h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It never rains but it pours, sea. I am with ya on that one.

FG, my answer to your question is that its related because a good pie relates to everything.

Theories are just glorified ideas, imho, and ideas can be changed when needed. Except, of course, for the chaos theory, in which case it just fits.

*sips *

Hello!

I have just finished reading all the backlog since I went away - well worth it - fascinating discussions especially on science and history fact/fiction - !

Belated congrats to Sol on her wedding and Amy and Affy on their birthdays..

Got back on Monday from nearly 4 weeks of backpacking/camping...now recovering from sleeping in a tent and living the outdoor life for so long.

Route was as follows:

One night in Haworth, West Yorkshire
Then on to Salterforth, Lancashire,
Then Keswick, Cumbria,
Then Newcastle,
Then Belford, Northumbria,
Then Edinburgh, Scotland, (managed to take in a bit of the festival )
Then Lewiston (Loch Ness), Scotland.
Followed by a gruelling 14.5 hour journey back which involved 4 buses and one train......

Had a brilliant time, despite only 4 or 5 sunny days the whole time we were away.

If I get around to it, I will print up my journal of the trip as an entry soon.......

::collapses on the floor, exhausted ::

[{Courtesy}]

Hmm, I think that I need to resay my statement.

All science is based on theory that is often "provable" by experimentation. But I have some philisophical qualms about thinking that physical laws are truly constant.

who is this prim and proper newbie? Perhaps he or she is hiding nervousness behind being absolutely rule bound.

Yes, FG, sea is right....you were discussed. I think the incident with the tiara was mentioned!

You know, Sol, there's some truth to what you said about history books having to be difficult to get thru to be authentic. Might I suggest Steven Ozment's books to you? He writes lovely narratives on Early Modern Europe. The Burgermeister's Daughter is a particularly good one. What's nice is that he documents everything, but yet has a nice narrative flow.

The same, alas, cannot be said for the author of "How The Irish Saved Civilization." A nice idea, but his sources are all secondhand, and you get the feeling he's picking facts to fit his framework....which is what I hate about most "schools" of history!!

I disagree with Marv about the nature of scientific proof. You can do experiments which provide evidence that supports a particular hypothesis but you can never prove the theory to be true since there is always a chance that another experiment will introduce some doubt. For example, Newtonian mechanics appeared unchallenged for two hundred years before Einstein came along with relativity. You can, however, prove a theory to be wrong.

Perhaps you should judge for yourself, MR. You should get the idea by the end of the second page of postings.

F93219?thread=193128

MR -

I would also like to add Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to books with great factual basis and narrative flow. Edward Gibbon actually made me laugh several times while describing certain Roman Emperor's.

Regarding history in general, I am always reminded of the quote about history being written by the winners. Also, it's been proven that individuals memories are dynamic and that users will acutally "remember" incidents that never happened, I believe history is the same.

Courtesy

Courtesy, dear, that's where the non-white, non-male population comes into the study of history. They never really got to be the victors, so all of *that* sort of history didn't really appeal, nor did it have much relevance to their lives (which is why so many of them, myself included, used to think history was the dullest thing ever).

Gibbon, for an old-schooler, is very easy to read, although his bias shines through like a laser beam. Something about as grand and glorious as the Romans were, they certainly aren't up there with the British Empire! Remember, he's the one that said the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire (and for years I thought it was Mike Myers on SNL).

Goodness, but the newbie is rather a curmudgeon, isn't he? And he reminds me of my grandfather, really. I don't think he's terribly confortable with the whole internet thing.

Okay, soapbox time....



Major League Baseball has announced that on 20 August, they will strike. MLB fails to note that last year was the first year fans had forgiven them for the LAST strike. I have no sympathy for these people....they make outrageous salaries, have huge endorsement deals, and yet, they strike?!??!? Who the heck do these people think they are?!?!??!? What, are they striking against knickers? Perhaps against the grueling job of being cheered by thousands of fans, mobbed by autograph seekers? This is THE SHOW, boys, BUCK UP!



Thanks. I feel better now.

But at least he's trying! I hope he'll learn to understand and accept rather than give up - although we are pretty mixed in years as researchers I think we're a bit short of *old* researchers...

Picked up my vacation photos today - I've posted a very small selection over here (until I get that commercial-free pop-up-free site of mine working!)
http://se.photos.yahoo.com/bc/kristina_fdse/lst?.dir=/Mitt+fotoalbum/Switzerland&.view=t

If that link turns up in Swedish I'd just like to point out that 'Nästa' means 'Next' (picture, that is)

Very pretty pictures, T. I love the stream.

Maybe Munchkin would like to introduce Ancient Brit to the BOF Inn? Maybe not... I don't think the old gent is quite ready for role playing.

A little birdie has informed me, MR, that pictures of the "tiara incident" are developed and currently floating around Missoula much to the delight of the general public. And, as for any discussion of yours truly, I do hope you two rascals dwelled upon my charm, my beauty, my good taste, my common sense, and my intelligence. Then again, you could have discussed my ego.

As for history, I would hope that everyone never judges the subject based upon school memories. Most teachers present history in such a shallow or dry manner, simply a recitation of dates, names, and places, that most schoolchildren are turned off. It really is the most fascinating subject--sort of an extended gossip session in time when you come right down to it.

A great history book that I read recently is one not to be missed by anyone who is a bookworm: Salt, A World History. It is about how this precious mineral--more so than gold!--has influenced trade, economics, business, religion, culture, warfare, and government from the earliest Chinese empires to the present.

[LIL]
has read some of the tribulations of Ancient Brit with interest -- intensely methodical aged entity meets impertinent young 'uns, needs to be told that it's "lurk", not "lurch"...

{[caer csd] Love the photos T, have added Locarno to my list of places to see.

I have come across that researcher in other threads, mostly harmless I think, if a bit pedantic. Reminds me of my Dad. perhaps it is!He is ancient and a Brit}

[Ben - sleepy but hasn't done anything constructive all day]

B

[Amy]

And the Atelier regains its pace. It was getting slow here for a while.

I suffer from that high-school history teacher syndrome. Dull, dull, dull, all that talk about "interesting dates" (Look! That one has 4 digits!) it definitely turned me off from reading any history texts at all.

So much has been said about science, history, alien life in the last few LEDs that I have no idea what I want to comment on. I think someone said something similar, but I think science and mathematics are nothing but points of view, much like history (and peach pie). The planets revolve around the sun because it is easier to calculate it's orbit that way, so Galileo wasn't *right* he was just taking the easy way out. Having everything rotate around the earth is just as valid, and leads to different conclusions. And when you take into consideration that the solar system is part of a spinning galaxy that in turn is part of spinning universe, using the sun as the center of anything makes as little sense as using the earth. You can apply the same thing to splitting atoms or splitting hairs - the science allows the experimentation and discovery, and changing the theories allows different experimentation and different discoveries.

I just started reading "The Selfish Gene". Of course there is life elsewhere in the universe. Based on my reading of the first 3 chapters anyway, it seems like the same forces that led to life on earth would be extremely likely to happen elsewhere, and probably much the same way, so the aliens on other planets probably are typing into laptop computers all their theories of what *we* are like, and if we eat peach pie or have yellow dogs named Zeppo.

And I think I like the use of "lurch". Nice visual image, much like glaciers calfing. It's refreshing to see a newbie who can defend himself.

*back from reading the Tales of the Ancient Brit*

When I first joined, back in the hazy mists of time or September 2000 (as Tsunami, btw), Titania was the first to stop by and say hello. At no time did I consider badgering her or any other ACE. Actually, I remember feeling hopelessly inadequate because I thought everyone was floating around in a vague elf-like manner and I wondered when I was going to get my wings.