The year 1879 witnessed a breakthrough in the technology of globe manufacture. It arrived in the form of Juvet's time globe.
This geographical clock, as it was also known, combined several technological
advances to produce a globe which automatically rotated every twenty four
hours, while indicating accurately both the time and relative degree of night
or day in every part of the world. The
imitation of the earth's rotation could be made even more realistic if the
globe were oriented according to a compass ftted in its base, and illuminated
by a sun-like source. The word globe
derives from globus, the Latin word for sphere. However, most “globes” consist of several
components, including:
• globe shells covered
in skin or paper in the form of gores
• struts of many
materials • equatorial or meridian rings of metal or wood
• stands of marble, metal, or wood, with many parts and designs
Find 18-page paper by Dianne Lee van der Reyden with pictures of two Juvel time globes
at: http://www.si.edu/mci/downloads/relact/globes.pdf
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
inveigh (in-VAY) verb intr.: To complain or protest with
great hostility. From Latin invehi (to attack with words), from invehere (to carry in). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wegh- (to go or to transport in a vehicle) that also gave us deviate, way, weight, wagon, vogue, vehicle, vector, envoy, and trivial. Earliest documented use: 1486.
bunbury (BUN-buh-ree) noun: An imaginary person whose name is used as an excuse to some purpose, especially to visit a place. verb intr.: To use the name of a fictitious person as an excuse. From Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest where the character Algernon invents an imaginary person named Bunbury as an alibi to escape from relatives. He explains to his friend, "I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn't for Bunbury's extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn't be able to dine with you at Willis's to-night." Earliest documented use: 1899.
Micawber (mih-KAW-buhr) noun: An eternal optimist.
After Wilkins Micawber, an incurable optimist in the novel David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens. His schemes for making money never materialize, but he's always hopeful that "something will turn up". Earliest documented example of the word used allusively: 1852.
cassandra (kuh-SAND-ruh) noun: One who prophesies disaster and whose warnings are unheeded. After Cassandra in Greek mythology who received the gift of prophecy but was later cursed never to be believed. Earliest documented use: 1670. Cassandra was the daughter of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba. Apollo, the god of light, who also controlled the fine arts, music, and eloquence, granted her the ability to see the future. But when she didn't return his love, he condemned her never to be believed. Among other things, Cassandra warned about the Trojan horse that the Greeks left but her warning was ignored.
Pangloss (PAN-glos) noun: One who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances.
adjective: Blindly or unreasonably optimistic. After Dr. Pangloss, a philosopher and tutor in Voltaire's 1759 satire Candide. Pangloss believes that, in spite of what happens -- shipwreck, earthquake, hanging, flogging, and more -- "All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." The name is coined from Greek panglossia (talkativeness). Earliest documented use: 1794.
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Subject:
Aesculapian or EsculapianI live in Rome, from where the story of the snake around the staff of Aesculapius comes. There was a great plague in Rome, so the people sent to Greece, where all the best doctors were in ancient times. When the ship carrying the doctors reached the island on the Tiber (Isola di Tevere) where ships docked for Rome then, a snake was seen to jump off the ship -- and from that time the plague stopped. It was tough on the Greek doctors, but the snake got the credit and ever since has adorned the staff of Aesculapius!
Subject: Aesculapian
The Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus), a widespread species in Europe, is thought to be the inspiration for the snake coiled around the Rod of Aesculapius.
Subject: aesculapian
As a surgeon I have seen a lot of surgical instruments by a company called Aesculap.
Subject: protean Def: 1. Assuming many forms: variable; 2. Able to handle many different things, as roles in a play. Versatile.
Also the root for the species of flower indigenous to South Africa, and the national flower of the country, the protea, known for many forms and variants. Now, too, the name given to the national cricket squad, which may also be said to have many forms and roles.
Subject: terpsichorean Def: adjective: Of or relating to dancing; noun: A dancer.
New Orleans is, of course, world famous for its food, music, and culture. In one of the oldest sections of the City there are streets named after all nine Muses: Terpsichore, Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Erato, Polymnia, and Urania.
Toledo, Ohio October 17
"Manet: Portraying Life," at the Toledo Museum
of Art—its only U.S. venue—is installed
thematically, rather than chronologically.
The show begins with Manet's portraits of his family, with two small
pictures, both miracles of luminous grays and eloquent, boldly massed forms,
offering testimony to how much he owed to tradition—Clement Greenberg termed
him "a reluctant modernist"—and how radical he was. A tender, rigorously constructed image of the
artist's wife, a pianist, at her instrument, hangs beside a view of Madame and
her son, indolent on either side of a window, the latter painting's air of
inertia perhaps explained by its being done when Manet had sent his family to
the Pyrenees, despite his progressive leanings, to escape the upheavals of the
Paris Commune. The
next section showcases literary figures (Zola), artists (incisive, informal
visions of Manet's close friend, the painter Berthe Morisot), performers (a
noted singer as Carmen, all ravishing reds and pale greenish blues) and more,
including a celebrated, strange portrait of Charles Baudelaire's mistress, her
massive, foaming white skirt and wrenched proportions evoking her forceful
personality. Small paintings of the families
of Manet's artist friends, the women in spreading white dresses, add a note of
intimacy. "Manet: Portraying Life" is a
delight, a thoughtful, illuminating view of an endlessly fascinating artist
that makes us think about him freshly. All
that and a splendid catalog with a wonderful selection of contributors. A visit to the Toledo Museum of Art before the
end of the year is strongly advised. Karen Wilkin
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578048343927267554.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
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