"Sometimes I would think of myself as a reluctant draftee, called up to serve in the struggle that Albert Camus described: "It is those who know how to rebel, at the appropriate moment, against history who really advance its interests." I didn't really want to do it. I just had to. What I wanted most was that the struggle be won so I could live in a land where people laughed and made new friends and were gentle with one another. So I could return to that place where the sun hit the front stoop just right on a quiet morning, reminding me that this was how good everything else could be as well."

"...even the best politics are a pretty poor substitute for life and that the worst politics compound their felony by forcing us to leave the front stoop to do something about them."

- Sam Smith, Multitudes: Memoir of a Rebel

"So I ended up much as I started: the kid they sent to right field because he couldn't or wouldn't play the game right.

I didn't plan it this way. I didn't want it this way. In truth, a large part of me still would like to have been one of the popular boys in the class, but things kept getting in the way - some addictive confluence of moral aggravation, periodic accident, undisciplined imagination, sporadic and unpremeditated courage, sloppy romanticism, episodic existentialism, recurrent hope, stultifying stubbornness, and an abiding intolerance for the dull. A child's dreams and an adult's faith pounding tide after tide on the rock of reality, thinking that maybe this time I'll float off."

How Everyday Things are Made

 

If you've ever wondered how things are made - products like candy, cars, airplanes, or bottles - or if you've been interested in manufacturing processes, like forging, casting, or injection molding, then you've come to the right place. AIM has developed an introductory website for kids and adults showing how various items are made. It covers over 40 different products and manufacturing processes, and includes almost 4 hours of manufacturing video. It is targeted towards non-engineers and engineers alike. Think of it as your own private online factory tour, or a virtual factory tour, if you wish. We are able to cover only a small number of products and processes, but we believe it will give you a good introduction to the world of manufacturing. Enjoy!

The Physics of Pyramid/Stonehenge Building: The Forgotten Technology

Ever wondered how the pyramids or Stonehenge were built, how they moved those huge stones to the sites? Check out this fascinating website from a builder/carpenter in Michigan who actually demonstrates some of the relatively simple techniques that he has used in his work with concrete and building that he believes these ancient people used in their craftsmanship.

The site includes video with sound effects showing him actually moving huge concrete structural elements. Check his section on physics and how he uses levers and pulleys to do the work for him. And read the section on how he moved a whole barn by himself. Learn about what he would use to build his own Great Pyramid. Very interesting.  Puts a whole new slant on those ancient builders and what kind of math and physics they knew and probably used every day.

Of course he advises that working with such heavy objects is not something that our kids should do, since this could be very dangerous if anything went wrong. Better to watch him doing it and read about his projects, learn about the physics. Or maybe try a small at-home project to demonstrate the techniques he describes.

Click here to discover the wisdom of anagrams.

anagram (an-a-gram)

noun

A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. For example, Elvis to Lives.

verb tr., intr.

To rearrange letters in such a way. To anagrammatize.

[From New Latin anagramma, from Greek anagrammatismos, ana- (up, again, back, new) + -gram (letter).]

Use math to crack codes ...