Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. The mysterious Voynich Manuscript. A simple analysis of a sufficiently large text can reveal much about the topic of that text, if the language is known. If the text, as in the case of the Voynich Manuscript, is written in an unknown script, then the same simple analytical method can point the way to the underlying language, or language group.
Law, Lies and LogicThe foundations of logical science, and of that part of law which concerns itself with logic rather than rhetoric, were laid by Aristotle, in 350 B.C.E.His analysis of reasoning with demonstrable facts, as against appeals to "reason", came in a golden age of rhetoric. He noted that the tools of rhetoric had not been built from an analysis of how language is used, but had been built piecemeal. He, on the other hand, built his tools of logic from an observational foundation.
A Tool For EtymologistsAdvances in science frequently generate new words and phrases. Accordingly, a good source of etymological information can often help pin down the era in which a new discovery was made. Similarly, a knowledge of the history of discovery can help to pin down the era in which a word or phrase was coined.
Jellyfish BloomsNewspapers are currently reporting a surge in jellyfish numbers in the Mediterranean. Along with the surge in jellyfish numbers, or bloom, is a surge in bad reporting about global warming. This is one occasion when I am on the side of the 'natural cycles' folks: jellyfish have a 20 year boom and bust natural cycle.
The Mousetrap MythBuild a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. The metaphor of a better mousetrap suggests that any really useful invention will be eagerly adopted. In this series of articles I trace a history of invention and discovery which shows that resistance is more likely than acceptance, even for proven life-saving inventions and facilities.A better mousetrap ?
Gerald Warner Blows WindGerald Warner is not a scientist: he is a polemicist. A very good polemicist, if that means someone who knows how to make good use of the diatribe dictionary. If there is a word or phrase which will get Gerald Warner a high ranking in a Google search, you can be sure to find it in his latest anti-warmist diatribe.I have four questions and a request for you, Gerald Warner.Question #1Why do you feel the need to use the loaded language which I cite below ?
New Arctic - New DiscoveriesThe world is warming, but the Arctic is warming fastest. The Arctic of today is not the Arctic which 18th or 19th century explorers knew. Where ships were once likely to be crushed in heavy ice there is now often no ice in summer. Where ice shove once built natural sea walls we find coastal erosion as waves are now free to erode melting permafrost. New islands are being discovered, even as older islands erode away into sandbanks.
The Arctic's Warming Islands
Arctic Ice 2013
The Importance Of The LiteratureThe public at large, and unfortunately too many writers, do not know how vital a properly conducted survey of the scientific literature can be. We must remember the motto of the Royal Society - nullius in verba - do not rely on anybody's word. If the mythical "everybody" is stating the same "fact" or citing exactly the same source: question it. Reappraise it. Investigate.This article was inspired by Hontas Farmer's newest blog. It occurred to me that I spend many a happy hour doing literature research but I do not write about it as such.
A Green Step For HumanityUnder the headline: "Absolute emissions cap proposed for China", Australia's Business Spectator reports that "According to local Chinese media, the government’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has proposed that China adopt an absolute cap on its greenhouse gas emissions by 2016."RT (TV-Novosti) asks "Is China Going Green?" and notes that the initiative "must now be approved by the Cabinet before it is enacted."
Chemtrails or Acid Rain ? - The Birth Of Two Myths
The idea that acid rain is some sort of hoax or scam is ludicrous. Sulfuric acid and its environmental effects have been known since ancient historical times. If acid rain is a hoax, then the ancient Sumerians and Greeks were certainly in on it. Modern science has been accumulating facts about environmental damage caused by sulfuric acid since at least 1736, when sulfuric acid was first produced industrially in Britain. When deniers of anthropogenic global warming claim that acid rain is a hoax they demonstrate, not their knowledge of science, but their political preferences, as here for example.
Most people, including many scientists and electrical engineers, have never heard of Wilhelm Josef Sinsteden. He invented the lead-acid battery and published his findings in 1854. In 1860 an improved construction by Gaston Raimond Planté was the first commercially viable version. It is probably the wide marketing and adoption of the Planté cell which has led to so many books and articles - even a majority of scientific papers - stating that Planté invented the first of these batteries, usually giving 1859 as the date.
