Collapse: Why do Civilizations Fail? - The reasons behind the demise of past advanced cultures, such as the Anasazi, the Mayas, and the Mesopotamians, undergo scrutiny. In this offering from the Annenberg Foundation/Corporation for Public Broadcasting, clues are presented, and students are encouraged to reach their own conclusions, aided by the use of a journal in which they can enter their thoughts as they progress through the site. Some of these civilizations achieved great wealth and size, yet these factors were not enough to sustain their growth. One of the possibilities involves overfarming and irrigation practices that are compared to the problems confronted by farmers today in California's San Joaquin Valley. Whether history repeats itself or not is a question posed to students, and is perhaps one we grownups should consider as well. Rating: 8 out of 10 (24 December 2002) AD
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/
Origins and Ancient History of Wine - Wine is first thought to have effloresced its sweet bouquets on our noses, tickled our palates and delighted our taste buds since Neolithic times from some 8000 years BC. We as a species have got through quite a few bottles since then. Of course, in the words of Basil Fawlty, "Some people drink it by the crate and that's not being a connoisseur, that's just plain sloshed." This University of Pennsylvania site is definitely for the connoisseur, although you might not think it from the sparse and so far rather puerile questions on the wine forum. That aside, pop a cork and take in the ancient atmosphere of a chateau hajji firuz, a Neolithic excavation where six wine jars were unearthed. Or, ponder the imponderable of the ancient Egyptians views on wine in the afterlife. Museum-based science is providing many clues, through state of the art archaeological chemistry, of the nature of wine making across the millennia, while maps track the dispersal of the wrath of grapes across the ancient Middle East. Fascinating stuff especially if you like a tipple. In terms of navigation, there's an awful lot of screen scrolling where there need not be especially when one clicks a subheading. Every item in the contents page seems to lead to a page that carries the contents page again instead of heading up the screen with what you were hoping to read. Why they have chosen a lurid green for some of the text one will never know, a nice burgundy would have suited better. Rating: 7 out of 10 (20 December 2002) DB
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Wine/wineintro.html
Fighting the U-boats - To counter the threat from German U-boats in World War II, the Allies mounted an offensive that included code-breaking at Bletchly, improved detection methods, and a weapons arsenal of depth charges, rockets, hedgehogs, and the Fido torpedo. The site's account of the successful breaking of the Enigma cipher makes for a lively read. It is interesting to note how wars quicken the pace of technological development. The High Frequency Direction Finder known as Huff Duff was helpful in locating potential wolfpack formation, which had proved devastating to Allied covoys. An excellent design helps to organize the tremendous amount of information, gathered by an Icelandic who first became interested in matters of the sea at the age of 5. Rating: 10 out of 10 (18 December 2002) AD
http://uboat.net/allies/technical/
PCmuseum - Imagine a world without the personal computer. Tough isn't it. In fact, the likelihood of your reading this review on anything but a computer is rather remote. But, there was a time and there are still places (one tent in Outer Mongolia, and that greasy spoon off the M1) that don't yet have at least one computer. The PCmuseum provides a nostalgic look at the evolution of the computer as we know it from the first abacus used in 2000BC by way of Wilhelm Schickard's calculating clock and Charles Babbage's difference engine. It was 1964 that the first computer to use integrated circuits was devised and a 1971 advert in Scientific American heralded probably the world's first personal computer the Kenbak-1. It had 256 bytes of memory. The machine on your desktop might have a million times as much or even more memory. Of course, your PC is probably more prone to crashing, especially if the history of a certain glazing-based operating system is anything to go by. PCMuseum is run by Canadian Daniel Lessard, and although it is difficult to discern his credentials, Lessard has nevertheless created a decent site that summarises with some "ancient" photos the history of computing. Rating: 7 out of 10 (16 November 2002) DB
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/
The Old Timer's Page - A child with freshly scrubbed feet was a key player in the process of making sauerkraut back in the old days. In this series of recollections, members of farm families discuss the ice house, potting meat, curing ham in brine, the chore of gathering water, the charm of spring houses, butter making, and the pros and cons of outhouses. Instructions for building an outhouse are illustrated with photos of both plain and fancy ones. An outhouse FAQ begins with 'Did these things stink?" and ends with an explanation of the half-moon on the door. There are fondly recalled recipes, including one for head cheese, and yes, it does involve heads. Old-time home remedies for coughs, dysentery, and sores on man or beast are given, along with warnings from the editor about the hazards of using turpentine as an ointment ingredient. In response, a turpentine fan writes a remarkable letter defending its curative properties. Rating: 10 out of 10. (1 November 2002) AD
http://waltonfeed.com/old/index.html
Neutrino History - Gaps in your knowledge concerning neutrinos might be filled at this site authored by a member of a particle physics laboratory in France. The neutrino has been described as next to nothing. If you venture outside, you will be bombarded with billions of neutrinos from the sun, not counting the billions from the earth's radioactivity, and you won't feel a thing. Perhaps it is good that we cannot see them. Just sitting at your computer, you will emit roughly 340 million neutrinos each day from the potassium 40 in your body, and none of your coworkers will be aware of this, although if they were, at least one would complain. Those watching their weight might find comfort in knowing there are so many particles leaving their bodies at the speed of light. Discussions on a neutrino's possible mass, the difficulties involved in capturing one, and particulars of its spin and chirality are offered. Plus a page devoted to the major players in neutrino history. Rating: 10 out of 10. (16 September 2002) AD
http://wwwlapp.in2p3.fr/neutrinos/aneut.html
Devices of Wonder - Roll up, roll up, for "Devices of Wonder", a carnival of strange inventions billed as the "surprising and seductive ancestors of modern cinema, cyborgs, computers, and other optical devices". Based on a recent exhibition at the J. Paul Getty museum, the pages will teach you about optical illusions, magnetic toys, mechanical automata, and early experiments with moving pictures. Most of the exhibits date from the 18th and 19th centuries, but the spirit of slightly offbeat inventions is still alive: take a look at the UniBug BIObot, an insect-like robot which uses analogue rather than digital circuits and was made in 1998. It's with Flash, Java, and RealPlayer that the site comes into its own. If you have the patience for the downloads you can play with many of these gadgets on your computer. Decipher distorted 'anamorphic' images, and then paint your own pictures on the screen. Ask questions of "L'Oiseau Bleu", a fortune-telling bluebird, or play with Indonesian Shadow Puppets. These features add even more interest than the simple web pages. The interactive material is well designed, if a little fiddly at times, and it is great fun to explore. However, this part of the site is best used with a fast connection and computer so that you don't have to wait for the downloads. On slower machines, or over a modem, the non-interactive pages are still worth a browse. The site also provides further reading material, teaching resources, and an online store. Rating: 8 out of 10 for 'interactive' site, 7 out of 10 for the 'plain' site (19 July 2002) DP-P
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/devices/...
