Month: September 2022

Green Lakes State Park

Green Lakes State Park near Syracuse, New York, is home to two unusual lakes. Green Lake and Round Lake are meromictic, meaning that unlike most lakes, their deep and shallow waters do not mix. The absence of mixing produces relatively undisturbed layers of sediment—a scientific boon—and creates gorgeous blue-green waters. Along with its eponymous lakes, the park is known for its 18-hole public golf course, which opened at the height of the Great Depression. How was the course’s designer paid? Discuss

Sweden Adopts New Act of Succession (1810)

The present Swedish royal dynasty was established by French-born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Bernadotte initially supported Napoleon but then shifted his allegiance to Sweden. In 1810, he was invited to become crown prince of Sweden. He was made heir to Charles XIII through the Act of Succession. Among other things, it specifies that a Swedish prince must belong to the Church of Sweden and be raised within the realm. What change was made to the rule of succession in 1980? Discuss

Ivan Pavlov (1849)

Russian physiologist and Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov is chiefly known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex, a reflex developed gradually by training in association with a specific repeated external stimulus. In the 1890s, he was investigating the gastric function of dogs when he noticed that the animals began salivating at the mere sound of the bell that preceded their feedings. He made this phenomenon the focus of his research. What other experimental subjects did he use in his research? Discuss

Maxwell's Demon

The second law of thermodynamics—stating that any isolated microcosm moves only toward an increase in entropy—was accepted uneasily by the scientific community, and in 1867, physicist James Clerk Maxwell sought to disprove it. Maxwell’s thought experiment utilized a hypothetical creature, which he called a “finite being,” that could sort molecules of different velocities or temperatures without expending energy, thus bringing about a general decrease in entropy. Who dubbed the being a “demon”? Discuss

Vasco Núñez de Balboa Reaches Pacific Ocean (1513)

Balboa was a Spanish conquistador who, while fleeing creditors, hid on a vessel and wound up in Panama. Once there, he founded the Panamanian colony of Darién, the first stable settlement on the South American continent, and won the friendship of the indigenous people—which was unusual given the cruelty of most conquistadors. Balboa then crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, claiming it and all shores washed by it for the Spanish crown. What did he call this ocean? Discuss

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906)

Although Shostakovich is regarded as the greatest Russian composer after Igor Stravinsky, he was denounced multiple times by the authorities and had his work banned during his lifetime. The first denunciation—of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, in which he experimented with avant-garde trends—made a strong impression on him and led him to adopt a very different style that was serious and elegiac, with a directness aimed at the public. What brought him back into Stalin’s good graces? Discuss