JULY 20, 1969 AND WHAT WAS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE DIVERSITY NAZIS TOOK OVER.

Why, the landing on the Moon of course!








Thanks to men like these:





With a sympathetic nod to Mrs. Morgan and Mrs Northcutt of course.

Anyway, after 1972 the culture wars set in for earnest and this is where it got us, in the ladies' restrooms. President Trump vows the US will be back on the Moon by 2024 but honestly, I don't see how this is possible. Especially since his predecessor - cursed be his name - shelved the Constellation Program back in 2011 already.


If that promise has to come true, luckily there's one thing that has changed for the better vis-à-vis the days of the Apollo Project, and that is the greater potential, involvement and impetus of the private sector. In an era where the State's size has grown orders of magnitude compared to the late sixties/early seventies yet is not capable anymore of the feats of half a century ago, the cockyness and sheer potential of private enterprise provides consolation and... some sort of karma.



MFBB.

WESTERN MILESTONES: ANDRE TAQUET'S CYLINDRICORUM ET ANNULARIUM LIBRI IV.

In 1651, the Flemish Jesuit priest André Tacquet (23 June 1612 Antwerp – ibid. 22 December 1660) published Cylindricorum et annularium libri IV (Four Books on Cilinders and Rings), an important mathematical work dealing with the geometrical features of cilinders and rings and their applications.





Taquet entered the Jesuit Order in 1629 and quickly established himself as a brilliant mathematician whose works were translated in English and Italian. It is a pity that the Jesuits, despite having produced a considerable number of excellent scientist and mathematicians, were so unyielding in their opposition of the Method of the Indivisibles, a novel theory promoted by, a.o., Bonaventura Cavalieri in Italy and John Wallis in England. Taquet's Cylindricorum... does give a nod to indivisibles, but he was quickly rebuffed by the Jesuit Superior General, Goswin Nickel. In time however, the Theory of Indivisibles would lead to the calculus method, described by both Newton and Leibniz. And without calculus modern engineering and technology would simply be unthinkable. Highly recommended reading in this respect is Amir Alexander's book Infinitesimal.

Be that as it may, Cylindricorum et annularium libri IV remains an seminal work which influenced, a.o., the French mathematician Blaise Pascal.



MFBB.