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Category Archives: History
Sputnik 2
Thanks to Radiosucks, who recently reminded us of the role of Laika the dog on 3 November 1957, the day Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft ever to enter Earth orbit, was launched: “On board was Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow. Laika’s mission was … Continue reading
The history of chess openings
Are you ready for the 2014 World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand? In preparation for the upcoming WCC, we are linking to this beautiful diagram describing the evolution of chess openings over time. It was prepared by Randal S. Olson. See also Raymond … Continue reading
A theory of Halloween
From Giorgio Agamben, “State of Exception,” translated by Kevin Attell, (University of Chicago Press, 2005), pp. 71-72: Folklorists and anthropologists have long been familiar with those periodic feasts (such as the Anthesteria and Saturnalia of the classical world and the … Continue reading
Economic history of the modern world
Are we living in the best of all possible worlds? Check out this amazing visualization of two-hundred years’ worth of data in four minutes! Hat tip to WretchesandKings for the pointer.
Roman imperial history (pie chart edition)
Why did so many would-be Roman emperors refuse to update their priors? Hat tip to Flibidi via reddit (DataIsBeautiful).
Shades of slavery (circa 1861)
According to Gareth Cook’s fascinating essay on the history of “infographics,” this was President’s Lincoln favorite map. Here is the opening paragraph of Mr Cook’s essay (emphasis ours): Near the end of 1861, with the American Union crumbling, President Abraham Lincoln became … Continue reading
Anti-constitutional moments?
In our most recent paper, a work-in-progress titled “Gödel’s Interbellum,” we borrow Bruce Ackerman’s influential theory of “constitutional moments” in order to survey the major extra-constitutional events unfolding in Europe during the interwar period between World War I and World War II. Specifically, … Continue reading
Posted in History, Law
Tagged Anti-Constitutional Moments, constitutional dictatorship, Interbellum Europe, Kurt Gödel
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Do memes exist?
To us, memes are like the luminiferous aether in Newtonian physics–a purely make-believe or hypothetical entity that does not really exist “out there” in space or time. In footnote 56 of our autobiographical essay, for example, we write: … despite my general admiration* … Continue reading
Is the Coase theorem unfalsifiable?
Our recent discussions with Glen Whitman about slavery, Haitian zombies, and the Coase Theorem has led us to think deeper about the relation between the Coase Theorem and other “legal failures.” (We consider the institution of slavery a paradigm case of … Continue reading
“Dallas Killers Club”
That is the title of Nicholson Baker’s excellent review of the conspiracy-theory literature on JFK’s assassination. Here is an excerpt from the opening of Baker’s essay: There were three horrible public executions in 1963. The first came in February, when the prime … Continue reading
prior probability 