Read Mary Somerville's book, Mechanism of the Heavens, free from malaspina.org.
Mary Somerville
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Archives
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Mary Somerville (December 26, 1780 – November 28, 1872) was a Scottish science writer and polymath, at a time when women's participation in science was discouraged.
Read Mary Somerville's book, Mechanism of the Heavens, free from malaspina.org.
Mary Somerville
Read Mary Somerville's book, Mechanism of the Heavens, free from malaspina.org.
Mary Somerville
Sunday, December 24, 2006
John Muir (April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914) was one of the earliest modern preservationists. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, were read by millions and are still popular today. His direct activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. But more than that his vision of nature's value for its own sake and for its spiritual, not just practical, benefits to humankind helped to change the way we look at the natural world.
Read The Mountains of California by John Muir one of seven of his books available free from Project Gutenberg.
John Muir
Read The Mountains of California by John Muir one of seven of his books available free from Project Gutenberg.
John Muir
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Saturday, December 23, 2006
Born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, Louisiana, the first member of her family born free, she was raised on farms there and in Mississippi and started out by picking cotton on a plantation. She was orphaned at age seven, married at age fourteen (to a man named Moses McWilliams) and widowed at twenty, at which point she moved to St. Louis, joining her brothers. Sarah worked as a laundress for as little as a dollar and a half a day, but she was able to save enough to educate her daughter.
Listen to author A'lelia Bundles discuss her book,On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, streaming in RealAudio format, free from National Public Radio.
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Friday, December 22, 2006
Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet, who won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.
Read Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson, one of three of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.
Edward Arlington Robinson
Read Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson, one of three of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.
Edward Arlington Robinson
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Monday, December 18, 2006
Ossie Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an African American film actor, director and social activist.
Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis in Cogdell, Georgia. Following his parents' wishes, he attended Howard University, graduating in 1938. His acting career, which spanned seven decades, began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. He made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out.
Read Ossie Davis' Eulogy for Malcolm X, free from malcolmx.org
Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis in Cogdell, Georgia. Following his parents' wishes, he attended Howard University, graduating in 1938. His acting career, which spanned seven decades, began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. He made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out.
Read Ossie Davis' Eulogy for Malcolm X, free from malcolmx.org
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Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 December 1778 – 29 May 1829), often incorrectly spelled Humphrey, was an esteemed English chemist and physicist. He was born in Penzance, Cornwall, and his brother, John Davy was also a noted chemist.
Read Consolations in Travel by Sir Humphry Davy, free from Project Gutenberg.
Sir Humphry Davy
Read Consolations in Travel by Sir Humphry Davy, free from Project Gutenberg.
Sir Humphry Davy
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Saturday, December 16, 2006
Olavo Braz Martins dos Guimarães Bilac (December 16, 1865 – December 28, 1918) was a Brazilian poet of the Parnassian school.
Considered one of the greatest poets ever to write in Portuguese, Bilac was a master at sculpting verses with carefully measured metre and rhythm while at the same time protecting them from appearing artificial. His poems look natural and inspired even though they were carefully crafted for balanced shape and rhyme.
Read Olavo Bilac's poem, "Música brasileira," in Portugese and English.
Olavo Bilac
Considered one of the greatest poets ever to write in Portuguese, Bilac was a master at sculpting verses with carefully measured metre and rhythm while at the same time protecting them from appearing artificial. His poems look natural and inspired even though they were carefully crafted for balanced shape and rhyme.
Read Olavo Bilac's poem, "Música brasileira," in Portugese and English.
Olavo Bilac
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Friday, December 15, 2006
Betty Smith (b. Elisabeth Wehner on December 15, 1896 - d. 1972), was an American author, born in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrants. She grew up poor in Williamsburg. These experiences served as the framework to her first novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which was published in 1943.
Read more about Betty Smith and her work at the A Tree Grows in Brooklyn online dissertation by Carol Siri Johnson website.
Betty Smith
Read more about Betty Smith and her work at the A Tree Grows in Brooklyn online dissertation by Carol Siri Johnson website.
Betty Smith
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Thursday, December 14, 2006
Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897–May 29, 1995) was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the U.S. Presidency at a major party's convention (1964 Republican Convention, won by Barry Goldwater). She was a moderate Republican and might be termed a Rockefeller Republican.
Read Margaret Chase Smith's Declaration of Conscience condemning the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, free from the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith's Center for Public Policy.
Margaret Chase Smith
Read Margaret Chase Smith's Declaration of Conscience condemning the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, free from the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith's Center for Public Policy.
Margaret Chase Smith
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Moses ben Maimon, more commonly known as Maimonides, was a Spanish-born Jewish rabbi and philosopher, one of the greatest Hebrew scholars.
He is thought to have been born on March 30, 1138 and died on December 13, 1204.
Read more about Maimonides from the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Moses ben Maimon
He is thought to have been born on March 30, 1138 and died on December 13, 1204.
Read more about Maimonides from the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Moses ben Maimon
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Tuesday, December 12, 2006
William Lloyd Garrison (December 12, 1805–May 24, 1879) was a prominent United States abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Read William Lloyd Garrison's essay "On the Constitution and the Union," from The Liberator and originally published in 1832, free from fair-use.org.
William Lloyd Garrison
Read William Lloyd Garrison's essay "On the Constitution and the Union," from The Liberator and originally published in 1832, free from fair-use.org.
William Lloyd Garrison
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Monday, December 11, 2006
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia December 11, 1882–September 20, 1947) was the Republican Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945. He was popularly known as "the Little Flower," the translation of his Italian first name, also perhaps a reference to his short stature of just 5 feet. A popular mayor and a strong supporter of the New Deal, LaGuardia led New York's recovery during the Great Depression and became a national figure, serving as President Roosevelt's Director of Civilian Defense during the run-up to the United States joining the Second World War.
Watch a film about the 1945 New York newspaper strike, in which LaGuardia reads the daily comics, streaming free from the Internet Archive.
Fiorello LaGuardia
Watch a film about the 1945 New York newspaper strike, in which LaGuardia reads the daily comics, streaming free from the Internet Archive.
Fiorello LaGuardia
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Sunday, December 10, 2006
Edward Eggleston (December 10, 1837 - September 4, 1902) was an American historian and novelist.
Born at Vevay, Indiana, he became a Methodist minister. He wrote a number of tales, some of which, especially the "Hoosier" series, attracted much attention. Among these are The Hoosier Schoolmaster, The Hoosier Schoolboy, The End of the World, The Faith Doctor, Queer Stories for Boys and Girls, and others.
Read The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleston, one of six of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.
Born at Vevay, Indiana, he became a Methodist minister. He wrote a number of tales, some of which, especially the "Hoosier" series, attracted much attention. Among these are The Hoosier Schoolmaster, The Hoosier Schoolboy, The End of the World, The Faith Doctor, Queer Stories for Boys and Girls, and others.
Read The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleston, one of six of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
By Dorothy Rich (MCT)
Let's start with a hard truth. When it comes to education, there is no one panacea, no magic answer for the many different teachers and students in our many different classrooms.
Let's start with a hard truth. When it comes to education, there is no one panacea, no magic answer for the many different teachers and students in our many different classrooms.
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Dolores Ibárruri Gómez, also known as La Pasionaria (the passion flower) (December 9, 1895–November 12, 1989) was a Spanish political leader. She was Secretary General of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) (1944–1960), President of the Communist Party of Spain (1960–1989), and a member of the Cortes (1936 and 1977–1979).
Read more about Dolores Ibarruri and excerpts from her work and works about her, free from spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
Dolores Ibarruri
Read more about Dolores Ibarruri and excerpts from her work and works about her, free from spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
Dolores Ibarruri
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Friday, December 08, 2006
From wikipedia:
John Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon, October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founder of The Beatles. He and fellow-Beatle Paul McCartney formed the massively successful Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership throughout the 1960s, writing songs for The Beatles and other artists to record.
Visit the official John Lennon website.
Watch a middle school pianist's performance of John Lennon's song "Eleanor Rigby."
John Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon, October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founder of The Beatles. He and fellow-Beatle Paul McCartney formed the massively successful Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership throughout the 1960s, writing songs for The Beatles and other artists to record.
Visit the official John Lennon website.
Watch a middle school pianist's performance of John Lennon's song "Eleanor Rigby."
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Tuesday, December 05, 2006
From wikipedia —Christina Georgina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 – December 29, 1894) was an English poet. Her siblings were the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Maria Francesca Rossetti. Their father, Gabriele Rossetti, was an Italian poet and a political asylum seeker from Naples, and their mother, Frances Polidori, was the sister of Lord Byron's friend and physician, John William Polidori.
Read Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti, free from Project Gutenberg
Read Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti, free from Project Gutenberg
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Monday, December 04, 2006
Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) is generally considered the German language's greatest 20th century poet. His haunting images tend to focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety — themes that tend to position him as a transitional figure between the traditional and the modernist poets.
Read Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, in German, free from Project Gutenberg.
Read Rilke's sonnets, translated from german, free from The Rilke Files website.
Read Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, in German, free from Project Gutenberg.
Read Rilke's sonnets, translated from german, free from The Rilke Files website.
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Friday, December 01, 2006
Professor Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS (February 7, 1877 – December 1, 1947) was a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. He was called "Harold" by a few close friends, and otherwise "G. H.".
Non-mathematicians usually know him for A Mathematician's Apology, his essay from 1940 on the aesthetics of mathematics. The apology is often considered one of the layman's best insights into the mind of a working mathematician.
Read Godfrey Hardy's i>A Mathematician's Apology, free from the University of Alberta, Canada.
Non-mathematicians usually know him for A Mathematician's Apology, his essay from 1940 on the aesthetics of mathematics. The apology is often considered one of the layman's best insights into the mind of a working mathematician.
Read Godfrey Hardy's i>A Mathematician's Apology, free from the University of Alberta, Canada.
[ Read More... ]
