Friday Notes
Danny Loss,"The Failings of Narrative History," No Loss for Words, 24 May, faults both a conservative's claim that history should be taught, beginning at the beginning and moving forward chronologically, and an experimental claim that history should be taught backwards as sharing the illusion that there's an inevitable narrative there.
Edward Rothstein,"Adam and Eve in the Land of Dinosaurs," NY Times, 24 May, and Stephen T. Asthma,"Solomon's House: The Deeper Agenda of the new Creation Museum in Kentucky," Skeptic, 23 May, visit northern Kentucky's new Creation Museum. Frame a natural history museum in terms of biblical literalism and you get something that's unfaithful to both. It's an alternative universe theme park.
Greta Lorge,"The Best Thought Experiments," Wired, 15 June, from Galileo's balls in the 16th century to Hawking's turtles in 1988.
DeNeen L. Brown,"Biographer Wins Washington Prize for Book on Slave Trade," Washington Post, 23 May, looks at the reward for Charles Rappleye's Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution. Thanks to Marc Comtois at Spinning Clio for the tip.