My Small Boat

The History of the Universe in 200 Words or Less
Quantum fluctuation. Inflation. Expansion. Strong nuclear interaction. Particle-antiparticle annihilation. Deuterium and helium production. Density perturbations. Recombination. Blackbody radiation. Local contraction. Cluster formation. Reionization? Violent relaxation. Virialization. Biased galaxy formation? Turbulent fragmentation. Contraction. Ionization. Compression. Opaque hydrogen. Massive star formation. Deuterium ignition. Hydrogen fusion. Hydrogen depletion. Core […]

Shut up he explained.

Pied Beauty
Glory be to God for dappled things-
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced - fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; […]

But when evening comes, I return home and go into my library. At the door I take off my muddy everyday clothes. I dress myself as though I were about to appear before a royal court as a Florentine envoy. Then decently attired I enter the antique courts of the great men of antiquity. They […]

A Man Feared…
A man feared that he might find an assassin;
Another that he might find a victim.
One was more wise than the other.

He may be mad, but there’s method in his madness. There nearly always is method in madness. It’s what drives men mad, being methodical.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae […]

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you want to appear.

And the day came when the risk it took to remain closed in a bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Haiku
old pond…..
a frog leaps in
water’s sound

England confides that every man will do his duty.
explanation from Lieutenant John Pasco - signal officer on the Victory
His Lordship came to me on the poop, and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said. “Mr Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet, ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN […]

Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.