Wednesday 28 February 2018

Vector Control (1997)

From a well written and freely available handbook on how to control the vectors of insect borne disease such as malaria. (HERE). 

Sunday 25 February 2018

Little Science, Big Science ...and Beyond ( 1986)




Above is a typical quantitative analysis by the physicist and social historian of science Derek J. de Solla Price (1922-1983). This is from Little Science, Big Science ... and Beyond published by Columbia University Press in 1986. The complete PDF is HERE.  


Saturday 24 February 2018

Gears from the Greeks. The Antikythera Mechanism: A Calendar Computer from ca. 80 BC (1974)



A long and detailed description of the reconstruction of an antique mechanical calculator by the science writer Derek de Solla Price. (HERE

Thursday 22 February 2018

The Illustrated Dust Jacket: 1920–1970



A collection of illustrated book jackets selected by Martin Salisbury (HERE). Above an illustrated jacket by Rockwell Kent for a John Buchan novel.

Monday 19 February 2018

Gary Lichtenstein Editions (2018)



Silk screen printing is a fine art technique that is widely used to make limited editions of artworks - derived from paintings, graphic art or photography. HERE is a wonderful short video on the work of the Gary Lichtenstein Editions studio in Jersey City. The studio is open to the public. 

Sunday 18 February 2018

True Blue (2015)


A great, short essay, on the blue pigment ultramarine by Ravi Mangla - in The Paris Review (HERE). 

On a transcendental `law of logistic growth’ (1971)



The quote above from William Feller, called out recently by Edward Tufte, on the Law of Logistic Growth reminds me of what is sometimes called Kaplan's Law of the Instrument, which he formulated as follows: Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding. (Here).


Saturday 17 February 2018

Mount Joyce, USGS Map



Above a detail from a high resolution topographic reconnaissance map of Mount Joyce Antarctica. More HERE.

Thursday 15 February 2018

Hans Rosling (1948-2017)



Hans Rosling (1948-2017), a Swedish medic and statistician, and most recently a professor of international health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, died a year ago. Rosling made superb presentations that combined animated data visualisations with humour and deep humanitarian compassion. With his son and daughter in law he built Gapminder - a software and institute with a focus on tools for showing development data.