Silvanus’s Treks
I just discovered a map Silvanus must have made, showing his treks across Ilva. How do you like it?
Actually, it was made for him by a brilliant cartographer in Russia, Polina Vorontsova.
Similar Posts
Who says global warming?
AD 536 saw the most protracted episode of climatic cooling. We talk a lot about global warming. But sometimes the opposite happens. Was it caused by one or more massive volcanic eruptions? The so-called volcanic winter of AD 536 was certainly an uncanny phenomenon. The sun went dark for eighteen months throughout the Northern Hemisphere….
Not quite as old as Silvanus’ map
This is a copper engraving by the Dutch artists Willem Janszoon and Joan Blaeu, based on Giovanni Antonio Magini’s original of 1598. Many thanks to Paolo Ferruzzi, who keeps this map in his Academy of Works of Art in Poggio. Funnily enough, Silvanus’ map, though less elaborate, looks far more accurate to the modern eye.
Dreaming of the big wide world
I doubt that Silvanus saw many motor boats from his hillside home on Elba. But he certainly watched the birds and shipping. And dreamed of adventure in the big, wide world. Perhaps that is what inspired me to take a day off work and go ‘sailing’ in the MS Panta Rhei on the Zürichsee. In spite…
Show or tell?
Some gleanings from from the Zürich Writers’ Workshop, 13.-14.4.2013 I was in the Storytelling Fundamentals stream with instructor Sam North, who teaches Creative Writing at Exeter University. We were about 15 participants from all over the world – Philippines, Sweden, Nigeria, India, USA, UK, Switzerland – mostly living in the Zürich area. A very interactive, stimulating group. I hope to…
Who would have thought it?
The Romans had two-story houses with door locks, underfloor heating, running hot water, private mills, and silver dishes! And toilets-for-two next to the stove in the kitchen!
Of Gods and Demons
I woke up the other morning to find this little fellow threatening me with his lightsaber! I had thought he was a wee harmless angel, who just sat there, minding his own business. Had he come to life? What made him so unfriendly, all of a sudden? Or was it, perhaps just me, imagining things? Many people…
One Comment