history of science
clock | July 6, 2006"Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity."
"Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine."
"Even matter called inorganic, believed to be dead, responds to irritants and gives unmistakable evidence of a living principle within. Everything that exists, organic or inorganic, animated or inert, is susceptible to stimulus from the outside."
On Invention: "It is the most important product of man's creative brain.…
clock | July 5, 2006"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more."
"The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane." (Modern Mechanics and Inventions. July, 1934)
"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of a planter -- for the future. His duty is to lay foundation of those who are to come and point the way."
"Universal peace as a result of cumulative effort…
clock | July 4, 2006"The last 29 days of the month [are] the hardest."
"Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality." (Modern Mechanics and Inventions, July, 1934)
"The spread of civilisation may be likened to a fire; First, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power."
"I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to…
clock | July 3, 2006This is a quick, rough translation of an article that ran in a Serbian newspaper a few days ago. It is written by a professor of psychology at the University of Belgrade, Prof.Dr.Zarko Trebjesanin, whose book about psychology of Tesla just got published in Belgrade. Posthumous psychoanalyzing is always suspect, but it is usually harmless and fun:
Nikola Tesla's Personality - the Lonely Visionary
If we could imagine the modern world devoid of Tesla's discoveries, we'd be surprised at how impoverished it would be. The gigantic industries would be dead, factories empty, cities would be dark,…
clock | June 29, 2006Apparently, there is yet another movie made about Tesla this year.
Violet Fire Opera is an opera about Tesla. It will open in National Theater in Belgrade on July 10th.
There is some stuff about the history of radio and moving pictures. Both essays mention Tesla's contributions.
Tesla Roadster is creating quite a buzz. I wish I could afford it. Perhaps the Model II will be a little cheaper.
A new livejournal takes it's name after Tesla's tower - Wardenclyffe Tower.
The best source on everything Tesla is the Tesla Museum in Belgrade.
And here is another fan.
Check the links to previous…
clock | June 27, 2006I am glad I am not alone! There are other Tesla fans in the blogosphere. Jennifer Ouellette (of the wonderful Cocktail Party Physics blog) has also read the comic strip "Five Fists of Science" with Tesla and Twain saving the world from the evil Edison and J.P.Morgan, and wrote a review (much better than mine, of course - she is a writer!) which you can...er, should, ...er, MUST read here.
clock | June 23, 2006
Since everyone is posting about spiders this week, I though I'd republish a sweet old post of mine, which ran on April 19, 2006 under the title "Happy Bicycle Day!" I hope you like this little post as much as I enjoyed writing it:
This week's theme for the Tar Heel Tavern is bicycle. I was wondering what to write about. Perhaps about crazy bicycle rides I had as a kid. Or a fun riff on "fish needing a bicycle". Then, I was saved! Because, today is the Bicycle Day! That's just great, because I can go on a scientific tangent with a local flavor.
If you do not know what Bicycle Day is,…
clock | June 22, 2006The big day - 150th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla - is approaching fast - July 10th.
I am sure that I will remind you of this a couple of more times until then - I have a couple of posts about him in the making - but first look at the older posts in which I have mentioned him so far....[more under the fold]
Just the other day, I wrote about the significance of Bryant Park in NYC - you'll have to click to see what it has to do with Tesla.
Then, I wrote how much I am eagerly anticipating the new movie in which David Bowie will play Tesla. It was based on the book "Prestige" which (…
clock | June 21, 2006Gavin de Beer died on this day in 1972. Aydin Ãrstan wrote the best post for the occasion (also cross-posted on Transitions)
clock | June 19, 2006Friday, May 26th
Afternoon
So, about noon or so, we finally got to the American Museum of Natural History. I was pretty smart, actually... A few months ago, when we first started thinking about making this trip, I decided not to renew my subscription to Natural History Magazine, but to subscribe my wife instead. So, when we arrived at the museum, we skipped the long ticket lines and went straight to the "Members" desk, where my wife got a little discount, I got a student discount (yes, I still have a valid student ID - officially they did not kick me out yet), and the kids ar, quite…
clock | June 19, 2006From today's Quotes of the Day:
Blaise Pascal was born at Clermont-Ferrand, in the Auvergne region of France, on this day in 1623. Educated at home by his father, he was a child prodigy and made significant contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators and the study of fluids. In mathematics he published a treatise on projection geometry (whatever that is!) at age sixteen and his work in probability theory is still important in economics today. In 1654 he had a vision upon awaking from a coma following a carriage accident, and devoted the rest of his life to philosophy and…
clock | June 17, 2006On June 17th, 1858 (I know, I missed by less than an hour), Charles Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. The letter contained the explanation of the principle of natural selection. Thus, Darwin was forced to act, and act fast. After reading both Wallace's and his own acccount of natural selection to the Royal Society, he got down to work. Instead of a multi-tome monograph he was planning on writing (which, if nothing else due its sheer size, would not have had quite as wide readership), he quickly jotted down a slim volume which, for the Victorian era, was a surprisingly…
clock | June 15, 2006
Can it get any better than this! The Five Fists of Science, starring Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla in a race to save the world from Thomas Edison and J.P Morgan! I immediatelly pre-ordered the book and can't wait to read it.
Update: I just got an e-mail from Amazon that the book is finally out and that my copy has been shipped. I'll be able to read it just in time for the celebration of Tesla's 150th birthday on July 10th.
(Hat-tip: Science Librarian, via Boing Boing)
clock | June 14, 2006I wrote this post on February 27, 2005. Provocative? You decide....
I am happy, along with at least half of the blogosphere, that Billmon is back. One of his recent posts caught my eye, as it was comparing current treatment of science by the Bush Administration to the treatment of science by the Stalin Administration back in the early days of the USSR, notably Trofim Denisovich Lysenko. The US scientists today are very unhappy about this state of things and are pondering ways to fightback (hat tip: Chris Mooney)
I looked around the Internets to see what is there about Lysenko and I found a…