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Here's another great read that I saw linked from Drudge:http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may07.htmlThe scientist is called "the father of the science of modern climatology" in the article. Take note of what he has to say about water vapor and carbon dioxide absorbtion of heat. "You can go outside and spit and have the same effect as doubling carbon dioxide" he says. Interesting to read about.
Much of the gain was little more than picking up the pieces from the Classical Age, dusting them off and sometimes turning them up; lots of writing and thinking, not much action (save the beginnings of the scientific revolution and the Reformation). For me it isn't until the Enlightenment that folks really start to try to apply things to their own world… on to the Age of Revolutions!
That's a good point - the "Classical Age" was manifested in the Renaissance, and then the Englightenment comes along and seems concerned with application of theory. We see theories in economics (Adam Smith), politics (John Locke and others), put into practice. We might point to this transition between the Renaissance and Enlightenment as a break between "old" and "new", and in fact Descartes (17th Century) is considered the father of "modern philosophy". If we really wanted to, we could probably draw up a cost/benefit analysis that society has undergone bewteen the two ages. Just as the Enlightenment has given, it has also taken away.
I am sad to say that my studies in this era are lacking. Phid can you recomend any good general histories?
Stumpfoot, I can suggest some topics rather than titles. To begin with you may want to read histories of Florence and/or biographies of Lorenzo di Medici or Cosimo di Medici - members of the premiere ruling family of the premiere city of the Renaissance. You may also want to read on Pope Julius II and his patronage of the arts and his relation to Michelangelo. You could probably find something about the fighting between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, which I believe provides a backdrop stemming from the Middle Ages which may help you to better understand Renaissance-era politics. Of course a good read in Italian Renaissance art and architecture is good any day of the week.Of course, outside Italy the Renaissance could be read about in Northern Europe (e.g. Bruges, Belgium) or London. Thomas More's Utopia is an excellent read in political philosophy - perhaps the best book I've read from this era.
Yes, quantity over quality. But the traditional tension in architecture is form vs function – form leads to beauty but function leads to efficiency. Nowadays form has largely taken a back seat to function in commercial architecture and also in residential architecture. Public architecture has followed the route of commercial but religious architecture still holds to form, although not like it used to.
Well, perhaps I'll try something. I've written to someone in charge over there in the past but haven't gotten a response. I'd like to direct traffic from there to here. And spammers will follow but they can't do much here anymore. I've blocked some of the common spam tricks and I even allow guests to post on this forum (I bet you didnt' know that!) but we still don't have spam problems. And even if they do, we have the funny “spammer” avatar that I can assign to them!
Well if the war ended in 1919, and some kid of 15 were to have fought in it (plausibly speaking), then you could conceivably have a vet who's 103 still living somewhere. It would be interesting, interesting stuff to hear what he'd have to say.
I've toyed with the idea, and I think I've done it in the past. On the one hand, I want to bring people this the site who are interested in history. On the other hand, I don't feel right about sifting members away from a competing forum. Therein lies my problem.
Well, some of the predictions on the site that I linked to were curiously fairly accurate. For example, this:
Prediction #9: Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later.
(the internet made this true by 2000)Or this:
Prediction #18: Telephones Around the World. Wireless telephone and telegraph circuits will span the world.
And I think this may be true, or almost true:
Prediction #2: The American will be taller by from one to two inches.
Really, some of the predictions were not far off.
What's amazing is that the queen just visited there for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. Apparently she had been there before….for the 350th anniversary in 1957!
I think that in architecture today form has given way to function. Form necessarily entails some sense of the creative and the beautiful, and this is more conducive to hidden elaborations in details. You're simply not going to find this kind of thing in an aluminum-sided warehouse!
Just curious. I'm sure I could find it quickly enough. From what I understand it's like napalm….a kind of liquid or gel substance which is not extinguished by water.
They may be popular on Google because they have so many incoming links leading in to the site. I don't know that they get more traffic than here – at least these days. What I do not understand myself is why they seem to get more random people signing up to participate in discussions. I would think that a spam-free forum would be far more conducive to new people signing up and discussing history than one filled with spam. Perhaps the answer has to do with how they're arriving at the site.BTW I may have to move this thread to the Senate Chamber eventually.
I hadn't heard about the Fashoda Incident before but I don't think it was necessarily a “good vs bad” scenario. Which country has a right to effectively control trade in a foreign continent which belongs to neither? I think a lot of this did in fact have to do with commerce, as I can't really understand how controlling right of way through deepest Africa would have to do with other possible factors. I imagine it came about during a time when the potential for an African presence by England and France was recognized as something with great potential. For many hundreds of years prior, exploration and colonization had been a fundamental part of a few countries' foreign policies and from what I understand was a key to domestic economic strength. After many other countries had already been explored or became sovereign the next logical area by the late 19th Century was likely Africa; perhaps it was seen as being “uncivilized” and therefore England and France had legitimate business in bringing their cultures and policies to its nations.
Just was being polite and saying hello. Someone from Ornery.org mentioned this place. It may be more my speed as lately having a child has tended to limit my current affairs watching. Plus I have really limited Mac time these days to go find video feeds to back up every single comment I make.Have a degree in Modern German History, as well as Anthropology. And I chose the avatar mostly because I was forced to in order to register-but mostly because I am related directly to the Arlington Lees.
Indeed, welcome! We have a loose connection to Ornery.org by way of AI-Jane.org by way of the NJO.... BTW sorry about the avatar. I do take requests, though.
