Leading with Titles; Seeing Bodies

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We see and recognize our world partly because of our cultural milieu. Our eyes simply receive raw light information while our brain organizes and identifies it. After Saddam Hussein’s execution many Iraqis thought they recognized Saddam’s face in the moon. … Continued

When Paradigms Collapse

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  In Thomas Kuhn’s classic “The Structure of Scientific Revolution,” the author considers our response to the failure of standard paradigms. We try to make the old paradigm work with modifications; we reject the evidence that the old paradigm (insert: … Continued

Elasticity and Motion

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This blog begins with me sitting in St. Louis’s International Airport in Missouri. As I sit here and rapidly turn my head I am aware of seeing color, but shapes tend to escape clear outlines. It’s only when I slow … Continued

Discovery Through Novelty

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        I previously referred to Picasso’s remark “I don’t seek, I find.” Our readiness to notice anomalies in our field of vision and our lives enhances our experience of the ordinary. We begin to think about things … Continued

Chiaroscuro

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Chiaro (clear light) and scuro (dark, from which we get the verb “to obscure”).  Leonardo da Vinci perfected many ideas for transferring visual experience onto a two dimensional surface and Chiaroscuro was one of his finest. Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Turner … Continued

Luminosity Vs. Sparkle

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     If you want the eyes to twinkle, the fruit to gleam, the bottle to shine, then follow Rembrandt’s example. Look at the hilt of his cane. It sparkles. Its sparkle follows a formula; any small area of light … Continued