This week's Connections episode is titled Thunder in the Skies. In Wheel of Fortune, James Burke took us along the path we followed a path from computers to the assembly line.
Due to the assembly line, we rely more and more on the same fire. Due to the Little Ice Age in medieval times, more and more people also relied on the same common fire. James Burke takes us on a journey from that older common fire to another important invention.
Following the video are links to further research on the major topics of this episode, with ones that reveal the ending, as always, purposefully left out.
Links:
Production line
Energy development
Little Ice Age
Manor house
Hardwick Hall (map)
Chimney
Stairway
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Tapestry
Knitting
Button
Wainscoting/Paneling
Plasterwork
History of hygienic practices
Kitchen
Rotisserie
Window
Deforestation: Pre-industrial history
Jamestown, Virginia
Basilisk (cannon)
Carding
Calamine brass
Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche
Robert Mansell
Viscount Grandison
Abraham Darby I
Thomas Newcomen
Steam engine
James Watt
John Wilkinson (industrialist)
Industrial Revolution
Joseph Priestley
Soda water
Alessandro Volta
History of whaling
Edwin Drake
Gottlieb Daimler
Wilhelm Maybach
Gasoline
Spray nozzle
Automobile
Emil Jellinek
Mercédès Jellinek
Wilhelm Kress
Irst-fay!
ReplyDeleteIs everyone enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon?
ReplyDeleteI'm actually home for the entire day, for the first time in weeks, playing nursemaid for one of my dogs who had hip surgery Thursday.
Wendy, sorry to hear about your furrbaby. Hope he gets better.
ReplyDeleteI am killing some time before I go out to dinner with hubby. It's a rainy day here.
Sorry, got caught by the video. Can't finish it I must be off to bed.
ReplyDeleteViolet, the vet thinks she'll make a full recovery with the majority of her mobility and no more pain. She won't be able to jump but at 9 years old, she doesn't need to.
ReplyDeleteHi, Wendy! How's your pup doing? Was it just a genetic hip condition that required the surgery, or an accident, or...?
ReplyDeleteI have Corgis, so I'm always curious. I haven't run into anything like that (genetic hip issues) with my own, but I know it happens.
Pi Guy, once again, nice post!
ReplyDeleteRainy here too, V/T. But it's Seattle, so that's the default this time of year.
ReplyDeleteCC,
ReplyDeleteJust North of Seattle I'm dry!
JCM, I haven't even been outside...I just guessed! LOL (The gray thing is happening, of course, so I assumed too much.)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, JCM - if you feel like bug hunting this weekend, the cross-browser issues have been fixed and we're ready to see what else you find. Things are looking pretty good to my eyes, but it takes a village and all that. : )
ReplyDeleteI found out recently that there are plans to drop the religious exemption from the healthcare bill, and the Christian Scientists have a letter writing campaign to put it back.
ReplyDeleteI think the Supreme Court would have something to say here, but why make it go that far?
BTW, Massachusetts does have an exemption; you just have to certify that you have religious objections. Of course, if you end up going voluntarily to a doctor, there might be some questions (but not if you get taken in an ambulance unconscious.)
Something completely different:
ReplyDeleteDa Instaman points to the recent blogging by Jeff Jarvis on his struggle with prostate cancer.
Instapundit also rounds up H1N1 vaccination/national emergency declaration news.
ReplyDeleteHe adds: "[S]everal readers think this is a case of Rahm “never let a crisis go to waste” Emanuel at work — declare a health crisis and it makes national health care look somehow more urgent. But while I discount the “Swine Flu Vaccine Is Obama’s Katrina” talk, their handling so far isn’t something I’d put forward as an actual argument for more government involvement in health-care delivery."
Finally Free, I think they're making a hog out of a housefly on the swine flu, but certainly the fact that even in a blue state like Massachusetts, most places are out of H1N1 vaccine gives us an idea of what healthcare would be like under a government system.
ReplyDeleteCC, Loki is a stray who showed up at our door 9 years ago and decided to adopt us. Part collie and part something else, she was about 9 months old and looked like she'd been on her own for quite a bit of her life so, of course, I fed her and gave her water. She was still outside the next morning so I took her to the vet and had her checked out. She was very sociable and got on well with the other dogs so we kept her.
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago, I noticed her "worrying" one of her paws constantly. I couldn't find any thorns or any other problems so I took her to the vet and they xrayed her leg. Turns out that when she was very young, someone kicked the hell out of her and shattered her right hip socket. She never cried, never limped, never gave any indication something was wrong but it had finally gotten to the point where it was causing her considerable pain.
We decided to try NSAIDs along with Glucosamine to see if it would help but the pain got worse so we scheduled a Femoral head ostectomy for Thursday. The vet doesn't want her walking at all for the next two weeks (fat chance) so we've got her crated in the Garage with a baby monitor so we can hear when she cries. Good thing she's not a vengeful dog. :D
Wow, Wendy - you are a good dog mom!!! I am impressed! (I love people who genuinely love their animals!)
ReplyDeleteGet well soon, Loki!
Obama declares swine flu a 'national emergency'
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.