Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov (born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His works have been published in all ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (although his only work in the 100s—which covers philosophy and psychology—was a foreword for The Humanist Way).
Asimov is widely considered a master of hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He wrote many short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.
The prolific Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much non-fiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three volume set Understanding Physics, Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, the Bible, William Shakespeare's writing and chemistry.
Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn, New York elementary school, and one Isaac Asimov literary award are named in his honor. (read more)
Asimov in 1965
Sunday, February 12, 2012
peach pi = 3.14159265...
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Nymphs and Satyr
Nymphs and Satyr
William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1873
Nymphs and Satyr (Nymphes et Satires) is a painting, oil on canvas, created by artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1873.
Nymphs and Satyr was exhibited in Paris in 1873, a year before the Impressionists mounted their first exhibition, in a style radically different from that of Bouguereau.
Sterling Clark discovered the painting near the end of the 19th century, displayed in the bar of the Hoffman House Hotel, New York City. Clark rediscovered the piece in storage at the Hoffman during the 1930s, acquiring the piece in 1943. The piece is currently on display at the Clark Art Institute located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Set in a secluded pond, the painting depicts a cluster of bathing nymphs who have captured a lascivious satyr spying on them; four are tugging him toward a dunking, and one of them is using only one hand, the other beckoning other nymphs, in the background, to join the fun.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
picasso's minotaur
Minotaur caressing a sleeping woman (June 1933)
"Art is a lie
that makes us realize the truth."
Pablo Picasso