September 20, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 20, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
Martino Martini, an Italian Jesuit, was born Sep. 20, 1614. Martini was one of many Jesuit missionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries who journeyed to China and, while waiting patiently for an opportunity to convert the Chinese to Christianity, tried to understand Chinese culture and history. Martini’s specialty was geography, and over the course of a 12-year stay in China, Martini compiled an atlas of the Far East, incorporating not only his own travels but also knowledge gained from studying Chinese maps…
September 19, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 19, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
Charles Valentine Riley, an American entomologist, was born Sep. 19, 1843. For some years, Riley was the State Entomologist for Missouri, and beginning in 1868, he wrote a series of Annual Reports on “the noxious, beneficial, and other insects of the State of Missouri”. This does not sound like exciting reading, but a great detective story was played out and resolved in these pages. The French wine industry was under attack by a tiny louse that bored into the roots of French grape vines and killed the plants…
September 18, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 18, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
The Roman emperor Trajan was born Sep. 18, in the year 53 CE. There are many busts with his likeness to be found in various museums, all looking, surprisingly, pretty much the same. We show a bust in the Vatican Museums…
September 15, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 15, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
William Huskisson, a British economist and statesman, died on Sep. 15, 1830, at the age of 60. Huskisson was an MP from Liverpool and an avid proponent of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Conceived in 1823, the L&MR was the world’s first passenger railroad. Before the railway was completed in 1830, Huskisson had a falling out with the new British Prime Minister…
September 14, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 14, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library Woodbine Parish, an English diplomat, was born Sep. 14, 1796. In 1824, Parish arrived in Buenos Aires as the... September 13, 2017
by Jon Rollins | Sep 13, 2017 | Scientist of the Day |
Michel de Montaigne, a French writer, died Sep. 13, 1592, at age 59. Montaigne was the originator of the literary genre known as the essay, with his collection of musings titled Essais, published in 1580 (essai meaning “try” or “attempt” in French). Basically, Montaigne filtered the world through himself, because, as he explained in defense, his “self” was the only thing he knew at all well. And he wasn’t even sure of that…
