text:
Black Keys ready for Grammys with 5 nominations
LOS ANGELES The Black Keys still feel like the black sheep of the Grammy Awards.
"It's unexpected. I don't think we'll ever get used to this stuff," singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach said Friday.
"I don't think we ever will either," added drummer Patrick Carney. "It's more surreal now kind of being here and seeing all the musicians gathering for their annual `pat on the back."'
- Grammys spread the love with 6 top nominees
- Complete Coverage: The 55th annual Grammy Awards
- Complete coverage of the Grammy Awards at CBS.com
The bluesy Ohio-based rockers are nominated for five trophies at Sunday's ceremony. They were rehearsing Friday at the Staples Center with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and legendary New Orleans pianist Dr. John, who'll join the group when they perform "Lonely Boy" live at the Grammys.
Justin Timberlake was also heard rehearsing as he transitioned from his comeback single "Suit & Tie" to a new song called "Push Your Love Girl," which featured his falsetto.
The Black Keys' five nominations include album of the year for "El Camino" and record of the year for "Lonely Boy." Auerbach is part of the six top acts with six nominations Sunday night, thanks to his nomination for non-classical producer of the year.
The duo said in an interview that they're fans of their top-album competitors, which include Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, fun. and Jack White.
"They're all good records, so it's exciting," Carney said before Auerbach jumped in with a light laugh: "Stiff competition. This is a competition right? I don't know what the odds are. Are they taking bets in Vegas right now?"
The group said they've spent the last month hard at work on a new album in Nashville.
"It's still coming together. We have tons of ideas," Carney said. "It's also something that will develop in the studio. We don't really know what it sounds like until it's done."
Carney makes an appearance on drums on Ke$ha's recently released album, "Warrior."
"She's a friend of ours. She asked me to play on a song. She lives in Nashville, too," he explained of the collaboration.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Heh, I think the subject just described the icon I picked. ^_^; Anyway, I was just wondering if Stephanie has ever drawn a group shot poster style pic of the ECJ crew. I really like her artwork and I'd like to see more.
I know you're busy and all, but have you ever considered making ECJ merchandise? It would be cool to have a t-shirt or a poster for my wall. -Someone I know through a friend runs a web comic called Mega Tokyo (http://www.megatokyo.com) and he uses CafePress to sell stuff. I don't know how that works. I was just wondering if you have a gallery of your other artwork somewhere online. Mostly all I have online right now is stuff I've drawn on my friend's oekaki board (kenshin.net).
Anyway, I was just looking at the archives and I really like the feature drawings you did for Nov. 1, Nov. 5, and Dec. 24. The Christmas Eve one is cute with hunched sholders and apologetic grin, and Zeke looks so embarressed in that other one! - I was just wondering if you ever did a group pic of all 4 of the main characters together. That would be really neat. BTW, I really dig Arlie's neon hair! ^-^
Ok, I think I've written enough. Gotta go!
* /me zips over to his clipboard to work on sketches for his own strip *
ja ne


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Celtic Stained Glass-Coloring Book
by Dover
With this exciting volume, coloring book enthusiasts can participate directly in recreating the glories of Celtic art. Included are 16 full page photos of authentic Celtic designs and motifs rendered from the Book of Kells and other sources. Printed on translucent paper, these intricate vignettes feature strange mythical beasts, Celtic crosses, saints and other characteristic subjects. Colorists of all ages can simply color the plates and hang them in a window or near a light source for superb stained glass effects. Paperback, 16 pages.
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I'm developing an application for a hospital. The hospital demands that whenever a new patient is registered, the printer should print out a sticker of 3 inch by 1 inch.
Also, the application should print out a receipt for the payment the patient has made. The receipt page is 5 inch by 7 inch. I really don't know how to format the text content according to the page which is to be printed.
How do I provide the spacing and positioning of the text in the java code according to the printer page?
please help me with the packages to use or interfaces to implement.
any help would be appreciated.


text:
NEW YORK -- Prosecutors will not seek a retrial against three New York City men whose murder convictions in the 1995 killing of a FedEx Corp. executive were vacated earlier this year.
A prosecutor told a state Supreme Court judge in the Bronx on Friday that her office had found no new evidence in Denise Raymond's murder.
The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/15d3QpV) reports the judge then dismissed the case and sealed the record.
Michael Cosme, Devon Ayers and Carlos Perez were released from prison in January after being incarcerated for 17 years. They had previously been cleared in the 1995 murder of a Bronx cab driver after two jailed gang members confessed to it.
The two killings happened three days apart in the same neighborhood and were closely linked at trial.
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Enériz is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.
Spanish language, Basque language, Autonomous communities of Spain, Spain, Basque Country (autonomous community)
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Johannes Kepler
German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer
Johannes Kepler (December 27 1571 – November 15 1630) was a German Lutheran mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and a key figure in the 17th century astronomical revolution. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion, which provided one of the foundations of Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation.
- Vim coeli reserate viri: venit agnita ad usus:
Ignotae videas commoda nulla rei.
- Discover the force of the heavens O Men:
Once recognised it can be put to use:
No use could be seen in unknown things.
- De fundamentis astrologiae certioribus [On the more Certain Fundamentals of Astrology or On Giving Astrology Sounder Foundations] (written 1601; published 1602) in Opera Omnia, Vol. 1, Heyder & Zimmer, 1858, p. 417 (title-page)
- Discover the force of the heavens O Men:
- He who will please the crowd and for the sake of the most ephemeral renown will either proclaim those things which nature does not display or even will publish genuine miracles of nature without regard to deeper causes is a spiritually corrupt person… With the best of intentions I publicly speak to the crowd (which is eager for things new) on the subject of what is to come.
- De fundamentis astrologiae certioribus (1601), foreword
- Nature uses as little as possible of anything.
- Viking Book of Aphorisms: A Personal Selection (1920) by W. H. Auden and Louis Kronenberger, p. 98; also in The Infinite Cosmos: Questions from the Frontiers of Cosmology (2006) by Joseph Silk
- We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.
- As quoted in Cosmos (1980) by Carl Sagan.
- In Terra inest virtus, quae Lunam del.
- There is a force in the earth which causes the moon to move.
- Essay dedicated to the Archduke Ferdinand, as quoted in Kepler (1993) by Max Caspar, Sect. II, Ch. 9, p. 110
- There is a force in the earth which causes the moon to move.
- I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.
- As quoted in (K)new Words: Redefine Your Communication (2005) by Gloria Pierre, p. 147
- I used to measure the heavens, now I measure the shadows of Earth.
Although my mind was heaven-bound, the shadow of my body lies here.
- Epitaph he composed for himself a few months before he died, as quoted in Calculusː Multivariable (2006) by Steven G. Krantz and Brian E. Blank. p. 126
- Unsourced variant: I used to measure the Heavens, now I measure the shadows of Earth. The mind belonged to Heaven, the body's shadow lies here.
- Temporis filia veritas; cui me obstetricari non pudet.
- Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife.
- As quoted in The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A search for Salvation (2007) by Shafique N. Virani, p. 28
Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596)Edit
- The earth is the sphere, the measure of all; round it describe a dodecahedron; the sphere including this will be Mars. Round Mars describe a tetrahedron; the sphere including this will be Jupiter. Describe a cube round Jupiter; the sphere including this will be Saturn. Now, inscribe in the earth an icosahedron, the sphere inscribed in it will be Venus: inscribe an octahedron in Venus: the circle inscribed in it will be Mercury.
- Walter William Bryant, Kepler (1920), pp. 16–17
- Either... the moving intelligences of the planets are weakest in those that are farthest from the sun, or... there is one moving intelligence in the sun, the common center, forcing them all round, but those most violently which are nearest, and that it languishes in some sort and grows weaker at the most distant, because of the remoteness and the attenuation of the virtue.
- Walter William Bryant, Kepler (1920), p. 17
- Geometry has two great treasures: one is the Theorem of Phythagoras, the other the division of a line in extreme and mean ratio. The first we can compare to a mass of gold; the other we may call a precious jewel.
- As quoted by Karl Fink, Geschichte der Elementar-Mathematik (1890) translated as A Brief History of Mathematics (1900, 1903) by Wooster Woodruff Beman, David Eugene Smith. Also see Carl Benjamin Boyer, A History of Mathematics (1968).
- I propose to show that God, in creating the universe and arranging the spheres, had in view the five regular solids of geometry, and fixed by their dimensions the number, proportions and motions of the spheres. Take the sphere of the earth as a unit and circumscribe it with a regular dodecahedron. The sphere that contains this dodecahedron is the sphere of Mars.
- As Quoted in "The Discovery of Kepler's Laws," Scientific American: Supplement (Apr 29, 1911) Vol. 71, No. 1843, p. 278.
Astronomia nova (1609)Edit
Note full title: Astronomia Nova ΑΙΤΙΟΛΟΓΗΤΟΣ seu physica coelestis, tradita commentariis de motibus stellae Martis ex observationibus G.V. Tychonis Brahe (New Astronomy, Based upon Causes, or Celestial Physics, Treated by Means of Commentaries on the Motions of the Star Mars, from the Observations of Tycho Brahe, Gent) also known as "Commentaries on the Motions of Mars"
- Every corporeal substance, so far forth as it is corporeal, has a natural fitness for resting in every place where it may be situated by itself beyond the sphere of influence of a body cognate with it.
- As quoted in Kepler by Walter William Bryant (1920), p. 35
- Gravity is a mutual affection between cognate bodies towards union or conjunction (similar in kind to the magnetic virtue), so that the earth attracts a stone much rather than the stone seeks the earth.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid., pp. 35–36
- ...wheresoever the earth may be placed, or whithersoever it may be carried by its animal faculty, heavy bodies will always be carried towards it.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid., p. 36
- If the earth were not round, heavy bodies would not tend from every side in a straight line towards the center of the earth, but to different points from different sides.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- If two stones were placed... near each other, and beyond the sphere of influence of a third cognate body, these stones, like two magnetic needles, would come together in the intermediate point, each approaching the other by a space proportional to the comparative mass of the other.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- If the moon and earth were not retained in their orbits by their animal force or some other equivalent, the earth would mount to the moon by a fifty-fourth part of their distance, and the moon fall towards the earth through the other fifty-three parts, and they would there meet, assuming, however, that the substance of both is of the same density.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- If the earth should cease to attract its waters to itself all the waters of the sea would be raised and would flow to the body of the moon.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- The sphere of the attractive virtue which is in the moon extends as far as the earth, and entices up the waters; but as the moon flies rapidly across the zenith, and the waters cannot follow so quickly, a flow of the ocean is occasioned in the torrid zone towards the westward.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- If the attractive virtue of the moon extends as far as the earth, it follows with greater reason that the attractive virtue of the earth extends as far as the moon and much farther; and, in short, nothing which consists of earthly substance anyhow constituted although thrown up to any height, can ever escape the powerful operation of this attractive virtue.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- Nothing which consists of corporeal matter is absolutely light, but that is comparatively lighter which is rarer, either by its own nature, or by accidental heat. And it is not to be thought that light bodies are escaping to the surface of the universe while they are carried upwards, or that they are not attracted by the earth. They are attracted, but in a less degree, and so are driven outwards by the heavy bodies; which being done, they stop, and are kept by the earth in their own place.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- But although the attractive virtue of the earth extends upwards, as has been said, so very far, yet if any stone should be at a distance great enough to become sensible compared with the earth's diameter, it is true that on the motion of the earth such a stone would not follow altogether; its own force of resistance would be combined with the attractive force of the earth, and thus it would extricate itself in some degree from the motion of the earth.
- As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
- I was almost driven to madness in considering and calculating this matter. I could not find out why the planet would rather go on an elliptical orbit. Oh, ridiculous me! As the liberation in the diameter could not also be the way to the ellipse. So this notion brought me up short, that the ellipse exists because of the liberation. With reasoning derived from physical principles, agreeing with experience, there is no figure left for the orbit of the planet but a perfect ellipse.
- Ch.58, as quoted in John Freely, Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)
Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo (1610)Edit
- It is not improbable, I must point out, that there are inhabitants not only on the moon but on Jupiter too, or (as was delightfully remarked at a recent gathering of certain philosophers) that those areas are now being unveiled for the first time. But as soon as somebody demonstrates the art of flying, settlers from our species of man will not be lacking. Who would once have thought that the crossing of the wide ocean was calmer and safer than of the narrow Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea, or English Channel? Given ships or sails adapted to the breezes of heaven, there will be those who will not shrink from even that vast expanse. Therefore, for the sake of those who, as it were, will presently be on hand to attempt this voyage, let us establish the astronomy, Galileo, you of Jupiter, and me of the moon.
- Translated by Edward Rosen, Kepler's Conversation with Galileo's Sidereal Messenger (1965), p. 39
- Unsourced variant translation: Provide ships or sails fit for the winds of heaven, and some will brave even that great void.
Harmonices Mundi (1618)Edit
- Translated as The Harmony of the World
- No operation of addition or subtraction gives rise to diversity, but all are equally related to their pair of Terms, or Elements.
- Book I, sect. XX, as translated by Aiton, Duncan and Field, American Philosophical Society (1997), p 25.
- Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to humans is one of the reasons that humanity is the image of God.
- Book III, Ch. 1 as quoted in "Astrology in Kepler's Cosmology" by Judith V. Field, in Astrology, Science, and Society: Historical Essays (1987) edited by P. Curry, p. 154
- Geometry, coeternal with God and shining in the divine Mind, gave God the pattern... by which he laid out the world so that it might be best and most beautiful and finally most like the Creator.
- As quoted in Kepler's Geometrical Cosmology (1988), p. 123
- Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to men is one of the reasons that Man is the image of God.
- Unsourced variant
- Since geometry is co-eternal with the divine mind before the birth of things, God himself served as his own model in creating the world (for what is there in God which is not God?), and he with his own image reached down to humanity.
- Book IV, Ch. 1, as quoted in "Kepler's Astrology"in Kepler, Four Hundred Years (1975) edited by Arthur and Peter Beer.
- Now because 18 months ago the first dawn, 3 months ago broad daylight but a very few days ago the full sun of the most highly remarkable spectacle has risen — nothing holds me back. I can give myself up to the sacred frenzy, I can have the insolence to make a full confession to mortal men that I have stolen the golden vessel of the Egyptians to make from them a tabernacle for my God far from the confines of the land of Egypt. If you forgive me I shall rejoice; if you are angry, I shall bear it; I am indeed casting the die and writing the book, either for my contemporaries or for posterity to read, it matters not which: let the book await its reader for a hundred years; God himself has waited six thousand years for his work to be seen.
- Book V, Introduction
- Variant translation: It may well wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.
- As quoted in The Martyrs of Science; or, the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler (1841) by David Brewster, p. 197. This has sometimes been misquoted as "It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer."
- Variant translation: I feel carried away and possessed by an unutterable rapture over the divine spectacle of heavenly harmony... I write a book for the present time, or for posterity. It is all the same to me. It may wait a hundred years for its readers, as God has also waited six thousand years for an onlooker.
- As quoted in Calculus. Multivariable (2006) by Steven G. Krantz and Brian E. Blank. p. 126
- Variant translation: I am stealing the golden vessels of the Egyptians to build a tabernacle to my God from them, far far away from the boundaries of Egypt. If you forgive me, I shall rejoice.; if you are enraged with me, I shall bear it. See, I cast the die, and I write the book. Whether it is to be read by the people of the present or of the future makes no difference: let it await its reader for a hundred years, if God himself has stood ready for six thousand years for one to study him.
- Unsourced translation
- If you want the exact moment in time, it was conceived mentally on 8th March in this year one thousand six hundred and eighteen, but submitted to calculation in an unlucky way, and therefore rejected as false, and finally returning on the 15th of May and adopting a new line of attack, stormed the darkness of my mind. So strong was the support from the combination of my labour of seventeen years on the observations of Brahe and the present study, which conspired together, that at first I believed I was dreaming, and assuming my conclusion among my basic premises. But it is absolutely certain and exact that "the proportion between the periodic times of any two planets is precisely the sesquialterate proportion of their mean distances..."
- Book V, Ch. 3 dates that his Third Law of Planetary Motion occurred to him, translation by E. J. Aiton, A. M. Duncan, and J. V. Field, The Harmony of the World (1997), Vol. 209, p. 411
- Variant translation: A fresh assault overcame the darkness of my reason...
- As quoted in Calculus. Multivariable (2006) by Steven G. Krantz and Brian E. Blank. p. 126
- The Earth sings Mi-Fa-Mi, so we can gather ever from this that Misery and Famine reign in our habitat.
- Book V, Ch. 6 as quoted in Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers (1959)
- The heavenly bodies are nothing but a continuous song for several voices (perceived by the intellect, not by the ear); a music which... sets landmarks in the immeasurable flow of time. It is therefore, no longer surprising that man, in imitation of his creator, has at last discovered the art of figured song, which was unknown to the ancients. Man wanted to reproduce the continuity of cosmic time... to obtain a sample test of the delight of the Divine Creator in His works, and to partake of his joy by making music in the imitation of God.
- Book V, Ch. 7 as quoted in Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers (1959)
- The soul of the newly born baby is marked for life by the pattern of the stars at the moment it comes into the world, unconsciously remembers it, and remains sensitive to the return of configurations of a similar kind.
- The wisdom of the Lord is infinite as are also His glory and His power. Ye heavens, sing His praises., sun, moon, and planets, glorify Him in your ineffable language! Praise Him, celestial harmonies, and all ye who can comprehend them! And thou, my soul, praise thy Creator! It is by Him and in Him that all exist.
- Reported in Methodist Review (1873), vol. 55, pp. 187–88.
- But who shall dwell in these worlds if they be inhabited?....Are we or they Lords of the World?....And how are all things made for man?(War of the Worlds by HG Wells)
Joannis Kepleri Astronomi Opera Omnia, ed. Christian Frisch (1858)Edit
- Translation from Edwin Arthur Burtt The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925) unless otherwise noted
- Just as the eye was made to see colours, and the ear to hear sounds, so the human mind was made to understand, not whatever you please, but quantity.
- I. 31 as quoted by Edwin Arthur Burtt in The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science
- Without proper experiments I conclude nothing.
- Vol. V. p. 224, Vol. I, p. 143
- Of a number of variant hypotheses about the same facts, that one is true which shows why facts, which in the other hypotheses remain unrelated, are as they are, i.e., which demonstrates their orderly and rational mathematical connexion.
- Vol. I, p. 238
- Indeed I reply in a single word to the sentiments of the saints on these questions about nature; in theology, to be sure, the force of authorities is to be weighed, in philosophy, however, that of causes. Therefore, a saint is Lactantius, who denied the rotundity of the earth; a saint is Augustine, who, admitting the rotundity, yet denied the antipodes; worthy of sainthood is the dutiful performance of moderns who, admitting the meagreness of the earth, yet deny its motion. But truth is more saintly for me, who demonstrate by philosophy, without violating my due respect for the doctors of the church, that the earth is both round and inhabited at the antipodes, and of the most despicable size, and finally is moved among the stars.
- Vol. III, p. 156
- I certainly know that I owe it [the Copernican theory] this duty, that as I have attested it as true in my deepest soul, and as I contemplate its beauty with incredible and ravishing delight, I should also publicly defend it to my readers with all the force at my command.
- Vol. VI, p. 116, Vol. VIII, p. 266ff.
- Wherever there are qualities there are likewise quantities, but not always vice versa.
- Vol. VIII, p. 47ff.
- There are, in fact, as I began to say above, not a few principles which are the special property of mathematics, such principles as are discovered by the common light of nature, require no demonstration, and which concern quantities primarily; then they are applied to other things, so far as the latter have something in common with quantities. Now there are more of these principles in mathematics than in the other theoretical sciences because of that very characteristic of the human understanding which seems to be such from the law of creation, that nothing can be known completely except quantities or by quantities. And so it happens that the conclusions of mathematics are most certain and indubitable.
- Vol. VIII, p. 148
- [Quantity is the fundamental feature of things,] the 'primarium accidens substantiae,' ...prior to the other categories.
- Vol. VIII, p. 150
- God gives every animal the means of saving its life—why object if he gives astrology to the astronomer?
- Vol. VIII, p. 705
Quotes about KeplerEdit
- Kepler was the first to discover the art of successfully inquiring [into] her laws of nature, since his predecessors merely constructed explanatory concepts which they endeavoured to apply to the course of nature.
- E. F. Apelt, Epcchen der Geschichte der Menscheit, Vol. I, p. 243 as quoted by Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925)
- It is not known so generally that Kepler was... a geometrician and algebraist of considerable power, and that he, Desargues, and perhaps Galileo, may be considered as forming a connecting link between the mathematicians of the renaissance and those of modern times. Kepler's work in geometry consists rather in certain general principles enunciated, and illustrated by a few cases, than in any systematic exposition of the subject. In a short chapter on conics inserted in his Paralipomena, published in 1604, he lays down what has been called the principle of continuity, and gives as an example the statement that a parabola is at once the limiting case of an ellipse and of a hyperbola; he illustrates the same doctrine by reference to the foci of conics (the word focus was introduced by him); and he also explains that parallel lines should be regarded as meeting at infinity. He introduced the use of the eccentric angle in discussing properties of the ellipse.
- W. W. Rouse Ball, A Short Account of the History of Mathematics (1888)
- Kepler's laws were the climax of thousands of years of an empirical geometry of the heavens. They were discovered as the result of about twenty-two years of incessant calculation, without logarithms, one promising guess after another being ruthlessly discarded as it failed to meet the exacting demands of observational accuracy. Only Kepler's Pythagorean faith in a discoverable mathematical harmony in nature sustained him. The story of his persistence in spite of persecution and domestic tragedies that would have broken an ordinary man is one of the most heroic in science.
- Eric Temple Bell, The Development of Mathematics (1940)
- After his own fashion, Desargues discussed... Kepler's principle (1604) of continuity, in which a straight line is closed at infinity and parallels meet there...
- Eric Temple Bell, The Development of Mathematics (1940)
- In his curious tract on Stereometry, published in 1615, Kepler made some advances in the doctrine of infinitesimals. Prompted to the task by a dispute with the seller of some casks of wine, he studied the measurement of solids formed by the revolution of a curve round any line whatever. In solving some of the simplest of these problems, he conceived a circle to be formed of an infinite number of triangles having all their vertices in the centre, and their infinitely small bases in the circumference of the circle, and by thus rendering familiar the idea of quantities infinitely great and infinitely small, he gave an impulse to this branch of mathematics. The failure of Kepler, too, in solving some of the more difficult of the problems which he himself proposed roused the attention of geometers, and seems particularly to have attracted the notice of Cavaleri.
- Sir David Brewster, The Life of Sir Isaac Newton (1832)
- When Gilbert of Colchester, in his "New Philosophy," founded on his researches in magnetism, was dealing with tides, he did not suggest that the moon attracted the water, but that "subterranean spirits and humors, rising in sympathy with the moon, cause the sea also to rise and flow to the shores and up rivers". It appears that an idea, presented in some such way as this, was more readily received than a plain statement. This so-called philosophical method was, in fact, very generally applied, and Kepler, who shared Galileo's admiration for Gilbert's work, adopted it in his own attempt to extend the idea of magnetic attraction to the planets.
- Walter William Bryant, Kepler (1920), p. 35 Note reference: William Gilbert's New Philosophy about our Sublunary World or De Mundo Nostro Sublunari Philosophia Nova (1651)
- Kepler's achievements in mathematics would alone have been sufficient to win for him enduring fame; he first enunciated clearly the principle of continuity in mathematics, treating the parabola as at once the limiting case of the ellipse and the hyperbola, and showing that parallel lines can be regarded as meeting at infinity; he introduced the word 'focus' into geometry; while in his Stereometria Dolorum, published 1615, he applied the conception to the solution of certain volumes and areas by the use of infinitesimals, thus preparing the way for Desargues, Cavalieri, Barrow, and the developed calculus of Newton and Leibniz.
- The Neo-Platonic background, which furnished the metaphysical justification for much of this mathematical development (at least as regards its bearing on astronomy) awoke Kepler's full conviction and sympathy. Especially did the aesthetic satisfactions gained by this conception of the universe as a simple, mathematical harmony, appeal vigorously to his artistic nature.
- Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925)
- Founder of exact modern science though he was, Kepler combined with his exact methods and indeed found his motivation for them in certain long discredited superstitions, including what it is not unfair to describe as sunworship.
- Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925)
- The sun, according to Kepler, is God the Father, the sphere of the fixed stars is God the Son, the intervening ethereal medium, through which the power of the sun is communicated to impel the planets around their orbits, is the Holy Ghost.
- Kepler in the first thirty years of the seventeenth century "reduced to order the chaos of data" left by Tycho Brahe, and added to them just the thing that was needed—mathematical genius. Like Copernicus he created another world-system which, since it did not ultimately prevail, merely remains as a strange monument of colossal intellectual power working on insufficient materials; and even more than Copernicus he was driven by semi-religious fervour—a passion to uncover the magic of mere numbers and to demonstrate the music of the spheres. ...He has to his credit a collection of discoveries and conclusions—some of them more ingenious than useful—from which we today can pick out three that have a permanent importance in the history of astronomy.
- Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science (1949)
- Johannes Kepler... imbibed Copernican principles while at the University of Tubingen. His pursuit of science was repeatedly interrupted by war, religious persecution, pecuniary embarrassments, frequent changes of residence, and family troubles. In 1600 he became for one year assistant to... Tycho Brahe... His first attempt to explain the solar system was made in 1596, when he thought he had discovered a curious relation between the five regular solids and the number and distance of the planets. The publication of this pseudo-discovery brought him much fame. At one time he tried to represent the orbit of Mars by the oval curve which we now write in polar coördinates, . Maturer reflection and intercourse with Tycho Brahe and Galileo led him to investigations and results worthy of his genius—"Kepler's laws." He enriched pure mathematics as well as astronomy. It is not strange that he was interested in the mathematical science which had done him so much service; for "if the Greeks had not cultivated conic sections, Kepler could not have superseded Ptolemy." The Greeks never dreamed that these curves would ever be of practical use; Aristaeus and Apollonius studied them merely to satisfy their intellectual cravings after the ideal; yet the conic sections assisted Kepler in tracing the march of the planets in their elliptic orbits. Kepler made also extended use of logarithms and decimal fractions, and was enthusiastic in diffusing a knowledge of them. At one time, while purchasing wine, he was struck by the inaccuracy of the ordinary modes of determining the contents of kegs. This led him to the study of the volumes of solids of revolution and to the publication of the Stereometria Doliorum [Vinariorum] in 1615. In it he deals first with the solids known to Archimedes and then takes up others. Kepler made wide application of an old but neglected idea, that of infinitely great and infinitely small quantities. Greek mathematicians usually shunned this notion, but with it modern mathematicians completely revolutionized the science. In comparing rectilinear figures, the method of superposition was employed by the ancients, but in comparing rectilinear and curvilinear figures with each other, this method failed because no addition or subtraction of rectilinear figures could ever produce curvilinear ones. To meet this case, they devised the Method of Exhaustion, which was long and difficult; it was purely synthetical, and in general required that the conclusion should be known at the outset. The new notion of infinity led gradually to the invention of methods immeasurably more powerful. Kepler conceived the circle to be composed of an infinite number of triangles having their common vertices at the centre, and their bases in the circumference; and the sphere to consist of an infinite number of pyramids. He applied conceptions of this kind to the determination of the areas and volumes of figures generated by curves revolving about any line as axis, but succeeded in solving only a few of the simplest out of the 84 problems which he proposed for investigation in his Stereometria.
Other points of mathematical interest in Kepler's works are (1) the assertion that the circumference of an ellipse, whose axes are 2a and 2b, is nearly π (a + b); (2) a passage from which it has been inferred that Kepler knew the variation of a function near its maximum value to disappear; (3) the assumption of the principle of continuity (which differentiates modern from ancient geometry), when he shows that a parabola has a focus at infinity, that lines radiating from this "cæcus focus" are parallel and have no other point at infinity.
The Stereometria led Cavalieri... to the consideration of of infinitely small quantities.
- Florian Cajori, A History of Mathematics (1893, 1919) 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, citing (Greeks' conic sections quote) William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences 3rd Ed., (1858) Vol. I, p 311.
- A law explains a set of observations; a theory explains a set of laws. The quintessential illustration of this jump in level is the way in which Newton's theory of mechanics explained Kepler's law of planetary motion. Basically, a law applies to observed phenomena in one domain (e.g., planetary bodies and their movements), while a theory is intended to unify phenomena in many domains. Thus, Newton's theory of mechanics explained not only Kepler's laws, but also Galileo's findings about the motion of balls rolling down an inclined plane, as well as the pattern of oceanic tides. Unlike laws, theories often postulate unobservable objects as part of their explanatory mechanism. So, for instance, Freud's theory of mind relies upon the unobservable ego, superego, and id, and in modern physics we have theories of elementary particles that postulate various types of quarks, all of which have yet to be observed.
- John L. Casti, "Correlations, Causes, and Chance," Searching for Certainty: How Scientists Predict the Future (1990).
- In his 1619 book The Harmony of the World he tells us that he discovered a harmonic law while delivering a lecture on astronomy to his students. Kepler found that for each planet, the cube of the average distance from the sun is proportional to the square of the period of revolution.
Kepler later found a similar law for the satellites of Jupiter. Today we know that such a law holds for any system of bodies that circulates around a central parent body. There are many applications of Kepler's law; for instance, half a century later it gave Isaac Newton the clue to his discovery of the law of universal gravitation.
- I. Bernard Cohen, The Triumph of Numbers: How Counting Shaped Modern Life (2005)
- More than two hundred years before Poncelet, the important concept of a point at infinity occurred independently to... Johann Kepler... and the French architect Girard Desargues... Kepler (in his Paralipomena in Vitellionem, 1604) declared that a parabola has two foci, one of which is infinitely distant in two opposite directions, and that any point on the curve is joined to this "blind focus" by a line parallel to the axis.
- Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, Projective Geometry (1987)
- The effective inventor of the telescope and compound microscope was Galileo... Galileo's account of the path of the rays through the concave eye-piece and convex objective which he used was not satisfactory and was considerably improved by Kepler, who suggested the use of two convex lenses which became the basis of later instruments. Kepler had already written an important optical treatise in the form of a commentary on Witelo's Perspectiva... His improvements to the telescope may be regarded as what he had learned from the thirteenth-century writer.
- A.C. Crombie, Robert Grosssteste and the Origins of Experimental Science (1953)
- With the discovery of the law of inertia and the subsequent downfall of the Aristotelian theory of motion on which Kepler had based his work, his physical theories soon became outmoded and were then rendered obsolete by Newton's work. Yet Kepler's laws of planetary motion remained, so that Edmond Halley could write in his review of Newton's Principia that the first eleven propositions were found to agree with the phenomena of celestial motions, as discovered by the great sagacity and diligence of Kepler.
- A.M. Duncan, J.V. Field, The Harmony of the World (1997), Preface, Vol.209
- Although the concept of heavenly harmony was a theme mentioned in the literature of the time... Kepler's world harmony had little influence on his contemporaries. ...With the rise of the experimental science advocated by Francis Bacon and greatly facilitated by the invention and development of scientific instruments, the general trend of the seventeenth century was towards a mechanical natural philosophy in which metaphysical speculation would play little part. Another factor... may possibly be recognized in the nature of developments that had taken place in mathematics during the sixteenth century, for the advances in algebra and the introduction of symbolism favored a nominalist view of mathematics in contrast to the realist Platonic view of geometry that Kepler adopted as a foundation for his theory of a world harmony.
- A.M. Duncan, J.V. Field, ibid.
- When he discovered the polyhedral hypothesis soon after being sent to teach mathematics in Graz, he changed his mind [about becoming a Lutheran minister] , indicating... that he now saw his work in astronomy as an exercise of a priestly vocation. ...he claimed that, in the Harmonice mundi, he offered to the world nothing less than the plan of creation, which God himself had waited six thousand years for someone to comprehend.
- A.M. Duncan, J.V. Field, ibid.
- Kepler is the first who ventured here [into] an exact mathematical treatment of the problems (of astronomical science), the first to establish natural laws in the specific sense of the new science.
- R. Eucken, "Kepler als Philosoph" in Philosophische Monatshefte (1878), p. 42ff as quoted by Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925)
- Dumbleton was one of the first to express functional relationships in graphical form. ...Dumbleton also gave a proof of the Merton mean-speed rule... stating that "the latitude of a uniformly difform movement corresponds to the degree of the midpoint." He used the method in the Suma [Suma logicæ et philosophiæ naturalis] to study the problem of the variation in the strength of light as a function of the distance from its source. ...He realized that that the decrease in intensity of illumination was not linearly proportional to the distance... But he did not succeed in finding the exact quantitative relationship, which is that the intensity of illumination due to a luminous source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, a law discovered by Johannes Kepler in 1604.
- John Freely, Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)
- I esteem myself happy to have as great an ally as you in my search for truth. I will read your work … all the more willingly because I have for many years been a partisan of the Copernican view because it reveals to me the causes of many natural phenomena that are entirely incomprehensible in the light of the generally accepted hypothesis. To refute the latter I have collected many proofs, but I do not publish them, because I am deterred by the fate of our teacher Copernicus who, although he had won immortal fame with a few, was ridiculed and condemned by countless people (for very great is the number of the stupid).
- Galileo Galilei, Letter to Kepler (1596), as quoted in The Story of Civilization : The Age of Reason Begins, 1558-1648 (1935) by Will Durant, p. 603
- I have as yet read nothing beyond the preface of your book, from which, however, I catch a glimpse of your meaning, and feel great joy on meeting with so powerful an associate in the pursuit of truth, and consequently, such a friend to truth itself; for it is deplorable that there should be so few who care about truth, and who do not persist in their perverse mode of philosophising. But as this is not the fit time for lamenting the melancholy condition of our times, but for congratulating you on your elegant discoveries in confirmation of the truth, I shall only add a promise to peruse your book dispassionately, and with the conviction that I shall find in it much to admire.
This I shall do the more willingly because many years ago I became a convert to the opinions of Copernicus, and by his theory have succeeded in explaining many phenomena which on the contrary hypothesis are altogether inexplicable. I have arranged many arguments and confutations of the opposite opinions, which, however, I have not yet dared to publish, fearing the fate of our master, Copernicus, who, although he has earned immortal fame among a few, yet by an infinite number (for so only can the number of fools be measured) is hissed and derided. If there were many such as you I would venture to publish my speculations, but since that is not so I shall take time to consider of it.
- Galileo Galilei, Letter to Kepler (Aug. 4, 1597) upon receipt of Mysterium Cosmographicum and as quoted by John Joseph Fahie, Galileo: His Life and Work (1903) pp. 39-40.
- I thank you because you are the first one, and practically the only one, to have complete faith in my assertions.
- Galileo Galilei, Letter to Kepler (1610) in gratitude for Kepler's Dissertio cum Nuncio sidereal (Answer to the Sidereal Messenger) after Galileo sent Kepler a copy of the Sidereal Messenger, as quoted in John Freely, Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe (2012)
- To say... that the motion of the Earth meeting with the motion of the Lunar Orb, the concurrence of them occasioneth the Ebbing and Flowing [of the seas], is an absolute vanity, not onely because it is not exprest, nor seen how it should so happen, but the falsity is obvious, for that the Revolution of the Earth is not contrary to the motion of the Moon, but is towards the same way. So that all that hath been hitherto said, and imagined by others, is, in my judgment, altogether invalid. But amongst all the famous men that have philosophated upon this admirable effect of Nature, I more wonder at Kepler than any of the rest, who being of a free and piercing wit, and having the motion ascribed to the Earth, before him, hath for all that given his ear and assent to the Moons predominancy over the Water, and to occult properties, and such like trifles.
- Galileo Galilei, Diaologo sopra i Due Massi Sistemi del Mondo (1632) as quoted in Salusbury tr. The Systeme of the World: in Four Dialogues (1661)
- J. Kepler was the first (that I know of) that discover'd the true cause of the Tide, and he explains it largely in his Introduction to the Physics of the Heavens, given in his Commentaries to the Motion of the Planet Mars, where after he has shewn the Gravity or Gravitation of all Bodies towards another, he thus writes: "The Orb of the attracting Power, which is in the Moon is extended as far as the Earth, and draws the Waters under the Torrid Zone, acting upon places where it is vertical, insensibly on included Seas, but sensibly on the Ocean, whose Beds are large, and the Waters have the liberty of reciprocation, that is, of rising and falling"; and in the 70th Page of his Lunar Astronomy,—"But the cause of the Tides of the Sea appear to be the Bodies of the Sun and Moon drawing the Waters of the Sea."
- David Gregory, The Elements of Astronomy, Physical and Geometrical J. Nicholson (1715) Vol.2, p. 668
- Afterwards that incomparable Philosopher Sir Isaac Newton, improv'd the hint, and wrote so amply upon this Subject as to make the Theory of the Tides his own, by shewing that the Waters of the Sea rise under the Moon and the Place opposite to it: For Kepler believ'd "that the Impetus occasion'd by the presence of the Moon, by the absence of the Moon, occasions another Impetus; till the Moon returning, stops and moderates the Force of that Impetus, and carries it round with its motion." Therefore this Spheroidical Figure which stands out above the Sphere (like two Mountains, the one under the Moon and the other in the place opposite to it) together with the Moon (which it follows) is carried by the Diurnal Motion, (or rather, according to the truth of the matter, as the Earth turns towards the East it leaves those Eminencies of Water, which being carried by their own motion slowly towards the East, are as it were unmov'd) in its journey makes the Water swell twice and sink twice in the space of 25 Hours, in which time the Moon being gone from the Meridian of any Place, returns to it again.
- David Gregory, ibid., pp. 668–9
- Galileo argued that nature, God's second book, is written in mathematical letters... Kepler is even more explicit in his work on world harmony; he says: God created the world in accordance with his ideas of creation. These ideas are the pure archetypal forms which Plato termed Ideas, and they can be understood by man as mathematical constructs. They can be understood by Man, because Man was created in the spiritual image of God. Physics is reflection on the divine Ideas of Creation, therefore physics is divine service.
- Werner Heisenberg, Tradition in Science (1983) also published as Encounters with Einstein: And Other Essays on People, Places, and Particles
- One wonders how many modern scientists faced by a similar situation in their work would fail to be impressed by such remarkable numerical coincidences.
- Fred Hoyle on Kepler's attention to the apparent harmonics by which he deduced his planetary laws, as quoted in "Kepler's Astrology and Mysticism" by Arthur Beer in Vistas in Astronomy vol. 18 (1975).
- If Kepler had been a mathematician of the twentieth century, he would have stopped his laborious observational inductions after noting his first law, and deduced the other two analytically.
- Edward Kasner, "Differential-Geometric Aspects of Dynamics," (1909) in The Princeton Colloquium: Lectures on Mathematics, Delivered September 15 to 17, 1909 (1913) Vol. 3, Part 1.
- Kepler (and Desargues) regarded the two "ends" of the ["straight"] line as meeting at "infinity" so that the line has the structure of a circle. In fact, Kepler actually thought of a line as a circle with its center at infinity.
- Morris Kline, Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972)
- Over and above the specific theorems created by men such as Desargues, Pascal and La Hire, several new ideas and outlooks were beginning to appear. The first is the idea of continuous change of a mathematical entity from one state to another... [i.e., of a] a geometrical figure. It was Kepler, in his Astronomiae Optica of 1604, who first seemed to grasp the fact that parabola, ellipse, hyperbola, circle, and the degenerate conic consisting of a pair of lines are continuously derivable from each other. ...The notion of a continuous change in a figure was also employed by Pascal. He allowed two consecutive vertices of his hexagon to approach each other so that the figure became a pentagon. In the same manner he passed from pentagons to quadrilaterals. The second idea to emerge from the work of the projective geometers is that of transformation and invariance.
- Morris Kline, Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972)
- The Pythagorean dream of musical harmony governing the motion of the stars never lost its mysterious impact, its power to call forth responses from the depth of the unconscious mind. ...But, one might ask, was the "Harmony of the Spheres" a poetic conceit or a scientific concept. A working hypothesis or a dream dreamt through a mystic's ear? ...Even Aristotle laughed "harmony, heavenly harmony" out of the courts of earnest, exact science. Yet... Johannes Kepler became enamoured with the Pythagorean dream, and on this foundation of fantasy, by methods of reasoning equally unsound, built the solid edifice of modern astronomy. It is one of the most astonishing episodes in the history of thought, and an antidote to the pious belief that the Progress of Science is governed by logic.
- Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe (1959, 1963)
- The Harmony of the World is the continuation of the Cosmic Mystery, and the climax of his lifelong obsession. What Kepler attempted here is, simply, to bare the ultimate secret of the universe in an all-embracing synthesis of geometry, music, astrology, astronomy and epistemology. It was the first attempt of this kind since Plato, and it is the last to our day. After Kepler, fragmentation of experience sets in again, science is divorced from religion, religion from art, substance from form, matter from wind.
- Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers (1959)
- Kepler made free use if indivisibles in both astronomical work and a treatise on measuring volumes of wine casks. He went far beyond the practical needs... and wrote an extensive tract on indivisible methods. Two illustrative examples are his approaches to the areas of a circle and an ellipse.
- Reinhard Labenbacher, David Pengelley, Mathematical Expeditions: Chronicles by the Explorers (1999)
- But to return to Kepler, his great sagacity, and continual meditation on the planetary motions, suggested to him some views of the true principles from which these motions flow. In his preface to the commentaries concerning the planet Mars, he speaks of gravity as of a power that was mutual betwixt bodies, and tells us that the earth and moon tend towards each other, and would meet in a point so many times nearer to the earth than to the moon, as the earth is greater than the moon, if their motions did not hinder it. He adds that the tides arise from the gravity of the waters towards the moon. But not having just enough notions of the laws of motion, he does not seem to have been able to make the best use of these thoughts; nor does he appear to have adhered to them steadily, since in his epitome of astronomy, published eleven years after, he proposes a physical account of the planetary motions, derived from different principles.
- Colin Maclaurin, An Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophical Discoveries (1750), pp. 54–55
- He [Kepler] supposes, in that treatise [epitome of astronomy], that the motion of the sun on his axis is preserved by some inherent vital principle; that a certain virtue, or immaterial image of the sun, is diffused with his rays into the ambient spaces, and, revolving with the body of the sun on his axis, takes hold of the planets and carries them along with it in the same direction; as a load-stone turned round in the neighborhood of a magnetic needle makes it turn round at the same time. The planet, according to him, by its inertia endeavors to continue in its place, and the action of the sun's image and this inertia are in a perpetual struggle. He adds, that this action of the sun, like to his light, decreases as the distance increases; and therefore moves the same planet with greater celerity when nearer the sun, than at a greater distance. To account for the planet's approaching towards the sun as it descends from the aphelium to the perihelium, and receding from the sun while it ascends to the aphelium again, he supposes that the sun attracts one part of each planet, and repels the opposite part; and that the part which is attracted is turned towards the sun in the descent, and that the other part is towards the sun in the ascent. By suppositions of this kind he endeavored to account for all the other varieties of the celestial motions.
- Colin Maclaurin, ibid., p. 55
- Luckily, Napier came on the scene with his logarithms just when Johannes Kepler, the discoverer of the laws of planetary motion, was deeply immersed in mind-numbing, tedious calculations, filling hundreds of folio pages with lengthy arithmetic operations, in his construction of the orbit of Mars from the observational data of Tycho Brahe. To Kepler, this discovery was a gift from heaven, for logarithms reduced considerably the time he had to spend just doing arithmetic calculations, a task which he detested.
- Lloyd Motz, Jefferson Hane Weaver, Conquering Mathematics: From Arithmetic to Calculus (1991)
- As living bodies have hair, so does the earth have grass and trees, the cicadas being its dandruff; as living creatures secrete urine in a bladder, so do the mountains make springs; sulphur and volcanic products correspond to excrement, metals and rainwater to blood and sweat; the sea water is the earth's nourishment … At the same time the anima terrae [soul of the earth] is also a formative power (facultas formatrix) in the earth's interior and expresses, for example, the five regular bodies in precious stones and fossils ..... It is important that in Kepler's view the anima terrae is responsible for the weather and also for meteoric phenomena. Too much rain, for instance, is an illness of the earth.
- Wolfgang Pauli in "The Influence of Archetypal Ideas on the Scientific Theories of Kepler" in The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche (1955) by Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli, as translated by Priscilla Silz
- Kepler also thought of the Inverse Square Law; he thought of it first. ...Kepler regarded gravitational attraction as analogous to propagation of light... Consider now the intensity of light falling on a planet P at a distance R from the Sun. Let S be the total amount if light emitted by the Sun. ...the intensity will be the same at all points distance R from the Sun. But these points constitute a spherical sheet (with center the Sun) whose radius is R and whose surface area, therefore, is 4πR2. Consequently,
intensity of radiationi.e., the intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the planet P and the Sun. ...Kepler thought carefully about the possibility, but was dubious... to his credit; he mistrusted the idea for a very good reason. ...although during a solar eclipse the Moon blocks the Sun's radiation to part of the Earth, there is no discontinuity in the Earth's motion. If gravitational attraction were radiated as light is radiated, this too would be temporarily blocked by the Moon, so that during the eclipse it would discontinue its eliptical orbit...
- George Pólya, Mathematical Methods in Science (1977)
- Kepler was a brilliant thinker and a lucid writer, but he was a disaster as a classroom teacher. He mumbled. He digressed. He was at times utterly incomprehensible. He drew only a handful of students his first year at Graz; the next year there were none. He was distracted by an incessant interior clamour of associations and speculations vying for his attention. And one pleasant summer afternoon, deep in the interstices of one of his interminable lectures, he was visited by a revelation that was to alter radically the future of astronomy. Perhaps he stopped in mid-sentence. His inattentive students, longing for the end of the day, took little notice, I suspect, of the historic moment.
- Carl Sagan in Cosmos (1980)
- Kepler's project in 'Mysterium Cosmographicum' was to give 'true and perfect reasons for the numbers, quantities, and periodic motions of celestial orbits.' The perfect reasons must be based on the simple mathematical principles, which had been discovered by Kepler in the solar system, by using geometric demonstrations. The general scheme of his model was borrowed... from Plato's 'Timaeus', but the mathematical relations for the Platonic solids (pyramid, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron) were taken by Kepler from the works of Euclid and Ptolemy. Kepler followed Proclus and believed that 'the main goal of Euclid was to build a geometric theory of the so-called Platonic solids.' Kepler was fascinated by Proclus and often quotes him calling him a 'Pythagorean'.
- C. Smorinsky, History of Mathematics: A Supplement (2008)
- Nearly three thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians knew that a glass lens can make an object look bigger. Nero... is said to have looked through an emerald to watch his gladiators fighting... By the ninth century, people were using 'reading stones' to assist their failing eyesight. These were polished lumps of clear glass, rounded on one side and flat on the other; you sat them on top of the document you were trying to read... The first true spectacles were almost certainly invented in Italy between 1280 and 1300. They acted like a magnifying glass and corrected long-sightedness; it would be another 300 years before lenses able to correct short-sightedness would be developed, in part because these were much harder to make. Johannes Kepler (astronomer, astrologer and mathematician) was the first to explain how convex and concave lenses corrected eyesight. ...lenses were (and still are) made by grinding glass using various types of abrasive material, which in Kepler's time were already being used by jewellers.
- Ian Stewart, The Mathematics of Life (2011)
- Kepler states expressly that he gave the name Foci to certain points related to the conic sections which had previously "no name." With their new name he associated his new views about the points themselves, and his doctrines of Continuity (under the name Analogy) and Parallelism, which would soon have become known, and would after a time have been taken up by competent mathematicians....
A letter of Henry Briggs to Kepler [dated Mar 10, 1625] suggest improvements in the Paralipomena ad Vitellionem. In this letter Briggs... comprehended and accepted Kepler's way of looking at parallels as lines to or from a point at infinity in one direction or its opposite.
- Charles Taylor, "The Geometry of Kepler and Newton," (1899) Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1900) pp. 197-219
- It was only the third new set of planetary tables in European history. And whereas Copernicus's and Ptolemy's tables were more or less equally accurate, Kepler's were some 50 times more so. Within a few years, it was possible to pinpoint the time of transit of Mercury across the face of the sun so that it was possible to observe it in transit for the first time in human history. Of course, Kepler's theories were more difficult, especially since he had incorporated logarithms, which had only been invented a few years earlier. Much of the book, therefore, was made up of explanatory text that told the reader how to use the tables.
...The printing ...was finished on time in September 1627 ...but he was not optimistic ...noting, "There will be few purchasers, as is always the case with mathematical works, especially in the present chaos."
- James R. Voelkel, Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy (2001) p. 117
- The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.
- Attributed to Kepler in some sources (though more recent sources often attribute it to Euclid), such as Mathematically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations edited by Carl C. Gaither and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither (1998), p. 214. The earliest publication located that attributes the quote to Kepler is the piece "The Mathematics of Elementary Chemistry" by Principal J. McIntosh of Fowler Union High School in California, which appeared in School Science and Mathematics, Volume VII (1907), p. 383. Neither this nor any other source located gives a source in Kepler's writings, however, and in an earlier source, the 1888 Notes and Queries, Vol V., it is attributed on p. 165 to Plato. It could possibly be a paraphrase of either or both of the following to comments in Harmonices Mundi: "Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God" and "Since geometry is co-eternal with the divine mind before the birth of things, God himself served as his own model in creating the world".
External linksEdit
- Brief biography at the University of St Andrews
- Harmonices mundi ("The Harmony of the Worlds") in fulltext facsimile at Carnegie-Mellon University
- Free eBook of Kepler at Project Gutenberg
- Electronic facsimile-editions of the rare book collection at the Vienna Institute of Astronomy
- "Kepler's Somnium: Science Fiction and the Renaissance Scientist" by Gale E. Christianson
- "Kepler's Belief in Astrology" by Nicholas Kollerstrom
- "Kepler & the Music of the Spheres" by David Plant


text:
When Dustin Lynch was a student at Lipscomb University he was known as both a member of the golf team and as a talented country music performer. He performed in the Tau Phi Cowboy Show, performed at Shamblin Theater and at Starbucks on campus, but could also be found at various music venues ranging from "Lower" Broad here in Nashville to stages far and wide. Often a convoy of students would follow him to provide support. He graduated in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in biology and had entertained plans of going to medical school. The year 2012 has been a big one for Lynch whose self-titled debut album debuted as the No. 1 Country Album in the United States in late August. Lynch took time this summer to talk with Lipscombsports.com about his music career and his time at Lipscomb.
Dustin Lynch stood near the outdoor stage at Dave and Busters in Opry Mills and peered across the road at the Grand Ole Opry House.
The former Lipscomb University golfer had just been asked what club he would need to land a golf ball at the front door of the country music mecca.
"I could make it there with a wedge," Lynch said confidently about an hour before performing in a showcase for his fans."
Most golfers would need at least a seven-iron to make the shot. But Lynch was not just any golfer during his time at Lipscomb. He was solid member of the team, but he preferred to have a guitar in his hands instead of a golf club.
"I picked up the guitar when I was 8 or 9," Lynch said. "It hurts a whole lot when you start so I dropped it. I started playing again pretty heavily when I was 15."
Lynch has also proven he is not just any aspiring country singer. He has lived up to expectations with the release of his self-titled album, which debuted Aug. 29 as the No.1-selling country album in the United States according to the Billboard Country Albums Chart. He is the only male country performer to have a debut album open at No. 1 in 2012.
"I've always looked forward to this moment," Lynch said. "It is the proudest moment of my life. I get to share my music with the whole world."
The year 2012 has been filled with highlights. His first single, "Cowboys and Angels" has passed 500,000 units in sales and earned a spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart. In June he opened for Dierks Bentley in South Bend, Ind.
Pegged as one of Billboard's "Most Anticipated Debuts of 2012", he was listed as one of Country Weekly's "Ones to Watch in 2012". Lynch also found his name on Nashville Lifestyle's 2012 "Hot List".
On March 2 of this year he used his voice and his guitar to get a hole-in-one at the Grand Ole Opry. Making his debut appearance in "the circle" on stage was better than walking on any green on a golf course.
The appearance was made even more special by a revelation from his grandfather, Buddy Lynch. His grandfather is a former minister at the Two Rivers Baptist Church across from the Opryland complex.
"They had never seen me play before," Lynch said. "I was getting ready to go on stage and finally step in that circle. Before I went out on stage my grandfather said, `I don't want to burst your bubble, but I have preached a sermon in that circle before. It was so neat to be able to share that with him."
Lynch graduated from Lipscomb in 2007 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. He had contemplated pursing a medical career, but his love of music had taken too strong of a hold on his ambitions.
He made a promise to his parents that he would earn his degree before attempting a career in country music. But he didn't promise not to play or listen to music in his spare time. After his parents helped him move into his room at High Rise dormitory on the Lipscomb campus he made his first trip to the Bluebird Café in Green Hills, a venue that has provided the opportunity for a number of top performers to audition, including Garth Brooks, one of Lynch's influences.
"I was late getting there, but I watched from the windows that first night at Lipscomb," Lynch said. "I always wanted to be like Garth since I was 5 years old."
But it wasn't his first exposure to the Bluebird.
"When I was in high school I saw where they had open mike nights at the Bluebird on Mondays," Lynch said. "My parents let me drive from Tullahoma to Nashville with a buddy to play. We realized we weren't terrible. We got claps at the Bluebird. I was 16 years old and went out and started a band."
Lynch has been quoted several times as saying that one of the reasons he chose Lipscomb was because it was near the Bluebird Café. But that wasn't close enough. He eventually moved into an apartment behind the Bluebird and spent a great deal of time listening to performers on writers' nights and sometimes taking the stage to perform. Somehow he managed to be a member of the Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team throughout his time at Lipscomb.
"I didn't know a person in Nashville," Lynch said. "At the Bluebird I started networking with those guys and learning from those guys. I didn't realize I was creating relationships that would come in handy years down the road, but I was.
"I didn't know if could sing at the time. I would go to the Bluebird to dream. I would also go there to try to figure things out as a performer. It was frustrating a lot of the time, but it was also fun. You are a lot better swimmer when you teach yourself how to swim."
Like most performers who appear to the public to be overnight successes, Lynch has paid his dues writing more than 200 songs according to at least one published report. He played local music spots and became a regular on the Southern college circuit. He also had a day job to help pay his bills after graduating from Lipscomb.
"I'm a nine-year overnight success," Lynch said. "I've played basements in frat houses to anywhere I could find in order to keep the lights on."
Often, however, the experience on stage proved to be more valuable than the money.
"I have sung for four hours straight sometimes and not made any money," Lynch said. "You can sit at home or go out and get better. That's what I was doing. The key is to make everybody feel like they are part of the show and let them know you appreciate them being there."
He remembers vividly the smallest crowd to hear him sing, three people at the Second Fiddle on a Tuesday night on Broadway. It was quite the contrast to the standing-room-only crowd that greeted him enthusiastically at the showcase sponsored by WSiX-AM and at most of his other appearances this summer.
"You don't know if you are good in this business," Lynch said. "It is not like playing golf where if you shoot a 68 most of the time you are going to be in the top 10.
"Out here it is opinions. You are surviving song-to-song and show-to-show. But that's fun for me. There are reasons why guys like Ronnie Dunn and Alan Jackson are still out there getting it done. It is in your blood."
Lynch has turned in his golf shirts and visors for a cowboy hat and a Western-style shirt on stage. He is at ease with his audience and clearly enjoys performing.
Golf and country music are vastly different pursuits, but Lynch thinks his time on the links as a competitive golfer has helped him as a performer.
"I think the two are related," Lynch said. "Whether playing golf or being an entertainer it is all on your shoulders and all in your head. Golf is mentally really tough. I think it is the toughest part of the game. Anybody can hit a ball, but when the heat is on the guys on tour making the money are the guys that are strongest in their heads.
"Golf teaches you a lot about yourself. Golf is a game of character. Music is a game of character in many different ways. There is art in music. There is a business sense. It is all about relationships, who you know and how you treat people. A lot of folks who fizzle out in this business are the ones who don't stay true to who they were when they started."
Lynch tips his hat to the professors in Lipscomb's biology and chemistry departments, especially professors Oliver Yates and Phillip Choate for teaching him the value of self-discipline and endurance in terms of getting a job done.
"I was really good at biology in high school," Lynch said. "Being a doctor is not a bad thing in life. I took a pre-anatomy course and fell in love with that.
"Those all-nighters and a summer of organic chemistry were so stressful while playing golf and music, but they prepared me for these hours on the road. Having to get up and sit in an airport and then go sing on TV at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. is nothing compared to completing organic chemistry in one month. I know what hurt is. That is what I learned from being in pre-med."
Lynch wishes he could have found time to take some business and marketing classes. But he admits that when he looks back he really misses Bible classes.
"The Bible classes were the most fun of the week for me," Lynch said. "The professors in that department are so unbelievable at breaking down a book in the Bible and making it apply to real life.
"I know who is in charge of this. I have worked hard, but God is helping me write these songs."
The new album, on Broken Bow Records, is special to Lynch for many reasons including the fact that he wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 13 songs. He co-wrote "Cowboys and Angels" with Josh Leo and Tim Nichols.
"The greatest part of it for me is that the crowds know `Cowboys and Angels'," Lynch said. "Not only do they know it, but it means something in their lives.
"I wanted to keep the soldiers in mind when I wrote it. They are overseas and away from their families for months on end. Those are true cowboys."
Entertainers are always expected to have a second act. Lynch likes the process that goes into deciding what songs to choose as singles as he looks ahead to what is next.
"It is always a challenge," Lynch said. "You are always looking to see if what you think is a great song is a great song for radio.
"It's a fun game. It is a pretty grueling game too because there is no guarantee. But I think that is why everybody keeps doing it. You are always looking for the next thumbs up or high five. That keeps life exciting for me."
Written by Mark McGee, Senior Publisher/Director of Media Relations.


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Each of our Classic Candles is packed with essential oils, hand-blended, and made with a naturally derived soy wax for a superior burn time.
Soft touches of citrus, creamy white flowers and a sandalwood base combine to create this sweet, fresh and graceful fragrance.
To ensure an even and smoke-free burn, the wick should be trimmed to a length of 1/4 inch each time before lighting. Burn time: 30 hours.


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The Our Lady of Grace School Community commits itself to fulfill the mission of Jesus by nurturing the development of each person spiritually, academically, and socially.
With Jesus as our model, we value our Faith and the uniqueness of each person and we create a positive atmosphere in our school based on the values established in the Commandments while fostering a climate of responsibility toward ourselves, neighbors, community, and the environment.
Our Lady of Grace School dedicates itself to academic excellence, service, and spiritual growth of all its members, so that they, in turn, may bring a Catholic perspective to our local and world communities.
Our Lady of Grace School
300 Hulmeville Avenue
Penndel, PA 19047
Phone: (215) 757-5287
Fax: (215) 757-6199
Main Office Hours:


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Detachable Hood ECONYL® Trench Coat
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- A lightweight trench coat cut to our classic Kensington fit, updated with a detachable Vintage check-lined hood. The ECONYL® sustainable nylon yarn is made from regenerated fishing nets, fabric scraps and industrial plastic.
- Coat length: 95cm/37.4in. This is based on a size UK 8 as proportions change slightly according to size.
- Model's height: 176cm/5ft 9in
- Outer: ECONYL® (100% polyamide)
- Trims: 100% leather; 100% polyester
- Hood lining: 100% polyester
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Jerry Brown's re-election a virtual lock
Two statewide polls told us last week that there's probably just one person who could thwart California Gov. Jerry Brown's bid for a historic fourth term next year.
And that's Jerry Brown.
He could deny himself another stint as governor, of course, by not seeking re-election. But while Brown hasn't formally announced, he's busily raising millions of campaign dollars and even coyly reminded recipients of his Thanksgiving e-mails that he has a re-election office in Oakland.
Or he could derail his re-election by saying or doing something really off the wall - as he sometimes did during his first governorship. But Brown 2.0 is a much more cautious politician who clearly not only wants to set the all-time record for gubernatorial tenure, but also to create a legacy that will earn him a better place in history books.
Brown's clear path to re-election is laid out in surveys by the Field Poll and by the Public Policy Institute of California.
While they disagreed on some points, both had Brown's approval rating among Californians relatively high - 58 percent in the Field Poll - while the three more or less announced Republican hopefuls barely register.
An improving economy and, therefore, Californians' improving optimism generally about their state buoy Brown's standing. It's a long-established axiom of politics that those in office are held psychologically responsible for the well-being of their constituents, positive or negative, regardless of whether the politicians did anything to warrant that onus.
If there is anything on the horizon that could possibly threaten Brown's political position, it might be something he regards as an accomplishment - reducing overcrowding in prisons through "realignment" that diverts low-level felons into local jails and supervision.
It's been a numerical success, although Brown must drop a few thousand more inmates to satisfy federal judges. But some local officials, particularly in law enforcement, are complaining about impacts on local jails and, some contend, on rising local crime rates.
Critics of the program are gathering anecdotes about crimes committed by the "realigned felons," as one report calls them, but as yet none has been sensational enough to generate a media firestorm that would give one of his Republican opponents traction.
There are other issues that generate some localized opposition, such as Brown's plans to build water-carrying tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the north-south bullet train project. And some Democrats on his left are unhappy about his tightfisted approach to the state budget.
But those are not explosions waiting to happen. And if realignment doesn't blow up, there are simply no impediments, other than himself, to Brown's occupying the governorship into his 81st year in 2019.


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Broomfield, CO - March 19, 2013
Webroot, a leader in cloud-based security intelligence solutions, today added Saudi Arabian-based distributor ValueBoxx to its rapidly growing channel network. The distribution agreement will give customers across the Middle East access to even stronger security and data protection solutions from ValueBoxx, which now features Webroot® SecureAnywhere™ Business – Endpoint Protection, SecureAnywhere Mobile Protection and SecureAnywhere Web Security Services.
The addition of ValueBoxx to the Webroot channel network will expand Webroot's reach throughout the Middle East. Webroot will also gain access to ValueBoxx's comprehensive network of channels, points of sale and value-added resellers. As a key distributor for Webroot's innovative cloud-based security intelligence solutions, ValueBoxx will provide customers with a one-stop shop for easily deployed, unrivaled antivirus and anti-malware protection.
"With our strong channel network we plan to take market penetration of Webroot SecureAnywhere offerings to the next level. The first territory of launch is Saudi Arabia followed by Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, India and many more," said Abdus Saboor, Managing Director Security Solutions & Services of ValueBoxx. "ValueBoxx wants to offer only best-of-breed solutions for our clients and we are excited to offer Webroot as part of our solutions portfolio."
"ValueBoxx was selected as a key partner based on its extensive technical background, industry expertise and strong regional knowledge of the Middle East," said Charles Tomeo, Vice President of WW Channels and Technical Sales, Webroot. "By including our market-leading enterprise security solutions in its portfolio, ValueBoxx can deliver tremendous value and support to an expansive number of customers."
To learn how your organisation can partner with the best security solutions provider in the market, visit Webroot today at webroot.com/partners.


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The Youth Services Department serves children from birth through high school and their caregivers. For information about services for youth in middle and high school, see our Young Adult page.
How to Get a Library Card for Your Child
The Pollard Library does not have an age requirement for library cards. To get a library card for your child you must adhere to the following requirements:
- Only parents or legal guardians may obtain library cards for children.
- The parent/guardian must come to the library and bring identification with the parent's/guardian's name and current Lowell address.
- The child does not have to be present.
- First time library cards are free. Replacement library cards cost $1.
Helpful Links
The following is a list of links that you may find useful as a parent in the City of Lowell and at large. It includes youth and recreation information, links to Lowell schools and fun sites to go to help you raise your little reader.
General Links
City of Lowell Parks and Recreation Department
South Bay Early Intervention
Thom Anne Sullivan Center
Lowell School Links
Lowell Public Schools
Lowell Community Charter Public School
Hellenic American Academy
Immaculate Conception School
St. Louis School
St. Michael School
St. Patrick School
Ste. Jeanne d'Arc School
Literacy Links:
American Library Association's Great Sites for Parents, Caregivers and Teachers
Book Hive – Find that perfect read for your child!


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The Haitian Drugs Factory is the main operation of the Haitian gang in GTA: Vice City and GTA: Vice City Stories. The drug factory provided the Haitians with large amounts of narcotics for which they sold to make massive profits. Thus, when destroyed, the Haitians experienced much difficulty.
After Tommy Vercetti has completed the jobs from Auntie Poulet, Umberto Robina calls and says that now it is time to eliminate the Haitian's drug factory. Tommy then must use the Voodoo vehicle to meet up with other Cubans in the two Voodoo cars with Rico inside. The Haitians lets them inside, and right after they enter the buildings, gunshots erupt with the Haitians trying to eradicate them with their TEC 9 guns. Tommy then fights back and attaches the bombs from the highlighted markers. He has a few minutes to attach the bombs into the marker before the bombs fail to detonate. Right after that, Tommy, Rico, and the rest of the Cubans evacuate the factory before its blown up.
After this mission, Tommy will receive a phone call from Auntie Poulet says to him that he and the Haitians are now enemies and the Haitians will hate the player and will attack on sight.
A minigun can be seen on top of a girder from the drug factory


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Seven healthiest food items that every PREGNANT lady must have
Life is ever changing, but one of the most precious moments that change your life forever is the feeling of getting pregnant. That feeling to have someone inside you is unparalleled and nobody else except a pregnant woman can understand that. But, with more excitement and happiness comes more responsibilities when you have a sweet little angel inside you. Now, along with yourself, you have to take care of that little guest also. Hence, one…Read More


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Archery first appeared in the Olympic Games in 1900 and was contested again in 1904, 1908, and 1920. Women competed in the 1904 Olympics, making archery one of the first sports to include events for both genders.
The sport then had a 52-year hiatus from the Olympics. It was re-introduced to the programme in 1972, with individual events for men and women.
World Archery events range from the international to national, from multi-nationality to localised. All are run to the same (or similar) set of rules, and all feature archers performing, and competing, at their highest level. International events are awarded to bid cities, coordinated and managed by World Archery directly, world ranking events are coordinated by its continental associations and world record status by its national member associations.


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Hey guys. Well, there was kinda supposed to be a comic up today. Or at very least more superhero art here in the blog. Unfortunately, Alice, my work computer, is having some technical difficulties. She's… forgotten how my tablet is supposed to work, and I new drivers don't do anything to fix the issue. Furthermore, instead of rebooting or powering down like she ought to, she takes forever to shut down and ultimately crashes due to a DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE. When she's on she works, but is fairly useless for arting purposes. I'm doing my best to get her working properly again. This may result in a complete re-install if not hardware replacement. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'll keep you all posted as best I can.
Technical DifficultiesNovember 15th, 2011
So let's start our sexy superhero study with the harder subject: Superman.
Superman is truly one of the most iconic superheros ever created, so iconic even that he is one of the very few characters who has totally failed to have any significant costume change stick for any prolonged period of time. Here I present to you Supe's new sexy duds. I think he's looking pretty sharp. How about you? Would you endanger yourself to have him "rescue" you?
So why'd I make the changes I made? Let us investigate.
Starting with our basic superman build, we're in luck as he's pretty sexy all by himself. But he can't be running around in the buff, so we're going to attempt to emphasize all the bits that make him a total stud. The sexiest part of the male figure is the torso and arms. Ask anyone who's into guys, they'll confirm this with rare exception. Furthermore, it is the trapezoidal shapes that are considered the hottest: the broad shoulders and wide chest tapering to a narrow waist. A shape which is also frequently repeated in the face: cheekbones to chin.
So to emphasize those broad shoulders, we take the Superman S and extend clear to his shoulders. We use a ribbing texture and a darker blue color on his sides to visually diminish his waist and show off his abdominal core which is a part of the body that is considered sexy in both genders. The red shorts are too iconic to not keep, but we give them a sexier lower-rise, and mimic the downward angles used in the Superman S. For visual consistency, we repeat that angle in the tops of his boots. Nothing's sexier than looking slightly undressed, so we keep his arms bare, keep his collar low and open at the throat, and we give his boots a little bulk. Instead of the traditional neck or shoulder cape, we throw it over his shoulders, clasped with a Superman shield emblem to give him the look of a dashing rogue.
And there you have it: Superman at his sexiest. An outfit clearly designed for sex appeal, but hardly demeaning to the character. Up next: Supergirl.
Pants or No Pants?November 1st, 2011
No comic this week folks. I've been swamped in paid work and some big social obligations have eaten up my time. However, I've been doing a lot of thinking about some things, and so I'm going to share them with you for whatever they're worth.
Something I've been noticing a lot lately is criticism of female superheroes, how they're written, how they're dressed, and a lot of the criticism bothers me. Some of its legit criticism, and some of its just plain stupid. Most of the complaining, ironically, seems to come from men. While the whole re-writing of Starfire's polyamorous alien culture of love and emotion into a cold and detached "no man owns me" frat-boy-esque get your rocks off wherever you feel is just flat out disgusting and bad writing, whether or not Wonder Woman's pants or lack there of is sexist is just ridiculous.
Let us be clear about something regarding superheroes: they are ridiculous. They are larger than life, smarter, stronger, and better people than any of us. They are ideals for us to live up to. They are symbols. Icons. But they are ridiculous and extreme. They wear flashy costumes, dress in symbols and capes, and their vigilantism is utterly ridiculous. Real crimefighters would never dress or act like any superhero even if they did have super powers. So let us move beyond arguments like "it's not practical for her to have bare legs."
Superheroes should be sexy. They are idolized versions of human beings, why should they not be sexy? Should our perfect versions not be strong, smart, competent, and beautiful? If the answer is "no, they shouldn't," you clearly need to read something other than superhero comics. Because I think you're missing the point.
However, what is attractive about and for men is not the same for women. While a woman looks good in a cocktail dress, a man does NOT look good in the same dress, even when it fits him. Contrariwise, a suit that looks right sharp on a man does not flatter a woman. Simple truth. But just so we're clear, just because outfits and costumes for men and women are different, does not excuse some designs which are beyond ridiculous and surpass bad design and delve into poor taste. The kind of taste you find in sleazy strip clubs.
So how do you design a super hero costume that is sexy, but not sexist? I'm gonna show you! Over the next week, I'm going to take two of our most iconic superheroes, one man, and one woman, and design sexy costumes for them that are not degrading but empowering. More-over I'll explain the principles behind and reasons for my design choices.
Stay tuned.
Updates!October 11th, 2011
First off I'd like to thank all of you who sent me letters during my little breakdown there, letting me know how much you guys enjoyed the comic. They really meant a lot to me. Thank you. I'm doing my best to keep this sucker rolling, and I feel I've faltered in that largely due to projected goals and deadlines being pushed back time and time and time again. Sometimes I had a hand in that, sometimes there was nothing I could do. Regardless, it's bummed me out over the course of the last… six months? Longer? Hard to say anymore. Regardless! I'm updating again, and I'll continue updating as often as I can!
Being all introspective and what not, I've realized I'm not really a comic artist. I'm an artist/illustrator/whatever you want to call it who happens to do a comic in his spare time. That's right, I actually have a day job. Well, sort of. Not in the 9-5 sense, but in the sense of that's how I keep a roof over my head and keep the comic updating as best I can. It's a strange realization for me. Maybe not for anyone else, but for me, it's interesting to see myself in that light. I mention this mostly because, at long last you can now acquire a large selection of my artwork in MULTIPLE SIZES! In addition to the jumbo 16×20″ prints, my art can now be purchased online in the more space-saving 10×13″ and 8×10″ sizes! Huzzah!
I also have a number of new T-shirt designs available for pre-order. Now you don't have to track me down at a convention to find the wall-art you're looking for. Not that I'd ever discourage you from trying to find me at a convention. Speaking of, my last convention of the year is going to be Nekocon, the first weekend of November. I'll be running some awesome panels, and it should be a blast! I hope to see at least some of you guys there!
Time for an Intervention!September 16th, 2011
Well folks, sad to say FK is going to have to be on hiatus until next Friday. I'm having to take some time away from the comic to work on some other projects. Yeah, I apparently go crazy a lot faster than I thought I would. Ah well. Good cliffhanger, right?
This weekend I'll be in rockville at Intervention! Gonna rock it out with a little art fight, a bunch of awesome panels, including one where I'm gonna bring up Comedity, my previous comic which I haven't talked about seriously in a long while. If you're in the area, you should come down. It's a great show!
More updates as they happen!
Under ConstructionAugust 24th, 2011
It may not look like it just now, but the ENTIRE WEBSITE is currently under construction. Unfortunately, like those guys you see on the side of the road, it's taking longer than anticipated. Originally the new site was supposed to go live Tuesday and everything would be rolling along unimpeded. Unfortunately, my coding team is in the middle of a family emergency right now, and so it's looking like the new site will go live on the 2nd. My apologies to you guys for whatever disruptions this may have caused in your regular reading cycle. If you guys could do me a big favor and send some good vibes/prayers/whatever toward my code team, it'd mean a lot to me and to them. Life has this terrible reputation for being a bitch at the best of times. God knows we all could use a few warm wishes now and again.
In less dire news, Baltimore Comic Con was amazing last weekend! Thank you to everyone who came by my table and stopped to talk with me. I really do like comicbook conventions and I think I'm going to have to add more of them to my normally anime-heavy con circuit next year. Which reminds me, the every amazing Intervention Con is coming up in about a month! Last year it happened on the same weekend as SPX but still managed to be an excellent show, ESPECIALLY for a first year con. I'm lead to believe they're running out of space already, so you'd better act fast if you haven't already. Oh, and it looks like I'll be crashing into the deep south for the first time in a long while with Anime Weekend Atlanta in a few months. That'll also be exciting!
And now I return to work. I have SO much to draw.
This Weeekend in BaltimoreAugust 17th, 2011
For those of you who pay attention to the convention schedule listed to your Right –>
You already know that I'm going to be in Baltimore this weekend hob-knobing it up like I was a real comic artist! But Garth, aren't you a real comic artist? 'Course I am! But this time I'll be at a real comic convention! Baltimore Comic Con was awesome last year and I'm very excited about being there again this year. Not sure where to find me? Check the map below!
Trees, oh God the Trees!August 9th, 2011
I swear, from now on the comic will take place in empty 10 foot by 10 foot rooms.
Ota-KHAN!!!August 1st, 2011
Well, today's update is the page that I had ALMOST ready to post on Friday, but I had to leave for Baltimore's OTAKON before I could finish. That was more frustrating than you know. However, the rest of the weekend went amazingly. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table and said "hi." It was good to see so many of you. And for those of you who missed me, I'll be returning to Baltimore shortly for Baltimore Comic Con! And if you can't make it to Baltimore there's the extremely exciting Intervention coming up soon too. As much as I love the big cons like Otakon and Comic Con, the cons I'm more involved with (like Intervention) are even more enjoyable. I like running panels and being informative in ADDITION to all the usual meet-and-greet and commerce.
Something I've learned over the years going to cons and selling my art and comics: if you're an artist, don't be in the dealers room. Be in the artist alley. Despite the differences between dealers rooms and alleys diminishing over the years as more and more artists start doing this kind of thing professionally, the two spaces remain vastly different. And the people who walk through the rooms are very different with very different mindsets even when they're the same person. I'm not sure exactly how to explain this phenomenon, but suffice it to say there's a difference.
I think with more and more alley's cracking down on the rampant proliferation of fanart, people who visit artist alleys expect more unique pieces, more original works, less commercial. Whatever the reason, I've found that people look for me in artist alleys. My place is in the alley. It's where my people are. Thank you for looking for me.
Captain America: Avengers Part IJuly 22nd, 2011
I saw Captain America last night and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. Phenomenal cast, exquisite performances by EVERYONE on screen, great sets, visuals, story, dialogue, the works. I highly, highly, highly recommend this film. It's just such a wonderful pulpy slice of old-school American apple pie. Steve Rogers (played brilliantly by Chris Evans) really manages to capture the American ideal without being hokey about it. I have but two little criticisms of the film: there wasn't more of it, and the ending.
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