“My mom used to tell me that most men do not like brainy women,” writes well-known mathematician Tanya Khovanova. Well-known in certain circles, anyway. Female, Russian-American, Jewish—there are a lot of possible identity issues here. I’ve written about Khovanova twice… Read More ›
Perhaps for some odd reason you have never looked at a modern edition of an ancient or medieval text—whether in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Old Norse, Sanskrit, Old High German, or whatever. In that case, it’s not too late to start!… Read More ›
When I was growing up and reading a lot of science fiction, the Holy Trinity of sf writers consisted of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein. Often they were called “The Big Three.” They had a number of… Read More ›
As I drove along Main Street in Peabody yesterday, the first bad omen was the sight of the old-fashioned parking meters in front of the Franklin & South Manchester Railroad. Quarters only! The problem was that I no longer carry… Read More ›
Although I’ve never been to Sacramento, and certainly wasn’t there in 2002, the movie Lady Bird felt very realistic to me. Realistic and convincing. Kudos to director Greta Gerwig! As A.O. Scott in the New York Times put it, “Every… Read More ›
As you probably know, today is Bloomsday, the annual Irish holiday commemorating the 24-hour period over which James Joyce’s Ulysses took place. As you also know, I had announced in this space last month that I would be (re)reading that… Read More ›
First, here’s a sign inside the entrance to the Wegmans in Medford: Yes, I know that it’s purely for commercial purposes, but it still makes me feel welcome. On the other hand, here is a pair of street signs in… Read More ›
Apparently my phone has a mind of its own. For some reason it just decided to show me these two Weston photos from the past: One is from about 10–12 years ago (I’d guess), the other somewhat older. Can you… Read More ›
Well, the Basques do, of course. But they aren’t one of the major ethnicities in these parts; I’ve known only a couple of Basques in the Boston area. In linguistics courses the Basque language is the standard example of a… Read More ›
“Brekekekéx-koáx-koáx!” Unless you google it, you probably don’t know what that means or where it’s from. Perhaps it would be easier in the original Greek: “βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ.” No? That didn’t help? Well, I’ll tell you. It might help if… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 