Learning Latin can be a dangerous thing for the mind. As any student of that predominantly dead language would tell you, the Latin prefix ‘sept’ means seven. A classic example of this is the word septuagenarian describing someone who is in their seventies. Likewise, the prefix ‘oct’ means eight as in octagon and octopus and so on. So just why is September the ninth month, October the tenth, November (‘nov’ = 9 as is a novena) the eleventh, and December (‘dec’ = 10 as in decathlon)? Were the Romans mad? And why bring this up in July?
Well, the reason is that the months of July and August were inserted into the calendar, displacing what had been the seventh month of September down by two slots. And why were July and August inserted? To honor the two new Roman gods – Julius and Augustus Caesar.
There is also another Roman connection is this months lineup. The Romans valued farming. As this month’s Aristotle To Digital shows us there is a very strong connection between farming, continued survival, mathematics, and the concept of infinity.
July of 1986, in addition to being a month-long commemoration of a dead Roman emperor, was also the month in which the White Event occurred in the fictional Marvel spinoff – The New Universe. About Comics presents the first in a three-part series looking back at that short-lived publication line and its lasting influence.
No one in their right mind would ever draw a strong comparison between the Ford Pinto and the Tesla Model S, would they? After all, the former is emblematic of all that was wrong with the ‘cheap’ cars of the 1970s and the latter is a modern, digital-age marvel. But as Common Cents points out, the two vehicles have an interesting parallel developing around how the market perceives them and their forthrightness on their respective safety records.
Waves in cold magnetized plasma exhibit dispersion relations that are rich, complex, and surprising. Under the Hood examines the behavior of ordinary and extraordinary waves propagating perpendicular to the external magnetic field.
Enjoy!