As the rage for phantasmagoria crossed the Channel, one of the most popular performers was a Parisian, Paul de Philipsthal (known variously as Phylidor, Paul Philidor, and Paul Filadort). De… [Continue Reading]
Author: LoriBrister
Etienne-Gaspard Robertson was born in Liege and, like many young men of means, he studied philosophy, art, and science at university, and for short time, became a professor of optics…. [Continue Reading]
It was a dark, frozen night in January 1799. One by one, men, women, and children filed inside an abandoned convent on the Right Bank, stepping over the threshold with… [Continue Reading]
On August 18, 2017, I stood outside, like millions of other Americans from Oregon to South Carolina, put on glasses made of paper and thin foil, and stared into the… [Continue Reading]
The subtitle of Mary Beard’s new book Women & Power is, provocatively, A Manifesto. But, as manifestos go, there’s nothing really radical about it. There are no lengthy enumerations of grievances, no definitive calls… [Continue Reading]
Every year I recommit myself to a resolution to use this blog as a sort of intellectual diary, documenting my research projects, thoughts from events and lectures, and book reviews…. [Continue Reading]
In September 1947, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer programming, kept finding glitches in her programming. She ran several diagnostic tests before deciding to open up her massive… [Continue Reading]
In one photo, he looks far into the distance, blurry-eyed and pensive. A velvet cape drapes around his shoulders so that each fold catches the light. His white hair, perpetually… [Continue Reading]
The Klieg lights swept over the gathering crowd and cut through the dark October sky for the first premier in movie history. Limousines lined the street as far as the… [Continue Reading]
The midday sun was beating down mercilessly, and most of the tourists had already returned to the dahabiyeh for luncheon. The kitchen crew rang the bell twice, and when these… [Continue Reading]