Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
William and Caroline Hershel
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Wikipedia: William Herschel
"Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel (15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a Hanoverian astronomer, technical expert, and a composer. Early in his life Wilhelm followed his father into the Military Band of Hannover. Later, Herschel became most famous for the discovery of the planet Uranus in addition to several of its major moons such as Titania and Oberon. He also discovered infrared radiation. Finally, Herschel is lesser known for the twenty-four symphonies that he composed."
A very interesting life story.... musician turned scientist....
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Wikipedia: Caroline Herschel
"Caroline Lucretia Herschel (16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer, the sister of astronomer Sir Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel with whom she worked throughout both of their careers. Her most significant contribution to astronomy was the discovery of several comets and in particular the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name. She was the fourth of six children."
Also a very interesting life story... largely overshadowed by her absolutely brilliant brother...
But....
She was one of the first women, if not the first, to be paid as a research scientist -- George III of England awarded her £50 a year, not an overly handsome sum of money but still an unbelievable amount to be paid to a woman for a year's work.
She was probably the first woman to have papers accepted by British royal scientific societies.
In 1828 the Royal Astronomical Society presented her with their Gold Medal for her work - no woman would be awarded it again until Vera Rubin in 1996.
In 1835, along with Mary Somerville, she was elected to honorary membership of the Royal Astronomical Society; they were the first honorary women members. In 1838 she was also elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1846 at the age of 96, she was awarded the Gold Medal for Science by the King of Prussia.
Her accomplishments may seem minor by comparison to male scientists of her day, but sometimes its not where you get to that measures accomplishment but rather where you get to in relationship to where you started from. Measuring her from her starting point of social disadvantage (a working class, immigrant, woman), we find that she is a giant among her contemporaries.
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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!
Jerome David Salinger January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
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CBC: The last rebel
"J.D. Salinger did the unthinkable – he refused to play the fame game"
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger
BBC Obituary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3786891.stm
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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!
John Babcock, 1900-2010 - Canada's last First World War Soldier
John Babcock, 1900-2010 - Canada's last First World War Soldier
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CBC Obituary: John Babcock, 1900-2010 - Canada's last First World War Soldier
A so called "tin soldier."
He lied about his age so that he could enlist. He got caught out after enlistment and spent his time in training camp in the UK. Peace came close enough to his 18th birthday that he never saw combat duty. I guess eighteen was the age at which society could, with good conscience, send one off to become fertilizer for some Frenchman's or Belgian's field.
He immigrated to the US in the 1920's. So while not having been an American soldier, he is probably one of the last Americans to have been a first world war soldier.
That he never saw combat is no reflection on his courage or determination. He deserves his moment of silence.
Sadly, The War to End All Wars slips ever closer to being a text book entry completely divorced from the meaningful grounding of living memory.
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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!
