Innumerable as the Starrs of Night,
Or Starrs of Morning, Dew-drops, which the Sun Impearls on every leaf and every flouer Milton |
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Impearls | ||
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Beauty is truth, truth beauty,
— that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. Keats
E = M
Energy is eternal delight.
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What wailing wight
© Copyright 2002 – 2009
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Impearls: 2003-07-13 Archive Earthdate 2003-07-19
Pre-Columbian voyages across the Atlantic
A participant in an Alternate History mailing list asks the question:
Muslims during the mid-Middle Ages were as acquainted with ancient Greek philosophers as the Europeans were later to become. Aristotle pointed the way west, for any willing to hear it, at the end of his proof of the sphericity of the Earth (still as valid today as when written in the 4th century BC). It's worthwhile reviewing Aristotle's words, which incidently demolish the prevalent myth nowadays that cultivated ancients believed the world was flat. After mentioning several logical arguments for the Earth's sphericity (which have not held up over time), Aristotle wrote: 1
Beyond that initial beckoning of the way, I've run into a couple of references to actual expeditions west across the Atlantic prior to Columbus (and I don't mean the Vikings!), originating from Iberian or Mediterranean ports. One such mention is Samuel Eliot Morison's The European Discovery of America, where in discussing the lead-up to Columbus's voyage Morison wrote: 2
The second mention of earlier voyages I've seen is Timothy Ferris's Coming of Age in the Milky Way, in which Ferris wrote: 3
I'm trying to gather more information about any pre-Columbian expeditions west.
If anyone has additional information, or is aware of a halfway serious study concerning them, please let me know!
References 1 Aristotle, "On the Heavens," Book II, Chapter 14, The Works of Aristotle, Oxford University Press; pp. 297-298. 2 Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages AD 1492-1616, Oxford University Press, New York, 1974; p. 17. 3
Timothy Ferris, Coming of Age in the Milky Way, Anchor Books/Doubleday, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., New York, 1988; p. 56.
Impearls: 2003-07-13 Archive Earthdate 2003-07-17
Gloss on Bill Hobbs' advice to bloggers
Everyone using Blogger is going through pains as the transition to “New Blogger” proceeds, replacing Blogger's old problems (which one could usually work around) with an entirely new set. As I put it recently in an e-mail to Donald Sensing:
Sensing has since run into another problem with New Blogger, whereby “Blogger eats posts.” Bill Hobbs replied to Donald's concerns in One Hand Clapping's Comments section with the following words of advice:
Bill's advice is so sensible, in fact, that I thought I'd add a more extended commentary to flesh it out a little. Sensing, of course, is far from a newbie (and has since noted that the lost posting was only a few lines long, and he normally does use an off-Blogger editor so postings can be separately saved). However, the issues are common, and experience gained through hard knocks is usually painful. I believe Bill's advisory applies well beyond just the world of Blogger, or blogging, into how to act effectively in a “noisy” (read: real world) environment. Following is my commentary from One Hand Clapping:
Charles Austin replied on the thread, noting “One must be careful about the use of fonts in MS Word when cutting and pasting into Blogger. Not all characters in all fonts are recognized.” Charles' point is well taken, and my advice would be to disable some Word features, under “AutoFormat as you type” (pull down “Tools,” then select “AutoCorrect”), such as “smart quotes” and symbol characters.
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