The Suffix 'naut' Comes From The Greek

The Broader The Topic, The Easier It Is, Not Only To Fill A Book, But To Set The Bar Pretty High For Really Great Stuff.

The Nobility Of The Human Spirit Grows Harder For Me To Believe In. War, Zealotry, Greed, Malls, Narcissism. I See A Backhanded Nobility In Excessive, Impractical Outlays Of Cash Prompted By Nothing Loftier Than A Species Joining Hands And Saying “i Bet We Can Do This.” Yes, The Money Could Be Better Spent On Earth. But Would It? Since When Has Money Saved By Government Red-lining Been Spent On Education And Cancer Research? It Is Always Squandered. Let’s Squander Some On Mars. Let’s Go Out And Play.

The Terms "idiot" And "lunatic" Were Acceptable Diagnostic Terms In England Up Until 1959. "imbecile" And "feeble-minded Person" Were, Likewise, Listed As Official Categories In The 1913 Mental Deficiency Act. England Has Always Lagged A Bit Behind In Discarding Outdated Terms For The Disadvantaged. When I Was There In 1980, It Was Still Possible To Shop For Used Clothing At The Local Spastic Shop. That Is, Compared To The United States, Where It Takes, Oh, About Twenty-five Minutes For A Diagnostic Euphemism To Become A Conversational Faux Pas.

I Very Much Was Inspired By Bill Bryson. He Does Cover Science, But More Often, It's A Mixture Of Science And Travel, And Whatever He Happens To Be Writing About - Shakespeare, Australia, The United Kingdom, Or When He Covers Science In 'a Short History Of Nearly Everything' - He Has An Incredible Ability To Be Both Entertaining And Enlightening.

Here Is The Secret To Surviving One Of These [airplane] Crashes: Be Male. In A 1970 Civil Aeromedical Institute Study Of Three Crashes Involving Emergency Evacuations, The Most Prominent Factor Influencing Survival Was Gender (followed Closely By Proximity To Exit). Adult Males Were By Far The Most Likely To Get Out Alive. Why? Presumably Because They Pushed Everyone Else Out Of The Way.