gutenberg_org

gutenberg_org, 11 months ago to random

We just joined Mastodon, please follow us. Still more posts to come soon.

gutenberg_org, 3 months ago to books

The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books

Librarians are amazing.

They were known as the “book women.” They would saddle up, usually at dawn, to pick their way along snowy hillsides and through muddy creeks with a simple goal: to deliver reading material to Kentucky’s isolated mountain communities.

BY ANIKA BURGESS. via @atlasobscura

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/librarians-horseback-new-deal-book-delivery-wpa

#books #librarians

gutenberg_org, 4 months ago to science

American physicist and chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett was born #OTD in 1898.

She was the inventor of a technique for making non-reflecting "invisible" glass, a material used in virtually all camera lenses & many other optical devices. She was also responsible for developing an instrument that can measure film thicknesses to within a few angstroms. She did research on methods of removing ice from airplane wings. She is also credited with the development of a new type of smoke screen.

#science

gutenberg_org, 3 months ago to science

Austrian actress & inventor Hedy Lamarr died #OTD in 2000.

Most of her inventions were not widely used, but in the 1940s she wanted to create something that would help Allied forces fight the Nazis as part of the II WW. She worked with composer George Antheil to develop a new way to steer torpedoes. She had already discovered that radio-signals used to control torpedoes could be jammed by the Nazis, making them miss their targets, & wanted to come up with an unjammable alternative.

#science
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gutenberg_org, 6 months ago to science

Austrian Physicist Lise Meitner was born #OTD in 1878. She was the first to pinpoint the atomic phenomenon now known as the Auger effect, but it was credited to Pierre Auger who independently discovered it months after her. Years later when she made a breakthrough in identifying and understanding nuclear fission, her findings were published only under the name of her collaborator, Otto Hahn, who later also received the Nobel Prize for this discovery. via @IAEA

#science #physics

gutenberg_org, 10 months ago to books

#OTD in 1903, Marie Curie defended her doctoral thesis in the physical sciences, entitled "Recherches sur les substances radioactives", before the Faculty of Science at the University of Paris; she was awarded a "very honourable" distinction.

She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. via @Wikipedia

#books #science #nobelprize

Maria Skłodowska-Curie, ca. 1898. Portrait of Maria Skłodowska-Curie (November 7, 1867 – July 4, 1934), sometime prior to 1907. Curie and her husband Pierre shared a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Working together, she and her husband isolated Polonium. Pierre died in 1907, but Marie continued her work, namely with Radium, and received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. Her death is mainly attributed to excess exposure to radiation. via @wikipedia

gutenberg_org, 4 months ago to books

Let´s celebrate, today is Public Doman Day!

Plenty of new titles are available now and volunteers at @DProofreaders will have plenty of work ahead.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
The Giant Horse of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Money for Nothing by P.G. Wodehouse
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Hunting for Hidden Gold by Franklin W. Dixon

#books #literature
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gutenberg_org, 4 months ago to books

Hypatia (born c. 350–370; died 415 AD) was a Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt.

She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria where she taught philosophy and astronomy. Hypatia constructed astrolabes and hydrometers, but did not invent either of these, which were both in use long before she was born. In March 415 AD, she was murdered by a mob of Christians led by a lector named Peter.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63054

#books #astronomy #mathematics

Frontispiece and title page to John Toland's anti-Catholic tract Hypatia: Or the History of a most beautiful, most vertuous, most learned, and every way accomplish’d Lady, published 1720, republished 1753. The eighteenth-century English Deist scholar John Toland used Hypatia's death as the basis for an anti-Catholic polemic, in which he changed the details of her murder and introduced new elements not found in any of his sources in order to portray Cyril in the worst possible light.
Hypatia is known to have edited at least Book III of Ptolemy's Almagest, which supported the geocentric model of the universe shown in this diagram. The scheme of the aforementioned division of spheres. · The empyrean (fiery) heaven, dwelling of God and of all the selected · 10 Tenth heaven, first cause · 9 Ninth heaven, crystalline · 8 Eighth heaven of the firmament · 7 Heaven of Saturn · 6 Jupiter · 5 Mars · 4 Sun · 3 Venus · 2 Mercury · 1 Moon
"Death of the philosopher Hypatia, in Alexandria". This illustration is from the book Vies des savants illustres, depuis l'antiquité jusqu'au dix-neuvième siècle , by Louis Figuier, originally published in 1866. However, the image earlier appeared in the journal Le Voleur Illustre, number 475, 7 December 1865.

gutenberg_org, 3 months ago to physics

Lise Meitner helped discover nuclear fission but never won a Nobel Prize for her brilliance despite 49 nominations

By Adam Barnes via @BusinessInsider

https://www.businessinsider.com/lise-meitner-discovered-nuclear-fission-nominated-nobel-prize-never-won-2024-1

#physics #womeninscience

gutenberg_org, 5 months ago to science

First ever drawings of the moon made by Galileo Galilei after observing it through his telescope in 1609.

Galileo produced this extremely famous set of six watercolours of the Moon in its various phases "from life", as he observed the Earth's satellite through a telescope in the autumn of 1609. They represent the first realistic depiction of the Moon in history.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Drawings of the Moon, November-December 1609
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale

#science #astronomy

gutenberg_org, 29 days ago (edited 29 days ago) to science

British scientist Rosalind Franklin died #OTD in 1958.

Her most famous contribution to science came from her X-ray diffraction images of DNA, particularly Photo 51, which provided crucial evidence for the double helix structure of DNA. Her photo was shared without her knowledge with J. Watson & F. Crick, who used it as a basis for their model of DNA's structure. Their work overshadowed her contribution, & she was not fully recognized for her role until after her death.

#science #chemistry

gutenberg_org, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to science

Uncovering the Forgotten Female Astronomers of Yerkes Observatory
It all started with a photo of Einstein.

In the first half of the 20th century, Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin employed more than 100 women, many who were astronomers. But their names have all been lost to time—until now. via @atlasobscura

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/yerkes-observatory-female-astronomers

#science #astronomy #womeninscience

gutenberg_org, 9 months ago to books

Project Gutenberg partnered with Microsoft to make over 5000 new audiobooks.

They are freely available at
https://marhamilresearch4.blob.core.windows.net/gutenberg-public/Website/index.html

as well as popular podcast download sites. Read more about this effort, and see a video of Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby talking about it:
https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/1646266241611394912-project-gutenberg-nonprofit-azure-synapse-analytics-azure-ai-services

#books #literature

gutenberg_org, 1 month ago to science

German mathematician Emmy Noether was born #OTD in 1882.

One of her most significant contributions is Noether's Theorem, which establishes a fundamental connection between symmetries & conservation laws in physics. This theorem has had profound implications in fields such as quantum mechanics, particle physics & field theory. Despite facing discrimination as a woman in academia during her time, Noether persevered & made enduring contributions to mathematics and physics.

#science #mathematics

Noether sometimes used postcards to discuss abstract algebra with her colleague, Ernst Fischer. This card is postmarked 10 April 1915. Emmy Noether - Auguste Dick's Emmy Noether: 1882-1935, just after p. 58

gutenberg_org, 1 month ago to ComputerScience

#OTD in 1959.

A team of computer manufacturers, users, & university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.

Throughout her career, Hopper made significant contributions to computer science, including the development of the concept of machine-independent programming languages, which greatly facilitated software development. Her compiler converted English terms into machine code understood by computers.

#computerscience

gutenberg_org, 6 days ago to books

Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of.

Over 1,000 years before the internet and smartphone apps, Persian scientist and polymath Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī invented the concept of algorithms.

By Debbie Passey. via @ConversationUK

https://theconversation.com/why-are-algorithms-called-algorithms-a-brief-history-of-the-persian-polymath-youve-likely-never-heard-of-229286

#books #mathematics #algorithm

gutenberg_org, 3 months ago to science

Long before Gates or Jobs, 6 women programmed the first digital computer.
The first computer had a strange, fascinating beginning.

By Brad Jones and Luke Larsen via @digitaltrends

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/remembering-eniac-and-the-women-who-programmed-it/

#science #computer #womeninscience

gutenberg_org, 10 months ago to books

The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection

LibriVox - founded in 2005 - is a community of volunteers from all over the world who record public domain texts: poetry, short stories, whole books, even dramatic works, in many different languages. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain in the USA and available as free downloads on the internet. via @internetarchive

Full catalog: https://librivox.org/

#books #literature

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is available at LibriVox: https://librivox.org/moby-dick-by-herman-melville

gutenberg_org, 4 months ago to science

Serbian inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, & futurist Nikola Tesla died #OTD in 1943. He discovered & patented the rotating magnetic field, the basis of most alternating-current machinery. He also developed the 3-phase system of electric power transmission. In 1891 he invented the Tesla coil, an induction coil widely used in radio technology. He conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, & early X-ray imaging.

#science

gutenberg_org, 5 days ago to art

Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker Hokusai died #OTD in 1849.

The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji are noteworthy not only for their beauty and technical prowess but also for the cultural significance of Mount Fuji in Japan. Hokusai's innovative use of the then-new Prussian blue pigment helped to popularize his prints during his lifetime and influenced not only Japanese art but also Western artists like Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.

#art #painting

Kajikazawa in Kai Province, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Chōshi in Shimosha, from Oceans of Wisdom

gutenberg_org, 3 months ago to books

Eric Arthur Blair, English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the name George Orwell died #OTD in 1950. He is known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), and Homage to Catalonia (1938) are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture. via @wikipedia

#books #literature

gutenberg_org, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to books

French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was born #OTD in 1822

He is renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the last of which was named after him. His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes & preventions of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health & much of modern medicine.

Louis Pasteur at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=louis+pasteur&submit_search=Go%21

#books #microbiology

gutenberg_org, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to literature

Last year, the American Library Association documented the highest number of attempted book bans since it began compiling data on library censorship more than two decades ago.

These digital libraries help Texans access banned books — for free.

https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2023/10/these-digital-libraries-help-texans-access-banned-books-for-free.html

via @TXLoneStarLive

#bannedbook #literature

gutenberg_org, 6 months ago to science

Austrian Actress Hedy Lamarr (Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler) was born #OTD in 1914 (not 1913).

At the beginning of World War II, she and avant-garde composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers. Though it was never used in wartime, this device is a component of present-day satellite and cellular phone technology. via @wikipedia

#science #technology

Patent for Secret Communication System U.S. Patent Office - The Register

gutenberg_org, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to art

Artemisia Gentileschi was born #OTD in 1593.

Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. via @wikipedia

#art #painting