Sparks Commentary

Long before I watched this film, I watched another PBS documentary about  Benjamin Franklin . This earlier film was by Muffie Meyer, who has...

I am a big fan of the original  “Cosmos” TV series , made by  Carl Sagan  in 1980. Thus, when I heard that there was a 2014 reboot of the se...

“I had a little bird Whose name was Enza, I opened the door and ‘ in-flew-Enza .’ ” – A popular ditty sung by children, at the time t...

The greatest outbreak of disease in recorded human history (the Black Death) … It is still the greatest outbreak of disease in recorded ...

“ Poyekhali !” (“Let's go!”) – Yuri Gagarin , the first man in space, at the moment of the Vostok 1 rocket launch that first sent h...

“Maths is the true language that the universe is written in  –  the key to understanding the world around us.” – Marcus du Sautoy, in th...

“4 out of 3 people struggle with math.” – A joke of unknown origin As some of you know, I've been a professional math tutor since 20...

“To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici : Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come befo...

So I recently read a book called "Historical Linguistics" (3rd edition) , by Winfred P. Lehmann , which talks about the way that...

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -  Aristotle Open-mindedness i...

"The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be ... " - Opening lines of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos: A Personal Vo...

I've had a number of people tell me over the years that with my interest in  history , I should have been a  history teacher . Thus, i...

I would wager that many a student has taken a statistics class, and been introduced to bell curves without having the slightest idea why t...

Most of us know that the years on other planets seldom (if ever) correspond to the years on our own. Here are some fun facts about the yea...

"The greatest improvements in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment, with which...

" ... every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neit...

One of the great surprises of my  education  was how much I liked psychology. This would have surprised me in my younger days, as I though...

"Let's start with what economics isn't.  Economics isn't a meal ticket to make lots of money in the stock market, althoug...

"I may as well confess it, since my denial of it will be believed by nobody ... perhaps I shall a good deal gratify my own vanity. I...

It seems like the most charitable of things to do: to legally set a minimum level of earnings for workers, or a maximum price of healthcar...