State, Society, and Culture in Early Modern Europe
Man Gave Names to All the Animals
It was during the Renaissance that the Hebrew language acquired mystical signification and kabbalistic intonations. Hebrew was the vernacular of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when Adam gave names to the animals, and there was no poetic ambiguity between words and the things to which they referred. The biblical reference is Genesis 2:18-20: Robert 'Bob Dylan' Zimmerman knew this when he wrote that song, 'Man Gave Names to All the Animals', first recorded in 1979. But, you know, I think Johnny Cash sings it better:18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. The Bible also tells us that God created the universe by speaking, and the language He spoke was almost certainly Hebrew. There was always the hope that one day humankind might recreate this entire technology by a study of the intricacies of the Hebrew language, and thereby take part in the divine process. Man gave names to all the animals He saw an animal that liked to growl Man gave names to all the animals He saw an animal up on a hill Man gave names to all the animals He saw an animal that liked to snort Man gave names to all the animals He saw an animal leavin’ a muddy trail Man gave names to all the animals Next animal that he did meet Man gave names to all the animals He saw an animal as smooth as glass
Copyright © 1979 by Special Rider Music |
Big History
Big History begins with the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. This is universal history that is the history of the universe itself. As Mark Twain wrote, 'If the Eiffel Tower were now representing the world's age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle-knob at its summit would represent man's share of that age'. OK...but is it history? Or should we leave these subjects to experts in cosmology, astronomy, geology and other such sciences? Is it ethical, say, for an expert in Russian history to make a TED talk covering the history of the world in 18 minutes? Bill Gates thinks so: in 2008 he saw a DVD of a video course made by David Christian, and has been a big supporter of Big History every since. Watch the TED talk and see what you think. |
The Agonic Line
Columbus noticed something very odd on his third voyage to the New World (1498-1500): his compass didn't always seem to work very well. When he passed 'the line from north to south a hundred leagues west of the Azores' in a westerly direction, 'the needle shifted by a quarter north-westwards, and continued to shift farther to the north-west as we sailed on.' What Columbus discovered was what used to be called the 'Line of No Variation', and is now referred to as the 'Agonic Line', i.e. 'the line having no angle'. As it happens, your compass needle will point to the actual North Pole in only a few places on the globe, and if you draw a line through those points from north to south, you get an Agonic Line. West of that line, the magnetic N on your compass will increasingly point to somewhere east of the North Pole. If you are east of an Agonic Line, then the magnetic N on your compass will increasingly point to somewhere west of the North Pole, and it only gets worse the farther away you get from the Line. This phenomenon is very dramatic in the United States:  The bigger problem is that the location of 0 degree Agonic Lines changes over time, since the magnetic North Pole is always on the move, and is never exactly in the right spot, thanks to movement in the molten metallic core of the earth:   In Europe, the same phenomenon exists, of course, but the difference between True North and Magnetic North is not as severe, although it increases dramatically towards the poles.  If you don't have a GPS you will need to take all of this into account when you go hiking, especially in the USA. If you are in Washington State, the magnetic N on your compass will point up to 20 degrees east of True North ... and if you are in Maine, the magnetic N on your compass will point up to 20 degrees west of True North. If you don't know this, you could get very badly lost. In Israel, the difference is only a little over 4 degrees, so it's not such a big deal. You just need to remember that True North is a little over 4 degrees less than what you are seeing as the direction of the magnetic red N, so just turn your compass a little over 4 degrees in a counter-clockwise direction so that the red N appears 4 degrees to the right of the arrowhead.  If you want to know how to calibrate your compass, wherever you are, click here. It could save your life ... unless you have a GPS ... or prefer to stay at home studying interesting subjects such as the Agonic Line. |
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) Lives!
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Zamora's Complaint
 Alfonso de Zamora (c.1474-1544), the convert from Judaism who became professor of Hebrew at Salamanca, helped Cardinal Ximenes with the polyglot Bible. He also wrote some Hebrew letters, including the one in which he complains that he never had a good day in his life. I attach the text. Read it, if only to see how much fifteenth-century Hebrew looks like modern Hebrew. The complaining letter is on page 414. |
| Attachments:
Neubauer Zamora 1895.pdf
Fleas: they're not all bad...
  Evil, Scary Flea (left) Nice, Friendly Rat (right) As we learned, fleas played the most important part in the transmission of plague, and rats were victims as well, innocently providing transport. The fleas carried plague bacteria, and their bites injected it into the bloodstream, causing infection. The spread of the epidemic relied on two different rodent populations: one that was resistant to the disease and therefore carried it as hosts; and a second that lacked this resistance and died, passing over into Rat Heaven. When the supply of rodent victims became too small, the fleas hopped over onto other hosts, including people, resulting in a human epidemic as folks got bitten and infected. It's true that some rats can cook. But even fleas are not all bad. They have a circus: |
How to Spot a Humanist
You'll remember that a big part of being a Humanist was to walk the walk and talk the talk: about the way you divide history, about how much you love ancient Greek, and about the 'dignity of man' (women not included). We do have a guidebook to being a Humanist, Il Libro del Cortegiano ('The Book of the Courtier'), written by Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) and published in Venice in 1528. Sadly, we lack a sixteenth-century instructive video on 'How to Spot a Humanist', so we'll have to make do with one of the United States Armed Forces Information Films, released in 1950. Many of the same principles apply: |
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Before Istanbul was Istanbul, it was Constantinople...and before that it was Byzantium...and even before that it was Byzantion, a 7th century BC Greek city-state.  Very confusing. Four names for the same place. Perhaps this song will clear things up: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was first recorded by The Four Lads, a Canadian group, in 1953. (They were originally known as 'The Otnorots' ... that's Toronto backwards, get it?)  Anyway, you might know the later version, released by They Might Be Giants in 1990. Here are the lyrics: Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night Every gal in Constantinople Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople So if you've a date in Constantinople She'll be waiting in Istanbul Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way So take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul (Istanbul) Istanbul (Istanbul) Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks So take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul |
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