How PCR Came from Basic Research
Decades later. [Radiolab] The Age of Aquaticus #radiolab https://podcastaddict.com/radiolab/episode/197133687 via @PodcastAddict
History
Practical Polytheism, Part I: Knowledge
Religion did not work like you think it did. “over time, these customs won’t seem so strange anymore. Humans have a tendency to assume that whatever the customs – for instance, for diplomacy – are in our time, that this… Read More »Practical Polytheism, Part I: Knowledge
Armor in Order, Part I
Wear your helmet. Even on a bicycle. “If you can afford nothing else, protect the head. This is so important that we often see soldiers acquiring rigid metal head protection (meaning a helmet) before acquiring even textile body armor (it… Read More »Armor in Order, Part I
Why Are There No Empires in Age of Empires?
Empires are not what you probably think. “Empire, I should note, seems to be one of – if not the – dominant form of large-scale human social organization since at least the bronze age (which is to say: since as… Read More »Why Are There No Empires in Age of Empires?
How Fast Do Armies Move?
Logistic is hard. “you can see why logistics gets complicated fast. Even in explaining a rule of thumb, I have to resort to rules of thumb, or else we have to inventory all of the stuff an infantry brigade needs,… Read More »How Fast Do Armies Move?
Collections: The Lonely City, Part II: Real Cities Have Curves
Cities define transportation which define other cities. “The impact of these sorts of roads can actually be observed archaeologically, because they tend to come quite late historically and thus alter pre-existing settlement patterns, so we can see exactly how they… Read More »Collections: The Lonely City, Part II: Real Cities Have Curves
Collections: The Lonely City, Part I: The Ideal City
Cities aren’t what they used to be. “The role of infrastructure is also different. We are also used to cities as the center-point lynch-pins of infrastructure networks – roads, rail, sea routes, fiber-optic cable, etc. That isn’t false when applied… Read More »Collections: The Lonely City, Part I: The Ideal City
WTF Happened In 1971?
Bad money. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
What happened in 2007?
“Smartphones grab our attention so powerfully that if they merely vibrate in our pockets for a tenth of a second, many of us will interrupt a face-to-face conversation, just in case the phone is bringing us an important update.“ https://whathappenedin2007.com
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVb: Working Days
No, we are not working more than in the middle ages. “So on the one hand the work hours are somewhat flexible. On the other hand as functionally anyone who has ever worked on a farm or spoken with someone… Read More »Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVb: Working Days