Nov
11
11
it’s still an issue
Filed under: interesting thingy | Tags: | November 11th, 2005
I recently read The Sun in the Church – a very interesting book about how cathedrals were used as observatories before telescopes were invented. The whole point of getting this calendar business sorted out was to set the date for Easter. Anyway, it looks like the debate about calendars & clocks isn’t over yet…
Anik | November 13th, 2005 @ 8:27 pm
Hey Cuz, if you haven’t already come across it, Calendar: Humanity’s Epic Struggle To Determine A True And Accurate Year by David E Duncan is a good read on calendarizing that goes beyond Europe. It’s bin a while since I read it, but if I remember correctly, the Mayans made the Euros look like total amateurs. Another good time-measuring book (hours, though, not years) is Longitude : The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel, which I absolutely loved.
And unrelated to this entry, but: for French classes, have you considered McGill’s Continuing Education department? They have some evening/weekend courses that look well structured: Part-time French Program. But the placement test for spring is on Saturday the 19th so you’d need to get prepare for that fairly quickly.
Cheerio,
Anik
Anik | November 13th, 2005 @ 8:29 pm
Gah, “bin a while”? My only excuse is I’m freezing right now and it’s hard to type in these fingerless gloves.
Off to flog self with a dictionary.
Karen Hagen | November 17th, 2005 @ 12:34 am
Hi Anik,
Thanks for the comments! Its cool to know that I know another calendar/meridian geek!! I will check out those books when I go to the big library (le Grand Bibliothèque) next.
Actually, I am taking French lessons through McGill. I started with U de M but I really didn’t like the program and took the placement test about a year ago at McGill. I took a class last Jan-April but didn’t do any over the summer and didn’t have time to register before my trip for the fall semester. I will be taking another one this January (weill I hope so, I have not registered yet). I started in at level 4 of 6 and there are two classes per level, so I have 5 classes to go before I finish. Well, someday I will finish. Yes, the program there is very good and I found it very professional.
Make it an electronic one, I suspect it will hurt less…