It's Science Day. What? So, is there a National Science Breakfast? Of course not. First off, those who would hold it probably haven't the faintest idea what science is, though they do know that it is neither faith nor prayer, or at least their aides tell them so. Some think it is an encyclopedia and are fond of saying things like "science tells us" followed by some assertion that they believe in, generally without knowing why. That too would be left up to their aides.
For The Record, science is a continuous ongoing process, or method often simplistically described as involving the formation of a hypothesis, followed by designing and conducting experiments to test that hypothesis, and drawing conclusions from said tests as to the correctness of the hypothesis. Many today would insert making an observation that exposes, illustrates or defines a question or problem as the first step, pre-empting the frequent question of "how does one form a hypothesis". Sherlock, of course, would automatically say "observation and deduction", but he was fictitious. That question and the proposed pre-emptive answer presuppose certain characteristics that it is not always correct to assume exist. One is curiosity, which is generally absent in those who think that they already know all of the answers. This is why politicians and certain others deeply committed to dogmas and ideologies can't seem to "get" or appreciate science. Another is the ability to reason or apply logic to information in order to arrive at conclusions based on that information. That, in turn, entails knowing the difference between information and assertions. Two more obvious failings of politicians, pundits, talking heads, and a great many others. Whatever, the very idea of a National Science Breakfast is off the table pretty much ab initio.
Lest somebody point out the need for doing basic research as a step to be inserted at one or more points in the above formulation, I will note that it is often included in such formulations. As our knowledge base grows, the ability to do such research increases to a degree that was unimaginable a few hundred years ago and is still not always present. Presumably, where these is a sufficient knowledge base, curiosity plus the ability to reason logically compounded with the ability to differentiate information from assertions would lead investigators to undertake said research.
CAVEAT: There is an open question as to whether or not a somewhat similar process which starts with a large corporation funding an endeavor to verify some "hypothesis" that it specifies is technically "science", but that is beyond the scope of this writing.
On this day in history:
1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed on the order of Hernán Cortés
1638 – The Scottish National Covenant was signed in Edinburgh
1835 – Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala
1922 – The United Kingdom formally recognized Egypt's independence
1947 – The Koumintang slaughtered roughly 30,000 civilians in Taiwan. 1972 – The US and China signed the Shanghai Communiqué.
1980 – Andalusia approved its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
1986 – Olof Palme was assassinated in Stockholm. The killer and their employer remain unknown
1991 – The first Gulf War ended
1993 – BATF agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. Four ATF agents and six Davidians died in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
1997 – A highly luminous flash of gamma rays, struck Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
2004 – Over one million Taiwanese participated in the 228 Hand-in-Hand rally to commemorate the February 28 Incident in 1947.
Born this day in:
Everybody deserves a fresh start every once in a while.
~~ Bugsy Siegel
1533 – Michel de Montaigne, philosopher and author
1535 – Cornelius Gemma, astronomer and astrologer
1552 – Jost Bürgi, mathematician and clockmaker
1675 – Guillaume Delisle, cartographer
1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, entomologist and academic
1704 – Louis Godin, astronomer and academic
1878 – Pierre Fatou, mathematician and astronomer
1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, physician and endocrinologist
1901 – Linus Pauling, chemist and activist
1906 – Bugsy Siegel, businessman
1907 – Milton Caniff, cartoonist
1909 – Stephen Spender, author and poet
1915 – Ketti Frings, author, playwright, and screenwriter
1915 – Peter Medawar, biologist and immunologist
1928 – Sylvia del Villard, actress, dancer, choreographer and Afro-Puerto Rican activist
1929 – John Montague, poet and academic
1930 – Leon Cooper, physicist and academic
1932 – Don Francks, actor, singer, and jazz musician
1942 – Brian Jones, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1943 – Barbara Acklin, singer and songwriter
1946 – Syreeta Wright, singer and songwriter
1948 – Steven Chu, physicist and politician
1948 – Bernadette Peters, actress, singer, and author
1957 – Cindy Wilson, singer and songwriter
1967 – Seth Rudetsky, musician, actor, writer, and radio host
Honest history is the weapon of freedom.
also
What we need is a rebirth of satire, of dissent, of irreverence, of an uncompromising insistence that phoniness is phony and platitudes are platitudinous.
~~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, physician and immunologist
1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, astronomer and academic
1936 – Charles Nicolle, biologist and academic
2005 – Chris Curtis, singer and drummer
2006 – Owen Chamberlain, physicist and academic
2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. historian and critic
2013 – Donald A. Glaser, physicist and biologist
2019 – André Previn, pianist, conductor, and composer
2020 – Freeman Dyson, physicist and mathematician
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
National Chocolate Souffle Day
National Public Sleeping Day
National Science Day
National Tooth Fairy Day aka Lie To Your Kids Day
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)
Don Francks
Brian Jones
Barbara Acklin
Syreeta Wright
Cindly Wilson
Chris Curtis
Andre' Previn