A cavalcade of lesser horrors [[electronic resource] /] / Peter Smith

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910457592903321
• Autore: Smith Peter <1946 Nov. 19->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Minneapolis, : University of Minnesota Press, c2011
• ISBN: 0-8166-7888-X
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (198 p.)
• Disciplina: 791.44/0228092
• Soggetti: Radio broadcasters - United States; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di contenuto: Machine generated contents note: ContentsPrefaceSouth State Street -- A Teaspoon of Water -- Pop's Wound -- A Crisis of Faith -- The Denunciation -- Absolution -- Mortality -- The Man on the Raft -- Lawnmower Repair -- The Biscayne -- A Visit to the Doctor -- Coach -- Leroy -- Wrestling Eddie Dutzler -- Awkward Moment -- Good-bye to Libertyville -- Mademoiselle P. -- Make the World Go Away -- Screwed -- Joe -- An Old Roommate Checks In -- A Preinduction Reverie -- Dear John -- The Major -- The Amnesty Barrel -- 1972 -- A Typewriter Reverie -- Advertising Memories -- Almost -- Pimping My Muse -- Karma Turd A-Coming -- A Bedside Visit -- Vigil Candles.
• Sommario/riassunto: " We exist. We try to lead good, thoughtful lives. And while we all try our best, we can't avoid the startling moments, or we make mistakes and experience little shocks and embarrassments--our lesser horrors--that make us wince and come back to haunt us again and again. For Peter Smith--whose weekly essays for Minnesota Public Radio have endeared him to thousands of listeners and readers--these awkward times are not without their humor, and a healthy dose at that. We all know the circumstances and places the lesser horrors are likely to await--sibling rivalries, high school gym class, job successes and failures, raising children. In this series of funny, honest, and moving pieces, Smith explores a few messy episodes from his own life: growing up Catholic on the south side of Chicago, seeing his tricycle stolen before his eyes, and onward to American life in the '50s and '60s, ; Vietnam, and a career in advertising, where bosses feed employees anxieties to increase creativity. Along the way, Smith discovers how these moments not only help define what it is to be human but are also a major source of our inspiration and imagination.So cover your eyes, peek through your fingers. Life is a cavalcade of lesser horrors. They may not be the easiest memories to relive, but they are often among the funniest. And by facing them squarely and perhaps even with a smile, Smith finds himself uncovering a simple reassurance, an uneasy truth we should take to heart: we're all on this wild ride together. "--

Biographies in the History of Physics : Actors, Objects, Institutions / / edited by Christian Forstner, Mark Walker

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910412154003321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2020
• ISBN: 3-030-48509-9
• Edizione: [1st ed. 2020.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (VI, 324 p. 38 illus., 7 illus. in color.)
• Disciplina: 530.092
• Soggetti: Physics; History; Physical measurements; Measurement ; Science—Social aspects; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics; History of Science; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Societal Aspects of Physics, Outreach and Education
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di contenuto: Preface (Christian Forstner, Dieter Hoffmann, Mark Walker) -- Biography of what? Biographies and the History of Physics (Christian Forstner) -- Autobiography as history, curriculum vitae, or ars ; moriendi? (Thomas Söderqvist) -- Bridging Personal and Professional: Margaret Maltby’s Life in Early Twentieth Century Physics (Joanna Behrman) -- The Monastic Natural Philosopher – An Eighteenth Century Scientific Persona (Julia Bloemer) -- Ludwig Prandtl -- Pioneer of Fluid Mechanics and Science Manager (Michael Eckert) -- Rudolf Tomaschek: An exponent of the ‘Deutsche Physik’ movement (Vanessa Osganian) -- Erwin Schrödinger in Spain (Enric Pérez) -- Whose Biography Is It Anyway?: The Intersection of Biographies of Institutions, Leaders, and Instruments (Catherine Westfall) -- Institutionalizing Einstein’s Theory During the Cold War: Toward a Biography of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation(Roberto Lalli) -- Marxism-Leninism and Relativity: Science and Ideology in Hans-Jürgen Treder’s early academic career (Raphael Schlattmann) -- A “Biography of the Max Planck Society:” The development of research clusters (Carsten Reinhardt) -- Institutional biographies in time and frequency metrology: the case of the French Laboratoire National de Radioélectricité (Eckhard Wallis) -- A biographical sketch of the last days of the ether (Jaume Navarro) -- The Biography of a Concept – The “Birth” of Virtual Particles as a Case Study (Markus Ehberger) -- The Biography of the German Atomic Bomb (Mark Walker) -- The colour top and the distinction between additive and subtractive colour mixing (Valentina Roberti) -- Scientific instruments turning into toys. From Franklin’s palm glass to dipping birds. (Takis Lazos) -- The transformation of research experiments into teaching devices (Peter Heering) -- Lost in the production of time and space: the transformation of the Airy Transit Circle from a working telescope to a museum object (Daniel Belteki). .
• Sommario/riassunto: This book sheds new light on the biographical approach in the history of physics by including the biographies of scientific objects, institutions, and concepts. What is a biography? Can biographies also be written for non-human subjects like scientific instruments, institutions or concepts? The respective chapters of this book discuss these controversial questions using examples from the history of physics. By approaching biography as metaphor, it transcends the boundaries between various perspectives on the history of physics, and enriches our grasp of the past. .