History of Science Pic of the Week
"Fuji at Torigoe" is the eightieth woodblock print from One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It depicts the observatory of the Calendar Bureau during the Edo period, with astronomers working on the roof, Mt. Fuji in the background. The astronomical device, however, is not an observational instrument; it is an orrery. Judging by the outdoor location for the instrument and the fact that it is missing essential components, it is likely that Hokusai produced this design based on another illustration. According to Hokusai scholar Henry D. Smith II, the orrery is best seen as an indication of Hokusai's interest in Western science rather than a representation of Japanese astronomical practice.
My Wikipedia Manifesto
Some Wikiphilosophy:
- The ideals of wiki and open, anonymous editing have served Wikipedia well, but may not always do so. There is nothing sacred about immediate edit gratification if it begins to obstruct the main goal, to produce a high-quality free encyclopedia.
- "Undue weight" is an admirable policy, but should not be interpreted too literally. Achieving a neutral point of view means giving the reader a feeling for the relative significance of differing viewpoints, not strictly limiting the amount of space devoted to a minority viewpoint. In this sense, sometimes more is less.
- The notability threshold of "multiple, non-trivial published works" independent of the subject is excessive. The notability guideline is an offshoot of verifiability; the demand for more than one independent source goes considerably beyond the core policy, especially considering that self-published sources can often be considered reliable except for the purpose of establishing notability. Articles on obscure but verifiable topics make Wikipedia better.
Things I'm proud of:
 WikiProject History of Science - Started January 15, 2006. Current number of participants: 69
 Haeckel Gallery - The complete set of illustrations from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (1904), scanned and uploaded by me. Completed March 25, 2006. Contact me for the original scans if you would like to create improved versions of any of the images.
 Portal:History of science - Promoted to featured portal status May 23, 2006.
 Wikipedia assignment in HIST 236 - As teaching assistant for the Fall 2006 course "History of Modern Science in Society", I designed a Wikipedia term paper assignment, resulting in the creation or expansion of 13 articles.
 - Wikipedia Signpost articles:
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Johannes Kepler - Promoted to featured article status March 20, 2007.
Current projects:
Future projects:
Favorites:
Other WikiProjects:
Shoutouts:
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User:Ragesoss and Curie the cat
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| Oh no! Suddenly everything has turned Neo-cubist! |
| It all started when Calvin engaged his dad in a minor debate! Soon Calvin could see both sides of the issue! Then poor Calvin began to see both sides of everything! |
| The traditional single viewpoint has been abandoned! Perspective has been fractured! |
| The multiple views provide too much information! It's impossible to move! Calvin quickly tries to eliminate all but one perspective! |
| It works! The world fall into a recognizable order! |
| "You're still wrong, Dad." |
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