what it is. We made our own beds.

Mainly, right now I'm scared. And I think I am not welcome here, though I know I need to stand in line on that one. (Atheists and scientists/intellectuals and social liberals weren't singled out, as other have been lately, but we probably will be.) Maybe I'll apply to my old job in Oxford, though I'll give myself some time to process things first. Selfishly, it's good news for me that California is in many ways its own world.

What else? I am, emphatically, a 'citizen of the world' before I am an American. (Theresa May, eat your heart out.) And good luck to all of us.

On a positive note, I did see some hope today — e.g., the scene at Susan B. Anthony's grave was incredible, by the way, and the video from my peeps at the Sante Fe Institute was fantastic — and sometimes we have to get through a wake-up call. (It is easy to understand why people are angry. And people didn't pay enough attention.) Despite proverbial echo chambers and majority illusion — what, did you think I wouldn't get network analysis in here somewhere? — I have quite a few friends who hold significantly more conservative views than I do, but they are my friends, they are well-spoken, they are civil, and they often make very good points. We disagree (sometimes very strongly), but it's proper and productive discourse, and I learn from them. And I am very happy to have them as part of my network.

There is a nice quote from Star Wars that I think is relevant now, so I'd like to share it:

"Remember, the Force will be with you always."

We'll (hopefully) all get through this. I am sure it will be rough and it will take time, though. And as long as we don't all nuke each other before we work things out (proverbial falling dominoes, etc.), we'll make it through.

Thank you for listening.

Now does anybody want to talk about math? (Or games or D & D or ... ?)

Update: Not that I need a link to the actual event for this post, but here is one anyway. Clinton has now conceded to Trump. We live in interesting times. Here is what The Guardian had to say about the America's new populism.

A Brief History of The Witch's House

When I was a kid, The Witch's House was the place to go on Halloween in Beverly Hills. It sounds like it still is.

(Tip of the cap to Kimberly Reiss.)

Why Nearly Every Film States It's a Work of Fiction

Apparently, this has a connection to Grigori Rasputin and his murder — yet another interesting bit in the mystery of Rasputin.

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)