Eek!

For once, I agree with James Lileks on an aesthetic issue: this is a truly horrific painting.

The Other George

This "modern" translation of Washington's Farewell Address is worth a look. H/t to Mark Liberman of Language Log, who recommends a line-by-line comparison of the original with the modernization.

Ramble, Part 16: "Slowly I Turn..."

Talking of Galileo brings us into the early 17th century. I want to drop back for a moment into the late 16th, in order to talk about François Viète. Viète was the first of a wave of important French mathematicians over the course of a century or so, a list headlined by Pascal, Fermat, and Descartes, but also including such lesser lights as Girard Desargues, Marin Mersenne, and Gilles de Roberval. He was probably the greatest mathematician, and certainly the greatest algebraist, of his era. Two of his achievements are of special importance, under the cut.

( A Literal Revolution )

Brownie points, by the way, to anyone who can explain the post title.

Ramble Contents