Quote from composer Gioachino Rossini
Tag: steam
Quote from George Washington Carver
Father’s Day is Coming!
Schrodinger’s Cat, is it Alive or is it Dead?
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Created in 1935 to help explain elements of quantum mechanics, Schrodinger’s cat has become part of popular culture. Referenced in songs, poems, stories, comics, movies, video games, and emblazoned on T shirts, the cat which could be thought of as possibly alive and dead at the same time has given people other than quantum scientists something to think about.
Nobel Prize winner Erwin Schrodinger probably never imagined that he would be best remembered for the thought experiment he created involving a cat sealed inside a steel box with a radioactive source and a flask of poison.
My favorite reference is from the TV show The Big Bang Theory and features the characters Penny and Sheldon. Penny has asked for Sheldon for relationship advice and he compares the scenario proposed in the Schrodinger’s Cat example to her relationship with Leonard. You can see how physicist Sheldon explains it to non-scientist Penny here. It’s another example of historic ideas becoming ingrained in current culture!
Arts in Letters learned about Schrodinger and his cat through a series of historical letters between Schrodinger and his friend and colleague, Albert Einstein. Einstein probably understood immediately how the cat could be considered both alive and dead simultaneously. The rest of us may have to think about it for a little while. Who know who and what we’ll find out through historical letters between great thinkers!
One Letter at a Time?
Now available, individual letter packets! I’m opening up the Arts in Letters archives, making the individual letter packets available for purchase as digital downloads. These are letters that have been sent to subscribers and will not be sent out again. (I work hard to make sure every subscriber receives a new letter every week!)
These are being made available to everyone, whether you are a subscriber or not. This is an opportunity for subscribers to fill in letters they missed or weren’t sent out during their subscription term. It’s a great opportunity for those considering buying a subscription to find out just what a weekly mailing consists of. Or if you aren’t intereested in a subscription right now, you can pick and choose who you want to learn more about.
Downloads consists of a PDF version of the letter packet which you can download and if you want , print out. There are 6-8 pages of information and images. The only difference between the subscription mailings and these downloads is that the downloadable PDF bears an Arts in Letters watermark.
So whether it’s one letter at a time, or a whole bunch at once, these are all available to to you instead of moldering in my digital archives. More are being added every week, so check back if you don’t see the subjects you are looking for. And you can always send me a message to find out when something specific is on its way. Start browsing through the “individual Letter” icon in the Shop section below. And, if you want to get some individual letters to supplement a subscription, the shop is configured so you can do both in the same transaction!
Quote from Astronomer and Musician Caroline Herschel
One of the things I like most about doing the research on Arts in Letters letter writers, is finding nuggets of wisdom that they leave behind in addition to their creations and discoveries. In my opinion, this is one of the best I’ve found, left to us by an astronomer who discovered comets and mapped the heavens at a time when women were prevented from participating in scientific pursuits. Something I like even better is sharing these with Arts in Letters subscribers!
letter writers, is finding nuggets of wisdom that they leave behind in addition to their creations and discoveries. In my opinion, this is one of the best I’ve found, left to us by an astronomer who discovered comets and mapped the heavens at a time when women were prevented from participating in scientific pursuits. Something I like even better is sharing these with Arts in Letters subscribers!
Join me in combing through history to find the nuggets of wisdom and inspiration left to us by history’s great creators and innovators. Choose your subscription package and join in our weekly journey into history.
Have you Been Missing the Ferris Wheel?
This time of year many of us look forward to going to the fair. We love to indulge at the food stands with tried and true favorites of cotton candy, funnel cakes, and corn dogs (with ketchup only.) I especially love the lemonade shake-ups made with tart, fresh lemons and grainy sugar, slurp slurp! Since moving to Florida I still haven’t made the adjustment to having the state fair in February! So wrong.
Even if you don’t ride the rides or play the games, you have to take a turn around the midway and take in its flashing lights, ringing bells, and shrieking children. Among the whirling teacups, twirling octopus arms, and plunging roller coasters, you’ll find the old-fashioned Ferris Wheel. Hopefully there will be Ferris Wheels spinning near you sometime soon and that you’ll be able to enjoy the modern version of George Ferris’s invention.
One of the world’s favorite rides is named for George Washington Gale Ferris, who built the first ‘Ferris Wheel’ for one of the biggest fairs of them all, the 1892 World’s Fair held in Chicago, Illinois. Standards for great spectacles were high and Ferris didn’t disappoint. His wheel was 266 feet tall with a circumference of 825 feet. Unlike modern Wheels, the cars on his Wheel could hold up to 60 people each. With all 36 cars filled, over 2,000 could ride it at once. Wow!
Today’s Ferris Wheels are much smaller, but most of them are also portable. Ferris’s wheel had to be completely taken apart and the brick and masonry foundation broken down before it could be moved. It was only erected once or twice more, and what was once one of the world’s most exciting spectacles ended up as land fill.
Isaac Newton quote on human relations?
Who would have thought that Isaac Newton, scientist extraordinaire and not known as an overly sociable person could be so insightful as to human relations?
Arthur Rackham quote on children, fantasy, and education
English illustrator Arthur Rackham provided some of the most fantastic illustrations for children’s books, including Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows. It’s no surprise that he valued fantasy as a way of expanding children’s intellect (and probably adults, too!) It’s always a joy to learn and write about such creative people for Arts in Letters subscribers.
