Visiting the Castles of Saint Louis (a tarnished saint) East and West of Paris

 

The tower of Chateau de Vincennes

Today I was in small cities with large castles east and west of Paris.  Ten kilometers to the east is Chateau de Vincennes. Twenty kilometers to the west of the City of Light  is Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.  

 

Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye 

Each of these castles was built or expanded during the life time of King Louis IX in the 13th Century.   

Saint Louis, King Louis IX, of France

Le Chateau de Vincennes covers several acres of walled grounds. A beautiful church is at the center of of the rectangular walled area opposite the main tower. 

The castle grounds include the palace of Anne of Austria who was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643.  She was married to Louis XIII. Her name is known to people who know little of France and its rulers because she is part of story of The Three Musketeers (Les Trois Mousquetaires) by Alexandre Dumas.  

Another resident of the castle, although not happy to be there, was the Maquis de Sade. He was imprisoned in the tower for seven years from 1777 to 1784. He would spend the rest of his life in various prisons and insane asylums until his death in 1814.

After visiting Vincennes, I went across Paris to the west end of the RER A train line to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.  I wanted to walk to the far end of the royal garden next to the castle where there is a circle of trees. 

Two views of the circle of trees

A corner of the royal garden

Two views of the 2-km walkway above the Seine

The view back to Paris from the wall on the east side of the royal garden

------

Back to Saint Louis. He is the only French monarch to be made a saint. Louis IX ruled from 1226-70. Along with the Christian character of his reign, he robbed and persecuted Jews after he decided usury was wrong--the Jews suffering for a sin he permitted, then changed his mind about. He set up a show trial called the Disputation of Paris in which four rabbis defended the Talmud. They lost. Louis IX caused 24 wagonloads of Jewish holy books and other writings to be burned in Paris in 1242. This was long before printing, so all of the books were hand copied.  

Louis IX continued his persecution of Jews throughout his life. He is certainly not unique, or even unusual, as a king persecuting Jews, but sainthood makes him a persecutor and burner of holy books with a halo.

And speaking of sainthood, the beatification of Pope Pius XII is still on hold after the Vatican opened his archives in 2020. The complicity of Pius XII with the Nazis and his refusal to condemn the Holocaust during the entirety of World War II, make put him in the top ranks of Jew Haters. This book makes the evil of Pius XII very clear,

Essential Elements: Atoms, Quarks and the Periodic Table by Matt Tweed, Book 35 of 2022

 

This little book of chemical facts covers all of the elements and major concepts of chemistry with one page of text and one page of drawings per concept.  

And yet, it is good review of chemistry and dense with basic facts.  Matt Tweed covers bonding in a page: covalent bonds, metallic bonds, ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds all in 200 words and six drawings. 

Hydrogen and Helium get a page all to themselves; they are the most abundant elements in the universe.  The twenty elements of the p-block of the periodic table, like the periodic table itself, are covered in just a page.  The twenty elements of p-block include carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, all of the halogens, all of the semi-conductors, as well as tin, lead and aluminum.  The main elements of life and the digital world are all in this group.

At the end of the book, we get all the forces of the universe, from gravity to the glue holding the nucleus together.  A survey of quarks, baryons, mesons and the weird components of the the nucleus, as well as theories of everything. 

A fun review of chemistry.

First 34 books of 2022:

Les horloges marines de M. Berthoud 

The Red Wheelbarrow and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Cochrane by David Cordingly 

QED by Richard Feynman

Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms by  C.S. Lewis

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Hannah Arendt

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton

If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry S. Strauss. 

Civil Rights Baby by Nita Wiggins

Lecture's on Kant's Political Philosophy by Hannah Arendt

Le grec ancien facile par Marie-Dominique Poree

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay

First Principles by Thomas Ricks

Political Tribes by Amy Chua 

Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew Knoll

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Understanding Beliefs by Nils Nilsson

1776 by David McCullough

The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss

Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Marie Curie  by Agnieszka Biskup (en francais)

The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche

Fritz Haber, Volume 1 by David Vandermeulen

Les horloges marines de M. Berthoud. Book 34 of 2022 (Clocks for sea navigation)

 

I picked this book up in the gift shop in the Museum of Arts and Technology in Paris.  It is a biography of Ferdinand Berthoud, the leading designer and maker of clocks for ships in the second half of the 18th century. 

Most ships had accurate techniques for establishing latitude, their position north and south. But east and west position could only be determined with accurate clocks on a voyage that began at a known position. Berthoud made this possible with clocks that would keep time nearly perfectly for weeks and even months. 

He lived a long life that saw him become the marine clock maker of the King of France, survive the Revolution, and be honored for his service by the Emperor Bonparte before his life ended at the age of 80.   

The book is written in middle school French. I had to struggle with many words in the vocabulary of navigation and clock making, but I learned a lot about navigation. Accurate clocks were the only way a ship could be sure of its longitude when sailing across open ocean.  

First 33 books of 2022:

The Red Wheelbarrow and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Cochrane by David Cordingly 

QED by Richard Feynman

Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms by  C.S. Lewis

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Hannah Arendt

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton

If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry S. Strauss. 

Civil Rights Baby by Nita Wiggins

Lecture's on Kant's Political Philosophy by Hannah Arendt

Le grec ancien facile par Marie-Dominique Poree

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay

First Principles by Thomas Ricks

Political Tribes by Amy Chua 

Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew Knoll

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Understanding Beliefs by Nils Nilsson

1776 by David McCullough

The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss

Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Marie Curie  by Agnieszka Biskup (en francais)

The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche

Fritz Haber, Volume 1 by David Vandermeulen

The Red Wheelbarrow and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams, Book 33 of 2022

I read this little book on the train traveling back and forth to Philadelphia.  A poem or two or three at time. My favorite poetic forms are the epic and the sonnet and these poems are in many other forms. I liked some more than others. I was glad to share the beauty and craft and creativity of this little volume of 36 poems.  

I bought the book at The Red Wheelbarrow bookstore in Paris, a lovely little store opposite Jardin Luxembourg.

Brevity defines both the volume and its contents.  The first poem:

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which 
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

The last poem:

The Locust Tree in Flower

Among

of

green

stiff

old

bright

broken 

branch

come

white 

sweet

May

again

And my favorite:

The Term

A rumpled sheet 

of brown paper

about the length

and apparent bulk

of a man was

rolling with the

wind slowly over

and over in

The street as

a car drove down 

upon it and

crushed it to

the ground. Unlike

a man it rose

agin rolling

with the wind over

and over to be as

it was before. 

------

First 32 books of 2022:

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Cochrane by David Cordingly 

QED by Richard Feynman

Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms by  C.S. Lewis

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Hannah Arendt

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton

If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry S. Strauss. 

Civil Rights Baby by Nita Wiggins

Lecture's on Kant's Political Philosophy by Hannah Arendt

Le grec ancien facile par Marie-Dominique Poree

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay

First Principles by Thomas Ricks

Political Tribes by Amy Chua 

Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew Knoll

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Understanding Beliefs by Nils Nilsson

1776 by David McCullough

The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss

Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Marie Curie  by Agnieszka Biskup (en francais)

The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche

Fritz Haber, Volume 1 by David Vandermeulen

Lunch with Bill Nye the Science Guy: We Talked About Bicycles

In 2004 Bill Nye, the Science Guy, spent an entire day at the museum and library where I worked until I retired: The Science History Institute in Philadelphia. He was filming part of an episode for his (then) new series "The 100 Greatest Discoveries in Science."

The founder of SHI, Arnold Thackray, spoke about the discovery of atoms, the benzene ring and oxygen for the episode on chemistry. 

In the middle of filming we took a lunch break. Nye had a film crew from the Science Channel and several staff members of SHI were helping with filming.  When we had our box lunches, Nye suggested he and I sit at the end of the table.  He is a bicyclist and I told him I had just bought a Trek Madone road bike.  

Nye had been thinking about getting a new carbon bike, so he asked me dozens of questions about the frame, the drive train, the wheels, tires, every part of the bike.  Nye is a nerd down to his bike socks. He really wanted to know every detail about the bike.  When I told him I raced, he wanted to know about that too. 

After we were finished filming, Nye came back to the atrium at the center of the building on the third floor. It has a skylight its entire length four floors up.  Nye told us we should install a sundial at the center of the atrium.  He then talked about how his father was a Prisoner of War in the Pacific in World War II. He maintained his sanity by making sundials in the POW camp.  

Some media stars play a role on camera and are someone else when the lights go off. Bill Nye is a science guy all the time.  It was a delight to spend the day with him--and very tiring. 

 

50th High School Reunion--The Kinder, Gentler Reunion

SHS Class of 71

This past weekend on Saturday night I drove to my 50th High School Reunion. The Stoneham (Massachusetts) High School Class of 1971 met for dinner at Bear Hill Country Club on the north end of our little town.

Bear Hill Golf Club

Since 1971, I have attended four reunions:  the 10th, the 30th and the 40th before the current reunion. Just over fifty of our class of 364 attended this half-century gathering.  Several more wanted to attend by life got in the way.  

The reunion committee: Elaine, Niccie, Bill and Patricia

If my memories are reliable, this reunion was the most congenial I have been to. At all of the previous reunions nearly all of us were working, our kids were still at home, and we were still working out our place in the world.  At this reunion, I spoke with many people who seemed at peace with life--or at least more at peace than I remember.

Speaking of remembering, I introduced myself to about twenty people. Some had not been to previous reunions--or not the the reunions I attended.  Some people were instantly recognizable, but others I could not place.  

I had more trouble recognizing men than women. Our senior year, a lot of boys had long hair, some had shoulder-length hair.  Fifty years later, the men most difficult for me to recognize had the least hair--or no hair.  

Many of my classmates were recently retired. Some missed their jobs, most were happy to be retired.  

At the end of the evening several people were talking about a 55th reunion in four years--since the 50th was delayed a year by COVID.  If that 55th reunion or the 60th happens, I will be happy to go. 

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, Book 32 of 2022

This very popular book was published in the late 1970s.  It became a national bestseller in 1984 after the author went on TV and radio talking about how he came to write the book. Fifty years later, we live in a world with fewer readers, but the book promotional tour is part of being an author.  Every author does it.

I started to read this book in the 1990s.  I don't remember why, but I dropped it after 30 pages. It sat on my shelf for a couple of decades, then in the big clean up I did at age 65, it was gone.  This year I talked about the book with my friend Cliff, got a copy and tired again.  

It's funny to think I finished the book now and dropped in 25 years ago. I still agree with his central premises:  we have to accept suffering and death to live a happy life.  Peck is right.  But 25 years ago, I embraced suffering as a potential good. Now I accept suffering as part of life--and hope I do not have to do too much of it.  Death is now the same--I am not looking for it, but accept it as the most definite part of my physical future.

I enjoyed the book. His case studies are interesting. I would recommend it to anyone. Next I will read his book People of the Lie. After explaining why it is difficult to lead a good life in The Road Less Traveled, Peck discusses the existence of evil in his next book.  From ordinary assholes to extraordinary tyrants and sociopaths, Peck has a lot to work with on the topic of evil. 

First 31 books of 2022:

Cochrane by David Cordingly 

QED by Richard Feynman

Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms by  C.S. Lewis

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Hannah Arendt

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton

If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry S. Strauss. 

Civil Rights Baby by Nita Wiggins

Lecture's on Kant's Political Philosophy by Hannah Arendt

Le grec ancien facile par Marie-Dominique Poree

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay

First Principles by Thomas Ricks

Political Tribes by Amy Chua 

Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen

A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew Knoll

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Understanding Beliefs by Nils Nilsson

1776 by David McCullough

The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss

Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Marie Curie  by Agnieszka Biskup (en francais)

The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche

Fritz Haber, Volume 1 by David Vandermeulen