Michael Tierney's Blog, page 5
October 31, 2017
How I plan to lose NaNoWriMo this year
NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, is a program run out of Berkeley, California that supports writers, especially first time writers, in completing a novel in one month, November. The numerical goal is to write 50,000 words. Don’t research, … Continue reading →
October 29, 2017
Isaac Newton–Alchemist
Isaac Newton is one of the towering intellects in the history of Science. He formulated the laws of motion, investigated the nature of light, and invented calculus, among many other accomplishments. Less well known, however, are his experiments in chymistry. … Continue reading →
October 10, 2017
Advice for ladies in India – Untold lives blog
This isn’t going to fit in your carry-on… Source: Advice for ladies in India – Untold lives blog Advertisements
September 22, 2017
Happy Birthday Michael Faraday!
September 22, 1791 is the birthday of my favorite scientist, Michael Faraday. Here is a portrait painted of him at age 51, looking much younger than he does in most of his later photographic portraits. If you’re interested in reading … Continue reading →
September 18, 2017
Mr. Bazalgette and the Fatberg
Of late the dispatches from London have concerned a gigantic “fatberg” that has completely blocked one of the main sewer channels under Whitechapel. That the capital’s Victorian sewer system is just now reaching capacity is due to the foresight and … Continue reading →
August 15, 2017
Our Enduring Preoccupation with Premature Burial — The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice
Reposted from The Chururgion’s Apprentice blog… Taphephobia (fear of being buried alive) has to be the ultimate claustrophobia. Hours before he died, George Washington told his secretary: “Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into … Continue reading →
August 9, 2017
Voyages of Heavenly Discovery: Eclipse Expeditions
The upcoming total solar eclipse prompted me to look into the grand history of scientific expeditions, specifically expeditions to observe rare astronomical events. One of the first voyages of discovery was to the newly discovered island of Tahiti (well, at … Continue reading →
July 31, 2017
Old House Idiosyncrasies #6–The Octagon House
In a blog post on Steampunk Architecture that I wrote almost three years ago (and which has consistently been one of my more popular posts), I included a picture of the Armour Steiner House in upstate New York which has … Continue reading →
July 18, 2017
Victorian Scientists writing poetry — Collecting Reality
Back in 2011, New Scientist magazine produced an excellent article on poetry written by Victorian scientists, including the great James Clark Maxwell. In 1865 he demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves moving at the speed … Continue reading →
July 9, 2017
Michael Faraday: The Scientist’s Scientist
Michael Faraday, as I hope to convince you by the end of this blog post, was not only the most famous scientist of the Victorian Era, but quite possibly the scientist most responsible for the technological advances that have been … Continue reading →
