tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post114952581189288234..comments2023-10-29T06:41:23.910-07:00Comments on Halfway There: Sir Isaac Newton, feminist?Zenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-29533913542804857172008-11-17T05:12:00.000-08:002008-11-17T05:12:00.000-08:00I do not know of any connection between Newton and...I do not know of any connection between Newton and Pope other than the fact that their lives overlapped. Newton was not known for having much in the way of friends, though he could sometimes tolerate fellow scientists. I doubt he had a lot of time or patience for his literary contemporaries. Pope famously wrote some lines in Newton's honor, but I haven't seen anything about his "presiding" over Newton's funeral. Besides, Pope was a Catholic and would have been an extremely bad choice for the honor.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-71246996759404230152008-11-16T22:04:00.000-08:002008-11-16T22:04:00.000-08:00You clearly are able to properly research fact (wh...You clearly are able to properly research fact (which I appreciate in a critic) so I was wondering... is there any truth to A. Pope presiding over Isaac Newton's funeral? In all the biographies or papers I've read about either, the other is never mentioned; the movie depicts them as friends and colleagues... any truth to that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1151621300991990472006-06-29T15:48:00.000-07:002006-06-29T15:48:00.000-07:00Is it? I hadn't noticed. I've known and used the w...Is it? I hadn't noticed. I've known and used the word "risible" since long before there were blogs. I like it better than "laughable", but perhaps that's because my first language is a romance tongue and I like Latinate vocabulary.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1151620694090330852006-06-29T15:38:00.000-07:002006-06-29T15:38:00.000-07:00The word "risible" seems to be spreading through t...The word "risible" seems to be spreading through the Blog world. I will be anonymous and ask what it accomplishes. <BR/><BR/><I>I can cite two such instances. One is Professor Langdon's lecture on phi, the Golden Ratio, a risible episode which I will save for a later commentary.</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1150586796216497582006-06-17T16:26:00.000-07:002006-06-17T16:26:00.000-07:00Brown has problems with metaphor and syntax - prim...Brown has problems with metaphor and syntax - primarily in <A HREF="http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2006/05/why-im-surprised-to-hear-movie-is-bad.html" REL="nofollow">verb arguments</A> - and he doesn't mind stretching his research for the sake of his story - but the man can spin a yarn! <BR/><BR/>Plus, as pointed out on Ebonmuse's <A HREF="http://www.daylightatheism.org/" REL="nofollow">Daylight Atheism</A>, the lure of the novel is a competing <I>story</I>, and people love stories. And this one has everything.<BR/><BR/>ps - my verification word starts with lw... I think. It might be hv. Odd looking font.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1149561564124782712006-06-05T19:39:00.000-07:002006-06-05T19:39:00.000-07:00I read fast, Nick. Really fast. Thus I made it thr...I read <I>fast</I>, Nick. Really <I>fast</I>. Thus I made it through Dan Brown's prose with relatively few grimaces (but quite a few grins). But hey, he's the multi-millionaire and we are middle-class wage earners. Dare we think we write better than a bestselling author? (Uh, <I>yes</I>.)Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1149560075889204462006-06-05T19:14:00.000-07:002006-06-05T19:14:00.000-07:00You wrote:The experience was relatively painless. ...You wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>The experience was relatively painless. I found The Da Vinci Code entertaining, cleverly plotted, and often amusing (although not always in the places that Dan Brown probably intended).</I><BR/><BR/>But the <A HREF="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000844.html" REL="nofollow">writing</A>! Didn't it drive you crazy?Nick Barrowmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11224940659269649220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1149549822219883232006-06-05T16:23:00.000-07:002006-06-05T16:23:00.000-07:00Well done. I didn't have the patience to read the ...Well done. I didn't have the patience to read the book but I did enjoy the movie. But I had forgotten about Newton's misogyny. <BR/><BR/>maybe this will help all those people who are afraid the book is nonfiction...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com