I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read. — Thomas Babington Macaulay
About the Author
Danny Fekete is studying education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, appropriately.
His interests include Open Education, metrical poetry, science (philosophy, history, and methodology of), amateur astronomy and astrophysics, solitary rambles, language and composition, democratic citizenship, concert music, pens, tea, and the colour brown.
Posted by Danny on Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 11:32 pm
A quick post and a long video: Alan Davies of Quite Interesting fame recently featured in an episode of the venerable BBC documentary series, Horizon. In the grand pedantic tradition of trying to answer rhetorical questions, Alan wanders through laser measuring technology, fractals, atomic structure, and quantum mechanics as he tries to figure out “how long is a piece of string.”
Davies is impossible to dislike, as most QI watchers will probably attest; I think this video could be a good teaching tool because his bafflement, occasional glazing, and plaintive insistence on real-world relevance resonate with a lot of the students I’ve seen who are dealing with these ideas for the first time, and could thereby possibly spin sympathy into engagement. Moreover, through the frustration of just trying to figure out how long his piece of string is, he remains stoic and good natured—this is pleasant.
A couple of final points: I’m usually impatient with some of the more popular conventions of documentary filmmaking, of which plenty are employed in the above video; I nonetheless found this a rewarding view in toto. Secondly, the YouTube version linked to in the Open Culture post where I found this originally has already been taken down. If you get to this version in time and find it a worthwhile resource, you might consider nabbing it while you can.
Posted by Danny on Friday, November 26, 2010 at 3:27 pm
There’s an increasingly rare type of fountain pen ink that was discontinued in 2001 called Parker Penman. The problem seems to have been that the ink was unusually saturated and included a suspension of metallic particles, achieving vibrant colours and fun reflective effects (as Diamine Majestic Blue is known to, today) but also clogging the pens used with a greater frequency than Parker wanted to be liable for. Naturally, these inks have become sought after for their now unique properties and historic cache by aficionados who are prepared to maintain their pens more fastidiously, so the price and mythos of the ink have grown. Penman sapphire is the most expensive ink I know of, selling often for more than $50 a bottle (current in-production inks tend to peak at $30 and most can be had for less than $12); Penman Ruby and Penman Emerald follow closely behind. Gemstone names are fairly common in inks and there are huge differences between the “ruby” of one brand and another. However, because of the enduring allure of the Penman inks, new inks that share their names are often decried for being the “wrong” colour—“that’s not sapphire, it’s too light, etc.”
What’s the best way to resolve disputes around emotionally-charged, contending aesthetics and nostalgia-induced disappointment? Science. The tremendous success of the Periodic Table of Videos (direct link here, or go here to read my ancient post) has encouraged further chemistry-based videos with the ever-beloved Dr. Martyn Poliakoff, including a recent one on the chemistry of gemstones. If you’re interested, you’ll get to learn about diamonds, sapphires, and rubies; more importantly, you’ll see Martyn’s wedding photos.
Posted by Danny on Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 1:27 am
Here’s more support for my solipsism: Martyn Poliakoff explains the chemistry of tea in celebration of the Chinese New Year, harmonizing my affections for both Camellia senensis and cotton-headed professors.
The weirdest thing is that I didn’t find it browsing the Periodic Table of Videos, but as a see-also link after viewing this disturbing commercial:
Danny Fekete is studying education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, appropriately. 