3 Free eBooks - November 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for November 2014.

Fritzinger, Leopold Joseph Franz Johann. Bilder-Atlas zur wissenschaftlich-popularen Naturgeschichte der Wirbelthiere. 1867. Available from the Internet Archive here. A volume of color prints of lizards and other reptiles.

Verneuil, Maurice Pillard. Etude de la plante : son application aux industries d'art : pochoir, papier peint, etoffes, céramique, marqueterie, tapis, ferronnerie, reliure, dentelles, broderies, vitrail, mosaïque, bijouterie, bronze, orfévrerie. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts. 1903. Available on the Internet Archive here. It is interesting to see how botanicals were translated into interior design elements in the early 1900s. I’ve made collages of the iris designs.

Adams, Robert. Ruins of the palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia. London: printed for the author. 1764. Available at the Internet Archive here. This book had been on my ‘too read’ list since last fall when I enjoyed a Roman Architecture course via Coursera. The drawings are quite good. The author includes images of the ruins as they were in the 1760s as well as what he thought they were like when they were first built.

Zooming - October 2014

Most of my zooming collages are of plants and animals. This month my focus is external architecture and ornamentation. The images show form, repairs, corrosion, and patina of age. Materials are quite varied: stone, paint, plaster/cement, copper, bronze, wrought iron, cedar shingles, and glass.  Enjoy the show!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 14, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

10 Top National Wildlife Refuges to Explore - I’ve only been to 2 of the 10 (Chincoteague and Wichita Mountains but I’ll take the opportunity to see more if I am in the area of these. I was surprised that Merritt Island (Florida) did not make the top 10.

The Sleep Schedules of Some of History's Greatest Minds - I was surprised at how many are on a 10PM to 5 or 6 AM schedule (which is similar to what seems to work best for me!)

The 10 Cutest Animal Flash Mobs in the World - The hummingbird video (#6 on the list has music to enjoy while you watch the hummingbirds getting fuel for migration. It’s a strangely relaxing frenzy!

The Finest Examples of Art Nouveau Architecture in Central Europe - I am more interesting in architecture since I took the Roman Architecture course last spring.

Articles that appeared recently about two of my favorite places: Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Road Salt Creating Beefier Butterflies - A little extra salt causes developmental changes (and they are different for male and female Monarch butterflies) that could be beneficial….and then at some point the extra salt becomes toxic.

Company man or family man? Fatherhood and identity in the office - Research published just in time for Father’s Day.

Common heart drug's link to diabetes uncovered by researchers - The study found that statins can activate an immune response that stopped insulin from doing its job properly….and that taking Glyburide suppressed the side effect. It is a bad thing to take a drug that then requires us to take another drug. How do we determine when the bad side effects multiply beyond the benefits of the cocktail?

Most comprehensive 'world map of research' yet: Researchers analyze 15 million scientific articles - Articles used from the analysis were published from 1996-2006. There are three clusters of countries: biomedical, basic science and agriculture/fisheries. The US is in the biomedical cluster, Singapore and Japan are in basic science and most of the developing nations are in agriculture/fisheries.

Fruits, Vegetables, and Disease Risk - Which vegetables are the most nutrient rich? This article points to a recently released report that include a list (available here).

Free eBooks - May 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for May 2014. This month I’ve selected 3 books that are multiple volumes - totaling 35 ‘books’ in all.

Commission des sciences et arts d’Egyte. Description of Egypt. Second Edition. Paris: C.L.F Panckoucke. 1820. There are 5 volumes of plates about Antiquities, an atlas, 2 volumes of plates about the Modern State, and3volumes about Natural History. Available from the World Digital Library here. These are the volumes produced from Napoleon’s team in Egypt. I found them based on a reference in the Roman Architecture course I took on Coursera; they supplemented another course I finished recently on Cairo Architecture and the course I am taking right now on The Art and Architecture of Ancient Nubia. The drawings were very detailed.

Roberts, David. The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. 6 volumes available from the Internet Archive here. London: Day & Son. 1855. I found this series when I did a search for ‘Nubia’ in the Internet Archive. I haven’t tried to pair the drawings of the same ruin from 1820 (Napoleonic team) and 1855 but it probably would be possible. Some of the monuments were still partially covered with sand (and thus protected from erosion more than they are now) and the dams on the Nile had not been built to inundate the ones south of Aswan.

Wild Flowers of America. New York: G.H. Buek & Co. 1894. There are 18 issues available from the Internet Archive here.  Many of these flowers are recognizable. I’ve seen the columbine in many local gardens this year!

On the Road to Philadelphia

Last week we made the trek into Philadelphia to pick up by daughter after her conference; she’d arranged to spend a few days with us in Maryland before flying back to Arizona. We left after the morning rush hour traffic and I managed a few pictures through the car window.

The Domino Sugar sign in Baltimore

The trees along the highway

The bridges over the Susquehanna River

Some of the big buildings of downtown Philadelphia

And a closer look at a building façade while we drove around trying to find parking.

We were going to the Mutter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the nearby parking along the river was blocked off because of overnight flooding (the water had retreated by the time we arrived at mid-day but the muddy sediment remained).

And then we were on foot and it was easier to get a closer look at some of the buildings. I particularly liked the church courtyard (First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia) next to the Mutter Museum.

Coursera Experience - May 2014

I finished up two courses in April:

• Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets (Brown University)
• Roman Architecture (Yale University)

They were both thoroughly enjoyable and the Discussion Forums held a rich assortment of pictures that is used as a ‘last hurrah’ for the course material. There are two courses that continue into May and one that starts just at the end of the month:

• The Emergence of the Modern Middle East (Tel Aviv University). I have read one of the reference books I found on Paperbackswap and still have another one to go. I also browsed The Architecture of Cairo course material from MIT which seemed to integrate some of what I was learning at the end of the Roman Architecture course and this one.
• Introduction to Systems Biology (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai). At first, I thought this course was going to take me way back to the biology courses I took as an undergraduate….but then I realized that it was going to do much more than that. This one is integrated biology with all the modeling and statistical analysis I did in my computer science based career!
• The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Nubia (Emory University).  I could resist starting another archaeology related course!

And there are 2 more that start up at the end of May

• The Diversity of Exoplants (University of Geneva). I want to take this one since it is such a hot topic in my daughter’s field.
• Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach (University of Minnesota). There are several people in family that deal with chronic pain; I’m always interested in learning about the current state-of-the-art on topics like this.

3 Free eBooks - April 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for April 2014.

Boston Architectural College. The year book of the Boston Architectural Club: containing examples of modern architecture. Boston Architectural Club. 1929. Available from the Internet Archive here.  There are quite a few year books available but I picked this one to highlight because it has pictures of the Bok Tower. I created the collage below with pictures from this 1929 book (black and white) and some that I took last November. The antennae (lightning rods?) have been added.

French Silk Sample Book. 1895. Available from the Internet Archive here.  This is a book of actual silk swatches that has been scanned! The surprise to me was how ‘modern’ some of the fabric patters were.  I included some of them in the collage below.   

Stuart, James. Revett, Nicholas.The antiqvities of Athens. London: J. Haberkorn. 1762. Two volumes available on the Internet Archive: Volume 1 and Volume 2.  This was a reference in one of the Roman Architecture lectures on Coursera and I was thrilled to find the books available on the archive. I appreciated the attention to detail in the drawings. They must have taken pains to get exact measurements of many of the buildings….and some of them were in much better shape in 1762 than they are today.

Jefferson Memorial and Cherry Blossoms

The Jefferson Memorial has always been one of my favorites in Washington DC and I took quite a few pictures of it as we made our way around the tidal basin last week. The Roman Architecture course I am taking (Coursera) caused me to look at the structure more thoroughly.

Ionic columns

Marble steps at the front

Triangular pediment

Barrel vault with coffered ceiling at the entrance

Dome with coffered ceiling (no oculus)

It is one of the many buildings patterned on the Pantheon in Rome.

I enjoyed taking pictures of the building from different vantage points around the tidal basin….enjoy the views in the slideshow below!

Second Group of Spring Coursera Courses - April 2014

April is going to be Abusy month for classes with 4 concurrent Coursera courses for most of the month:

• Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets (Brown University)
• Roman Architecture (Yale University)
• The Emergence of the Modern Middle East (Tel Aviv University)
• Introduction to Systems Biology (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

Then by the third week of the month, Archeology course ends….followed by the Architecture course. I was thrilled to find one of the reference books for the Modern Middle East course available via paperbackswap. Readng all the references recoomended by the courses will probably extend into May!

One of the recent serendipity discoveries was in the Archeaology course -- a segment onf creating 3D images of artifacts with opensource software. I did some initial experimenting with Autodesk 123D Catch and that experimentationwill continue in April with different kinds of objects. I'll do a blog post with 3D images as the project evolves.

Being a student is probably one of my favorite activities. Hooray for Coursera!

Philadelphia Flower Show 2014 - Part 3

This third post of photos from our day trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show is dedicated to the sites along the walk between the parking garage and the Convention Center. The Roman Architecture course I am taking via Coursera has sensitized me….I’m noticing more architectural features of buildings. Maybe the theme for my next trip to downtown Philadelphia will be architecture. There are a lot of old and new buildings to see.

One disappointment is how hard it is to see the grandeur of buildings when they are crowded together. It is hard to get a perspective when the whole building cannot be seen without a lot of other clutter. The church on the corner across from the Convention Center is a case in point. The PARK sign looms large in the picture above with the complete steeple!

Then again - the parking garage beside the church allowed me a vantage point to capture some pictures of the church from 7 plus stories up. It’s easy to see some of the weathering of the façade!

Progression of Spring Semester Classes - March 2014

My enthusiasm for the Coursera courses I am taking continues.

Two are completing: How to Change the World (from Wesleyan University) and Moralities of Everyday Life (from Yale University). There is one more week of An Introduction to the US Food System (from Johns Hopkins University). I learn something from every course I take….but these three are ones that prompted thinking about how I live, picking causes worthy of support either through action or donation, and changing my behavior for the good of society and the planet.

A new class started this week: Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets (from Brown University). I’ve already enjoyed the first set of videos and the suggested readings.

There is a new module in the Nutrition course (from Vanderbilt University) I took last spring on Food allergies and intolerances. I signed up for the course again just for that new material.  

And then there is the Volcanic Eruptions (from Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munich) that was offered last fall. I somehow overlooked it then (or maybe I was too busy with other courses). The content was still available on the Coursera site - so I am making my way through the 10 weeks of materials.

The Roman Architecture course (from Yale University) is continuing - it’s a 15 week course that started in January. I find myself reading architecture books with pictures and diagrams of Greek and Roman buildings on the Internet Archive. The course has given me a sharper eye for architectural detail already!

Previous posts: 

• February 2014
• January 2014

The First Weeks of Class - February 2014

I’m through the first weeks of Coursera classes that started in January (posted about last month before they started).  I thought that 4 courses might be a little overwhelming…..and that has turned out to be true. All of them are well done and the topics are well-honed to my interests; dropping one is not an option. So - I have a flurry of activity to keep up. I’ve dedicated one day a week to each course and then use the other three days to read extra resources and follow threads outside the course entirely.

The Roman Architecture course is furthest along. I find myself looking at buildings differently; there are still a lot of elements of Roman Architecture is buildings constructed long after the end of the Roman Empire. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC is one example (the picture below is one I took of the monument a few years ago during the spring cherry blossoming). One of the threads I followed outside the immediate course material this past week was finding out how the impluviums actual worked; it wasn’t just catching/holding water….it was often an pervious basin that allowed water to filter down into a cistern which was then used by the residence as a source of cool water!

The three other courses (How to Change the World, Moralities of Everyday Life, and An Introduction to the US Food System) are all thought provoking. There are times they seem to converge rom their varying perspectives on the same topic: how can individuals live in a way that is good for them and good for the rest of planet (people and everything else on Earth). They are all very focused on the present and the possible futures we are creating - sometimes with intention and sometimes not.

The whole motivation for taking classes is very different for me now than it was back in my 20s. Then I was focused on getting a degree that would lead into a career. Now I am takings classes primarily because I enjoy being a student! I am taking courses about things I was always interested in but didn’t need for my degrees. Since I am not interested in a grade or certificate, generally avoid tests and time consuming projects....focus instead on going off on tangents that spin out from the course materials. What a difference the Internet has made in how students can find answers to questions!

Signing up for New Classes in the New Year - 2014

Just like traditional universities, Coursera has classes starting this month. It is challenging to pick - and I have probably overindulged by enrolling in 4:

Roman Architecture from Yale University because I’ve never taken an architecture class - it’s a different perspective on history. Also - this will be my first course from Yale.

Moralities of Everyday Life from Yale University because the increased lack of civility within political discourse in the US seems linked to ideas about morality. That makes the topic much more reality rather than theoretically focused.

How to Change the World from Wesleyan University because I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Roth’s previous course on Coursera: The Modern and Postmodern.

An Introduction to the US Food System: Perspectives from Public Health from Johns Hopkins University because it seems like our food system has been changing very quickly although it is difficult to grasp the changes as a whole…and the impact on health. It is a complex topic.

In addition, I signed up for Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights from Vanderbilt for the one new lecture: Food Allergies and Intolerances: Separating Fact from Fiction. I took the course last spring/summer and it honed my understanding of nutrition in a way that helped me take off the last 15 pounds (to down to the weight I was at 25!).

I’m sure they will all have some extra reading that will supplement the videos. I’m planning on allocating a day of each week to each of one….and then using the other days of the week to catch the overflow. The courses do have to fit into the rest of life. I generally do the multiple choice knowledge checks embedded in the videos but not the quizzes or other assignments. I’m not after a grade and I prefer to talk about topics from the course with people I interact with face to face rather than other students virtually.

There was an article recently about MOOCs not living up to their original goal of online education approaching the quality of traditional colleges to the large population all over the world without access to such institutions. That is probably the case but, through refinement by iteration, they could improve on that goal. I’d like to suggest that MOOCs have an even larger role in society in the realm of lifelong learning - in enhancing the quality of life particularly for those that are long past the traditional college age. I’d like to see the end of course surveys probe this aspect. It would be interesting to know not just how many people did everything the course required to get a certificate or credit but how many students completed a subset like:

• Watched all the videos
• Read the online (free) references
• Scan parts of the discussion form
• Read all the references

In my case, I generally do the first three --- and get what I want from the course. A certificate or credit is not something I need.

It would also be interesting to find out how many people would be willing to pay some amount for the lectures to defray the cost of producing them. What amounts would be tolerated? Or does a charging scheme get too complicated to administer?

The bottom line for me is - I enjoy the Coursera offerings. I applaud the universities and professors that are participating. It is a positive development in education and the experiment has already succeeded for those of us that see these courses as a potent addition to lifelong learning.