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.
What Color Is An Orange ?A question like that, here at science20.com, just has to be a trick question.It is possible, by the application of common sense arguments, to prove to a scientific level of certainty that an orange is absolutely not orange.How don't we see ?Between 41% and 67% of participants, depending on the exact way the question was asked, thought that the eye sent out some kind of ray or beam in order for us to see.That's not the startling bit.
A Frael of Figs - or -A Handful of HistoryIf history consisted only in lists of the dates when "important people" did earth-shattering things such as kicking the bucket from a surfeit of lampreys, then I would agree with Henry Ford that history is bunk.However, history at large can run from the present day all the way back to the big bang - assuming there ever was a big bang.
The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz #3... the voice of a faithful disciple of science is entitled to be heard.My continuing researches on the discovery of climate change show that prior to Ignaz Venetz's 1821 prize-winning paper, the most commonly held views on the earth's climate were either that it had changed once, briefly, as a result of the noachain flood, or that the earth has been continually cooling since it was formed. It was also held by most geologists that all rocks which were not obviously of volcanic origin were formed in or by water.
Arctic Ice August 2011In the days of sailing ships and the early days of steam, even into the early years of the 20th century, much of the Arctic remained inaccessible due to the extensive pack ice.When explorers attempted to penetrate the ice, it is often found from their journals that they did so in late August. There are many references to be found of an 'open season' during which it was possible to maneuver a ship through an open lead during a period which was often only of two weeks duration, or less. In some years, the ice simply did not open as expected, and the explorers would either go home or overwinter nearby, to try again the next year.
The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz VenetzThis memoir was published by the Swiss Natural Sciences Society, shortly after the death of Ignaz Venetz, to honor his great contribution to science.For background information, please see part 1 of this article -The Posthumous Memoir Of Ignaz Venetz and Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change Pioneer.As with the 1821 paper, my plain ASCII transcription retains the original pagination, using rows of dots as page breaks.The transcription of the memoir begins below this page break >>
The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz VenetzMy three part article on Venetz's prize-winning 1821 paper began with some facts tending to prove that he was the first person to discuss climate change scientifically. Since beginning my researches concerning Venetz, I have discovered many more facts.The discovery of climate change.
Is This A Fishing Expedition ?In legal circles, a 'fishing expedition' is an illegal attempt to discover unspecified information which may, perhaps, be prejudicial to one party in a legal case. It is illegal because just about everybody has things in their possession which might be evidence of breach of some law or other - however trivial, archaic or obscure.Currently in the news1 is the fact that wildlife biologist Charles Monnett is under investigation by the office of the inspector general at the US department of the interior. News stories have reported that the investigation concerns a study2 of polar bear deaths.The Sacramento Bee now reports as follows:
Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change Pioneer - #3There is no such thing as a perfect translation.En effet, on peut être utile sans atteindre à la perfection;Agenda, ou tableau général des Observations et des Recherches dont les résultats doivent servir de base à la théorie de la Terre, H. B. de Saussure, 1796. This article contains my translation of Ignatz Venetz's 1821 prize-winning Essay on the variations of temperature in the Swiss Alps - Memoire sur les variations de la température dans les Alpes de la Suisse.
Arctic Ice July 2011 - UpdateAre we headed for another 2007 style crash ?In my Arctic Ice March 2011 - Update #1, I gave these figures for September minimum -an extent below 4 million km2 is highly probable.an extent below 3 million km2 is entirely possible if Arctic weather continues to follow the overall trends of the last decade.In April I revised that, based on some projections from IARC - IJIS figures to -I project an end of season extent range between 3.9 million km2 and 4.5 million km2.
Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change Pioneer - #2Ignaz Venetz was, in 1821, awarded a prize of 300 francs for his memoire by the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft - the Swiss Natural Science Society. It is my firm opinion that, accordingly, the date of publication should be cited as 1821: the date of the award of the prize, and not 1833 which was the date of its re-publication in a bound archive of science papers.
Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change PioneerClimate has always changed - but we have not always known it.Events following 1816 - the year without a summer - led to a major controversy in which the scientific consensus on the one hand was countered by dogma on the other. On reading the history of that great controversy, one gets a strong sense of Déjà vu.
History Mystery #3 - Land, Law and Science"Words are to the Anthropologist what rolled pebbles are to the Geologist — battered relics of past ages often containing within them indelible records capable of intelligent interpretation..."John Herschel
