Spring comes
in small doses
Like the twinkling of sunset
on the water
or the indigo in the sky
at the end of night
--Brooklyn Beat
The Promenade was jammed yesterday. Cadman Plaza Park filled with strollers, kids playing in shirt sleeves, and Lawyers in Love.
But the winds of change shift, as Brooklyn traverses seasons, a warm sciroco one minute, blending with winter chill. Things will settle, and there will be more winter this weekend, but in the distance we can tell in these intermediate moments, of the inexorable march toward spring.
Ideas in Art, culture, technology, politics and life-- In Brooklyn or Beacon NY -- and Beyond (anyway, somewhere beginning with a "B")
Thursday, February 12, 2009
19th Century Men: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, Born February 12, 1809
Charles Darwin: A visionary theorist who studied and advanced the unique scientific concept of evolution, that broke new ground in the study of life and biology, and, not insignificantly, cast aside the Biblical view of the genesis of life.
Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist[I] who realised and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and much of the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s,[1] and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, providing logical explanation for the diversity of life.[2]
At Edinburgh University Darwin neglected medical studies to investigate marine invertebrates, then the University of Cambridge encouraged a passion for natural science.[3] His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell’s uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838.[4] Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority.[5] He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.[6]
Biography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
Abraham Lincoln: A 19th century man. Complex, perhaps in a more modern way, brilliant and homespun, a remarkable writer and political leader and executive. Despite the myth and the flawed humanity revealed by modern historians, he took enormous risks and made the supreme personal sacrifice in order to preserve the Union, end slavery, and ensure the continuation of the grand experiment that is the American Republic. -- Brooklyn Beat
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. As the war was drawing to a close, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. Before his election in 1860 as the first Republican president, Lincoln had been a lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Senate.
Biography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist[I] who realised and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and much of the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s,[1] and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, providing logical explanation for the diversity of life.[2]
At Edinburgh University Darwin neglected medical studies to investigate marine invertebrates, then the University of Cambridge encouraged a passion for natural science.[3] His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell’s uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838.[4] Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority.[5] He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.[6]
Biography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
Abraham Lincoln: A 19th century man. Complex, perhaps in a more modern way, brilliant and homespun, a remarkable writer and political leader and executive. Despite the myth and the flawed humanity revealed by modern historians, he took enormous risks and made the supreme personal sacrifice in order to preserve the Union, end slavery, and ensure the continuation of the grand experiment that is the American Republic. -- Brooklyn Beat
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. As the war was drawing to a close, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. Before his election in 1860 as the first Republican president, Lincoln had been a lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Senate.
Biography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln