Category: Science
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December 14: The Millau Viaduct
I like bridges. When I was in grammar school, there was a pedestrian footbridge over the flood control channel that ran along the playground boundary. There were students who lived “beyond the wash” and got to use the bridge every day to get to school. The bridge transcended the division that slashed the neighborhood in…
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December 11: Annie Jump Cannon
There are days when fatigue sets in early as the repetitive nature of certain tasks drains away any enthusiasm I might have had for studying or teaching or experimenting with new ways to present ideas or organize information. On the days when my patience is very short, I am ready to give up by the…
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December 10: Newton’s Proof of Kepler’s Laws
In November of 1684, Edmund Halley received a letter from Isaac Newton in answer to a question he had asked earlier that year. The question (based on Halley’s account some years later) asked for a description of the “Curve that would be described by the Planets supposing the force of attraction towards the Sun to…