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CAR STYLING: KATSURA OR NIKKO?
THE FASHION of automotive styling is an evolving thing, and I sense we were in the midst of a swing from Nikko to Katsura and are now heading back to Nikko. I’ve cited architectural examples in...
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THE EXOPLANET TRAVEL BUREAU
NASA AND Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have devised a wonderfully artful means of describing exoplanets, planets that are extrasolar, orbiting stars other than the Sun. This and other images...
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THE FIRST LOTUS
COLIN CHAPMAN’S first Lotus is being offered by Gooding & Company at its Amelia Island Auction, March 13, 2015. And, for such a sweet little car, the Mark IIIB represents a tremendous heritage....
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF AUTO SAFETY
MARK ROSEKIND is the new administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, sworn in December 22, 2014. And, as Keith Crain of Automotive News observed in his column on January 26,...
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FLYING ROME TO TOKYO—IN 1920
THE FIRST flying machines seen by thousands of people across Asia could have been two Ansaldo SVA.9 biplanes. Italian pilots Arturo Ferrarin and Guido Masiero, accompanied by their mechanics Gino...
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“SOUNDS LIKE…”
AN ONOMATOPOEIC word is one that sounds like its meaning: Bang! Ring, ring. Meow. Some are cross-cultural; others are not. Some have been around a long time; others are only recently coined. To me,...
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THE HUM
I CAME upon the Hum only recently while researching ”Sounds Like…” Maybe you’ve heard of the Hum, within the context of the Auckland Hum, Bristol Hum, Kokomo Hum, Taos Hum, Windsor Hum or any number of...
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LATINA MORTUA EST?
IS LATIN a dead language? Far from it if you’re into the biological sciences, philology, law or medicine. Or if you happen to be using an ATM in Vatican City. Or if you’re at Wallsend metro station in...
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“SIT!” SAID THE CYNOLOGIST
A BOOK of Sherlockiana introduced me to the term cynology, “logy” as in “the study of,” cyno from the Greek κυνóς, “dog.” As is usually the case, this book led me from one thing into another having to...
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YOU GO, GRRLS!— IN 19TH CENTURY MASSACHUSETTS
A DRAMA on SiriusXM’s “Radio Classics” introduced me to the Peabody sisters of 19th century Salem, Massachusetts. This remarkable trio, Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia, left a legacy that would do any...
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