HI 351

Belated HI351 Lego Stuff

2008-05-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

As requested:

Lego 2001: A Space Odyssey

Lego Steam Punk

Lego Futurama

Hope you all did well on your exams!

Dwelling in Possibilities

2008-05-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many people are in Professor Schulmann's HI365, but if you are you'll recognize this. Mark Edmundson's article "Dwelling in Possibilities" I think does a good job of highlighting some of the themes from this course in the context of how students of our generation (this article was posted on this site 14 March, 2008) interact with the changing technology. He talks about the computer sublime, consumerism, and the incessant need for information in the age of the Internet. Regardless, its a really interesting read from the point of view of a professor facing a college full of Crackberry-addicted internet jockeys.

Dwelling in Possibilities: Our students' spectacular hunger for life makes them radically vulnerable

Soyuz Superteam

2008-05-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a dork who just became ridiculously excited. I was wikipediaing ( if people can say googling) around and I found something pretty cool. "Soyuz" as in the Apollo-Soyuz project and as in the first C in CCCP (Soyuz means union in Russian) is actually the name of a group of Russian superheroes. Each character is based off of a figure from Russian mythology. These characters were first created by John Ostrander and, interestingly, were first introduced in the pages of the Firestorm comic, who was the creation of a nuclear accident and who had the ability to rearrange the atomic structure of matter.

Here's a link to the Soyuz wikipedia entry.

Geek Flowchart

2008-05-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

So as I was procrastinating in studying for my exams, I was surfing the 'internets and came across a link to a flowchart that describes the evolution of a geek. Basically it made me happy and I felt like some other people might enjoy similarly procrastinating. Good luck to everyone, by the way. Especially to those of us who excel in the art of not studying until the last minute.

[click to view full image in new window]

Cape Wind

2008-05-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

This is the website for the Cape Wind project going on. It's been coming for a long time, with a fight. Residents of the Cape don't want a wind farm off in their view. They even have bumper stickers protesting it...usually found on their enormous SUV's. They are definitely an example of technological sublime. There is a part of NY where wind turbines border a few miles of road and its hard not to be in awe of them.

Here's some video footage of a wind turbine. One of people's problems with them is that they believe the turbines will create a lot of noise. But as you can see....we make more noise than the turbines.

brain scans reveal our cognitive response to androids

2008-05-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

Culture of Comic Books

2008-05-05T12:09:00.001-07:00

I'm doing some research for another class on Popular Culture during the Great Depression by focusing on comic books, movies, and radio. It seemed like a lot of people were interested in the book Men of Tomorrow that was posted earlier in the semester. I found another book that deals with comic books and the rise of youth culture in America. It's called Comic Book Nation and if anyone is interested, you can find it here.

2008-05-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here's an article I found from Time Magazine looking into the importance of Earth Hour. Starting at 8 pm on March 29th, lights were turned off across the world for just one hour. As the article argues, while such a movement does not have much immediate environmental impact, it's less about the numbers and more about the symbolism of doing whatever we can, no matter how small, to help the world around us.

Earth Hour

review terms & essay topics

2008-05-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

Daedalus and Icarus Sir Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1620

On the final next week (5/9 at 9 a.m. in CAS 223) you will complete 12 ID questions (out of 12) and write two essays. The ID questions and the essay questions will be selected from the 50 terms & 4 topics below.

Only 12 of the ID terms will be presented, and you will have to answer all 12. The 4 essay topics will be grouped in pairs, and you will have to write on one topic from each pair.

ID NAMES & TERMS:

1 Howard Scott

2 Technocracy

3 Futurama

4 Leo Szilard

5 Trinity

6 Bikini

7 Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

8 Robert Goddard

9 Werner von Braun

10 October, 1957

11 John Glenn

12 Valentina Tereshkova

13 Velcro

14 Tang

15 Apollo 8

16 Apollo-Soyuz

17 Challenger

18 La Mettrie

19 Charles Babbage

20 Alan Turing

21 IBM punch cards

22 "War Games"

23 "Solid State" electronics

24 "Pong"

25 MS-DOS

26 The "1984" ad

27 Moore's Law

28 Philo T. Farnsworth

29 Populuxe

30 Newton Minnow

31 Marshall McLuhan

32 "All You Need is Love"

33 DARPA

34 ARPANET

35 Tim Berners-Lee

36 LambdaMOO

37 Buckminster Fuller

38 eugenics

39 James Watson and Francis Crick

40 Asilomar Conference

41 "12 Monkeys"

42 Diamond v. Chakrabarty

43 Humulin (tm)

44 Human Genome Project

45 J. Craig Venter

46 John Muir and Gifford Pinchot

47 Rachel Carson

48 The Whole Earth Catalogue

49 Solar-Thermal

50 Singularity

ESSAY TOPICS:

w. Consider the changing relationship between human beings and nature as depicted in any three primary sources from the course reading. How does each author depict the impact of new technologies on the landscape, on living things, and on the human body itself? How does each of these works seem to evaluate the impact of human technology on the natural world---as positive, negative, or something else?

x. Consider the cultural and political impact of new technologies and new modes of production / consumption as explored in Paul Boyer's By the Bomb's Early Light and Lizabeth Cohen's A Consumers' Republic. Although both authors concentrate on the period following WWII, what different types of technological change does each view as most influential and why? How might a student of history integrate and expand upon their studies of U.S. culture and politics in the period of rapid technological and social change following WWII?

y. Imagine that you have been given to the opportunity to replace three secondary sources on the HI 351 syllabus with three very easy-to-watch popcorn movies. In order to seize this opportunity, however, you must first make a detailed and compelling case that each popcorn movie you propose to add to the syllabus explores all of the same major issues as each book you propose to subtract---and explores them more effectively.

z. The painting above depicts Daedalus advising his son Icarus on how to safely use the wings he has made for him. As we know from the story, (& from the vapid smile on the boy's face), this advice will not be heeded. In your estimation, is the human race, in its use of new technologies, more likely to follow the fate of Daedalus or Icarus? In you answer to this question, be sure to consider the arguments of those we have read and studied, among them Aldous Huxley and Freeman Dyson, who have taken a clear position on this question. Explain whose writings you find more persuasive, and why.

Yucca Mountain Repository

2008-05-02T22:36:00.001-07:00

One problem facing nuclear power sites is the issue of storing and disposing of nuclear waste, whose radioactive half-life can last between thousands and millions of years (plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,110 years). Large-scale repositories in remote areas seem the best solution, but there is a real danger in transporting nuclear waste, even in the concrete-lined drums they're stored in. Carrying nuclear waste on public roads, through the atmosphere, or even on railroads through areas with people is a risk many aren't willing to take. The Yucca Mountain Repository is the center of a currently halted Congressional debate. The site itself has been approved for dumping 77,0000 tons of material, but the facility has yet to be laid out.

Link: http://www.yuccamountain.org/archive/legal.htm

Stewart Brand

2008-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a clip from a recent lecture by Whole Earth Catalogue founder Stewart Brand in which he argues that the global trend toward urbanization will "defuse the population bomb" and lead to a more educated global population with, in the long run, a higher standard of living.

Buckminster Fuller clips

2008-05-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

In the first video, geodesic dome inventor Buckminster Fuller explains his response to the anti-technology or "Luddite" point of view that had gained popularity in the sixties and seventies. The second clip describes the global power grid that Bucky was the first to propose.

We Can

2008-05-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a site submitted by Anna Webster.

Radioactive Waste Converted Into Inert Substance

2008-05-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.ecofuss.com/radioactive-waste-converted-into-inert-substance/

A group of Russian researchers in collaboration with the Israeli’s Environmental Energy Resources (EER) have developed a reactor that converts radioactive waste into inert byproducts. Although there were many who thought that this is not possible, Itschak Shrem from the Shrem, Fudim and Keiner, an investment company, announced the breakthrough at a press conference in Tel Aviv.

Sorry

2008-05-01T07:55:00.001-07:00

The link i just posted to Inhabitat is not working i believe.

http://www.inhabitat.com/

enjoy!

Treescrapers?

2008-05-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting website discussing the possible future use of treescrapers, essentially a skyscraper that works like a tree, makes oxygen, distills water, produces energy, and changes with the seasons. This is the link.

This website called Inhabitat has a ton of really cool green technologies on it. check it out.

JYL

Green Consumerism?

2008-05-01T06:06:00.001-07:00

Technological advances in the environmental field have trickled down from the realm of high science into the everyday world of the consumer. These environmental inventions and innovations, such as hybrid cars, biofuels, and energy saving appliances, have attained messianic status, saving Americans from environmental damnation. This article from the New York Times examines this notion and concludes more optimistically, by discovering that most consumers (in a survey) were aware that they could not solve the problem of pollution and climate change by buying things.

Craziest Green Technologies

2008-04-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

I found this really interesting website about the strangest green technologies that have been invented in the last few years. There are examples of solar powered cell phones and other really weird devices. If you're interested the article can be found at this link.

BU's Environmental Grade Deflation

2008-04-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Sustainable Endowments Institute puts out a report every year grading major universities on their commitment to environmental sustainability initiatives. For 2008, BU received a C, which is actually an entire letter grade above last year (we are among the biggest improvers over last year's report). We're actually among the leading universities in the Food & Recycling category, but fall short in most of the others - especially in endowment transparency (grade: F). In case you're wondering, overall grades for Northeastern - B, MIT - B+, and Harvard - A-, putting them at the top of the class, naturally. But at least we only tied with BC. Here are links to BU's report card and the entire report.

Real Trekkie Tricorder Invented

2008-04-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I'm a Trekkie so this invention is SUPER exciting.

Real Trekkie Tricorder Invented

By Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience

posted: 30 April 2008 ET

New handheld medical scanners coupled with regular cell phones resemble "Star Trek" tricorders and could see what ails you with a push of a button.

The invention, using off-the-shelf cell phone technology, would allow medical scanners could boldly go where none have gone before — to the aid of the roughly three-quarters of the world's population currently without access to ultrasounds, X-rays and other imagers used for everything from detecting tumors to monitoring fetuses.

In addition to offering medical scans in developing nations, the devices "could find their way in ambulances, or rural clinics," said Boris Rubinsky, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Medical imagers are typically bulky combinations of scanners, processors and video monitors. Rubinsky and his colleagues instead physically separated these components, so the most complicated elements of imagers — the powerful computer processors — can reside at a remote central location.

The researchers next devised a simple portable scanner that could plug into a cell phone. The phones transmit the raw scanning data to the processors, which create images to relay back for viewing on the cell phone screen.

Cheaper approach

The surprisingly simple setup is described in the April 30 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.

The scheme would significantly lower the cost of medical imaging because one processor facility could serve multiple imagers.

"You could be out in the middle of a remote village and still have cell phone access," said researcher Antoni Ivorra, also at Berkeley.

The portable scanner was hooked up to a cell phone with a USB cable and tested on a gel-filled container that simulated breast tissue afflicted with a tumor. Diseased tissue conducts electricity differently than healthy tissue does. The image that was sent back had the simulated tumor clearly visible onscreen.

Simple and flexible

These devices could work with any cell phone that can send and receive pictures or audio and video clips.

"The size of the data in the study was only six kilobytes, which is ridiculously small," explained researcher Yair Granot at Berkeley. "A one sentence, text-only e-mail message is bigger than that."

Rubinsky noted that "people are able to watch full movies on their iPods" so cell phone screen sizes should not be a major impediment.

In the future, ultrasound scanners could also couple with cell phones. Just the ultrasound scanner "might cost about $1,000, while a whole ultrasound machine with all the other components might be about $70,000," Rubinsky told LiveScience. "We could take medical imaging and possibly benefit the entire world."

Simply donating existing medical scanners to the world's poorest regions is not a viable, long-term solution, Rubinsky said.

"More than half of the medical equipment in developing countries is left unused or broken because it is too complicated or expensive to operate and repair," he explained. "We set out to develop something that locals could sustain on their own, as well as something that is relevant to local economies and technologies."

Broad implications

These portable scanners "could open up whole new avenues of health care for the developing world," Rubinsky said. "Health professionals in rural clinics could affordably get the tools they need to properly diagnose and treat their patients."

Although diagnosis and treatment of roughly one-fifth of all diseases can benefit from medical imaging, "this advancement has been out of reach for millions of people in the world because the equipment is too costly to maintain," Rubinsky said. "Our system would make imaging technology inexpensive and accessible for these underserved populations."

The scanners could have broad applications in the developed world, too, he said.

"Health professionals in rural clinics could affordably get the tools they need to properly diagnose and treat their patients," Rubinsky said. "If you had a car accident, you could put a cap on the hat of the victim in the ambulance, and before the ambulance even gets to the hospital, all the information can go through the cell phone, maybe to spot if that person has internal bleeding in their head."

http://www.livescience.com/technology/080430-cell-phone-medical.html

Hybrid Myths and Theories

2008-04-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all here is an article I found criticizing many of the supposed theories about hybrid and energy efficient cars. It doesn't necessarily claim that every fact you have heard is wrong, it simply puts into perspective what many of the numbers are behind the supposed efficient cars. Of course there are responses posted below by readers many of whom have hybrids themselves and they seem to think very highly of them. Thought it was an interesting article that had lots of information I didn't know as well as a contrasting point of view.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/cars-transportation/clean-car-myths-46011308

Some concerns about biofuel technology

2008-04-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here is an article that I found about some criticisms on biofuel technology (and some possible concerns about the long term effects of bio fuel technology if it was implemented in the future): http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/11/BAGDBOJ7U81.DTL
The article touches upon both the pros and cons of such a technology, and questions whether or not biofuel technology can end up being an enivornmental detriment (instead of being an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels).

Pros and Cons of Genetically Engineered Foods

2008-04-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

Here's an article from Science Magazine about genetically engineered rice: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5875/468. The article discusses the shortfalls of this technology, which inventors hoped would help solve problems caused by vitamin A deficiency. Genetically engineered foods have been the subject of a lot of social controversy, and this has hampered their acceptance into the mainstream food industry.

California's going Solar

2008-04-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

Southern California has been notorious in recent years for having large scale power outages during the hot summer months. In order to increase the state's power supply and decrease its output of pollutants, the state has developed a plan with 2 major companies to install 2 of the largest solar fields in the world (Link). At the completion of these two projects, the state of California will have increased its energy used from renewable resources to 20%.

Also, FedEx has teamed up with British Petroleum (Believe it or not) to install solar panels on the roofs of its California facilities (Link). The facility in Oakland generates 80% of its total consumed electricity from its rooftop solar panels. If more businesses follow the steps taken by FedEx, then the burning of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources that pollute the Earth will be diminished.

Red Necks Turn to Green

2008-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

This is an article I found on Sports Illustrated dot com. Its interesting to see how this industry is trying to reduce its carbon footprint. The whole sport really does put out quite a lot of pollution so its nice to see them try to improve the global situation.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/brant_james/04/23/nascar.green/index.html

Has U.S. Science Lost Its Competitive Edge?

2008-04-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

Interesting article from sciencenow.org discussing how American science initiatives are greatly lagging behind compared to other areas of the world. Speakers at a symposium in Washington yesterday discussed ways in which U.S. science programs could catch up, covering everything from increased funding to better training for math and science teachers across the country.

Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman astronaut, spoke at the symposium, arguing, "I feel that we're like Wile E. Coyote, chasing the roadrunner off the cliff and then looking around and realizing that there's no foundation under our feet." Most comments at the event were in response to the powerful 2005 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.

Eco-TV

2008-04-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Early this year, Philips Company, known for its motto "Simplicity in Healthcare, Lighting, and Consumer Lifestyle," released the Eco TV, an environmentally friendly television. Quirky as it may sound, the TV actually conserves energy while in standby mode, while most televisions consume excess amounts of energy. In addition, it has a back light that adjusts to "both the ambient light in the room and the content on the screen," according to the New York Times article where I found this information (scroll down to Eco TV). There is also a power-consumption monitor showing the owner how much the 42-inch LCD set is consuming . (That's right people, it's a really nice TV too!)

Here is a video of an interview of someone from Philips explaining how it works.

Here is a video of the TV winning an award from the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Association meeting in Las Vegas from January 7-10.

Enjoy! Doesn't this make you want a really nice quality, environmentally friendly TV?
Yeah...me too.

The Lorax

2008-04-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

And I know I was overeager already, but, just for fun, I thought I'd include a 1972 TV animation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. I remembered this from AP Enviro ... 4 years later ... (yeah, I'm a loser). There's also an awesome version of The Sneetches that was made for the same program [part one and part two - new window] (one of my other favorites of Dr. Seuss besides Fox in Socks - forgive me, I worked at a camp for 4-6 years last summer so these are all fresh in my memory).

Green Car Technology

2008-04-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

To go along with the green car technology, apparently a leading economist (Jeff Rubin of CIBC) has predicted that in four years, the price of gas will increase to an average of $7/gallon [new window]. For a video of him speaking about oil prices, the economics behind it, and the possible direction everyday transportation make turn to, you can also check out a video of him speaking on CNBC - although, if you do watch it, I warn you he speaks about America turning to Canadian fuel a lot ... because CIBC stands for "Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce". No coincidence there.

Speaking of green car technology, Treehugger.com also points out the death of a new Turbo-Diesel Hybrid engineered by Volkswagon - the company cited the high cost of production as a reason not to pursue this particular design (which, according to the article, reached 70 mi/gallon) - but they plan to scale back the design to something more... economical (something they make more profits from, in other words).

Also, just to continue my geekdom and overzealous post, the following is a Popular Mechanics review of the Aptera, an electric car that gets 120 mi/charge (and have, as they mention, a plan for a hybrid that will get 300 mi/gallon). It claims to be designed aerodynamically, but I'm definitely seeing a 2001: A Space Odyssey -esque design. Still - a lot prettier than the vague recollection I have of a horrendous yellow electric car my uncle owned in the 80s/early 90s.

Synthetic Fuels Corp with link

2008-04-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post the link properly: Glen Beck: U.S is Suicidal Superpower

Synthetic Fuels Corp

2008-04-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck is a pompous blow-hard and I don't usually agree with him. He brings up an interesting solution though about synthetic fuels. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/24/beck.oil.prices/

video trailer for Earth: The Sequel

2008-04-29T03:36:00.000-07:00

Today I will hand out a brief section of Earth: The Sequel, a new book by Environmental Defense Fund founder Fred Krupp.

Krupp argues that innovations in clean energy represent an economic opportunity vastly greater than the revolution in personal computers and the Internet. His book explores recent innovations in genetically engineered biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, and other new technologies.

For more about the confluence of new technologies and environmentalism, check out Break Through by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger.

Neuromancer

2008-04-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

So, it looks as though Neuromancer is about to become a movie. There's not much information about it right now, but according to IMDB, it stars Hayden Christiansen and is due out in 2009. Here's the link to the website.

2008-04-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

I realized I forgot to put up some electronic references when I changed my paper topic. Sorry for the delay, but here they are.

This is the scene from Jurassic Park in which they debate on the ethics of the technology developed in the park. Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern's characters are both fearful that man has gone to far and that the scientists are playing with things they do not fully understand.

This is an excerpt from George W. Bush's state of the union address in 2008. Bush argued against the use of embryonic stem cells for personal ethical reasons. He asked Congress not to pass any laws which allowed for the "unethical use of stem cells", including the cloning of human lfe, which many people see as the next step in the evolution of biotechnology.

Here is a link to an article published in Scientific American in March of 1997 in response to the cloning of Dolly the sheep. The author illustrates the infinite promise Dolly held for the scientific community, as well as the infinite controversy.

A Clone in Sheep's Cloning

"Steak without Cow": PETA to offer prize for "in-vitro" meat production

2008-04-22T12:59:00.001-07:00

Biotech meats Animal Rights. Here is the story, and comment, from the TheAtlantic.com

Trailer for Twelve Monkeys (1995)

2008-04-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

NY Times in 2005: "Celera to Quit Selling Genome Information"

2008-04-22T12:44:00.001-07:00

Here is the post-script to J. Craig Venter's competition with the Human Genome Project.

speaking of eugenics...

2008-04-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the website for The Genius Factory by David Plotz.

Tron, RoboCop, Ghostbusters: Sweded

2008-04-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, to go back to the opening scene we watched of TRON [new window], I thought I'd share a cardboard remake of it.

It was made in homage to Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, which is entirely about movies being remade on a budget - ie, 'sweding' them. Anyway, it's pretty awesome. Also, the movie includes a sweded RoboCop. [see below]

I also decided to include the sweded version of Ghostbusters, originally in the movie, for good fun. And because it features cutting-edge technology of a marshmallow man rampaging through New York in the vein of Godzilla.

TRON:

ROBOCOP:

GHOSTBUSTERS:

Haymarket Affair

2008-04-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Haymarket Affair was an event that captured the nation's attention in the final years of the 1880's. The following is an example of the kind of bomb which was thrown at the police unit attempting to break up the demonstration at Haymarket Square on the night of May 4th, 1886 in Chicago. The bomb wounded sixty officers and killed one, Mathias Degan.

In the trial that followed, eight men connected with anarchist and labor advocacy publications were tried and convicted as accessories to the murder of Degan. Their conviction largely hinged on evidence that they were the ideological heads of a general conspiracy to overthrow the existing social order. The only man of American birth among the convicted was Albert Parsons, who volunteered in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was connected to the mainstream labor advocacy union the Knights of Labor. Here is a picture of his wife, Lucy Parsons a woman of Native American, Mexican and Black ancestry who understandably petitioned strongly for her husband's pardon.

While there would be no pardon for Parsons, in 1893, the liberal Governor of Illinois, John Altgeld, did pardon three of the original eight defendants implicated in the Haymarket Affair. The following cartoon depicts one opinion that Altgeld had put the social order in harm's way by granting clemency to the anarchists.

Going back two classes ago...

2008-04-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the ad I mentioned about Apple computers. It is called "Lemmings" because every year creatures called lemmings commit a mass suicide by jumping off a cliff, following the first leader. No one understands why these colonies do so. Perhaps it is just "business as usual."

Paper Extension and Quiz

2008-04-16T03:56:00.001-07:00

I have decided to extend the due date for the Historical Methods Paper to Tuesday, April 22nd. I will return papers to students on the day of the Final Exam.

Also, I will be giving our third reading quiz on Thursday, April 24th.

Russia open monument to space dog Laika

2008-04-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

Finally getting the monument she deserves. I found this article today:

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 11, 1:58 PM ET

MOSCOW - Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.

The small monument is near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.

Little was known about the impact of space flight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched. Some believed they would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so Soviet space engineers viewed dogs' flights as a necessary precursor to human missions.

All dogs used in the Soviet space program were stray mongrel dogs — doctors believed they were able to adapt quicker to harsh conditions. All were small so they could fit into the tiny capsules.

The 2-year-old Laika was chosen for the flight just nine days before the launch.

Stories about how she was selected varied: Some said Laika was chosen for her good looks — a Soviet space pioneer had to be photogenic. Others indicated the top choice for the mission was dropped because doctors took pity on her: Since there was no way to design a re-entry vehicle in time for the launch, the flight meant a certain death.

"Laika was quiet and charming," Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote in his book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine. He recalled that before heading to the launch pad, he took the dog home to play with his children. "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live," Yazdovsky said.

The satellite that carried Laika into orbit was built in less than one month after the Soviet Union put the world's first artificial satellite into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957.

Due to last-minute technical problems, Laika had to wait for the launch in the cabin for three days. Temperatures were low, and workers heated the cockpit through a hose.

When Laika reached orbit, doctors found with relief that her heartbeat, which had risen on launch, and her blood pressure were normal. She ate specially prepared food from a container.

According to official Soviet reports, the dog was euthanized after a week.

After the Soviet collapse, participants in the project told the real story: Laika indeed was to be euthanized with a programmed injection, but she apparently died of overheating after only a few hours in orbit.

Several other dogs died in failed launches before the successful space flight — and safe return to Earth — of the dogs Belka and Strelka in August 1960.

After a few other flights with dogs, the Soviet Union put the world's first human — Yuri Gagarin — into space on April 12, 1961.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080411/ap_on_re_eu/russia_space_dog

Atomic Bomb culture

2008-04-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry, had a link wrong, had to re-post

http://www.atomicbombcinema.com/english/image_gallery/beginning/begin_end_intro.htm

Here's a link to a page about an early Film addressing Atomic issues, The Beginning or the End?

This is a great example of early Hollywood/pop culture responses to the atomic bomb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

This is the IMDB page from another classic atomic-era Hollywood film, Them!. This movie is about radioactive ants destroying the country. Reflects fears of radiation at the time.

Pictures of the movie cover are especially awesome.

http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/spinthariscopes/ring.htm

Here is a site about 'atomc bomb rings' for kids found in Kix cereal in the 40's. Shows how Americans tried to incorporate the bomb into everyday culture. Also would probably be a pretty sweet cereal box prize.

American Environmental Movement

2008-04-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

The following link is a time line of some of the major events of the environmental movement in the United States... Time Line

This is a National Geographic article from 2002 marking the 40th anniversary of Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" which is considered to be the starting point of the modern environmental movement.

The following is a video focusing on Gallup Poles that show the views of Americans towards the environmental movement as well as how much individual Americans are doing to help the environment.

Perspectives on Technology

2008-04-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

My paper investigates different social perspectives in regards to technological progress. To some, technology proved fascinating enough to spawn a speculative fiction genre. This blog keeps up to date with speculative fiction and includes an archive of older works: http://specfic.blogspot.com/

Others fostered concerns about the course of technological progress. During the development of nuclear power, supporters of atomic energy attempted to quell fears through propaganda films: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbB2EMOTunk

Technology has developed to a point where it simply can no longer be rationally avoided or feared. Here are Time magazine's picks for essential 20th century innovations: http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/tech_supp/tech_supp.html

One World: First Live Global TV Broadcast

2008-04-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

On June 25th, 1967 the BBC broadcast the first live global television program, featuring an in-studio performance by the Beatles. The song performed here was written specifically for this event.

Nuclear Ethics

2008-04-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

To tie in politics (and believe me, I'm not attempting to do an endorsement) with the nuclear arms race and the potential threat to human life, John McCain announced that he would work on disarmament if elected [new window].

Despite what some say about the man (especially in the wake of Toy Story), Randy Newman's "Political Science" manages to amuse me in that it's tongue in cheek about Nuclear ethics. Here's a video via youtube with the song set over some lovely images [new window]

And... just because it's a classic, as an added bonus, "End of the World" [explicit]:

Consumerism and Identity

2008-04-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

In my paper I will be exploring the connections between advertising and identity and comparing the real world example to Huxley's portrayal of identity in Brave New World. One of my secondary sources, The Conquest of Cool, describes different advertising campaigns from the 1960s and the ways these ads subverted convention.

Thomas Frank, the author, goes into great detail about the revolutionary advertising campaign for Volkswagen. DDB, Volkswagen's advertising firm employed a minimalist strategy which drew attention to the differences between a Volkswagen and the standard Detroit model of the 1950s and 60s. This particular ad shows the contrast between the consistent model years for Volkswagen and the ever changing models from the other major car companies.

Pepsi Cola also used an unorthodox technique to seek out new consumers. Interestingly, their advertising campaign of the early 1960s presupposed the youth revolt which occurred later in the decade, causing some to question the influence of advertising upon the actions taken by the young people. This ad is one of the first to use the "Pepsi Generation" slogan and "Come Alive" theme song.

Social Darwinism and Morality

2008-04-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

For my paper, I am writing about the different reactions to the ideas of social Darwinism, especially in the area of morals and religion. I am focusing on Caesar's column, as well as two non-fiction works on the topic by Robert Bannister and Richard Hofstadter.

This first article argues that the effects of social Darwinism are largely overstated by historians such as Hofstadter, and that Christian morality and economics made more of an impact on business life than social Darwinism. The article also mentions the anarchist Kropotkin, who we discussed briefly in class.

This second article discusses the social Darwinist tendencies of one of Donnelly's more widely-known contemporaries - Mark Twain. While many of Twain's early works have an optimistic tone, many of his later works take on a more pessimistic undertone emphasizing competition and struggle.

This cartoon clip shows Felix the Cat attempting to find a link between man and monkeys. Although created in 1920, after social Darwinism's popularity had largely faded and evolution was becoming more widely accepted, the cartoon still mocks the idea that man could descend from apes, while also emphasizing the role of struggle among the animal kingdom. In the clip, human society is placed upon the monkeys, reversing social Darwinism's attempt to apply animal practices to human society. In the end, it is the monkey who refuses to accept that he could possibly be related to man, rather than the other way around.

2008-04-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Populism in late nineteenth century America

2008-04-09T22:04:00.001-07:00

I am doing my paper on the impact of Populism in the late nineteenth century as pictured in Caesar's Column.

This link is an interesting look at the Wizard of Oz as a populist parable.

This political cartoon shows how the effects of major economic depressions on the individual laborer.

This political cartoon shows how the banking system was holding down the poor farmers, who had no choice but to revolt in response.

Technology in the modern era: Utopia or Dystopia?

2008-04-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

So while researching information (mostly background stuff), I came across a few interesting articles related to my paper topic.

Technology Today: Utopia or Dystopia? – Technology and the Rest of Culture
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_n3_v64/ai_19952021/pg_1

Reproductive Technology: Utopia or Nemesis?
http://www.dhushara.com/paradoxhtm/reprod.htm

Korea’s High-Tech Utopia, Where Everything is Observed
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/technology/techspecial/05oconnell.html

All of them give an interesting insight into the effects of technology in modern culture (and the effects that future technology, if pursued vigorously, will have on society in the years to come). Most specifically the authors of each provide a view, either positive and negative, on how technology today can be either a tool or detriment to society. In particular, the last article about proposed building of Korea's High Tech Utopia is a short, but facinating read. It briefly gives an outline of all the high technology that would be implemented in this futuristic city, eerily bringing to mind a technological utopia not that far off from the one found in Ralph 12 4C 41+.

Defining Limits of Humanity

2008-04-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

As society becomes increasingly intertwined with technology, we are forced to consider whether such technological advances are beneficial or detrimental to our culture. Aldous Huxley argues in his novel Ape and Essence that technological developments are leading to the destruction of our society, and that through these innovations, humans are denying their natural existences in favor of accomplishing greater, seemingly impossible feats. In my paper, I'll be investigating the importance of setting limits on what humans should achieve, focusing on an era in modern society in which humans seem to be able to conquer all aspects of nature, manipulating nature to serve its needs.

This link features an interview with Aldous Huxley in which he discusses the relationship between science and humanity and argues that the two need to be intrinsically linked for the survival of humankind.

This is a video discussing the nature of war in modern society and arguing for the necessity of peace.

This is a product I stumbled upon while researching reactions to the development of nuclear weapons. I found the product fascinating as it highlights the acknowledgment of the inability for humans to effectively control modern technologies.

The Consumer's Sublime

2008-04-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Based on the introduction of the consumer's sublime in Hugo Gernsback's Ralph124c41+, I will be exploring the consumer's sublime based on two major sources of consumerism today: Walt Disney World (and the Disney Corporation) and Las Vegas, NV. While David E. Nye condemns these for being entertainment for entertainment's sake without any other value whatsoever, I will be arguing that the consumer's sublime is not so. Rather, the two popular vacation destinations provide elements of many other forms of the technological sublime mentioned in his American Technological Sublime. Also, I will exploring these themes through Jean Beaudrillard's theory in Simulacra and Simulation.

First here is a video of Walt Disney World's Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom Park. It is a replication of the 1940s(ish) New Orleans, (scaled down 1/3, including all buildings), bringing consumers back to a time of nostalgia and more carefree attitude. Behind all these facades are shops galore, as seen in the last bits of the video. (Really people, watch it, Disney makes people happy :))

Here is the main excerpt I will be focusing on in Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. Please scroll down to Hyperreal and Imagery. It talks about Disneyland and how it is trying to replicate reality, by doing so it discards the real world we live in, trying to replace it. It is very interesting (and a short read!)

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Baudrillard/Baudrillard_Simulacra.html

Here is a video of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where there is the facade of the Great Roman Empire. However, all it houses are high end designer stores and replications of sculptures that once inspired awe. (Still really pretty though! Enjoy!)

Life Under the Atomic Cloud

2008-04-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

Looking into the culture of the atomic age I came across a few very interesting websites...

Conelrad - a website dedicated to all things atomic, with links to all kinds of articles and pictures about the era.

Academic Info - A website which contains information regarding the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Also, here is a link to a video portraying the culture which surrounded the beginning of the cold war and the fears of a nuclear strike by our enemies

JYL

Apollo 8 Genesis reading

2008-04-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Apollo I, Challenger, and Columbia tragedies

2008-04-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

A student asked today about casualties of the U.S. space program. This site has some excellent information on the subject.

City Life In The 1900s

2008-04-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

In his 1890 novel Caesar’s Column, Ignatius Donnelly presents his futuristic vision of New York City set in the year 1988. Though Donnelly’s novel describes a time one hundred years into the future, it was written during a period of great change in America as achievements in technology, industrialization, and an expanding population led to the growth of the American city and provided new challenges for living and working.

http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/skyscraperhistory.html

http://www.livingcityarchive.org/htm/framesets/decades/fs_00s.htm

War Games

2008-04-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

I found the 'climactic' scene (it's kind of cheesy, but what can you do) from the movie War Games we mentioned in class. In the movie, Matthew Broderick's character accidentally hacks what he thinks is just an average computer but turns out to be a top secret military computer. He then accidentally begins a nuclear battle between the US and the USSR (oops). In this scene, the computer (I think his name is Joshua) learns through a serious of games of tic-tack-toe that the only way to win a nuclear war is not to play at all.

Fear of and Optimism for Technology in Early 1900's

2008-04-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.sfcanada.ca/fall99/prophecies.htm
Details the predictions Science Fiction writers such as Gernsback made and continue to make in the present. These writers shaped their predictions using currently known scientific fact. Some were so accurate, the writers were followed by the FBI.

http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/cold_war/topics/274/
This CBC Television report examines the power of nuclear weapons and one couple's view on the prospect of capitulating to the 'godless Russians.'

http://www.genealogy.com/76_life1900.html
A brief look at the attitudes of people living in the early 1900's, emerging technology, economic conditions.

The effect of weapons of mass destruction

2008-04-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

I'll be comparing the fictional use of weapons in Caesar's Column with the reality of atomic war.

Archive.org (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=atomic%20bomb) has a lot of great video footage of bombs being tested.

Atomic Archive.com (http://www.atomicarchive.com/index.shtml) has practically everything I ever want and need to know about atomic weapons.

Radiation Effects (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Effects/radeffects.shtml) I want to also compare the injuries of the people in the text to real life.

Technocracy

2008-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Check out two parts to a video from Technocracy Inc., an organization which centers around the idea of a social system based on technology and run by scientists. There are a ton of videos in the series, here are the two links:

Part One - http://youtube.com/watch?v=I9ps5vJrIxM
Part Two - http://youtube.com/watch?v=icPOfVeISi8&feature=related

The Technocracy website from Vancouver also gives a great glimpse into what Technocracy stands for. Here is a link to the FAQ page, a good place to start - http://www.technocracyvan.ca/faq.html

Information on the history of technocracy can be found at their main website. Here, I've linked to a page which describes the foundation's history back to 1921.
http://www.technocracy.org/origins-1.htm

A Brave New World and Technocracy

2008-04-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Below is a link for an article published in TIME Magazine on Dec. 26, 1932 about Howard Scott, one of the founders of the Technocracy Movement. It provides a brief summary of the objectives and methods for reform proposed by the Technocrats.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744852-3,00.html

The following link is for the complete text of JBS Haldane's book Daedalus, or Science and the Future, which influenced Huxley's novel Brave New World. Haldane, a British geneticist and evolutionary biologist, discusses the idea of human-controlled evolution, including directed mutation and ectogenesis, in this text.

http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Daedalus.html

The final link is a video of Aldous Huxley discussing A Brave New World and 1984. In the video he explains how totalitarian regimes will be able to subjugate people through non-violent means in the future.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=S7_YFKyhQMI

Tarzan of the Apes

2008-04-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan with the sense of his own desire for wilderness and uniqueness. At the time Burroughs noticed the growing congruity among men and he wanted to make a man separate from society which represented all the traits a man should have. This is the film version of Burroughs novel and was considered quite a good film at the time.

http://www.archive.org/details/TarzanoftheApes1918AndyDivx

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

2008-04-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

This is a excerpt from one of the earliest Superman comics created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This comic shows how these two young Americans from the mid twentieth century forsee the perfect man and especially their own questions about what that term means.

http://ia341219.us.archive.org/3/items/DraftSupermanWeeklies/Superman.pdf

The First "Perfect" Man

2008-04-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is a link to an original piece of work written by body builder Sandow who lived during the early twentieth century. He was one of the first body builders of his time and he was idolized for his "perfect body". He is just one example of how man and society have been searching to define the term perfect for decades. He is just one example of this idealization along with men like Houdini, Tarzan, and Superman.

http://www.openlibrary.org/details/sandowgetsphysicl00sanduoft

Alan M. Turing

2008-04-07T01:37:00.000-07:00

Considered the most important pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Turing's 1950 article entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence from Mind magazine is the first example of a philosophical inquiry into the possibility of designing a machine that could emulate the thinking process of humans. In addition to the article, I'm including a link to a Turing page that contains links to a lot of documents, audio, and video recordings of him and his work on A.I.

http://www.turing.org.uk/

"Expert System" Practicing Law?

2008-04-07T01:32:00.001-07:00

A Wired.com story about an "Expert System" designed by Henry Iherjirika that received input from customers about income, debt, etc. and issued a complete set of bankruptcy filings for them. The short of it is that this system was deemed to be making too many decisions to be a tool, and instead was charged with giving legal advice without a license.

AI Cited for Unlicensed Practice of Law

Thinking Big: Robotics in the 21st Century

2008-04-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

This is a video and transcript of an interview between WGBH's (Boston PBS) Lisa Mullins and James McLurkin, an engineer at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab discussing some of the issues, practical and theoretical, associated with A.I. development.

Video
Transcript

Atomic Compilation

2008-04-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

This video is a compilation of atomic bomb tests.

Atomic Test Compilation - Celebrity bloopers here

The Bomb Project

2008-04-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

The Bomb Project is a website full of information about the bomb, nuclear accidents, atomic art, etc. This is a great resource for just about any topic having to do with the a-bomb. I set the link to the popular culture page. American, British, and Japanese films and television shows are listed on the page.

Atomic Films

2008-04-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am looking at atomic culture through film and literature. This site has a number of different movie posters of atomic films.

Enjoy

Blog Assignment II: Post 3 links related to your paper topic

2008-04-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Between now and next Thursday (April 10), find three links (to a relevant article, blog, video, etc.) that are related to your paper topic and post them on this blog. As you may rememember from our blog tutorial in January, www.archive.org is an excellent source for historical materials, including video clips.

Satellites, Cosmonauts, and Astronauts

2008-04-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

U.S. Newsreel on Sputnik launch downplays Cold War angle and calls Sputnik "one of the great scientific feats of the age."

Here's a color video of several early Soviet launches, including Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 (Laika's mission).

Here's a video of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's 1961 launch.

Ten months later, NASA launches John Glenn into orbit.

This video is a 1968 educational film (brought to you by Kodak) that profiles Robert Goddard and highlights contemporary model rocket clubs. (despite its posted title, there's nothing here about John Glenn).

Godzilla and the Bomb

2008-03-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a 2005 New York Time piece by Brent Staples on the story behind the Japanese film Gojira, and how it was re-worked into to American "Godzilla, King of the Monsters"

an excerpt:

Film directors who once stood helpless while studios recut their movies can now console themselves with "directors' cuts" put out on DVD. This option was not available to the influential Japanese director Ishiro Honda, whose 1954 classic "Godzilla" - known in Japan as "Gojira" - made a household name of the towering reptile who stomped a miniature Tokyo into the ground while raking the landscape with his fiery thermonuclear breath.

A fire-breathing reptile is pretty much the same in any language. But the butchered version of the film that swept the world after release in the United States was stripped of the political subtext - and the anti-American, antinuclear messages - that had saturated the original. The uncut version of the film is due out on home video early next year, and should push serious Godzilla fans to rethink the 50-year evolution of the series. It should also show them that they were hoodwinked by the denatured Americanized version that dominated many of their childhoods in the late 20th century. At the same time, Godzilla fans are on the edge of their seats about a new film that should be released in the United States soon.

The original "Gojira" was never intended as a conventional monster-on-the-loose movie. Nor did it resemble the farcical rubber-suit wrestling matches or the domesticated movies (with Godzilla cast as a mammoth household pet) that the series degenerated into during the 1960's and 70's.

As the historian William Tsutsui reminded us in last year's cult classic, "Godzilla on My Mind," the 1954 movie was a dark, poetic production that dealt openly with Japanese misgivings about the nuclear menace, environmental degradation and the traumatic experience associated with World War II.

The nuclear annihilations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still fresh in mind when the famous Toho Company embarked on the "Gojira" project in 1954. But Japanese fear of nuclear catastrophe was given fresh impetus in the spring of that year, when the United States detonated a huge hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll in the central Pacific. Japanese fishermen aboard a trawler were exposed to nuclear fallout. Japanese consumers panicked and declined to eat fish after irradiated tuna was found to have slipped into the nation's food supply.

In the film, the H-bomb blast awakens and irradiates a dinosaur that has somehow escaped extinction. The reptile strides ashore and begins his trademark devastation of the Tokyo landscape. The nuclear antecedents were not at all lost on Honda, a World War II veteran who passed through the bombed-out city of Hiroshima and witnessed the damage firsthand. Honda later said that he envisioned the fiery breath of Godzilla as a way of "making radiation visible," and of showing the world that nuclear power could never be tamed.

He also told an interviewer: "Believe it or not, we naïvely hoped that the end of Godzilla was going to coincide with the end of nuclear testing."

That was clearly a tall order for a monster movie. But Honda's message never had a chance because most of the world never received it. The American company that bought the rights to distribute the film in this country cut a large chunk from Honda's original film and rearranged the plot. . . .

Clothing of the Future

2008-03-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Bizarre video from the 1930's on predictions for future fashion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9eAiy0IGBI

1939 World's Fair

2008-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here are two video shorts from the 1939 World's Fair in NYC:

Part One

Part Two

Brave New World 1956 CBS radio play

2008-03-19T04:36:00.001-07:00

Here is an audio file of the 1956 CBS radio play of Brave New World, narrated by Aldous Huxley. Here is the recent Los Angeles Times article indicating that the upcoming film version of the novel will be directed by Ridley Scott. As I said in class, you may use this novel as a primary source in your historical methods paper.

Prospectus

2008-03-17T12:46:00.001-07:00

A few students have asked me to elaborate on what's expected for the prospectus this week, and this is the answer that I've given them:

Your main goal is to analyze an issue raised by one of the primary sources and to compare and evaluate how two different historians address that issue. For instance, if you started w/ Donnelly's Caesar's Column, your topic might be Victorian responses to the social dislocations caused by the industrial revolution. For your two secondary sources you might use John Kasson's Civilizing the Machine and Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden. You would likely start with a discussion of the issues raised by your primary source (Donnelly) and then compare the methods and perspectives that Kasson and Nye bring to bear upon those issues. In your comparison of their perspectives, you would ideally reveal something of your own perspective, e.g. Kasson's right and Marx is wrong, or vice versa, or they're both wrong, etc. Another example of this might be Ralph 124C41+ and comparison of two books on consumerism or technological utopianism; or Ape and Essence and a comparison of two books on cultural responses to the advent of nuclear weapons; or Neuromancer and a comparison of two books on the growth and impact of the Internet. In any of these cases, the bulk of your paper would be a comparison of your secondary sources, but your primary source would establish and illustrate the basic issues that those secondary sources address. This is an unconventional assignment for a 300 level course, so I'm asking people to produce a prospectus now in order to get these questions on the table early. The prospectus won't be graded, but it should give me a fairly clear idea of what sources you intend to use and why.

Reminder: Paper Prospectus due in class on 3/18

2008-03-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

HISTORICAL METHODS PAPER: All students will be required to write a 12-15 pg. paper (approx. 3000 to 3750 words) that analyzes the approach of two different historians to a single historical subject. One of the books used for this paper should be a primary source from the course syllabus, while the other two books should be works of historical analysis that relate directly to the issues raised by that primary source. As these secondary sources are yours to choose, they may or may not come from the list of course readings. A 1-2 pg Prospectus (including a completed bibliography of sources) for this paper will be due in class on 3/18 and the paper itself will be due on 4/17.

Remember, your primary source options are:

Donnelly, Ignatius. Caesar's Column

Gernsback, Hugo. Ralph 124C41+

Huxley, Aldous. Ape and Essence

Gibson, William. Neuromancer

The Birth of the Comic Book

2008-03-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones provides some excellent background on Hugo Gernsback, science fiction "fandom", and the birth of the comic book.

Lego Steam Man

2008-03-05T21:04:00.001-08:00

Bids You Good Luck on the Exam Tomorrow

Midterm Review: Terms and Themes

2008-03-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

TERMS:

Icarus

Babel

Prospero

The New Atlantis

Monticello

The Age of Reason

"Report on Manufactures"

F. C. Lowell

"The Celestial Railroad"

The Market Revolution

"What hath God wrought?"

Vicksburg

The Eads Bridge

"The Brick Moon"

Haymarket

Prince Cabano

Chicago, 1893

"The Dynamo and the Virgin"

Modern Electrics

The Armory Show

"Scientifiction"

RADAR

Fritz Lange

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

THEMES:

Religion, science, and technology in American culture from the age of Deism to the age of Social Darwinism.

Differing portrayals of race, class, and gender in Donnelly's Caesar's Column, Gernsback's Ralph 124C4+ and Fritz Lange's Metropolis (consider our discussion of both the German and U.S. versions of this film).

The Natural and the Technological Sublime in nineteenth century American culture.

The "consumer's sublime" as described by David E. Nye and depicted in the work of Gernsback and Donnelly.

Fritz Lang's Metropolis

2008-02-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a timeline of the production and release of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, in both Europe and the U.S. Notice that those dancing scenes got the film banned in Turkey.

Here is a detailed review linking Metropolis to the cyberpunk SF genre.

Here is a plot synopsis from IMDB:

The film is set in the year 2026, in the extraordinary Gothic skyscrapers of a corporate city-state, the Metropolis of the title. Society has been divided into two rigid groups: one of planners or thinkers, who live high above the earth in luxury, and another of workers who live underground toiling to sustain the lives of the privileged. The city is run by Johann 'Joh' Fredersen (Alfred Abel).

The beautiful and evangelical figure Maria (Brigitte Helm) takes up the cause of the workers. She advises the desperate workers not to start a revolution, and instead wait for the arrival of "The Mediator", who, she says, will unite the two halves of society. The son of Fredersen, Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), becomes infatuated with Maria, and follows her down into the working underworld. In the underworld, he experiences firsthand the toiling lifestyle of the workers, and observes the casual attitude of their employers (he is disgusted after seeing an explosion at the "M-Machine", when the employers bring in new workers to keep the machine running before taking care of the men wounded or killed in the accident). Shocked at the workers' living conditions, he joins her cause.

Meanwhile his father Fredersen consults with the scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), an old companion and rival. Fredersen learns that the papers found with dead workers are plans of the catacombs and witnesses a speech by Maria. He also learns that Rotwang has built a robotic gynoid. Rotwang wants to give the robot the appearance of Hel, his former lover who left him for Fredersen and died giving birth to Freder. Fredersen persuades him to give the robot Maria's appearance, as he wants to use the robot to tighten his control over the workers. Rotwang complies out of ulterior motives: he knows of Freder's and Maria's love and wants to use the robot to deprive Fredersen of his son.

The real Maria is imprisoned in Rotwang's house in Metropolis, while the robot Maria is first showcast as an exotic dancer in the upper city's Yoshiwara nightclub, fomenting discord among the rich young men of Metropolis. After descending to the worker's city, the robot Maria encourages the workers into a full-scale rebellion, and they destroy the "Heart Machine", the power station of the city. Neither Freder nor Grot, the foreman of the Heart Machine, can stop them. As the machine is destroyed, the city's reservoirs overflow, flooding the workers' underground city and seemingly drowning the children, who were left behind in the riot. In fact, Freder and Maria have saved them in a heroic rescue, without the workers' knowledge.

When the workers realize the damage they have done and that their children are lost, they attack the upper city. Under the leadership of Grot, they chase the human Maria, whom they hold responsible for their riot. As they break into the city's entertainment district, they run into the Yoshiwara crowd and capture the robot Maria, while the human Maria manages to escape. The workers burn the captured Maria at the stake; Freder, believing this to be the human Maria, despairs but then he and the workers realize that the burned Maria is in fact a robot.

Meanwhile, the human Maria is chased by Rotwang along the battlements of the city's cathedral. Freder chases after Rotwang, resulting in a climactic scene in which Joh Fredersen watches in terror as his son struggles with Rotwang on the cathedral's roof. Rotwang falls to his death, and Maria and Freder return to the street, where Freder unites Fredersen and Grot, fulfilling his role as the "Mediator".

Hugo Gernsback, author of Ralph 124C41+

2008-02-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a concise and informative article on the early career of Hugo Gernsback. And here's a Time magazine profile from 1944.

Background on the Haymarket Affair

2008-02-22T07:15:00.001-08:00

This short article on the website of the Chicago Public Library provides some excellent background on the Haymarket Affair---an event which clearly inspired many of the themes in Caesar's Column. Here's an excerpt:

Through much of the 1870's and 1880's Chicago was a leading center of labor activism and radical thought. Early in 1886 labor unions were beginning a movement for an eight-hour day. Union activists called a one day general strike in Chicago. On May 1 many Chicago workers struck for shorter hours. An active group of radicals and anarchists became involved in the campaign. Two days later a shooting and one death occurred during a riot at the McCormick Reaper plant when police tangled with the strikers.

On May 4 events reached a tragic climax at Haymarket Square, an open market near Des Plaines Ave. and Randolph St., where a protest meeting was called to denounce the events of the preceding day at the McCormick Works. Speakers exhorted the crowd from a wagon which was used for a makeshift stage. Mayor Carter Harrison joined the crowd briefly, then left, believing everything was orderly. Toward the end of this meeting, while police were undertaking to disperse the crowd, a bomb was exploded. Policeman Mathias J. Degan died almost instantly and seven other officers died later.

The following day, under the direction of State's Attorney Julius Grinnel, police began a fierce roundup of radicals, agitators and labor leaders, siezing records and closing socialist and labor press offices. Eight men were finally brought to trial for conspiracy.

Despite the fact that the bomb thrower was never identified, and none of these eight could be connected with the crime, Judge Joseph E. Gary imposed the death sentence on seven of them and the eighth was given fifteen years in prison.

Midterm: 3/6

2008-02-14T12:00:00.001-08:00

Please ignore my earlier post here re: the Midterm Exam. It will happen, as per the syllabus, on March 6th.

Nosferatu

2008-02-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

One of the first movies to truly terrify audiences, Nosferatu. In 2000 Shadow of the Vampire was made about the filming of the movie Nosferatu, originally released in 1922. The film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu is still a cult hit and movie theaters around the country (and probably abroad) play the film for scary movie buffs and vampire fans. The website in the link above has a good background of the film as well as other historical and cultural ties.

Chronological Look at the Development of the Brooklyn Bridge

2008-02-14T11:42:00.001-08:00

This text is a time line that describes the process behind the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. It describes in detail some of the hardships and the actual plans that went into the development of this national landmark. There are also several pictures that display its awesome nature and sublime qualities.

Brooklyn Bridge

Dime Novels and The Steam Man

2008-02-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

Here's part of a page talking about Dime novels and the Steam Man and his many incarnations, such as the later electrical man. It has links to similar pages in the same site for the Frank Reade Chronicles and other such things, robots, etc. It shows how this is an early form of Science Fiction.

http://www.bigredhair.com/steamman/index.html

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

2008-02-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the full text of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900 as a children's book. The book is also considered by some to be an allegory for the political and social conditions of American society during the late 19th century. Henry M. Littlefield wrote an article entitled "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism" to investigate into this accusations of a subtext to Baum's novel. It is interesting to see such a popular and well-know story in a different and darker light.

The Birth of Air Travel

2008-02-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Early in the 1900's traveling by air still seemed inconceivable to most Americans. Air ships and balloons were just coming into their own at the time and with the new technology came a newly found fascination with flying. As an attempt to explore a new means of transport people naturally were curious about how such large machines could seem lighter than air. The link posted below shows some original photos as well as brochures for passenger travel in a zeppelin. Since ships had been around for hundreds of years prior to this there was a yearning for a new technology and a way to branch out into previously unexplored areas.
http://www.airships.net/

Nature, Technology and the Sublime

2008-02-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

This intriguing article discusses the progress of the natural and technological sublime. Specifically, it compares the concepts of beauty and the aesthetic with America's feeling of awe in regards to rapidly changing technologies.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/nature.html

establishing the sublime to retain aesthetic coherence

2008-02-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

This article discusses the idea of viewing the sublime. The article raises the question regarding our perception to modernity as a facet used to view the sublime. Through an investigation that includes arguments from critics like Kant, the connection can be made that viewing the sublime is related to one's perception of the world around them.

Skyscrapers and the Sublime

2008-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
Here is an article I found on Jstor that discusses skyscrapers as a part of the technological sublime:

http://www.jstor.org/view/00379808/ap030046/03a00020/1?searchUrl=http%3a//www.jstor.org/search/BasicResults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26gw%3djtx%26jtxsi%3d1%26jcpsi%3d1%26artsi%3d1%26Query%3dskyscrapers%2bsublime%26wc%3don&frame=noframe&currentResult=00379808%2bap030046%2b03a00020%2b0%2cFE7F&userID=80c596b6@bu.edu/01c0a84872df15118196f9838&dpi=3&config=jstor

It goes into further detail of Burke's points about skyscrapers reflecting "infinity" and the overwhelming sense of height that contributes to the feeling of the sublime.

Also it discusses how technological advances (skyscrapers) have both aesthetic and practical purposes-a balance we talked about in class.

-Anna

The Golem, the Jewish Frankenstein

2008-02-14T11:31:00.001-08:00

Article on The Golem

The Golem is a Jewish folktale about a clay man that comes to life when a scroll of prayers is put on his heart. The Golem must do the what its master says, but of course, things go wrong. There is a copy of the film somewhere on campus if anyone is interested in seeing it, I watched it in another history class last semester. It is a great film to watch for not only the science fiction aspect of it, but also the social climate and antisemitism of the time period in which it was made.

The Beautiful and the Sublime

2008-02-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

I found this article very interesting. In particular, it discusses Gilbert-Rolfe's theory that the sublime cannot exist today in nature. Instead, it can only be found in technology, as technology is "limited and yet to be apprehended", while nature is "finite". I don't know if I agree, but I guess the beauty of reading is discovering a new perspective on the world around you.

The Home Insurance Skyscraper

2008-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

The first skyscraper with a skeleton of steel soars -- to nine stories.

Engineered by William LeBaron Jenney the Home Insurance Building in Chicago was the first tall building to be supported by a metal skeleton of vertical columns and horizontal beams and is considered the first skyscraper in the world. Jenney discovered that thin pieces of steel could support a tall building as well as thick stone walls could. The steel necessary to carry Jenney's 9-story building weighed only one-third as much as a 9-story building made of heavy masonry. Since the steel skeleton supported the weight of the entire building and the exterior wall was really just a skin to keep out the weather, the Home Insurance Building was the first tall building to have many windows. Jenney’s steel frame brought floor space and windows to the structure we now know as the modern skyscraper. During construction, people were so worried that Jenney’s building would fall down that the city halted construction to investigate the structure’s safety.

The Machine in the Garden

2008-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from Leo Marx's Machine in the Garden:

http://www.jstor.org/view/00284866/ap020116/02a00020/0?currentResult=00284866%2bap020116%2b02a00020%2b0%2cFEFF&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26gw%3Djtx%26jtxsi%3D1%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3DNathaniel%2BHawthorne%2BTechnology%26wc%3Don

Found this to be an interesting snippit of Marx's writing. It briefly (16 pages) covers how classical American authors such as Hawthorne and Emerson, responded to American industrialization (and how it had subsequent effects on their writings).