Day Eleven covered the story of how Eratosthenes estimated the size of the Earth by measuring the angle of a noonday shadow on the summer solstice. I had definitely heard the story before (in fact, I seem to remember a geometry problem based on this in middle school), but I'm not sure if I ever knew that he specifically was the one to do so. I'm pretty sure the only other time I'd ever heard of Eratosthenes before was in reference to prime numbers (the Sieve of Eratosthenes).
It's pretty amazing that with a bit of insight and some careful timing and measurement, he was able to estimate the Earth's size to a <1% error margin. This, and the story of Archimedes, make me wonder how much farther ahead we'd be if we hadn't lost so much knowledge when the Roman Empire fell.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Intellectual Devotional Day 10: Bust of Nefertiti
Until reading today's article, I didn't realize that most of the evidence of Nefertiti had been destroyed. Apparently this was because she and her husband, Pharaoh Ahkenaton (originally Amenhotep IV), were big fans of a new monotheistic religion. The old polytheistic priests tried to destroy all evidence of them after their deaths. Crazy.
This sort of situation makes me wonder what else has been lost in the sands of history because it was an unpopular opinion or viewpoint. When groups like priests were some of the few who could read or write, what popular sentiments did they neglect to convey in their writings?
This sort of situation makes me wonder what else has been lost in the sands of history because it was an unpopular opinion or viewpoint. When groups like priests were some of the few who could read or write, what popular sentiments did they neglect to convey in their writings?
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Slayer
This past week I finally got to see Slayer live, and holy shit did they ever live up to my expectations.
The opening band was pretty weak, but Gojira got the crowd going pretty well. I've never cared for them much before when I've checked out their albums, but they kept my attention for their whole set. I'm going to have to give them another listen or two.
The venue got absolutely packed while we waited for Slayer to set up, which seemed to take forever. Once they finally started playing, though, I was pretty amazed that four dudes who are getting on in years could keep up such an amazing amount of energy for the whole ~2 hour set. I'm not a super-huge Slayer fan, but I was able to recognize the majority of the songs. They had a good amount of classic stuff in the set, Mandatory Suicide, Seasons in the Abyss, Raining Blood, South of Heaven, and Angel of Death. Probably there were a few others that I've forgotten by now (blame the proximity high... so much weed in that venue).
Of course, the crowd lived up to its reputation as well. There wasn't exactly a mosh pit... it was more like a mosh system, with satellites and orbits and shit. At one point I counted at least four simultaneous pits going on that I could see. When Slayer first started their set, a fairly large one opened up behind me. There was a pretty scrawny little dude on the very edge who looked a bit panicky about how rough it was getting. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit, and I guess he noticed cause he started grinning too, and then FWOOSH some gigantic dude plowed into him and I never saw the kid again for the rest of the show :).
Tom Araya sounded kinda bummed at first when he would address the crowd, which is pretty understandable given that they lost a founding member this year. I'm definitely disappointed that I never got to see them while Jeff was around, but I thought Gary Holt did a great job filling in. I hope they stick around long enough for me to catch another tour.
The opening band was pretty weak, but Gojira got the crowd going pretty well. I've never cared for them much before when I've checked out their albums, but they kept my attention for their whole set. I'm going to have to give them another listen or two.
The venue got absolutely packed while we waited for Slayer to set up, which seemed to take forever. Once they finally started playing, though, I was pretty amazed that four dudes who are getting on in years could keep up such an amazing amount of energy for the whole ~2 hour set. I'm not a super-huge Slayer fan, but I was able to recognize the majority of the songs. They had a good amount of classic stuff in the set, Mandatory Suicide, Seasons in the Abyss, Raining Blood, South of Heaven, and Angel of Death. Probably there were a few others that I've forgotten by now (blame the proximity high... so much weed in that venue).
Of course, the crowd lived up to its reputation as well. There wasn't exactly a mosh pit... it was more like a mosh system, with satellites and orbits and shit. At one point I counted at least four simultaneous pits going on that I could see. When Slayer first started their set, a fairly large one opened up behind me. There was a pretty scrawny little dude on the very edge who looked a bit panicky about how rough it was getting. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit, and I guess he noticed cause he started grinning too, and then FWOOSH some gigantic dude plowed into him and I never saw the kid again for the rest of the show :).
Tom Araya sounded kinda bummed at first when he would address the crowd, which is pretty understandable given that they lost a founding member this year. I'm definitely disappointed that I never got to see them while Jeff was around, but I thought Gary Holt did a great job filling in. I hope they stick around long enough for me to catch another tour.
Intellectual Devotional, Day 9: Ernest Hemingway
I can really say much here, except to admit that I've never read any Hemingway. The few things I've ever heard about him generally are pretty critical towards his apparently overly-macho style, but that actually makes me a bit more interested in checking out his work.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Intellectual Devotional, Day 8: Hammurabi's Code of Laws
Josh here. I've been remiss in posting my thoughts, so I'll try to get us back on track.
This article was enlightening. We often think of Hammurabi's Code to be "an eye for an eye," and that's a component. However, by today's standards, it's a little more cruel for that. For example, according to The ID, the death penalty applied to many crimes that seem minor today; for example, a woman could be killed for entering a tavern, as could a woman who left her husband without good cause. It's not explained what good cause might have been, or who got to make the determination on the goodness of the cause.
Crazy punishments aside, Hammurabi did something no other ruler had done before - he established laws that were written down, and expected them to be upheld even after his death. Previous to this, rulers generally did what they pleased, when they pleased, and there was no continuity between regimes.
In my judgment, Hammurabi had a great premise, even though his implementation lacked some ... finesse.
This article was enlightening. We often think of Hammurabi's Code to be "an eye for an eye," and that's a component. However, by today's standards, it's a little more cruel for that. For example, according to The ID, the death penalty applied to many crimes that seem minor today; for example, a woman could be killed for entering a tavern, as could a woman who left her husband without good cause. It's not explained what good cause might have been, or who got to make the determination on the goodness of the cause.
Crazy punishments aside, Hammurabi did something no other ruler had done before - he established laws that were written down, and expected them to be upheld even after his death. Previous to this, rulers generally did what they pleased, when they pleased, and there was no continuity between regimes.
In my judgment, Hammurabi had a great premise, even though his implementation lacked some ... finesse.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)