Headed out of 2023 like

That makes me think of innovative ebooks, and while it isn't so far outside of what can be accomplished in modern readers, I really like the online textbook“Dynamics and Astrophysics of Galaxies” by Jo Bovy.

https://galaxiesbook.org/index.html

Obviously not every ebook is going to be prepared with this sort of innovation and attention to detail, but I'd love to see Apple's Books and other mobile (non-desktop, non-browser) readers be able to handle something like this.

https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover

@astro_jcm It is a truth universally acknowledged.

@bobo_of_id This is simply how "To Read" folders work.

"To Read”

The first known photo of the Andromeda galaxy, at the time thought to be a nebula, was taken by astronomer Isaac Roberts OTD in 1888.

The image, captured with his 20" reflector, reveals a clear spiral structure. But scientists assumed M31 was a gas cloud within our galaxy.

Image: Isaac Roberts

@glasspusher AmScope M150C-MS. We’re setting it up today!

Actually the recommendations are pretty good, because it's written by someone who lives here.

How dare you

Mathematician, physicist, and computer scientist, the great omnimath John von Neumann was born #OTD in 1903.

He considered his quantum mechanics contributions to be most important. To get a sense of the breadth of his work, look at his Wikipedia “known for” list.

My Pictionary clue is “verisimilitude” what the heck

@dabacon Which algebraic geometry books?

A very nice blog post bout Mary Somerville, by @rmathematicus:

https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/the-queen-of-science-the-woman-who-tamed-laplace/

It was in a review of this last book that William Whewell, lamenting a lack of unity among the physical sciences, first used the term “scientist” (which he had coined the previous year) in publication.

And while it seems that Whewell did not apply the phrase there to Somerville, specifically, there is little doubt that he admired her greatly and thought of her in those terms. His correspondence is full of glowing references to her and her work.

The Morning Post called Somerville the “Queen of Nineteenth Century Science.” Her book “Physical Geography” (1848) remained in use as a textbook into the 20th century.

But Somerville was probably better know for her immensely popular 1834 book “On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences.” It summarized, in accessible terms, what was known at the time about astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography and other subjects.

Mary Somerville was born #OTD in 1780. She was a scientist, writer, and artist; the first woman (along with Caroline Herschel) to belong to the Royal Astronomical Society; and the first signature on Mill’s 1868 Women’s Suffrage petition.

Image: self portrait (Somerville College, Oxford)

@_thegeoff Conway <- Bertrand Russell <- Lord John Russell <- Napoleon

@joelvanderwerf #CreatureChristmas?

@gedeonm Not even a mouse?