A review of Isobel Wylie Hutchison’s “On Greenland’s Closed Shore” (1930)
A discussion of the Spilhaus “World in a Square” projection, used to display all the worlds oceans as a continuous body of water, without interruption.
A discussion of the phrase “brass monkey weather”, and a refutation of the folk etymology of “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey”.
An introduction to the seventy-ninth edition of The Angry Corrie hill fanzine, published in memory of its editor and cofounder, Dave Hewitt
A description of the components of lunar libration, which allow us to peek a little way into the lunar far side, including some animations of the various effects.
A festive dissertation on the extensive etymological links of the word “stable”, and a discussion of why some of use think of Jesus as having been born in a stable.
An illustrated walk report of a traverse of the southern rim of Glen Doll
A review of Philip Ball’s “Alchemy: An Illustrated History of Elixirs, Experiments, and the Birth of Modern Science”
English is remarkably well-endowed with words that imply utter defeat in a sporting contest. Here are eleven.
How a short stretch of water in the middle of the Zambezi River became a contender for the shortest international border in the world—and why a century passed before anyone knew which countries were involved.