beliefs, people, science, thoughts

50 Years Ago in Scientific American

Reading the latest issue of Scientific American earlier today I spotted the following two items reprinted from their September 1958 issue.

The first is from the great thinker Jacob Bronowski, who older UK readers may remember for his 1973 TV series The Ascent of Man. As usual Bronowski is right on the money:

THE CREATIVE PROCESS
The most remarkable discovery made by scientists is science itself. The discovery must be compared in importance with the invention of cave-painting and of writing. Like these earlier human creations, science is an attempt to control our surroundings by entering into them and understanding them from inside. And like them, science has surely made a critical step in human development which cannot be reversed. We cannot conceive a future society without science.

The second, equally revealing but in a different way, is from eminent physicist Freeman Dyson. While many discoveries and developments have been made in particle physics and cosmology in the last 50 years, I think this statement is still true today:

INNOVATION IN PHYSICS
My view, the skeptical one, holds that we may be as far away from an understanding of elementary particles as Newton’s successors were from quantum mechanics. Like them, we have two tremendous tasks ahead of us. One is to study and explore the mathematics of the existing theories. The existing quantum field-theories may or may not be correct, but they certainly conceal mathematical depths which will take the genius of an Euler or a Hamilton to plumb. Our second task is to press on with the exploration of the wide range of physical phenomena of which the existing theories take no account. This means pressing on with experiments in the fashionable area of particle physics. Outstanding among the areas of physics which have been left out of recent theories of elementary particles are gravitation and cosmology.

memes, personal, photography, pleasures

25/08/2008 Pet Meme


25/08/08 Pet Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

1. Gianduia occhioni, 2. Mutant pickles, 3. Thirty years old…, 4. Almost Nothing, 5. Rallying Point… In The Middle Of Nowhere…!!!, 6. Paper & String, these are a few of my favorite things, 7. Relaxing is good!, 8. Emergency Rescue, 9. Near Humphrey’s Peak, 10. Kissie … just arrived back home from the vet …, 11. A hunter Russian blue, 12. pussy 3875

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream (the easiest way is to copy the URLs and then head over to the fd’s flickr toys link above and use the mosaic maker).

The questions and answers:
1. What was your favorite pet? Calico (tortoiseshell & white) shorthaor moggy
2. What was it’s name? She was nicknamed Pickle
3. How old where you when you got your first pet? The first to be really mine was when we moved to our own house when I was 30, but there had always been pets at home, including a dofg which came for my 7th birthday and was nominally mine.
4. What do you feed your favorite pet under the table? Almost nothing, the current 2 cats aren’t that interested in human food
5. Where to you like to take your pet on trips? Nowhere, they don’t like travelling
6. What is your pets favorite toy? String
7. What is the coolest trick your pet can do? Relax
8. Did you adopt your pet or buy it from a breeder? Rescued, all four of our cats (2 now long gone and the current 2) were rescued from The Blue Cross a charity which we continue to support
9. Where is the furthest you’ve taken your pet on a trip? For the current two, 7.2 miles from the rescue centre to home
10. What is the most extravagant thing you’ve purchased for your pet? Vet care
11. What is your favorite breed? Russian Blue cats
12. Describe your pet in one word. Pussy 😉

I guess I should explain that our first two cats were Floss (white & black; male) and Bubbles (aka Pickle; tortie & white; female) were rescued from Blue Cross at Victoria in August 1981. They were followed by the present two Harry (grey & white; male) and Sally (tabby; female) from Blue Cross at Hammersmith in December 1998. H&S appear from time to time on these pages. Notwithsatnding that there were always pets around home: cats, a dog, a tortoise, a duck. Oh and of course we also have fish. Now I know we’re mad!

Determined to do this without a human in any frame!

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

memes, personal, photography, thoughts

Wedding Ring


Wedding Ring, originally uploaded by kcm76.

This week’s self-portrait: 52 Weeks 26/52 (2008 week 34).

Sadly this isn’t my original wedding ring (that’s now too small, cracked, and on a chain round my neck); this one was made some 15-20 years ago by a local craftsman goldsmith. It still astonishes me that I’ve been wearing a wedding ring – yes since the day Noreen and I married – for almost 29 years (anniversary in a couple of weeks time)! We often look at each other and say “how did we do it?”.

arts, food+drink, memes, photography

2008.8.22 Bonus Meme


2008.8.22 Bonus Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

1. Early Morning Fog, 2. KCM, 3. 365 Toy Project: Day 57, 4. sunday morning 10am, 5. REJOICE and then……….., 6. Pear Trees Mean Spring, 7. Lovely To See You, 8. Avocado Sandwich, 9. pale green butterfly, 10. Mon-DAY 163: saturated in the snow, 11. 92/365- My Inquiry, 12. Cleaning lady / Upratovačka

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream (the easiest way is to copy the URLs and then head over to the fd’s flickr toys link above and use the mosaic maker).

The questions and answers:
1. What is your fave time of day Early morning, not that I can ever get up!
2. Your initials KCM — sorry this had to be a pic of me, it was the only half decent one I was offered!
3. Your age in years 57
4. What day of the week is your birthday this year Sunday
5. What is the first thing you are going to do when you retire Rejoice
6. What is your fave season Spring
7. Grab a cd at random without looking, and then look and search for a track title Lovely to See You from the Moody Blues On the Threshold of a Dream
8. What di you have for lunch today Salad sandwiches and avocado
9. What color is your car (or bike if no car) Bike: pale green
10. How many flickr groups do you belong to 163
11. What color are your pants Natural skin; that’s right, I’m not wearing any!
12. What is the first thing you would buy if you one the lottery A cleaning lady

I wanted to get a person in each of the pictures, but that just proved too hard, at least to do in a sensible time.

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

personal

Inside the Actor's Studio Meme


Inside the Actor’s Studio Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

This week’s entry to the Flickr My Meme group

1. To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells, 2. process_diagram, 3. sun, sea, sand…….., 4. Stressed Poser Friday, 5. Seeking Seashells On The Sunny Seashore, 6. Pathway to sirens, 7. fuck art bomb everything, 8. Retirement Cake, 9. Butchery 2, 10. Oh ye of little faith!, 11. Tranquility…, 12. Capricorn

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream (the easiest way is to copy the URLs and then head over to the fd’s flickr toys link above and use the mosaic maker).

The questions and answers:
1. What is your favorite word? tintinnabulation
2. What is your least favorite word? process
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? sun, sand and sea
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally? stress
5. What sound or noise do you love? sunshine and seashore
6. What sound or noise do you hate? sirens
7. What is your favorite curse word? fuck
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? retirement
9. What profession would you not like to do? butchery
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Oh ye of little faith
11. What is your favorite emotion? tranquility
12. What is your zodiac sign? capricorn

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

beliefs, current affairs, history, memes, personal, photography, thoughts, topographical

My Olympic Meme


My Olympic Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

As I don’t believe in the Olympics — not as they are currently run and administered anyway; the ideal is fine — here is a rather jaundiced view …

1. olympic-games-1948, 2. Field Hockey-Washington, DC: PhotoID-97421, 3. poussée bobsleigh, 4. kelly holmes, 5. Ancient Greece, 6. way to heaven 天堂口。, 7. Day 196: That’s Logic, 8. Sunrise – River Dart, Totnes, 9. Dorthea, 10. commonsense, 11. Heirloom Tomatoes, 12. road to nowhere

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream (the easiest way is to copy the URLs and then head over to the fd’s flickr toys link above and use the mosaic maker).

The Questions & Answers:
1. What is the closest the Olympics has ever been to your hometown? London, 1948
2. What is your favorite summer Olympic sport? What Americans call “Field Hockey”
3. What is your favorite winter Olympic sport? Bobsleigh
4. Who is your all-time favorite Olympian? Kelly Holmes
5. If you could go to the Olympics, where would you want the games to be held? Ancient Greece; and all the contestants would compete in the nude just as in Ancient Greece
6. What is the symbol or predominant color on your country’s flag? A cross
7. If you were a member of the Olympic Committee, what sport/activity would you add to the games? Logic
8. What sport is your least favorite to watch? Darts
9. You get two tickets to the Olympics, who would you ask to go with you? Whoever buys them both
10. Hey, you made the team! You’re going to the Olympics – what’s your event? Commonsense
11. The Olympics asks you to bring something to represent your hometown or home country – what would you take? A tomato; well my home did used to be one of the largest areas under glass in the country, growing glasshouse crops etc.
12. Congratulations! You won a medal! Where are you going to display it when you get home? Nowhere

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

history, science, thoughts

The Importance of Knowing How

Interesting article by AC Grayling in the “Commentary” column of last week’s New Scientist under the above title. The “Commentary” column, written on alternate weeks by Grayling and Lawrence Krauss, always provides food for thought. This week’s column was, in my view, especially important. As usual because New Scientist don’t make their articles available on-line to non-subscribers here is an edited version.

Philosophers investigating the nature of knowledge and the best methods of acquiring it have always distinguished between knowledge of facts and knowledge of techniques. Knowing that Everest is the highest mountain, and knowing how to measure the height of mountains, are respective examples of the two kinds of knowing. The interesting question is, which is more important?

[…] an education system worthy of the name should equip people with both kinds. But it is still worthwhile to ask which is more important, for the equally obvious reason that no head can first cram in, and then later recall at need, everything that passes as currently accepted fact. What’s more, the number of currently accepted facts is tiny in comparison with what we know we still do not know, which is in turn probably a tiny fraction of what might be knowable.

So although everyone coming out of an educational system should at least know [basic facts] they are much more in need of knowing how to find things out, how to evaluate the information they discover, and how to apply it fruitfully. These are skills; they consist in knowledge of how to become knowledgeable.

[…] information is not knowledge […]

[…] it is no bad thing that the internet is such a democratic domain, where opinions and claims can enjoy an unfettered airing […] This increases the necessity for internet users to be good at discriminating between high and low-quality information, and between reliable and unreliable sources.

We teach research skills in higher education differently for the sciences and humanities […] In the sciences, laboratory technique and experimental design and methodology are fundamental; in the humanities, the use of libraries and archives and the interpretation of texts are in the basic tool kit […]

Knowing how to evaluate information, therefore, is arguably the most important kind of knowledge that education has to teach […] only the International Baccalaureate makes critical thinking […] a standard requirement, and in this as in so many ways it leads the field […] I wonder whether the need for critical thinking lessons is more urgent in the humanities than the sciences because the latter, by their nature, already have it built in. The science lab at school with its whiffs, sparks and bangs is a theatre of evaluation; the idea of testing and proving is the natural order there […]

When we talk of scientific literacy, one thing we should mean is acquisition of just this mindset; without it, too much rubbish gets through.

It’s no wonder that people don’t think is it!?

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, quotes

Democracy in Action

3 Comments

This is today’s Quotation of the Day entry:

If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.

There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!

[George W Bush, during a 2004 videoconference with national security and military officials. Quoted in Lt Gen Ricardo S Sanchez’s memoir, Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story an at www.mydd.com/story/2008/6/2/114955/1042]

I was going to say this is scary, but it isn’t; it is obscene (and that’s a word I don’t often use). What price democracy and Christian tolerance now? Anyone still like to argue that Dubya isn’t dangerous and bigoted?