Monday, November 9, 2015

Episode Twenty-Eight: You Can't Stop Him. He's Electric!

A classic tale of terror leads to a true story of the remarkable.

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A discussion of the scientific influences on Mary Shelley, including galvinism and the distinction between absolute and apparent death.  Perhaps Gerbert has only ever been "mostly dead."

Links for the Nine Unknowns and O'Shaughnessy can be found in Episode 17's notes.

The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the official line on Sylvester II.  Notice they barely mention the rumors.

Gerbert's brazen head may have provided some inspiration for Chaucer in his Squire's Tale.

Grossteste's possession of the head mentioned in John Gower's late 14th Century poem Confession Amantis.  Link takes you to Book 4; go down to line 230.

The head is in fact a popular story, attributed to Sylvester II and Grossteste (both Gerbert, according to Kevin), Bacon (his student), and Albertus Magnus, who, as a contemporary of Grosseteste, is our of the running to be considered one of Gerbert's aliases.

A review of the official Elon Musk story.

They're up to Falcon 9.

A recently completed massive 4-part interview/article on Musk.  The title of the URL will give you a sense of the writer's particular bias.  I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I suspect he doesn't mention anything about brass heads or feuding with Edison.





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