Category Archives: Discursive Detours

A catch-all category

Reading, Writing, Preferences, Priorities, and Acts 1:8

I enjoy reading. Some folks don’t. I have no idea what fraction of readers boast of their bookish practices. Or how many non-readers argue that reading is a waste of time. Apart, perhaps, from their occasional dip into a how-2 … Continue reading

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A Star by Any Other Name, and a Galilean Interlude

I started writing about stars, names, designations and how we got to a point where Sirius is also known as BD-16°1591, ADS 5423 and GJ 244. That started me thinking about telescopes, Galileo, Aristotle and Dante. One Star, Many Names: … Continue reading

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Notre-Dame, Paris: History, Two Cults and a Fire

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has survived Louis XIV-style redecorating, the French Revolution, Napoleon and 19th-century remodeling. I’m pretty sure it will survive repair and reconstruction, following the April 16, 2021, fire. Notre-Dame de Paris is Burning (From Getty … Continue reading

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Remembering 9/11: Death, Daft Ideas and a Tree

These days, September 11th is mostly remembered as the date of the 9/11 attacks. But that’s not the only ‘on this day in history’ incident from my country’s history. The Halve Maen, for example, a Dutch East India Company vlieboot, … Continue reading

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Evolution: Science, Religion, Opinions and Me

The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research has learned that more than half of all Americans think evolution is real. Seems that 2016 was the tipping point. That’s when my country, on average, decided to step into the late … Continue reading

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