Each time I pick up The Canterbury Tales, I can't remember which tale is which any more, so here's a summary of each in 5 sentences or less (a work in progress):
The Knight's Tale
Knights Arcite and Palamon fall madly in love with Emily, duel to the death, for the noble cause of following their hearts and choosing the one they love. She nobly accepts the winner--but interestingly without any say of her own.
The Miller's Tale
Nicolas, boarding at old John the carpenter's house, falls in love with John's young wife Alison. He convinces gullible John that if he acts quickly and without questions, he will save him from a new Biblical flood, but it's just a ruse to get him alone with Alison. Absalom, the amorous parish, clerk interrupts their escapade and awakes John, who runs amok thinking the flood has begun. Poor gullible John becomes a laughing stock and branded insane by the villagers.
The Steward's Tale (or The Reeve's Tale)
Scholars John and Allen are cheated by a corrupt miller. It gets late so they spend the night in his 1-bedroom house. Through a combination of drunkenness, mischief, and mistakes in the dark, they sleep with his wife and daughter, fight the miller, and the wife knocks him out with a board. They escape at dawn with their silver and grain--and prove that cheaters will get cheated themselves in the end.
The Man of Law's Tale
The Emperor of Rome, trying to spread Christianity, gives his daughter, Constance, to the Sultan of Syria, but the Sultan's jealous mother has her banished to sea. With God's protection, however, as with Daniel, Jonah, David, and others before her, she arrives years later in Northumberland, where she marries the King and spreads Christianity there. The King's mother, however, also jealous, manages to get her banished again. This time she's found by a Roman Counselor, who takes her back to Rome, where he unwittingly reunites her with her father, the Emperor, and her husband, the King of Northumberland, who--thinking she was dead--was in Rome to see the Pope.
The Wife of Bath's Tale - coming soon
The Friar's Tale
A summoner, enforcing laws on morality, supplements his income by extorting "fines" from peasants for concocted accusations. Over-confident in himself, he joins up with the devil. On their way to extort a widow, they meet a peasant cursing his horses stuck in a rut. The devil ignores the peasant because he doesn't really mean his curses. Then they meet the widow, whom the summoner accuses of made-up crimes. When she responds with real curses, the devil takes the summoner's soul immediately!
The Summoner's Tale
A lying and conniving friar visits sick Thomas, the peasant, eats his food, molests his wife, and begs for gold. After making the friar promise he'll share it equally with his brothers, Thomas offers him any gold hidden in his pants, but all he has is a fart! Incensed, the friar visits a lord to complain, but all the lord offers is his servant's suggestion that a fart can be shared by passing it between the spokes of a wagon wheel.
The Cleric's Tale
Walter, the Italian Marquis, takes Griselda, the peasant girl, as his wife but only after making her vow obedience. Then he tests for deceptively for 12 years before finally confessing his cruelty was just a test and then they live happily ever after! The cleric then advises women to respect Griselda but not be so meek.
The Merchant's Tale
January, the old knight marries May, a young and beautiful girl. Then Fate makes January blind. After some discussion on the relationship between a husband and wife, Pluto restores January's sight in time for him to catch May in a fling with Damian, the squire, but Proserpine, Pluto's wife, gives May, and all women, the ability to talk her way out of any wrongdoing!
The Landowner's Tale - next
Reference:Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales. ca. 1390. Trans. Burton Raffel. Modern Library. 2008.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
A walk along an Estuary - A Brush with Nature
One summer day I was walking on a boardwalk along an estuary. It was late afternoon. I didn't know how far it went, but it was easy walking, I felt like exploring, and it looked like it would take me away from the buildings and urban noises and into nature.
I kept walking. The vegetation got thicker and the urban noises began to fade. I started seeing more birds and colorful insects. I got to a point where there were no more buildings to be seen, but I could still hear their air conditioners. So I walked further and it got quieter and I began to hear more sounds of nature, even the water lapping.
The boardwalk ended, but a cement sidewalk continued at ground level. It started getting dark. I was alone and I became entranced with being one with nature. There was no moon or starlight--it must have been cloudy--but the sidewalk was straight and easy to follow and I had a flashlight, in case I needed it. I kept it off so as not to disrupt my solitude nor run down the battery.
Suddenly, the sidewalk ended. I stepped into wet grass, lost my balance, slipped around, got my flashlight on, but dropped it in the water. I fell into the water, too, but only got my legs and arms wet. Fortunately the flashlight floated, and I got it back, but I was beginning to panic, all alone, wet, in the dark, trying to find the cement. I made a few wrong turns and stepped into mud, but then I felt the cement, so weathered and rough, but also so solid and secure. I was so relieved to get back to something man-made and thankful for whoever put it there years ago!
I recovered myself, turned off the light, and started back towards town. It was still dark, but I could stay on the sidewalk easy enough to make my return back to civilization.
I kept walking. The vegetation got thicker and the urban noises began to fade. I started seeing more birds and colorful insects. I got to a point where there were no more buildings to be seen, but I could still hear their air conditioners. So I walked further and it got quieter and I began to hear more sounds of nature, even the water lapping.
The boardwalk ended, but a cement sidewalk continued at ground level. It started getting dark. I was alone and I became entranced with being one with nature. There was no moon or starlight--it must have been cloudy--but the sidewalk was straight and easy to follow and I had a flashlight, in case I needed it. I kept it off so as not to disrupt my solitude nor run down the battery.
Suddenly, the sidewalk ended. I stepped into wet grass, lost my balance, slipped around, got my flashlight on, but dropped it in the water. I fell into the water, too, but only got my legs and arms wet. Fortunately the flashlight floated, and I got it back, but I was beginning to panic, all alone, wet, in the dark, trying to find the cement. I made a few wrong turns and stepped into mud, but then I felt the cement, so weathered and rough, but also so solid and secure. I was so relieved to get back to something man-made and thankful for whoever put it there years ago!
I recovered myself, turned off the light, and started back towards town. It was still dark, but I could stay on the sidewalk easy enough to make my return back to civilization.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant (2002)
A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science that Changed the Course of World War II
This is a very well researched and fascinating story unfortunately embedded among lots mundane details. It's definitely worth reading, though, especially if you're interested in science, technology, history, and/or life among the super wealthy.
The three things I can add to the reviews already on the Internet, from an engineer's point of view, are:
Motivation (p. 187)
Science, technology, and innovation make their greatest strides when there is enough motivation. Before 1941, there was almost no American interest in radar, but the British were already fighting for their lives and making strides in the technology. Once America got involved and got motivated, however, the technology advanced and became mass producible the Allies gained a significant competitive advantage over the Germans.
The Radar program showed what could be accomplished with government-funded R&D and R&D has been a large part of defense spending ever since--but has it been as productive? Look at missile defense. Without an immediate threat, like before 1941, it seems like the US is taking a long time to build a reliable missile defense system. Israel, on the other hand, is facing an immediate threat, like Britain in 1941, and has independently developed Iron Dome, their own working, battle-proven missile defense system.
Requirements (p. 256)
There has always been a tendency for requirements specifications to omit the purpose or usage of the functionality. Engineers can implement the letter of the requirement, but with no knowledge of how the thing is going to be used, they don't always implement what the specifier really had in mind.
The radar developers had that problem with the specifications they got from the military. We still have that problem. It's especially prevalent in software engineering. Software developers can create a system that meets the requirements and passes acceptance testing, but still not do what the requester had in mind.
Start Ups (p. 261)
It seems that small companies have always been the better choice for developing something new. They are simpler, faster, and more eager for success than bloated established companies who are more interested in keeping the status quo and promoting their established ways and means. For this reason, early radar developers, tired of big companies re-engineering their designs, switched to using smaller companies.
And this still happens today. Look at the role of Silicon Valley start-ups. Contrast the early days of Microsoft and Apple to today. Look at today's giant government contractors taking forever to develop new weapons, air traffic, and accounting systems. Contrast that to all the new inventions that keep out of small startups.
Lee DuBridge (p. 284)
And here's an interesting quote from Lee DuBridge, the founding director of the MIT Radar Lab:
Radar won the War; the atom bomb ended it.
References
Jennet Conant. Tuxedo Park. 2002. Simon & Shuster.
Amazon. Tuxedo Park. web. 2013.
This is a very well researched and fascinating story unfortunately embedded among lots mundane details. It's definitely worth reading, though, especially if you're interested in science, technology, history, and/or life among the super wealthy.
The three things I can add to the reviews already on the Internet, from an engineer's point of view, are:
Motivation (p. 187)
Science, technology, and innovation make their greatest strides when there is enough motivation. Before 1941, there was almost no American interest in radar, but the British were already fighting for their lives and making strides in the technology. Once America got involved and got motivated, however, the technology advanced and became mass producible the Allies gained a significant competitive advantage over the Germans.
The Radar program showed what could be accomplished with government-funded R&D and R&D has been a large part of defense spending ever since--but has it been as productive? Look at missile defense. Without an immediate threat, like before 1941, it seems like the US is taking a long time to build a reliable missile defense system. Israel, on the other hand, is facing an immediate threat, like Britain in 1941, and has independently developed Iron Dome, their own working, battle-proven missile defense system.
Requirements (p. 256)
There has always been a tendency for requirements specifications to omit the purpose or usage of the functionality. Engineers can implement the letter of the requirement, but with no knowledge of how the thing is going to be used, they don't always implement what the specifier really had in mind.
The radar developers had that problem with the specifications they got from the military. We still have that problem. It's especially prevalent in software engineering. Software developers can create a system that meets the requirements and passes acceptance testing, but still not do what the requester had in mind.
Start Ups (p. 261)
It seems that small companies have always been the better choice for developing something new. They are simpler, faster, and more eager for success than bloated established companies who are more interested in keeping the status quo and promoting their established ways and means. For this reason, early radar developers, tired of big companies re-engineering their designs, switched to using smaller companies.
And this still happens today. Look at the role of Silicon Valley start-ups. Contrast the early days of Microsoft and Apple to today. Look at today's giant government contractors taking forever to develop new weapons, air traffic, and accounting systems. Contrast that to all the new inventions that keep out of small startups.
Lee DuBridge (p. 284)
And here's an interesting quote from Lee DuBridge, the founding director of the MIT Radar Lab:
Radar won the War; the atom bomb ended it.
References
Jennet Conant. Tuxedo Park. 2002. Simon & Shuster.
Amazon. Tuxedo Park. web. 2013.
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