Making history: post-historical commemorations of the past in British television

The postmodernist re-evaluation of historical study has let to an awareness of the value of the moving image to the historian. Film can present us with glimpses of a past independent of discourse and its unique link with reality carries with it inevatible assumptions of authenticity. Yet the selection and manipulation of material by the filmmaker and the dependence on causality or the establishment of 'fact', makes historical documentary as problematic as any other mode of historiography. National history is shaped as national identity, and, ultimately, acts of commemoration say as much about the present as the past

An improved pulse-height analyzer for energetic particle measurements in the upper atmosphere

An energetic particle spectrometer for measurements in the upper atmosphere by rocket is described. The system has two methods of processing data. One is a staircase generator using threshold detectors; the other is a peak detector. The system incorporates a logarithmic converter for better resolution at low amplitudes and better use of telemetry channels. The circuits are described and calibration procedures are given. Modifications are recommended for high flux environments. Appendices cover sampling error in the peak detector and modifications made to the receiver of the propagation experiment

Loop homology of spheres and complex projective spaces

In his Inventiones paper, Ziller (Invent. Math: 1-22, 1977) computed the integral homology as a graded abelian group of the free loop space of compact, globally symmetric spaces of rank 1. Chas and Sullivan (String Topology, 1999)showed that the homology of the free loop space of a compact closed orientable manifold can be equipped with a loop product and a BV-operator making it a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra. Cohen, Jones and Yan (The loop homology algebra of spheres and projective spaces, 2004) developed a spectral sequence which converges to the loop homology as a spectral sequence of algebras. They computed the algebra structure of the loop homology of spheres and complex projective spaces by using Ziller's results and the method of Brown-Shih (Ann. of Math. 69:223-246, 1959, Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes \'Etudes Sci. 3: 93-176, 1962). In this note we compute the loop homology algebra by using only spectral sequences and the technique of universal examples. We therefore not only obtain Zillers' and Brown-Shihs' results in an elementary way, we also replace the roundabout computations of Cohen, Jones and Yan (The loop homology algebra of spheres and projective spaces, 2004) making them independent of Ziller's and Brown-Shihs' work. Moreover we offer an elementary technique which we expect can easily be generalized and applied to a wider family of spaces, not only the globally symmetric ones.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

An analysis of water in galactic infrared sources using the NASA Lear Airborne Observatory

The Michelson interferometer system on the NASA Lear Jet Airborne Observatory is described as well as the data reduction procedures. The objects observed (standard stars, M stars, a nebula, planets, and the moon) are discussed and the observing parameters are listed for each flight date. The spectra obtained from these data flights are presented, grouped by class of object

A rocket-borne data-manipulation experiment using a microprocessor

The development of a data-manipulation experiment using a Z-80 microprocessor is described. The instrumentation is included in the payloads of two Nike Apache sounding rockets used in an investigation of energetic particle fluxes. The data from an array of solid-state detectors and an electrostatic analyzer is processed to give the energy spectrum as a function of pitch angle. The experiment performed well in its first flight test: Nike Apache 14.543 was launched from Wallops Island at 2315 EST on 19 June 1978. The system was designed to be easily adaptable to other data-manipulation requirements and some suggestions for further development are included

Polarimetric measurements of simulated lunar surfaces Third interim report

Polarimetric measurements of simulated lunar surfaces for determining Apollo landing area

The Toric Approach to F-theory Model Building

We describe the theoretical motivation for F-theory as a non-perturbative generalization of string theory. The four complex-dimensional compactification spaces of F-theory, called elliptically-fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds, consist of the six compact dimensions of string theory, plus a two-dimensional fiber that describes the string coupling field as a function of position on the string theory manifold. The methods of toric geometry are developed and applied to construct examples of elliptically-fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. We analyze in detail models in which the fiber is free of singularities as a test bed for a more general analysis

Judges as Bullies

It can’t be easy being a judge. The responsibility is enormous: to protect and maintain the rule of law; determine facts and law; resolve disputes large and small; and, in criminal matters, decide whether a fellow citizen remains free or not. In essence, we look to judges to articulate the meaning of “justice”—no doubt knowing all the while, as Clarence Darrow famously noted, “There is no such thing as justice, in or out of court.” I like and respect some judges, but not as many as I should. While some judges have the requisite ability and temperament for the bench—knowledge of the law, independence, fairness, patience, courage, compassion, and humility—too many do not. Too many are mean-spirited and arrogant, going out of their way to insult, ridicule, and demean those who come before them. In short, they are bullies. Bullies on the bench may be an inevitable result of our politicized process of judicial selection, especially on the state level, where most judges are elected. Politics doesn’t usually bring out the best judges or the best in judges. Becoming a bully may also be an occupational hazard. When your daily life consists of sitting in an elevated position in judicial robes, with people bowing and scraping before you, it likely goes to your head. As Steven Lubet says, judges are the “maximum boss” and “[e]veryone else is a supplicant.” This Essay is not about the judges I like and respect, but the ones who have become (or perhaps always were) bullies. Because I am a criminal defense lawyer who has practiced almost entirely in state criminal courts, my stories tend to come from those courts. It might also be that judges are at their worst when they preside over criminal matters