By John Roman – “I have learned that even the smallest house can be a home.” Henry David Thoreau Although Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond is his most famous residence, historians also credit several other sites that served as “home” to this American literary figure. Looking into Thoreau’s […]
A section of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, ca. 1550 BCE. It consists of reference tables, arithmetic, algebraic and geometric problems including volumes, and fractions (Courtesy of British Museum. London) By Susanne L. Houfek – The ancient Egyptians may not have taken trigonometry in school for entry level to a good university […]
By Walter A Borden, M.D. – “Character is destiny”, simple, enigmatic, written by the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus in the 6th to 5th century BCE. It is a powerful message for all peoples, a message for then—and now. The ancient Greek word for character was Ethos, meaning ideals, but derived from and related […]
By Susanne Houfek – Unless you’re a medievalist you may not know Guillaume de Machaut was an important 14th century French poet and composer. Living from 1300-1377, he was prolific, innovative and influential, creating over 400 poems, 235 ballades, 76 rondeaux, 39 virelais and more, both secular and religious, in […]
By Timothy J. Demy – The legacies of the classical world and late antiquity are many. In the second century CE the early Christian philosopher from Carthage, Tertullian (ca. 160 – ca. 220), asked an oft-repeated (and misunderstood) question “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”De praescritione haereticorum 7). Two disparate cities,”one, a center of […]
By Patrizia Passerini – Sicily is a fascinating and mysterious land, with a history and culture of very ancient origins. Its beauty is sometimes wild, amazing and complex due to the overlapping and mixing of cultures that have alternated over the centuries. Rich in history and art, bright colours and […]
By P. F. Sommerfefdt – Rembrandt’s 1630 painting of the prophet Jeremiah weeping over Jerusalem is an apt image for condensing this historical novel to a singular time and place in history. Historical fiction often falls into one of two pitfalls or both – either too historical and dry in […]
Mitylene (Asia Minor) hectae electrum coins, ca. 500 B.C. (image public domain) By John Saul – WHY WAS ONE WORD USED FOR TWO SUBSTANCES? In former times the word electrum designated two substances which to us are very different. One was amber and the other was an alloy of gold […]
By Walter Borden, M.D. The American Founders, including Madison, Jefferson, and Adams in creating our constitution studied the history of republics going back to Carthage, Greece and Rome. Adams in particular cited ancient Greece with long references to Solon, known as “the Law Giver”, one of the Seven Sages, and […]
By Hilary Letwin – Sitting for one’s portrait is not the first thing one might expect to do in self-isolation during a global pandemic. But, that is precisely where I found myself on a recent gray Tuesday morning, posed on my balcony in Vancouver at 9 am, my morning coffee […]