Category Archives: Arts

Arts, History, Philosophy, Science

Philosophy: The four elements and atomism

GREEK PHILOSOPHY

The dawn of scientific thought in Ancient Greece.

THE question of what the universe is made of was still a major concern of Greek philosophers in the fifth century BCE. A native of Akragas in Sicily named Empedocles thought that everything was composed of a single element (known as the Milesian line of thought). Later, however, he took this a step further, identifying four distinct elements – earth, water, air and fire – which in different proportions formed all the different substances in the universe. Developing his ideas from the monism of Parmenides, he argued that these elements must therefore be eternal and unalterable, but reasoned that change was possible if some sort of force altered the mixture of elements.

He suggested that two opposing forces, which he poetically called ‘Love’ and ‘Strife’, caused attraction or separation of the elements and brought about changes in the composition of substances. His classification of the substances later known as the four classical elements was widely accepted by philosophers and was a cornerstone of alchemy until the Renaissance (the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era and covering the span between the 14th and 17th centuries).

Democritus and Leucippus: atomism

A theory of matter proposed by Leucippus and his pupil Democritus was less influential at the time than the ‘four elements’ proposed by their contemporary Empedocles. In retrospect, it seems closer to modern scientific understanding. They suggested that everything in the universe is composed of minute, unalterable and indivisible particles, which they called atoms (from the Greek atomos, uncuttable). These, they argued, are free to move through empty space, combining in constantly changing configurations.

The assertion there is such a thing as a void, an empty space, may be one reason these ideas were originally considered unacceptable. According to their theory, the number of atoms is infinite, and different kinds of atoms with different characteristics determine the properties of the substance they form together. Because the atoms are indestructible, when a substance, or even a human body decays, its atoms are dispersed and reconstituted in another form.

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Arts, Drama, Legal

You Be The Jury: The Case of The Sleeping Prisoner

The Presiding Judge

. Similar The Case Of The Flying Toy…

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY:

Escape from jail is a serious crime, even if the person was first arrested for a minor offence.

Such is the case before you today. Since we are in criminal court, the State is the accuser.

The State contends that Soney Najac, who was arrested for sleeping on a park bench, broke out of jail. But Mr Najac claims his cell door was unlocked. He just pushed it open and walked out.

The police officer, Constable Thomas Nash, testifies as follows:

“It was about two o’clock in the morning and I was making my rounds in Vernon Park. No one is supposed to be there after dark.

“I was walking along when I heard a strange sound. At first, I thought it might be thunder, but it was a starry night without any clouds. Then I realised what the sound was. Someone was snoring. I turned on my flashlight and there was this man on a bench. He was sound asleep.

“I tried to wake him without success. I couldn’t leave him there, so I figured that the best thing to do was to strap him on to my motorcycle and drive down to police headquarters.”

The stranger’s wallet provided more information. His name was Soney Najac and the address inside showed he was from a foreign country.

The constable continues his testimony:

“The man was still asleep when I got to the station, so I carried him into a cell. It was my turn for night duty and I relieved the officer in charge.

“At about six o’clock that morning, I went to the coffee shop around the corner to bring back some coffee and delicacies. It couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes.

“When I got back, I was shocked to find the cell door open. The prisoner had escaped.”

All police were alerted. That afternoon Soney Najac was arrested, but he was looking in a shop window. This time it was a more serious charge: escaping from jail.

The State described its theory of how Mr Najac managed his escape. EXHIBIT A is a diagram showing the inside of the police station. It has two cells. On one wall is a box containing keys. Mr Najac was in the cell nearest the wall.

Two close-up photographs showing the key box are presented as EXHIBIT B. They show the box both open and closed. Each key is hanging on a large ring. If someone in a cell had a long pole, it would be possible for him to reach the key box.

This, the State contends, is how the breakout occurred. It enters as EXHIBIT C a photograph showing a broom that was found near Soney Najac’s cell.

The State believes that the prisoner grabbed the broom, reached over to the box, and caught the keyring on one end. This was his means of escape.

I will now read from the cross-examination of Constable Nash by Mr Najac’s court-appointed lawyer:

Q How can you be sure the cell door was locked?

A I have been a policeman in this town for fifteen years. In all that time I never left a cell unlocked. What makes anyone think I did it this time?

Q Did you find the door to the key box closed following the prisoner’s departure?

A It had to be. The door is on a spring and it swings closed automatically.

Q Then how was it possible for Mr Najac to use the broom to loop the key?

A That’s not hard to do. The ring on the front of the box can be pulled open with the broom handle. Then you can quickly catch the big keyring on the end of the broom before the door shuts. I know it can be done. I’ve tried it myself.

 

Soney Najac testified on his own behalf. Since he could not speak English, his testimony was presented through an interpreter.

“My name is Soney Najac. I arrived in your country just two weeks ago. A friend told me I might find a job in this area. So, I took a bus to your town.

“I was tired from the trip and didn’t have much money. When it got dark, I walked into the park and saw a bench. I hadn’t had much sleep for the past few days, so I lay down on the bench for the night.

“When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was. All I knew was that I was in this room with bars. No one else was around.

“I stood up and leaned against the door. It started to move, so I pushed it open and walked out. I never knew I had been arrested.”

Mr Najac’s lawyer continues his defence:

“As proof that Mr Najac did not use a key to escape from his cell, your attention is again drawn to EXHIBIT B. This photograph was taken shortly after the alleged breakout occurred.

“You will note the keys to both cells are hanging on their hooks. If Mr Najac had used the key to escape, it is unlikely that he would have taken the time to put it back on its hook.

“The State’s theory of the escape is hard to believe. The truth is simply this: Soney Najac woke up, didn’t know where he was, found the cell door open – and just walked out!”

 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY:

You have just heard the Case of The Sleeping Prisoner. You must decide the merit of the State’s accusation. Be sure to carefully examine the evidence in EXHIBITS A, B, and C.

Did Soney Najac escape from jail using a key? Or, did he just walk out through the unlocked door?

EXHIBITS:

 

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Arts, Books, Literature

(Summaries) Books Fiction: Recommended

LITERARY FICTION

. Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce. Published by Picador for £12.99

Dear Mrs Bird

IT IS 1940 and London is gearing up for conflict.

Hoping to become a war correspondent, the delightful Emmeline finds herself instead working as an assistant to the agony aunt on a woman’s magazine.

Many readers are writing in, desperate for advice on dealing with grief, the struggle to look good, overbearing relatives and the thorny question of ‘how far to go’.

Yet Emmeline’s twinset-clad bully of a boss, Mrs Bird, refuses to answer letters that contain ‘Unpleasantness’.

Aghast at this near-cruelty and short-sightedness, Emmeline takes matters into her own hands, with surprising results.

What a lovely, cheering novel this is. Skewering snobbery and prudishness with the lightest of touches, it also portrays the difficulties of the home front. Poignant and realistic.

One small criticism: a need for more letters.

. Colonel Belchamp’s Battlefield Tour by Adrian Crisp. Published by Matador for £7.99

Belchamp

THE death of his young son has left consultant physician James Butland barely able to function. But, in the spring of 1964, he takes a tour to the French battlefields of 1940, where he once fought with the Queen Victoria Rifles.

Memories return: of his schooldays, his struggle to get a place at Oxford and his call-up into a war where he finds himself engaged in the doomed defence of Calais against the Nazis.

Wounded and concussed, he stumbles into a doctor’s surgery and is tended to by medical student Agnes – a meeting that profoundly affects his life both then and when they meet years later.

James’s war experiences have inflicted damage, which the doctor in him assesses clearly. No conventional gung-ho hero, he is a man who has struggled with depression and self-doubt.

His portrayal is honest and raw in this impressive debut by Crisp, who is himself a distinguished medical consultant and fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.

. Panic Room by Robert Goddard. Published by Bantam Press for £18.99

Panic Room

EDUCATED at Cambridge, Robert Goddard spent ten frustrating years as a local government officer, before writing Past Caring in 1986, which became an instant bestseller.

Panic Room is Goddard’s 27th outing and it is as compelling as any he has written.

Set in Cornwall, where he now lives, it centres on a supremely modern house set high above a cove.

It is theoretically the property of the wife of a disgraced pharmaceuticals tycoon, who wants to sell it, although it’s inhabited by a mysterious young woman named Blake.

But there is a twist. The house has a panic room, carefully hidden and complete with a steel lining – apparently closed from within. Could someone be hiding in it?

Splendidly serpentine and immaculately plotted, this is British thriller writing at its very best.

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