Appropriately Named

Nicolas Steno

godzig — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:05:45 +0000

January 11, 2011 google devoted a doodle to 17th-century scholar Nicolas Steno who is acclaimed to be a godfather of geology. “Steno’s law of superposition” reasoned that layers of earth are time-ordered with the newest depositions on top. ‘Sten’ means rock in Danish. – LA Times

Neige Calonne

godzig — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:59:03 +0000

Neige, a snow expert, shares some findings here: Numerical and experimental investigations of the effective thermal conductivity of snow.

Rick Wagoner

godzig — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:21:35 +0000

The now-former CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, was asked by the white house to step down. Simply put: Wagoners became outmoded.

Angelina Jolie

godzig — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:50:00 +0000

It took me a long time to put this together. But Angelina Jolie…jolie…la femme jolie.

Linda Greenhouse courtesy of Collected Orange

godzig — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:47:22 +0000

Linda Greenhouse is the author of The Court And Climate Change; Justices Say E.P.A. Has Power to Act on Harmful Gasses.

Bernard Madoff

godzig — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:54:27 +0000

The spelling isn’t quite right, but Bernard Madoff “made off” with several billion dollars, likely committing the largest investor fraud in history. This one takes the cake.

Duncan Hunter

godzig — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 01:24:18 +0000

A Republican Representative for California in congress, and currently running in the Republican Presidential primaries, Duncan Hunter is an advocate for a curious bill concerning Santa Rosa Island. Basically the argument goes something like this: there are elk and deer on the island that were introduced about 100 years ago, they are doing serious damage to a whole host of native plant species. The Park Service had planned to slaughter the 1,100 animals when Duncan Hunter stepped in to suggest that the island become a hunting preserve for disabled veterans. The Paralyzed Veterans of America pointed out that the terrain is quite steep and rough and really not suitable for wheelchair access; but Hunter did find a letter of support from Virginia’s Wounded Warrior Project. At the moment Mr. Hunter has succeeded in passing a bill that keeps the Park service from “exterminating” the deer, but Lois Capps hopes to pass a bill that reverses Hunter’s legislation.
(from a New York Times article, “A Multipronged Tussle Over the Fate of Herds Living in an Island Park.”)

Paul William Mapp

rsteinzig — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:12:57 +0000

Mr. Mapp is the author of European Geographic Ignorance and North American Imperial Rivalry: The Role of the Uncharted American West in International Affairs, 1713-1763.

Loving vs. Virginia

godzig — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:30:37 +0000

In 1967, Richard Loving and his wife Mildred Jeter won their case against the state of Virginia declaring that the banning of interracial marriages was unconstitutional. Yup, 1967. Virginia. They were sentenced to one year in prison or leave the state.

James English

rsteinzig — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 05:18:20 +0000

Professor James English is — you guessed it — a professor of English. And not just any old professor of English, but the English Department Chair at the University of Pennsylvania. And what is his current research interest? The rise of English as the global lingua franca in the early 20th century of course!