Great Masters Research Articles

FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A NARCISSISTIC LOVER: JOAN ROÍS DE CORELLA’S TRAGEDIA DE CALDESA

The definition of “tragedy” in the cultural context of the early Renaissance is of paramount significance in the history of Spanish literature. One of the most intriguing cases in point pertains to the Tragèdia de Caldesa, a compact composition by Joan Roís de Corella (ca. 1433-1497), a noted humanist and theologian from Valencia. Here I propose a fresh reading of Corella’s masterpiece by focussing on the inner world of the lover - i.e., the author’s persona - who, from a narcissistic perspective, confronts the conflictive interplay of the male and female roles. Recent scholarship reveals as a correlative of the narcissism in question a text of solitude and alienation, the leading exponents of which may be found throughout the fifteenth century in the great masters of love-centered literature in both Castilian and Catalan. Among these oustanding authors, Ausiàs March, the nonpareil Valencian poet, transforms the indices of solitude and alienation into his own poetics of subjectivity. In the wake of March’s innovatory legacy, a group of gifted authors, who flourished in Barcelona or Valencia in the second half of the fifteenth century, evolved a distinctive literary mode endowed with theatrical potential. Arguably, it is this kind of theatricality that comes into play in the landmark creation of Corella’s all-important Tragèdia.

The Great Master of Contemporary Chinese Literature, Wang Meng and His Literary Works

The Great Master of Contemporary Chinese Literature, Wang Meng and His Literary Works

The Lied and Art Songs Text Page (review)

Reviewed by: The Singer’s Companion: A Guide to Improving Your Voice and Performance, and: Singing: The First Art Ruthann Boles McTyre The Singer’s Companion: A Guide to Improving Your Voice and Performance. By Brent Jeffrey Monahan. Pompton Plains, NJ: Limelight Editions, 2006. [xiii, 169 p. ISBN-10: 1-5746-7150-2; ISBN-13: 978-15746-7150-6. $14.95.] Compact disc, bibliography, index. Singing: The First Art. By Dan H. Marek. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007. [xxiii, 235 p. ISBN-10: 0-8108-5711-1; ISBN-13: 978-08108-5711-7. $65.] Bibliographical references, indexes. In the world of vocal instruction, it seems that there are as many philosophies and approaches to singing as there are singers. Approaches to teaching singing range from the poetic to the scientific and the extensive number of books written on the subject has grown over hundreds of years. So why add two more? That was my initial thought as I began reading the two reviewed here. Both authors state quite openly in their prefaces that they are not presenting anything new, that no new science on the craft of singing has been created. So why go back over the same old material over again? As I kept thinking about this question, I started to think about recipes. Think of a favorite tried and true dish and there will be countless versions to be found, with changes here and there in the recipes. They all produce essentially the same dish, but the preparation and ingredients might vary. Newer versions are created based on the [End Page 315] recipes that have been in existence for a while. The cook will compare and contrast the recipes and select the one that appeals most and more than likely alter that recipe in the process as well. Similarly, these two authors have studied the canon of vocal pedagogy and have developed their own approaches to the study of the voice. Ideally, voice teachers all strive for the same results from their students: a lovely tone produced in a healthy manner along with an intelligently prepared performance. The variations in the methods employed in Brent Jeffrey Monahan's The Singer's Companion: A Guide to Improving Your Voice and Performance and Dan H. Marek's Singing: The First Art represent two approaches to the development of healthy singing. Both authors bring the necessary long term credentials as both teachers and performers to their writing and back up their teaching methods by calling on the great masters of vocal study, namely Garcia, Lamperti, and Lehmann, to name but a few. Monahan's The Singer's Companion is a compact handbook for both the teacher and the student. The chapters are divided into short sections making it easy for the beginning student to grasp basic concepts quickly and for the teacher to go right to a section for clarification. The information that the author deems most important is printed in boldface type. Monahan states that he utilizes an observational or empirical method in his teaching as opposed to a scientific method (p. ix). He draws on his own experience and what others have taught. By study and observation he has made decisions on what works and what does not. As he describes the process, he quotes liberally from the masters to substantiate his statements and is not hesitant to point out differences of opinion, including his own. The book is divided into two sections. "Part I: The Mechanics of Singing" includes eight chapters on the hows and whys of posture, breath, phonation, resonance, range, health issues, selection of a teacher, the structure of a voice lesson, practicing, and vocal exercises. "Part II: The Artistry of Singing" covers musicianship, pronunciation and diction, interpretation and performance. The author avoids overly-pedagogical language throughout, making the book easily accessible to the new or young student. A unique contribution is found in chapter 7, "The Teacher/The Lesson." This chapter offers practical information for the individual who is considering vocal study, including what to look for when "shopping" for a teacher as well as what to expect in the lesson. Chapter 8, "Practice/Vocal Exercises," walks the student through a series of vocal exercises...

Dieterich Buxtehude: organist in Lubeck

This book is a new edition of the most comprehensive life-and-works study of the great Baroque-era organist and composer Buxtehude (ca. 1637-1707), released to celebrate the tercentenary of the composer's death. Originally published in 1987 and long out of print, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in is considered by most musicologists to be the definitive biography. It also includes close description of Buxtehude's compositional output, from trio sonatas to the famed Abendmusiken: Buxtehude's yearly oratorio presentations. The young J. S. Bach traveled to Lubeck on foot in 1705 to learn as much as he could from the great master of the organ and of Lutheran church music. The revised edition contains new information on the organs that Buxtehude played in Scandinavia and Lubeck, excerpts from the newly available account books from St. Mary's in Lubeck, a discussion of newly discovered sources, including one written by J. S. Bach, an evaluation of recent scholarship on Buxtehude, and an extensive bibliography. Written for both the casual reader and the serious scholar. The accompanying CD provides examples of all genres discussed in the book - vocal works, a trio sonata, harpsichord music, and organ music newly recorded on the North German meantone organ in Gothenburg, Sweden, by a noted specialist in this repertoire, Hans Davidsson, who is professor of organ at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and the founder of the Goteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt). Kerala J. Snyder is professor emerita of musicology, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester).

Museum as Powerhouse: Museum Performance in 21st Century Taiwan

In recent years, like all museums worldwide, museums in Taiwan have endeavored to attract visitors; organizing blockbuster exhibitions of great masters is one way to do so. However, the inherent danger of this approach is that the museum comes to resemble a venue for the ‘culture business,’ and the exhibition is operated as a profitgenerating machine. although employing sound strategies can facilitate the success of an event, organizers must never forget the core mission of the museum. What is meant by ‘museum performance?’ With its mission and vision in mind, it is the task of the museum to perform to its greatest potential and capacity while facing shrinking budgets that prevent them from increasing their collections, engaging in new projects, and maintaining an adequate staff. Fortunately, with the growing maturity of museum professionals, some museums have managed to effectively integrate both public and private sector resources to enhance their overall performance. Community engagement, audience development, marketing strategies and the public and scholarly response are all measures of successful performance. This report aims to examine the performance of three museums, each different in size, by examining one exhibition from each museum as a case study. Emphasis is placed on each museum’s program and project, as executed under its unique policy and mission. In each instance, museum professionals employed various societal resources to enhance museum performance. Museums have transformed into active sites for communication and recreation that provide audiences with accessible learning environments, while bridging gaps between the elite and the general public, high art and low art, traditional antiquities and contemporary avant-garde art . In 21st century Taiwan, the museum functions as a powerhouse that generates energy in society, aggressively elicits public participation, and transmits old wisdom to future generations.

Psalmody and Prayer in the Writings of Evagrius Ponticus (review)

Psalmody and Prayer in the Writings of Evagrius Ponticus. By Luke Dysinger, O.S.B. [Oxford Theological Monographs.] (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2005. Pp. x, 245.£55.00.) Within months of his death, and possibly earlier, Evagrios Pontikos became a figure of controversy, and that controversy has rarely died down. It is generally blamed for the controversy that erupted in the late fourth century, and provoked the condemnation of some of the Egyptian monks by Pope Theophilos of Alexandria, though, by the time of the condemnation, Evagrios was already dead (on Pope Theophilos, see now Norman Russell's Theophilus of Alexandria [2007], in Routledge's alas doomed series, Early Church Fathers). Evagrios was certainly among the Origenists condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Synod of 553, though the nature of this Origenism is far from clear. As a result of these condemnations, Evagrios' works struggled to survive in their original Greek, though they were more successful than one might have expected owing to the peerless wisdom they contained, especially for ascetics pursuing the monastic life. However, several important works were lost in Greek and survive only in Syriac and Armenian, mostly, the languages of those independent of the imperial conciliar tradition from Chalcedon onwards (in Armenia, Evagrios receives veneration as a saint). Evagrios once more became controversial in modern times, especially after Antoine Guillaumont discovered in the British Museum Library (as it was then) a Syriac manuscript of the Evagrios' Kephalaia Gnostica. Guillaumont argued that this manuscript contained a more faithful translation of the Greek original than the text already known, and was, moreover, the source of the Origenist opinions condemned by the council of 553. He then proceeded, in a book which transformed studies (Les «Kephalaia Gnostica» d'Evagre le Pontique et Thistoire de l'origenisme chez les grecs et ches les syriens [1962]), to reconstruct the Evagrian system on the basis of the anathemas, supported by passages from Evagrios' authentic works, especially the newly discovered manuscript of the Kephalaia Gnostica. Guillaumont's reconstructed Evagrianism has been widely accepted in the scholarly world, despite the fact that using anathemas as a blueprint for heresy seems methodologically quite unsound, and the further fact that these anathemas date from more than a century and a half after Evagrios' death; his disciples must have been remarkably faithful, for Guillaumont's reconstruction to be valid. Guillaumont's views did not pass without challenge, notably from the scholar-hermit, Father Gabriel Bunge, who has done more than anyone to rehabilitate Evagrios, producing translations and commentaries on his works, as well as sharply argued articles dismantling various aspects of Guillaumont's reconstruction, and in general presenting Evagrios as a great master of the spiritual life, whose wisdom needs to be heard today. If Bunge's impact on Western scholarship has been limited, his reception in the Orthodox world has been much more enthusiastic. Parallel to Bunge's work has been the rediscovery of the importance to Evagrios of the Scriptures. Although much of his scriptural commentary is lost, it seems that Evagrios devoted a great deal of time to the genre of commentary called scholia, brief comments on individual verses, and indeed words. His scholia on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes have been published in Sources Chretiennes, and there has been available for some years now in electronic form to those with persistence enough to track it down a working edition of his scholia on the Psalms, prepared by Marie-Josephe Rondeau on the basis of a manuscript in the Vatican Library. …

The classical world: an epic history from Homer to Hadrian

The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics--these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Augustus. From the Peloponnesian War through the creation of Athenian democracy, from the turbulent empire of Alexander the Great to the creation of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Christianity, Robin Lane Fox serves as our witty and trenchant guide. He introduces us to extraordinary heroes and horrific villains, great thinkers and blood-thirsty tyrants. Throughout this vivid tour of two of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known, we remain in the hands of a great master.

Liszt and the Mozart connection

The life and works of Mozart are central to a due understanding of Liszt’s development as pianist, composer, and conductor. Yet, this fact receives inadequate attention in scholarly studies. Liszt readily acknowledged that he ‘owed the greater part of what he was as a musician to Mozart’ and found identity and goal as he sought, as pianist and composer, to emulate the endeavors of the Viennese master. Like Mozart, he was a ‘pioneer of progress’ who refused ‘to be bound by accepted modes of expression.’ Like Mozart, ‘he pushed virtuosity to utmost limits.’ Like Mozart, he was seen by many as an iconic figure of German nationalism. In later life, Liszt took comfort from the fact that Mozart, his illustrious role-model, was not spared bitter experiences. ‘As with every great genius,’ both endured ‘pain and suffering’ in order to accomplish their task. In so many areas of musical activity and experience, Liszt mirrored his great Viennese master. Throughout Liszt’s life, he remained devoted to the scrupulous study and execution of Mozart’s music and played an important part in promoting a better understanding of both man and music via podium and press before, during, and after the Mozart Centenary Celebrations in Vienna in January 1856.

Orchestration: An Anthology of Writings (review)

ORCHESTRATION Orchestration: An Anthology of Writings. Edited by Paul Mathews. New York: Routledge, 2006. [230 p. ISBN 10: 0-415-97683-9. $35.00.] Bibliography, index, music examples. In his preface, Paul Mathews declares Hector Berlioz's Grand traite d'instrumentation et d'orchestration of 1844 watershed moment in history of (pages unnumbered in front matter). While books about instrumental practice had been published periodically since sixteenth century, no one as prominent as Berlioz had done so as extensively, nor had case been made that orchestration-to Berlioz, balancing of appropriate numbers and types of instruments, considering their differing timbres, characters, and ranges of expression-was a craft beyond mere instrumentation. Since Berlioz, many composers have written on this topic. Mathews began to collect those writings to use in classes he taught on subject at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Along way, occurred to him that they documented evolution of orchestral style in nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and comprised a useful history of philosophy and practice in this domain. resulting anthology includes writings only by composers, and further eliminates excerpts from twentieth-century orchestration textbooks, such as those by Walter Piston and Samuel Adler, on grounds that their purpose is less speculative and more technical. texts included are grouped into six chronological sections, each introduced by Mathews. He divides nineteenth-century practice into three styles: French, with mainly homophonic textures; German, predominantly contrapuntal; and New German, combining homophonic and contrapuntal. In twentieth century, historic divide between those was less evident, though Mathews detects vestiges of opposing schools of thought in conflicting remarks on use of instrumental color made by Morton Feldman and Elliott Carter. According to editor, selected texts have been reprinted here with minimal editing, and changes were normally made only to clarify nomenclature or to restore performance indications in score excerpts to their original language, where earlier authors had translated them. Music have been re-engraved based on recent editions of scores in question, and a few redundant examples (preface; page unnumbered) were omitted and footnoted. Section 1, The Early Nineteenth Century, focuses on issues concerning Beethoven's orchestration, especially Ninth Symphony, which was particularly challenging for nineteenth-century musicians as required many more instrumentalists than was norm, and a conductor to prepare and lead them in performance, also a new departure. debate evolved along mainly nationalist lines, with German composers arguing for clarity above all, even offering various improvements to Beethoven's score, while French and Russian composers insisted on fidelity to original even if that meant sacrificing clarity in performance. Claiming that deafness caused Beethoven to lose the distinct consciousness of [the orchestra's] dynamic values (p. 20), and noting limitations (p. 24) of natural brass and other instruments of his era that caused distort[ions in] established melodic curve (p. 26), Wagner proceeded to correct defects in of . . . Ninth Symphony (p. 22), calling his action a restitutio in integrum of master's intention (p. 25). On opposing side of issue, Gounod [did] not admit right of anybody to correct masters (p. 37), insisting that it is better to leave a great master his imperfections, if he has any, than to impose on him our own (p. 39). Stravinsky, too, felt a fundamental error to consider instrumentation as something extrinsic from music for which exists (p. 41). Section 2, The Late Nineteenth Century, focuses on the dialectic of French and German orchestral styles (p. …

Ecphrasis and cultural identification in Petronius' art gallery

At section 83 of Petronius' Satyricon, Encolpius enters a wondrous art gallery hung with a variety of paintings. Surveying its contents, he finds himself drawn to what he perceives to be the work of the great Greek masters Zeuxis, Protogenes and Apelles, whom he praises in extravagant terms for their realism. He becomes fixated on images depicting the gods' loves for young boys: ‘In one’, he says, ‘the eagle was carrying the Idaean boy [Ganymede] into the heavens, in another fair Hylas was repelling the shameless Naiad’. ‘Apollo’, he goes on, ‘was condemning his guilty hands [for killing Hyacinthus], and was adorning his unstrung lyre with the newborn flower’ (Sat. 83.1-4). Both of Encolpius' preferences here — for great Greek artworks and for depictions of boy-love — fit in well with what we have already learned about him by this point in the Satyricon. We know that, along with his ongoing training in Latin rhetoric, the Greek-named Encolpius shares the aspirations — or pretensions — to Greek culture displayed by many others in the Graeca urbs (Greek city) that forms the setting for this part of the text. We know, too, that Encolpius has just lost his boytoy, the young Giton, to his former companion Ascyltos, and has spent three days in agonized seclusion. The paintings Encolpius sees in the gallery prompt him to cry out ‘as though alone’ (83.4 tamquam in solitudine), ‘So, then, love touches even the gods. Jupiter in his heavens did not find an object for his love, and descending to earth to transgress, nevertheless did no one any harm. The nymph who preyed on Hylas would have controlled her love, if she had believed that Hercules would come to prohibit it. Apollo called the shade of his boy back in the form of a flower, and all the other myths, too, have told of embraces without a rival. But I bound to myself a companion more cruel than Lycurgus’ (8304-6).

Free-Range Iconoclast

America! Review Lyrical Idiolect Ravi Shankar Orient Point Julie Sheehan Norton http://www.wwnorton.com 128 pages; cloth, $23.95 Taken literally, Orient Point is the easternmost tip of the North Fork of Long Island, a sinuous strip of land counterpoised to the tonier enclaves of the Hamptons and Shelter Island, a hamlet once used as a base of operations by the Tories during the American Revolution and now a quiet seaside town where the winter population can verge to less than that of a Manhattan high-rise. Taken figuratively, in the context of Julie Sheehan's extraordinarily fine second book, Orient Point offers a vantage on clarity , a poetic space that allows the speaker of these lyrics to search for some kind of navigational tool that would help recalibrate a sense of personhood in the face of a collapsing relationship. A tool that would help untangle the knotty rapport between the races, that might even parse (and praise) the force ofme contemporary colliding with the archaic, botíi formally and linguistically. A tool that finally would blaze a trail into and out of the wilderness of urban decay and technological proliferation that threatens at every moment to overwhelm, even while offering itself as abundant with trope and image. The title poem of the collection, "Ghazal: Orient Point," prefigures many of these themes. As the great master of the ghazal in the English language, Agha Shahid Ali wrote, "There is, underlying a ghazal, a profound and complex cultural unity, built on association and memory and expectation, as well as an implicit recognition of the human personality and its infinite variety." In Sheehan's ghazal, complexity and unification work on many levels; first, there is the nautical imagery which permeates the piece, from the first couplet's reference to whales and lighthouses, to the barnacles, the brimless fishing cap, the mast and high wind that recur throughout the poem. Then, there is memory, never explicit in any obvious way, but present nonetheless in the specter of a crumbling marriage ("1 know / It's love, that sidestepping afterthought, mislaid and always off-point") and the passage of time ("The hour wrecks, it sinks, for time honors no distant point"). Finally, there is the way in which the form of the poem is mimetic of the content ("lash ofcouplets, broken/lines"), so that every choice feels manifest in necessity. There are also a number of other poems in this collection that deals with the implosion of love from the opening poem of the collection, "Honeymoon in the Grenadines," where a beach is filled with metaphorically apt skeletons of bleached, empty conch shells, to the gleefully malicious "Hate Poem," which begins "I hate you truly. Truly I do. / Everything about me hates everything about you." There is a pall cast over mis collection that obviates reconciliation, that casts shadows over romantic love, but rather than tip into melodrama or self-pity, as it would have been tempting to do, Orient Point retains the edge of finely honed intelligence and bitter wit. Human behavior is minutely observed and reflected back at us with a characteristic flourish. Take, for example, "Sonnet: On a Recurring Argument Going Nowhere," one ofthe many pieces that display Sheehan's formal chops; here a car running out of gas and breaking down becomes the objective correlative for a relationship taking its last wheezy breaths. Or take the poem "Dependent Clause," which in grammar is the subordinate idea of the sentence and necessarily dependent on anotherclause for meaning and context. In this poem, the miserliness ofone dinner guest with a "kissy British accent," "a house in the Hamptons," and a "pure-bred Weimaraner" is more reprehensible only when read in context of his obliviousness. Here's a poet who can trundle the ruckus with the best ofthem. In reading Orient Point, one word that comes to mind is idiolect, manifestations of grammar and diction and syntax unique to their user. Sheehan's idiolect is so compelling because it is so capacious. She incorporates rhetoric from field guides and urban slang, legalese and Biblical elocutions, and yet the net result is not one of hodge-podge but something that is remarkably of a...

애니매트릭스에 나타난 추상적 메타포 표현

본 연구는 애니메이션 <TEX>$\lceil$</TEX>애니매트릭스Animatrix<TEX>$\rfloor$</TEX>에 나타난 추상적 메타포 표현을 중점으로 추상성의 활용에 대한 고찰을 하였으며, 상상적 발상과 자극이 매우 중요한 애니메이션의 독특한 요소로 추상성의 활용에 대한 한 사례로 제시하고자 한다. 기존 가치체제의 해체를 위한 시각적 표현법 시도는 추상예술과 추상애니메이션의 탄생을 가져왔으며 추상 애니메이션의 선구적 작업은 20세기 초에 이루어졌다. 워쇼스키(Wachowski) 형제감독과 세계 거장들에 의해 옴니버스형식으로 구성된 애니메이션 <TEX>$\lceil$</TEX>애니매트릭스<TEX>$\rfloor$</TEX> 중 <TEX>$\lceil$</TEX>두 번째 르네상스The Second Renaissance Part 1, Part2<TEX>$\rfloor$</TEX> 와 <TEX>$\lceil$</TEX>허가Matriculated<TEX>$\rfloor$</TEX> 에 표현된 추상적 메타포는 유기체적 생명력을 추상적으로 표현하는 <추상성의 아니마>, 물리적 3D공간성과 아울러 인간의 감성까지도 인지될 수 있는 4D공간성이 구현된 <추상성의 공간화>, 인간의 정신과 상상의 세계를 직접적으로 제시하는 <추상성의 개념화>로 분석될 수 있다. In this study, the use of abstraction has been considered, focusing on the abstract metaphoric expressions presented in Animatrix and it has a purpose as the case study in the use of abstraction as a unique element of animation in which imaginative ideas and stimuli are significantly important and the pioneering works of abstract animations were produced in the early 20th century. The abstract metaphors expressed in The Second Renaissance Part1 & Part2 and Matriculated among the episodes of Animatrix, the animation produced in the omnibus form directed by Wachowski Brothers and great Master in the world, can be analyzed into Anima of Abstraction abstractively expressing organic vital power, Extensity of Abstraction which 4D space is realized possibly recognizing the human emotions as well as 3D space, and Conceptualization of Abstraction directly presenting the human mentality and imaginary world.

Le residenze del padre di Leonardo da Vinci a Firenze nei quartieri di Santa Croce e di Santa Maria Novella

This work sets out to construct the places where Leonardo da Vinci’s father, Ser Piero di Antonio, lived and worked in Florence in the years 1451-1469, drawing on original documents in the city’s State Archives. The results of the research provide interesting clues for observations and hypotheses about the years of Leonardo’s childhood and adolescence, during the great master’s first Florentine period.

The History of Surgery According to Owen Wangensteen

Owen Wangensteen (1898–1981), the great Minnesota surgical master, made a firm and intense dedication to the history of surgery from the early stages of his exemplary surgical career. While in Germany and Switzerland, he learned from distinguished European professors and clearly realized the importance of history on the understanding and appreciation of important surgical problems. In 1928, on returning to Minneapolis, he began his quest to introduce history into many of his clinical and research laboratory works. In 1930, he attained the surgery chairmanship at the University of Minnesota, and there he excelled until his retirement from surgical practice in 1967. Throughout his career and until he died in 1981, the history of surgery was his continuous and persistent companion. In fact, this discipline, the history of surgery, was indeed part of the family, since his wife Sally Davidson Wangensteen was a dedicated contributor to their common papers and the scholarly jewel of their work, the monumental treatise, The Rise of Surgery: From Empiric Craft to Scientific Discipline.

Arthur John Birch. 3 August 1915 — 8 December 1995

Arthur John Birch AC CMG FAA FRS was one of the great masters of organic chemistry of the twentieth century. His extraordinary creativity left its imprint across the breadth of the subject in its broadest sense, from synthesis to biochemistry to organometallic chemistry. He remains best known for the reaction that bears his name, the Birch reduction of aromatic compounds by solutions of sodium and ethanol in liquid ammonia. This process has wide application, most notably in the commercial synthesis of oral contraceptives, giving rise to his being called ‘the father of the pill’, although he himself preferred the more remote ‘grandfather’ relationship. His polyketide theory, which accounts for the biosynthetic origins of a wide range of natural products, is less widely acknowledged today simply because it has become absorbed into the accepted knowledge base of the subject. His final researches on the use of diene iron tricarbonyl derivatives in synthesis are equally distinguished and have prompted others to extend their application. During his career he was involved in the design of three new university chemistry buildings, one of which now bears his name, and contributed influential advice to governments on national science policies.

The demographic revolution and our common future: quo vadimus?

Professor Egon Diczfalusy reflects on a lifetime of experience, drawing insights from not only the great masters of the arts, philosophy and the sciences but also from a time in history in which he has witnessed some of the greatest triumphs in science as well as some of the greatest tragedies against humanity. This paper highlights some of the most pressing public health issues facing the world today, such as population growth and the changing global population structure, examining factors such as longevity and the progressive imbalance between the number of elderly persons in our communities and the number of persons who are able to support them. Finally he discusses the falling rates in fertility, stressing its multifactorial aetiology. In his closing remarks he poses three major problems that face the scientific community today. The use and misuse of science The growing discrepancy between scientific development and our moral/ethical development. The need to convince todays and future generations that fanatic faith, fundamentalism and obscurantism will not improve the quality of life of their children and grandchildren. His final reflections remind us that we belong to a humanistic science one in which we should not only strive to achieve the wisdom of humility but also the wisdom of hope.

A Study on the Great Master Sangwol ascetic practice through the utterance of incantation

A Study on the Great Master Sangwol ascetic practice through the utterance of incantation

Linguistic Geometry: A Gaming Approach to Training Combat Strategies

Linguistic Geometry (LG) is a mathematical theory that captures the decision making processes similar to those of the great chess masters. In the current demonstration LG is applied to a military combat game that allows users to test their strategies against an intelligent simulated force while receiving feedback regarding the accomplishment of the task and amount of resources spent. Additionally, a usability study was conducted on LG-based software (LG-PROTECTOR) indicating that the software was easy to learn and remember and has an interface conducive to training. The next generation of LG software (LG-EXPERT) is currently under development to provide increased capabilities that will help train users to “Think Like A Commander” as they practice rules of engagement and learn effective courses of action. Additional training implications are discussed.

Delacroix and Sculpture

Editor of a new, more complete edition of Delacroix's Journals, Hannoosh studies the Romantic artist's comments on sculpture from two recently discovered notebooks, showing an evolution in his view that sculpture and painting should remain within the limits set by their media and that painting, not sculpture, is the art most appropriate to modernity. Hannoosh shows that Delacroix, in the process of viewing and writing about medieval and Renaissance sculpture, conceives of both an authentic modern sculpture and a sculptural treatment of color in painting. He even imagines a style of colorist painting that would be imbued with the force, grandeur, and immediacy of ancient sculpture.

Computer Vision, Image Analysis, and Master Art: Part 1

Can computer systems help us understand paintings and the methods of great masters? In this three-part series, David C. Stork describes how he uses techniques adapted from computer vision and image analysis to shed light on art and problems in art history. In part 1, the subject is perspective, and among the questions posed: did the artists of the Renaissance use optical projections as has been recently hypothesized?