Miss Pym and a Friend
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
The Solar Eclipse and Maria Mitchell
 |
| Maria Mitchell, Astronomer, Public Domain
|
By Ellen Tsagaris
Popular Astronomy Club
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| Eclipse 2017 Public Domain |
On March 20, 2015, the next solar eclipse will be visible. NASA’s Solar Eclipse Page
provides tables of past and future solar eclipses, along with graphics and
other pertinent information.
A solar eclipse takes place, of course, when the moon passes
between the sun and the earth. Once this
occurs, the moon partially or totally hides the sun. Then, the moon casts a shadow on the earth.
For a solar eclipse to occur there must be a new moon
because the eclipse can only take place during the phase of the new moon, which
makes it possible for the moon to cast its shadow on the earth.
Such an event has been billions of years in the making,
truly awesome when one considers that since its formation almost 4.5 billion
years ago, the moon has been steadily pulling away from the earth. According to
Space.com, the moon has been moving away from the earth by about 1.6 inches
each year. Furthermore, the writers at
Space.com point out that “right now the moon is at the perfect distance to
appear in our sky exactly the same size as the sun, and therefore block it out.
“
The Bible mentions a solar eclipse in Amos 8: 9, “I will
cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the Earth in the clear
day.” Other references from Ancient
China and Nineveh
Most solar eclipses are very short, with some of the longest
recorded at 7 minutes 31 seconds. During this time, the corona, the outer
atmosphere of the sun, is visible.
The March eclipse will not be visible in the Quad City Svalbard , Norway and the Faroe Islands, while a partial
solar eclipse will be visible in Europe, northern and eastern Asia and northern
and western Africa
The last solar eclipse was only a partial eclipse and
occurred on October 23, 2014.
Celebrated astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) made the
study of solar eclipses her specialty. Mitchell was born to Quaker parents who
believed in educating equally their sons and daughters. She learned to love astronomy through helping
her father, and one evening, she helped him calculate their home’s position by
observing a solar eclipse. Mitchell became famous after she discovered a comet
in 1847. The King of Denmark awarded her
a gold medal for her discovery of the comet. In 1856, Mitchell became a professor of
astronomy at Vassar
College
Maria Mitchell was an admired and beloved teacher who
inspired her students and believed woman could achieve the same accomplishments
that men did, if they could only be given a chance. She believed creativity and science worked
well together, and one quote attributed to her reads: “We especially need
imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is
somewhat beauty and poetry.”
Friday, October 13, 2017
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Theriault's Octoer 28029 Bittersweet Auction!
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Theriault's Octoer 28029 Bittersweet Auction!: Today at 10:12 AM Courtesy, Theriault's Dolls from the Private Collection of Lorna Lieberman of Leawood, Kansa...
Chance to Publish
Subject: Student Writing/Publishing Opportunity: The Dangling Modifier Newsletter is Accepting Submissions!
From: Karen-Elizabeth Moroski <kxm5044@psu.edu>Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 10:24:54 -0400
X-Message-Number: 3
Hi, friends!
The Fall 2017 Issue of Penn State/NCTPW's Peer Tutoring Newsletter -- The
Dangling Modifier -- is now accepting submissions. Please encourage your
tutors to submit!
This year's theme was inspired by the upcoming MAWCA 2018 Conference themes
of identity, narrative and honoring intersectionality/voice in writing
center work.
*What is The Dangling Modifier?*
Why, I'm glad you asked! The DM is a peer tutoring newsletter by peer
tutors, for peer tutors. It's a fantastic opportunity for your
students/tutors (grad and undergrad alike) to get published and to be part
of a rich history of tutors writing about tutoring.
*How does it work?*
Explained more in full on The DM's website, peer tutor authors will submit
works via email. Selected writers will be contacted by our editorial staff
(comprised of PSU tutors) and our editorial staff will collaborate (through
Skype, Google Docs, email, etc.) with the writer to refine the final piece.
Then, we publish it to the web!
*If you're interested: *
In the Spring, we offer the possibility for The DM to be hosted by a guest
university. It's great experience for the tutors who work on the newsletter
-- if you're interested, let me know: kxm5044@psu.edu.
*And now... the CFP! (Also attached as a word document)*
*Issue Title: Keepers of Collaboration: Upholding Civil Discourse in
Writing Centers*
*What does collaboration mean to you? To your Writing Center? How do you
define “discourse” in a tutorial? There are times where tutees and
professors both might push against our approach to working with writers
rather than solely working on papers: How does collaboration engage
conversation and growth in ways that line-editing cannot?*
*Sometimes, that conversation and growth can be tough to navigate: as
writing tutors, we sometimes encounter hostile papers, hostile students –
maybe even moments our own beliefs, experiences or backgrounds are called
into question. But a spirit of radical openness runs through the current of
writing center work, and there are ways in which foundational parts of
tutoring pedagogy enable us to be good listeners, good community members
and good humans when we engage in challenging tutorials. The
Dangling Modifier wants to know about times when you’ve felt challenged to
grow during a tutorial, as well as times you needed to use your writing
tutoring skills to navigate a controversial difficult moment in the Writing
Center.*
*Writing tutoring, civil discourse and collaboration all share the core
tenets of respect, listening, and engaging. What does it mean to be a
Keeper of Collaboration? How can writing tutors use these skills to
preserve and promote community in a tempestuous world?*
*We are also open to creative submissions of artwork, poetry, photography,
book reviews, etc. related to our Fall 2017 theme. If selected, these
submissions will not be listed as newsletter articles but will appear on
our website in our Entertainment Category. Writers can submit to both the
Entertainment and Article sections!*
*Submissions are due no later than November 15, 2017.Email submissions to
danglingmodifier.psu.edu@gmail
*Click here for submission guidelines.
<http://sites.psu.edu/thedangl
Monday, October 9, 2017
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Dark Angel; PBS story of Mary Ann Cotton, Victoria...
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Dark Angel; PBS story of Mary Ann Cotton, Victoria...: Nothing but husbands and children and demands, states Mary Ann Cotton in the PBS version of her life. This less than excellent woman died o...
This is Jane Eyre gone very, very wrong.
This is Jane Eyre gone very, very wrong.
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