Monday, December 25, 2017

Einstein's Clocks and Thought Experiments


 Einstein's Clocks 

 OR 
 A Flight Of Imagination  
 That Revealed The Real World
 In 1905 

 About Einstein's thought experiments
 and his ability to imagine in the moment 


shot of the Zytglogge tower in Bern Switzerland,   with the astronomical clock on the bottom and the bell at the top in the tower
Left: Full shot of the Zytglogge tower in Bern Switzerland,
 with the astronomical clock on the bottom and the bell at the top in the tower
Right: Close-up of the bell and bell ringer in the tower

Full shot of the astronomical clock (left) with the animated figures (right) 
that parade and move every hour, known as the Zytglogge bellworks

Close-up of the hour hand and Zodiac wheel
Close-up of the hour hand and Zodiac wheel

Father Time sits next to the astronomical clock   and presides over the animated figures who parade every hour
Father Time sits next to the astronomical clock 
and presides over the animated figures who parade every hour

A sketch of the Zytglogge tower and clock from 1534
                                  A sketch of the Zytglogge tower and clock from 1534                                                      

A figure representing Chronos, the Greek god of time,  who strikes the bell, that was cast in 1405, on the hour
A figure representing Chronos, the Greek god of time,
who strikes the bell, that was cast in 1405, on the hour


A shaft of light
A shaft of light

 Late one night 
 after struggling with the physics of light, 
 Albert heard the distinctive ring 
 of Bern's Zytglogge clock tower, 
 with its 500 year-old bell 
 struck by a figure 
 representing Chronos, the Greek god of time. 

 In a flash 
 he was riding a streetcar 
 at the speed of light 
 and looking back at the time 
 on the Bern clock 
 which froze 
 because the light from its later time 
 could never catch him. 
 Yet he could see the minutes 
 on his pocket watch were 
 continuing. 

 And then he knew 
 time was relative. 

A streetcar with the clock behind it   around the time Einstein lived in Bern
A streetcar with the clock behind it 
around the time Einstein lived in Bern

Bern streetcar around the time Einstein lived there
Bern streetcar around the time Einstein lived there

Streetcar interior
Streetcar interior

A Swiss pocket watch made around 1900 with Roman numerals
Left: Inner workings of a pocket watch
Right: A Swiss pocket watch made around 1900 with Roman numerals

The man who arrives at the doors of artistic creation with none of the madness of the Muses would be convinced that technical ability alone was enough to make an artist... what that man creates by means of reason will pale before the art of inspired beings.
Plato

There comes a point where the mind takes a leap 
— call it intuition or what you will — 
and comes out upon a higher plane of knowledge, 
but can never prove how it got there. 
All great discoveries have involved such a leap.
Albert Einstein


Monday, November 27, 2017

Franz Schubert's Last Sonata

Franz Schubert's Last Sonata: 
Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat Major, D. 960 
Franz Schubert portrait

 How amazing 
 that just before he died 
 Schubert 
 can speak to me 
 across the centuries 


Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat Major, D. 960 

Completed September 26, 1828

Schubert died November 19, 1828, age 31
Recording on YouTube

Franz Schubert: 1797 - 1828 

About
"...until the last weeks of his life in November 1828, he continued to compose an extraordinary amount of music, including such masterpieces as the three last sonatas."

Franz Schubert portrait


Sunday, October 1, 2017

End of the World

The End of the World

They
said
the world
was going
to end
today

so I took the day off --
and listened for the end of time

This is great I thought
we should do this more often

Just let it stop
let the future become a blank
a question we don't have to answer



Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Prometheus in the 21st Century

Prometheus in the 21st Century

Really when you think about it, our patron saint 
[of the modern technological world] 
is Prometheus who stole fire from the gods.
Eugen Weber, Professor of History, UCLA
Public Television Series: The Western Tradition

 The Greek God Prometheus, father of mankind, stealing fire from the Gods

Stealing fire from the Gods -- 
Have we taken on too much? 

(Left) A simple match (Right) A midsummer bonfire

Our fate is now
tied to our ability
to understand 
and then to manage nature

To become managers 
of planet Earth

 (Left) Fire out of control (Right) Photo of the fireball of first US atomic bomb test, Trinity

The question is:
Are we up to the task?

 (Left) NASA composite of the Earth and moon (Right) NASA Earth monitoring satellites 


No society has ever yet been able to handle the temptations of technology...
We have to learn to cherish this Earth and cherish it as something that's fragile, that's only one, it's all we have. We have to use our scientific knowledge to correct the dangers that have come from science and technology.
Margaret Mead

Sunday, August 13, 2017

I Think, Therefore I Am

What Is Existence?

What does it mean to be? To say I am? 
This Haiku-like blog is the sequel to the previous blog: 
A Chorus of Frogs After the Rain (just below this one)

"Diagram from one of René Descartes' works." https://commons.wikimedia.org
I think, therefore I am.
René Descartes
Also: Cogito ergo sum.
Je pense, donc je suis.

Portrait of Rousseau dressed in an Armenian outfit.
I feel, therefore I am.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(a distillation of Rousseau's thought)

I continue, therefore I am.
Rick Doble

Yet even more fundamental than thought or feeling
is that awake or asleep we continue
and keep on going as long as we exist.



Sunday, August 6, 2017

A Chorus of Frogs After the Rain

The Rain Is Over

We know the rain is over --
the rain so hard it shook the roof,
blurred the windows,
and darkened the sky
till it was almost night --
We know the rain is over
because now
the choir of frogs
has grown
and reached a pitch
almost as loud as the rain

A chorus with that traditional song
and those old familiar words:

"I am"
"I am"
"I am"


Monday, July 31, 2017

Poem to Digital Photography

A POEM TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Note: In 1999 in the darkening twilight, the coarse pixels on my first digital camera, a primitive Casio, changed back and forth on the monitor from color to darker color as the sky faded and as I framed the scene for my next shot. Crude as it was, to see a photograph in real time was a miracle -- as this had never been possible during my 30 years working with film photography.

REAL TIME



On the edge of darkness
I have seen the twilight sky
do it's digital dance
in real time --
pixels pulsing from
cerulean blue to black
on my LCD screen --
van Gogh's deepest colors
outside his cafe in the evening
or his starry starry night



Rick Doble, 1999
(An early selfie -- my face was lit with a neon light.)

Friday, June 30, 2017

Layers of Language

 IT'S ALL LANGUAGE 


 Literal: 
 This rose is red. 
 The sun is setting. 

 Abstract: 
 The sun sets later in the summer 
 than in the winter. 
 Many flowers display various shades of red. 

 Metaphoric: 
 A young girl is like a beautiful flower. 
 When the sun sets, it is like a door closing. 

 Creative: 
 The girl in her red dress dances 
 like the sun's last moments before it sets. 

 Synthesis: 
 At the darkest days of the year 
 our tribe lights fires 
 to prevent the sun 
 from being swallowed by the darkness. 




Monday, May 29, 2017

How To Shoot Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photographs

'Recipe' :) For Camera-Movement
Light-Painting Abstract Photographs

All photographs by Rick Doble.
Note: This recipe is like baking cookies, one cookie at a time.

We recommend 'baking' these photos for at least an 8 second shutter speed with a very low ISO and a dark environment. You move the camera to "spread, fold, chop, sprinkle and knead." You might also want to experiment using different white balance settings.



Find a piece of light
Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

A crack around a door
a glint through a window --
it does not have to be large
as a little goes a long way

Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

And remember each glimmer is different:
one can be smooth and limber
another sharp and brittle

Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

Next hold that streak
then spread, fold, chop, sprinkle, knead
until the shutter closes

Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

Then take a look,
take a bite

Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

And go back and grab another piece of light

Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photograph by Rick Doble.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Living in the Moment

 LIVING IN THE MOMENT 


 For only a minute 
 once a day 
 turn off your cell phone 
 put your mental checklist aside 
 stop thinking about 
 what you're going to do next 
 and 
what you should have done earlier 

 and 
 just 
 listen 

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

What People Say And Do Is Different

  What People Mean  
  by Margaret Mead  

 What people say 


 What people do 


 And what they say they do 



 Are entirely different things 


 Margaret Mead 


Sunday, February 26, 2017

Words Can Only Describe


 Words Are Not Real 


 Words describe
 but are not things 
 in themselves
 except for 
 occasional magic 
 when sound and rhythm 
 combine to make 
 an incantation 
 known as poetry 

An incantation or enchantment is a charm or spell created using words.The term derives from Latin "incantare" (tr.), meaning "to chant (a magical spell) upon," from in- "into, upon" and cantare "to sing".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incantation 
Considered by many to be the most perfect poem in the English language, Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan sings with its own enchanting music.
 Kubla Khan 
 or  
 A Vision In A Dream 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan 
A stately pleasure-dome decree: 
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran 
Through caverns measureless to man 
   Down to a sunless sea. 
...
...with music loud and long, 
I would build that dome in air, 
That sunny dome! those caves of ice! 
And all who heard should see them there, 
And all should cry, Beware! Beware! 
His flashing eyes, his floating hair! 
Weave a circle round him thrice, 
And close your eyes with holy dread 
For he on honey-dew hath fed, 
And drunk the milk of Paradise.


Complete Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43991 

Saturday, January 28, 2017

What Is Now Proved Was Once Only Imagined

 The Power 
 of Imagination 
 William Blake 


 What is now proved 

1972: Apollo 17 command module floating above the moon in 1972. Notice the similarity in shape and even the similarity in construction with the module (below) in the Méliès 1902 sci-fi animated film: A Trip to the Moon. 

 Was once 

 1902: Still from the Méliès 1902 sci-fi film: A Trip to the Moon. The command module that held the astronauts was inserted into a super-gun to send it to the moon.

 Only imagined 


See my related in-depth blogs about 
The Work of the Imagination
http://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-work-of-imagination.html
and
The History of the Future
http://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-history-of-future.html





Tuesday, January 3, 2017

What Is Knowledge?

What Is Knowledge?


The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility … 
The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle.
Einstein

What we can *know*
Portrait of Einstein and his formula e=mc2

is confined
by our ability to imagine
Robert Fludd diagram of the brain and mind

realities 
in the universe
Hubble photograph of two galaxies colliding

that can be translated 
into our narrow 
symbolic thought
Handwritten notes by Galileo about the moons of Jupiter he saw orbiting the planet with his telescope
Part of a draft of a letter by Galileo in which he described the power of his new telescope. In these drawings he noted what he observed when he first looked through the telescope at Jupiter and was able to see its four moons. 


Drawing of the human brain inside a person's head