I have just learned that August 24, 1456 was the date the first Gutenberg Bible was bound and finished in Mainz, Germany. Contrary to popular belief, Johannes Gutenberg did not invent the printing press. Books had been printed in China and Korea on presses, but with wood and bronze type. Gutenberg’s innovation was a system
As a (substitute) school teacher, this topic is of special interest to me. What is intelligence? How is IQ calculated? The National Public Radio program Radiolab recently aired a series of six programs entitled “G” that addresses general intelligence. The first program, broadcast on June 7, 2019, is “G: The Miseducation of Larry P” and
The subject of paying reparations for slavery has been raised periodically ever since the end of the Civil War. This was in the back of my mind when I recently read about a very unusual court case, Wood v. Ward, in which a former slave sued for reparations… and won. The details are pretty complicated.
How many languages are there? According to the website Infoplease, there are about 6500 spoken languages in the world (https://www.infoplease.com/askeds/how-many-spoken-languages); other estimates are even higher. The most common is Mandarin Chinese. English comes in third, behind Chinese and Spanish, although it is far and away the most popular second language. The flip side to this
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in wilderness on my own. In the Amazing Maasai Marathon in Kenya, I did find myself alone — no one in sight in the middle of Africa — but that was simply a matter of following the painted rocks. But I’ve recently learned of a phone app
What children’s books do you remember? These books are some of our first memories of life, and a great way to prepare for the challenges ahead. I’ve always admired Dr. Seuss. I still enjoy reading his work, and sharing them with kids. In fact, I’m writing children’s books now myself, as you can see elsewhere
Copyright law is serious business. When I was in publishing, it was not unusual for someone somewhere to take an article out of one of our magazines or a segment out of a book we had published and reprint it or post it on the Internet without attribution. Most people are honest and respect copyrights.
When I was in the publishing business, editing collectible price guides, one of our specialties was radio premiums — those nick-knacks people sent away for to promote their favorite programs during the Golden Age of Radio. Every collector I met remembered the Captain Midnight Decoder Ring. Except it didn’t exist. There was a Captain Midnight
I’ve run across a lot of self-help books and articles in my time, and this one couldn’t help but catch my eye — “30 Behaviors of Unstoppable People” by Benjamin P. Hardy. I’m not inclined to list all thirty, but here are some I thought were most interesting. 4. Never be satisfied.“The drive to close
I’ve been driving for 55 years, and I’ve owned just six cars. I’ve always liked to buy new, then run them into the ground. The vehicle I have now is five and a half years old and has only 37,000 miles. In fact, it’s aging better than I am. So why am I looking for
