A treatise called Stomachion is attributed to the Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse, Sicily (287 BC - 212 BC; best known for his exclamation 'Eureka'). The treatise is based on a game by the same name consisting of 14 pieces of various polygonal shapes originally forming a square. The goal of the game was to reconfigure the pieces to form different interesting shapes (e.g., animals). Similarity with the ancient Chinese puzzle 'Tangram'. Recent investigations suggest that Archimedes' Stomachion is a treatise on combinatorics, i.e. the mathematical discipline to determine in how many ways a given problem can be solved. (see New York Times, Dec. 14, 2003)

Stomachion is described in a fragmentary manuscript called the Archimedes Palimpsest (Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, MD). The term palimpsest comes from a Greek word meaning "scraped again", since the parchment was scraped and reused to write a Christian prayerbook, probably because of shortage of paper .


Other Links:
Archimedes of Syracuse


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Video: The World According to Garp (1982). w/ Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close. 137 min. Based on a novel by John Irving. Starts out funny, but then mutates into a weird, irrelevant, pointless family drama. Certainly a quite unique combination, but could have been cut to under 90 min. Only John Lithgow (as Roberta Muldoon) gives a stellar performance.
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CD: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Weihnachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248; Archiv Produktion; Polydor International (1965). Just right for the season.
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Video: Galileo's Battle for the Heavens (2002). Based on the book 'Galileo's Daughter' by Dava Sobel. PBS/NOVA Video. 120 min. Describes Galileo's struggle against the Catholic Church and its Inquisition. A side track of the film is the relation between Galileo and his illegitimate daughter Maria Celeste. Most disputed book: 'Dialog'. More info at PBS and The Galileo Project (includes translations of the letters by Maria Celeste to her father).
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The Official U.S. Time , accurate within 0.2 sec, is provided by the two time agencies of the United States: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the U. S. Naval Observatory (USNO). Also contains links to educational exhibits about time, including one about Daylight Saving Time.
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Video: Start Treck IV: The Voyage Home (1986). w/ William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley; directed by Leonard Nimoy. Capt. Kirk and crew saves the earth by traveling into the past to pick a couple of humpback whales. Does not take itself seriously. Cheesy plot, but funny!
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Mesothelioma: rare type of cancer with tumor cells found in pleura, peritoneum, and pericardium. Disease is caused by chronic inhalation of asbestos.
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Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) and Henriette Vogel (1780-1811) were friends and committed suicide together.
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Restaurant in NYC: The Sazerac House, 533 Hudson St, Manhattan, West Village. American and Seafood in a house from 1826; decent prices. History.
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Music: John Cage, American experimental composer: 4'33", written in 1952, consists of three completely silent movements; lasts exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds.
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Sir Thomas Malory (d. 1471): Le Morte Darthur. Malory's "Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table.". Volume 1 and Volume 2. Standard source for later versions of the legend. T. H. White's 'The Once and Future King' (4 novels, published in 1958) and the conclusion 'The Book of Merlyn' (1977) are 20th-century retellings of the Arthurian story.
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Radio: BBC Radio. Includes 'BBC Radio Player', a Radio on Demand to listen to the program of the last 7 days, e.g., The Official Chart Show.
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Exhibition: Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Costume Institute, NYC: 'Bravehearts: Men in Skirts' (Nov 4, 2003–Feb 8, 2004). "Bravehearts locates 'men in skirts' in historical and cross-cultural contexts and looks at designers as well as individuals who have appropriated the skirt as a means of injecting novelty into male fashion, transgressing moral and social codes, and redefining ideals of masculinity." Oh, well ...
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