Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Archive for October, 2011
There is no empty space in the universe. Between four spherical bodies small particles are situated and shaped. They are principal for understanding magnetism
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
René Descartes ( 1596-1650), Principia Philosophia ( Amsterdam: Ludovicus Elzevirius, 1650), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, FF 91, p. 129
Sampurna Chattarji: Body Clock
Monday, October 3rd, 2011The ticking inside her the noise of a metal insect, a bomb red wire blue wire that refuses to be defused, palms joining like the gesture of a jester, aerobic, yogic in his posture of willing time to stand still, one leg above the ground, for eternity. She listens to it ear to the ground, rail tracks, the white coat of a doctor. She bows to the artificial sun, turns her face to its yellow light, writes „arcadian rhythm” instead of „circadian rhythm”, and realizes, it’s time to call it a day.
Athanasius Kircher: A magnetic bird (Archytas pigeon)
Saturday, October 1st, 2011
[ZB Magnet 3] Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680), Magnes sive De arte magnetica tripartium ( Köln: Iodocus Kalcoven, 1643), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, Z 113, fol. 315
„Somewhere around the year 400 B.C., Archytas mystified and amused the citizens of Tarentum by flying a pigeon made of wood“, informs us Nasa’s „Brief history of rockets“. Kirchers adoption of Archytas’ pigeon used magnetism as a force for artificial movements in the air.