beneath the shoreless waves
14:50 | 25-05-2013 | History, Science | No Comments
многие ли, кстати, помнят не только Чарльза Дарвина, но и его деда, Эразмуса Дарвина? а между тем это как раз тот редкий пример всестороннего просвещения, что неизменно завораживает меня; его интересы простирались от Большого Взрыва до подводных лодок, от зарождения жизни до педагогики — вот так:
Seventy Five subjects in which Erasmus Darwin contributed significant ideas, pioneered technology or made valid predictions. From “The essential writings of Erasmus Darwin” Desmond King-Hele, (1968):
abolition of slavery; adiabatic expansion; aesthetics; afforestation; air travel; animal camouflage; artesian wells; artificial insemination; aurorae; Big Bang; biological adaptation; biological pest control; canal lifts (locks); carriage design; cemeteries; centrifugation; cloud formation; compressed air; copying machines; educational reform; electrical machines; electrotherapy; evolutionary theory; exercise for children; fertilizers; formation of coal; geological stratification; hereditary disease; individuality of buds; insecticides; language; light verse; limestone deposits; manures; materialism; mental illness; microscopy; mimicry; moon’s origin; nerve impulses; night airglow; nitrogen cycle; ocular spectra; organic happiness; origin of life; outer atmosphere; phosphorous; photosynthesis; Portland vase; rocket motors; rotary pumps; secular morality; seed-drills; sewage farms; sexual reproduction; speaking machines; squinting; steam carriages; steam turbines; struggle for survival; submarines; survival of the fittest; telescopes; temperance; timber production; travel of seeds; treatment of dropsy; ventilation; versifying science; warm and cold fronts; water closets; water machines; wind-gauges; windmills; women’s emancipation.