Noted elsewhere: William Rowan Hamilton and the Poetry of Science.

By MARCUS TOMALIN [RaVoN] – ‘To summarise (all too briefly) just a few aspects of Hamilton’s scientific work, the method of general dynamics that he devised in the 1830s introduced the operator (later called the ‘Hamiltonian’ operator) which eventually provided a key analytical tool for Quantum Mechanics; his sketch of an algebra founded upon the notion of pure time largely anticipated Brouwerian Intuitionism; and his theory of Quarternions, which contributed to the development of non-commutative algebras in his own day, has recently begun to find extensive practical applications. However, despite sustaining an illustrious career as a professional physicist and mathematician, Hamilton repeatedly claimed that he was primarily a poet rather than a scientist.’ (Continued at RaVoN | Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net via Érudit)

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Noted elsewhere: When theories fail.

By LANE WALLACE [The Atlantic] – ‘In all the reminiscing and analysis that’s emerged following Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ retirement announcement last Friday, the piece that’s intrigued me the most is the explanation of how Stevens came to change his views on the death penalty over the course of his tenure on the court…The justices had been operating on a theory that, at least in Justice Stevens’ opinion, the messy reality of life had not matched. And so he came to change his opinion about the theory.  That is, of course, what all good scientists are supposed to do.’ (Continued at The Atlantic)

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Noted elsewhere: Bloom returns to rare books at 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

By STEPHEN J. GERTZ [Book Patrol | Seattle PI] – ‘The trend toward “modern” rare books that appeal to a new generation, that hold personal significance, that they were raised with and are thus meaningful is gaining further momentum. Dealers who ignore this reality do so at their own risk. There will always be room for the great antiquarian books but the room has gotten smaller.’ (Continued at Book Patrol | Seattle PI)

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Noted elsewhere: Europe’s fiscal discipline crisis.

An Interview with LESZEK BALCEROWICZ [Center for European Policy Analysis] – ‘The problem with the Euro-Zone has been that larger countries like Germany or France were culpable of first violating the Stability and Growth Pact, which is a fiscal constitution of the Euro-Zone, and then getting it modified. The Stability and Growth Pact should be taken seriously, especially by the larger members of the Euro-Zone.’ (Continued at CEPA | Central Europe Digest)

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Noted elsewhere: Making the world safe for fuss-potting.

By DENIS BOYLES [National Review] – ‘A very minor press flap has erupted over the release of a study by Open Europe, a Euroskeptic group, showing that over a twelve-year span beginning in 1998, regulations — mostly the EU variety — have cost Britain nearly €200 billion, an amount equal to Britain’s current deficit.’ (Continued at National Review Online)

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Keeping Thomas Hardy at home.

The DAILY TELEGRAPH – Thomas Hardy’s manuscripts have, in the words of the Telegraph, been “saved for the nation” – or, more specifically, for Wessex. What Wessex will do with them is anybody’s guess, but the newspaper’s account of how “a group of Hardy fans from Dorset set about finding the cash” to keep them around has a star in the middle of the tale:

One of the key campaigners was 104-year-old Norrie Woodhall, a member of the original Hardy Players and the last person alive who knew Hardy. In a 1924 adaptation of Tess Of The d’Urbervilles, Hardy personally cast Norrie as Tess’s sister Liza Lu. Norrie trod the boards again during an evening of performance of the author’s works as part of an event to raise money for the New Hardy Players Manuscript Fund. More money was raised through a charity auction, with one of the star lots being Tea with Norrie.

It would be nice to think that one could come to know Hardy by simply reading him. But then one would not necessarily know Norrie, and she seems worth getting to know. Really, Tea with Norrie has a best-selling Albomesque ring to it, no? (Read the story at The Daily Telegraph.)

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Malcolm McLaren, 64.

8 APRIL 2010 – Malcolm McLaren has died in New York, aged 64. As the BBC reports, the punk rock impresario and Sex Pistols manager “was known for his shocking statements, and his ability to manipulate the media” – and a spontaneous moment or two, when it amused him. Example: At a rather unrestrained party held in a Front Street bar in New York in the late 1970s, he and a very famous and normally quite dignified writer and editor were among the last to leave. As they headed for the door, McLaren suddenly declared, in urgent tones, that he’d lost his watch. He convinced his much older companion to look, on hands and knees, under the tables, then joined him. After a few moments, they both began toppling chairs, making a mess, and barking. “We’re mad,” he explained.

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Noted elsewhere: Postmodern politics revisited.

By JAMES BOWMAN [Arma Virumque] – ‘Politicians have always spun and been spun, they always — or nearly always — fail to live up to their most proudly proclaimed intentions. But always before, I thought, they had been subject to a greater or lesser extent to the discipline of a public which would notice this gap and punish them if it grew too large. What we began to find in the 1990s was not that politicians were suddenly engaging in empty rhetoric; it was that people stopped caring that it was empty — and even expected it to be empty.’ (Continued at Arma Virumque | New Criterion.)

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The British general election and its significance to Americans.

6 APRIL 2010 – The announcement today that the next General Election will be held May 6 may remind some Americans that the “Conservative” party in Britain has very little to do with American conservatism. (Continued.)

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Noted elsewhere: Tea Time at the Times.

By ANDREW FERGUSON [Commentary] – ‘The tiny corner of the New York Times empire where David Barstow works is called the investigative unit. The name has an impressive urgency to it, like the title of a TV spin-off—CSI: Times Investigative Unit. You can imagine guys in Weejuns and khakis getting a hot tip and springing into action, yanking their tweed coats off the backs of chairs and shouting something irreverent and ironical over their shoulders as they bolt for the newsroom door.’ (Continued at Commentary Magazine.)

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Euro vision.

26 FEBRUARY 2010 – The fraying of the continental currency at the edges of the eurozone – marked now by rioting civil servants and union militants in Athens, but soon to spread anywhere there’s a bureaucrat (or a heavily subsidized “private sector employee”) facing the possibility of being paid what he’s worth as a consequence of financial reality – shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Governments run on money, and the wonderful thing about the euro up until now has been that the government of, say, Greece, ran just as inefficiently on German euros as it did on Greek ones. Eventually, as common sense would suggest, it all must chug to a stop and fall apart. It won’t be the first time. The struggle to unify Europe is 2,000 years old, after all. (Continued)

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The science of the desert.

29 JANUARY 2010 – Not all climatologists seek the truth about global warming in comfortable university labs. Some look for evidence of desertification in the field. A dry, dusty, rocky field – in fact, something like a desert. (Continued)

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Comte at 212.

19 JANUARY 2010 – Today is the anniversary of the birth, in 1798, of Auguste Comte. Comte had little use for journalists – ironic, since it was 19th century British “higher” journalists, led by Fortnightly stalwarts Lewes, Morley and Harrison, who elevated the odd and nearly-unreadable French philosopher to everlasting prominence. And he is still in the news today. (Continued)

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Scientific predictions.

14 JANUARY 2010 – One of the favorite devices used by political scientists of the literal variety is the “doomsday” clock. According to the Telegraph, they’re resetting the thing today. In view of the rest of the news, especially in Haiti, this overtly political pseudo-scientific gesture seems even more trivial than usual. Nevertheless, if you want to know how close scientists predict we are to the abyss, you can sit on the edge of your seat, bite your nails, and watch it live on the internet. It’s the lab-coat crowd’s version of geezers-in-sneakers watching the Al Gore movie then screaming, “The world’s going to end!”

That part’s true. The world, this one anyway, is going to end. But when and how is the anybody’s-guess part.  (Continued)

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Schiavo Syndrome.

11 OCTOBER 2009 – After being diagnosed as “comatose” 23 years ago, doctors finally get it right: He was paralyzed. (Continued)