Images

A fine suite of plates demonstrating the Muggletonian sect’s geocentric astronomical theory, which refuted the Newtonian standpoint.

Isaac Frost, a scientist and author (with his brother) ofThe Works of J. Reeve and L. Muggleton (1832) was a practicing Muggletonian, the religious sect founded in the aftermath of the English Civil War by two cousins who claimed themselves to be the “two witnesses” mentioned in the Book of Revelations. 

The plates, first issued under the title Two Systems of Astronomy, illustrate the “The Newtonian System of the Universe”, and “The System According to the Holy Scipture”, the text caption on plate 6 reading “This diagram will show that if the Earth revolves round the sun, as the Solar System states, then it will necessarily follow, that the Earth will differ in its position with the sun and any given fixed star on its equator, every day throughout the whole year. Now consider it is so. If it is not so, then it will make much in favor of the Holy Scriptures, that the Sun revolves round the Earth.”

They were presumably circulated amongst members of the Muggletonian sect (which, due to a rule on not proselytizing, remained small until the last member died in 1979) and therefore printed in limited numbers. Printed by George Baxter, using his patented colour oil technique, they were originally unrecorded by Baxter’s first bibliographer Courtney Lewis.

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Mars may be an alien world, but if you went there and looked up at the night sky you’d see something that might surprise you: the stars would look exactly the same. The distance between the Earth and Mars isn’t nearly enough to change the perspective on the much more distant stars. You’d see all the familiar constellations, the Big Dipper and Orion and the Milky Way. The only difference in the sky, other than the sharp brilliance of everything seen through such thin air, would be that “extra” evening or morning star and its little companion.

You would look at that spark, and you would know you weren’t alone.

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In the late ‘80s, artist Beverly Doolittle and her husband Jay decided they wanted a house on their 10 beautiful, naked acres in Joshua Tree and they tracked down super-organic architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, who immediately fell in love with the site. Beverly tells the Desert Sun "He was jumping all over the rocks like a mountain goat. He had been looking for rocks to build on.“ The couple gave him free rein and in 1988 work began on this concrete, steel, glass, and copper house, placed perfectly naturally on the rocky site and looking from the top kind of like a ribcage.

The house was finished in 1993 but interior designer John Vugrin spent several years making "tweaks.” The Doolittles didn’t move in until the early aughts, but now they want to downsize and have already left for Utah. They’re selling this gem—perfect for the fashionable Bond villain—for $3 million.

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blech:

sparkyrobot:

fuckyeahconceptcarz:

1961 Ford Gyron

Is this car just balanced on two wheels?  Is it called a “Gyron” because it is gyro-stabilized?  YES!!

from Wiki-you-know-who:  ”The Ford Gyron was a futuristic two-wheeled gyrocar first shown to the world in 1961 at the Detroit Motor Show as a concept car designed by Syd Mead. One wheel was at the front and the other at the rear like a motorcycle and the car was stabilized by gyroscopes. The two occupants of the vehicle were seated side by side and, when the vehicle was stationary, two small legs appeared from the sides to support it. The vehicle was created for research and marketing purposes, with no intention to put it into production.

Syd Mead + crazy idea = reblog (despite my usual dislike of cars)

Yes, Mr Musk will be by soon in his zeppelin to collect them thanks. Just write the number you feel is correct on the cheques as they flutter down.

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sci-universe:

This artist’s conception illustrates a storm of comets around a star called Eta Corvi. Evidence for this barrage comes from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, whose infrared detectors picked up indications that one or more comets was torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body.

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