149 years ago today 24 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 Sgt Pepper… oops, wrong oeuvre… On the 24th of November 1859, a green bound book was published. It made something of an impact on the way we think… Hat tip to Professor Olsen @ Large Evolution History
History A philosophical apology from 1919 for not being pro-war 21 Jan 201221 Jan 2012 Leiter posted the PDF of this on his site. I can’t help but reproduce some of the choicer quotes: “DEAR FRIEND: Your letter gently but un-mistakably intimates that I am a slacker, a slacker in peace as well as in war; that when the World war was raging bitterly I… Read More
General Science Working for people you admire 11 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 Right now on the Australian ABC network they are reshowing a program that was first shown in April this year on Professor Sir Gustav Nossal AO [and a three line slew of fruit salad of awards, qualifications, and honours]. The transcript is here, but it doesn’t do justice to the… Read More
I’ve told you lot before: I’m innumerate. I passed pure math with distinction and failed applied. I can’t even do basic arithmetic without a calculator.
I’ve told you lot before: I’m innumerate. I passed pure math with distinction and failed applied. A famous Czech professor of mathematics once said that mathematics is the only science that has no use for numbers.
And just three years later, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I know, I know. But I love telling that to people who claim that Darwin instigated racism.:)
With all respect to James Goetz, 32 years before that, Britain passed into law The Abolition Act, which came into force and effect on 01 August 1833. That act altered the status of a slave to that of an indentured servant. Many imagine that this is a distinction without a difference. But consider; the contract of indenture was one that a minor was permitted to enter into, as it was it the benefit of the minor. By indenture, a minor was contracted to a master, in order to learn a trade. Such an indentured servant was entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and education. (The Brits were not content to “free” their slaves to sleep under bridges, and starve in the gutters.) As the indenture lasted seven years, I will not gainsay anyone who wishes to suggest that the true “Year of Jubilee” was 1840. That’s still 25 yearas before the Yanks did anything about the problem>