Office of the President
COMMUNITY SERVICE OR COMMUNITY ACTION
December 4, 2008
Dear Parents,
As the days move ever so quickly to the end of the year 2008; we begin to wonder where did the time go.
From my perspective, your youngster has spent quality educative time while at the Academy. I see a continuum of learning and follow up activities emerging. We, at the Academy, pride ourselves with the teaching of basics however, we excel at the application of learning.
Today, our tenth grade visited the New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn. They were provided with an introductory lecture and tour of the facility. They were permitted to sit in on a case that was just commencing, where all the procedures seen on Law and Order programs was in full view. They heard opening remarks by both sides as well as seeing witnesses being called to the stand to testify then have to defend a cross examination.
Trips, lectures, visits are all part of our well developed curriculum. Our Community Service program is also an integral part of our school calendar.
A colleague of mine at the graduate school of education at Pace University noted that the term; Community Service should be referred to as Community Action. I must admit that this is an interesting concept.
On Wednesday, December 10th the entire Junior and Senior classes numbering thirty three (33) young people will accompany me to JFK Airline hanger and assist with a holiday party. The party has been arranged for 5,000 special and physically handicapped students who attend New York City Schools. Organizations like the FBI, Secret Service, NYC Police, NYC Fire, NYC Sanitation, MTA, Port Authority, the office of the Mayor and many other not-for-profit corporations will assist these young people who will be entertained, be given toys and a box lunch.
A Delta airplane will roll into the hanger and Macy’s Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will walk down the stairs to this waiting audience. Our students are going to assist the organizations so as to make this date a memorable one. The group hosting this gala is the Community Mayors of New York. Their motto explains everything, “No one stands so tall as the person who stoops to assist a child.”
Next week, I will send out my end of year letter to all of you.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
December 1st , 2008
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
Adelphi Academy's Annual Holiday Brunch featuring “An Original Holiday Performance” presented by the students of the Lower School and “A Holiday Musical Review” presented by the Middle and Upper School students of the Adelphi Chorus will be held at the Academy in the Lockwood Auditorium on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 12:00pm. Space is limited and tickets sell out quickly. Please reserve your tickets today! Please click here for more information.
Thank You,
The Les Finkelstein Office of Academy Advancement |
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December 1st,, 2008
Dear Perspective Adelphi Families,
It is not too late to enroll for the 2008-2009 academic year! Adelphi Academy has "rolling admissions" and accepts qualifying students throughout the academic year, space and availability permitting. For more information, or to find out if a space is available for your youngster, please refer to the Academy Admissions section of this website, call our Main Office at (718) 238-3308, or complete our Academy Admissions Inquiry Form here.
If your child is currently on a waiting list for a pre-school program, please contact us for a tour of our Early Childhood Center and learn why Adelphi's Early Childhood Development Program is the best choice for your child!
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
December 1st , 2008
Attention all Adelphi Families:
Please be advised that the December Parent Newsletter -- "Adelphi Today", and the updated November Calendar are now available here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
November 17th, 2008
Dear Parents of Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12,
Each day has only one dawn; last week with the election of Barack Obama a new dawn in American politics took place. We are all witnesses to history on a day to day basis as well as to a series of events that will shape our future.
I suggest that we all save the copy of the newspaper of January 20, 2009 noting the inauguration of our new president. Last Wednesday’s New York Times was being offered for sale over e bay for hundreds of dollars. The national and international demand is far greater than the presses of newspapers can handle.
It is with great deal of pride that I announce that Adelphi Academy has been accepted to the National High Schools Model United Nations program for the 2008-2009 school year. This year students from grades 10-12 will be representing the country of Neuru. (a small Polynesian island in the south pacific). The conference will take place at the New York Hilton Conference Center, March 11th – 15th.
The Senior class is presently getting their applications for College ready for submission. Our class will do extremely well this school year. The senior class has dedicated themselves to the task of preparation for this event from the time they entered the 9th grade.
The Academy is initiating a program entitled College Now! In grade 9 and it will also be utilized in grades 10 and 11 to make our students more familiar with the College process. The program is designed to create a College mind set that is systemic and meaningful. It is my hope that the seniors and the succeeding classes of seniors transition to their next level of academic vigor with self confidence and the know how to succeed.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
November 5th, 2008
Calling All Members of the Adelphi and Bay Ridge Community:
Come One, Come All!
Adelphi Academy's 6th Annual Auction of Fine Art will be held at the Academy in the Lockwood Auditorium on Friday, November 21st, 2008. Please click here for more information.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
November 5th, 2008
Dear Perspective Adelphi Families,
It is not too late to enroll for the 2008-2009 academic year! Adelphi Academy has "rolling admissions" and accepts qualifying students throughout the academic year, space and availability permitting. For more information, or to find out if a space is available for your youngster, please refer to the Academy Admissions section of this website, call our Main Office at (718) 238-3308, or complete our Academy Admissions Inquiry Form here.
If your child is currently on a waiting list for a pre-school program, please contact us for a tour of our Early Childhood Center and learn why Adelphi's Early Childhood Development Program is the best choice for your child!
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
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November 1st, 2008
Attention All Adelphi Families:
The Adelphi Academy Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot Permission Slip is now online and can be found here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
November 1st, 2008
Attention Senior Parents:
Please see important information regarding senior pictures here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
November 1st , 2008
Attention all Adelphi Families:
Please be advised that the November Parent Newsletter -- "Adelphi Today", and the updated November Calendar are now available here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
October 31st , 2008
Attention all Adelphians:
Please be advised that the October 2008 issue of the student-produced school newspaper, "The Oracle" is now available and online here.
Thank You,
The Edmund Gale Jewett Computer Laboratory |
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October 22nd, 2008
Attention All Adelphi Families:
Please find information regarding all Halloween festivities at Adelphi Academy for the 2008-2009 academic year here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
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October 10th, 2008
Attention All Families Pre-Kindergarten through 11th Grade:
Please see important information regarding school pictures here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
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Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
Adelphi Academy is very happy to announce the start of its 2008-2009 Student Government/World's Finest Chocolate Drive which commenced today and will continue through November 12th, 2008. You can find more information here.
Thank you for your support,
Adelphi Academy |
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Parents of Grades 10, 11 and 12
On Tuesday, October 14th, Adelphi will hold its Annual College night in the auditorium from 7:00pm-9:00pm.
Each year the costs for colleges continues to soar higher and higher; and seats become more and more difficult to attain.
Our College night will address these most serious issues as well as provide you with a great deal of information so as to work collaboratively on this most important matter.
The Academy’s vision is to have all of our students well prepared for college. This goal is attainable when we meet the challenges on this pathway.
Our goal is to present relevant information to you, your youngster and family so we can collectively make knowledgeable decisions.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Office of the President
Dear Parents,
Back to School Night is known by many terms around this great nation of ours. A popular term in curriculum Day/Night, regardless of what we call our event, the function is what really matters. There is an expression that the devil is in the details; and this expression deserves some discussion.
We, in the education field have become most proficient in the delivery of educational services. At Adelphi, we feel we have a varied approach that meets the needs of our pupils in an exemplary manner. The area, I refer to in the above paragraph concerns itself with the content of the schools curriculum. Prior to the development of the internet, information about the world doubled every seven (7) years. Today, this figure may well be reduced to a period of months.
We are all living in a world that is more global than many thought possible. Changes in economics, culture and technology demand that we be able to acquire, assess and wisely utilize this new information Explosion.
Our objective on Back to School Night is to present to you an explanation of the skill sets we are teaching your children to meet this challenge. We are also presenting a portion of the curriculum studies we employ to create a knowledge base for your children.
We, at Adelphi Academy, in the midst of these fast moving events remain firm in our commitment to that body of knowledge common to all who live, work and study in the western world within these areas we study other global cultures so as to create a well rounded student. An Adelphian graduate will be exposed to western thought as well as to South American, Asian and African cultures.
In all instances we strive to pursue knowledge so we can ultimately make wise decisions in all facets of our lives.
Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Office of the President
TO ALL JUNIORS AND SENIORS
Dear Junior and Senior Classes,
Saturday, October 18th and 25th, our SAT preparation program is commencing from
9am until 4pm.
Please make sure you have secured a seat for the fourteen (14) hour SAT Prep course by submitting a check to the office for $225.00. Your lunch and all preparation materials are included in the cost. Make sure you are registered for the 11/01/08 SAT Exam. The late registration deadline is Friday, October 10th.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Congratulations to the following students on their appointment to the following Student Government positions for the 2008-2009 academic year:
Michael Senders, 12th Grade President
Reshat Kadiu, 12th Grade 1st Vice President
Virginia Loperena, 12th Grade 2nd Vice President
Brian Furleiter, 11th Grade Treasurer
Zeeley Bruderman, 11th Grade Secretary
Richard Johnson, 12th Grade Speaker of the Assembly
Rohit Pall, 11th Grade School Coordinator
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt
Please be advised that the first Student Government meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 3:45pm in the Adelphi Room.
Thank You.
Adelphi Academy |
September 29, 2008
Attention all Adelphi Families:
Please be advised that the October Parent Newsletter -- "Adelphi Today", and the updated October Calendar are now available here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
September 29, 2008
Attention all Adelphi Families:
Please be advised that the At-a-Glance Calendar for the 2008-2009 school year is now available here. Please be reminded that dates and times indicated on this calendar are subject to change. Please refer to the monthly calendar located on the back of the monthly Parent Newsletter -- "Adelphi Today" for any month to month changes.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
September 25, 2008
Office of the President
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORDS
A word is deemed weird because of the odd sound when pronounced. A word is wonderful when it fills you with wonder, it opens up your mind to new thoughts.
NAOLOGY (nay-ah-luh-djee) the study of churches, temples and other sacred buildings. Naometry is the measurement of sacred buildings. From a Greek work meaning “temple”.
Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 24, 2008
Office of the President
Dear Eleventh and Twelfth Grade Parents,
One of Adelphi Academy’s goals this term (2008-2009) is to change the way we deliver educational services so as to meet the challenges of the twenty first century. Our vision is to create a school that goes beyond traditional limits, customs, settings, expectations and practices.
We have an innovative school, one that challenges the way we think and what we do. The school administration has focused upon a list of priorities; the school building, lesson planning, homework assignments, applied learning and service learning. Our plan is to look at these areas differently and with this in mind; I am elated to announce that Adelphi will be WIFI by the end of this week.
Your youngster beginning on Monday, October 6, 2008 may bring his/her laptop to school to take notes and begin to function in class in the same fashion as their college contemporaries. Grades 11 and 12 are our pathfinders and I hope grades 9 and 10 can follow during the spring 2009 term.
The decision to allow your youngster to bring in his/her laptop is yours and yours alone. The Academy provides a working locker in which to house the computer when not in use. We can not take on the additional responsibility for securing laptop computers, that is each individual student’s responsibility.
If you allow your youngster to bring in his/her laptop to school, please fill out the attached consent form, which will be collected by the homeroom teacher.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 23, 2008
Office of the President
Dear Middle and Upper School Students,
Adelphi Academy has a long tradition of community service. I recently sent home to your parents an explanation of our program, please look at our website and read the two letters I put on, you are required to participate in this program.
As a future leader, one of the most important jobs may be to model the value of helping others. In our nation, there is a strong desire to serve others. The practical problem that arises isn’t a lack of willingness to serve and to help others but to find the appropriate type of community service that assists both you and those receiving your assistance.
I am attaching a second page entitled; Volunteer Interest Inventory, which I am requesting you fill out and hand in to your homeroom teacher.
Thank you for your consideration and cooperation in this matter.
Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 22nd, 2008
Adelphi Academy and Autonautics International Driving School are once again getting ready to offer our Fall Driver Education Program. The program is open to Adelphi Academy students as well as students from neighboring schools and the larger community. An application for the Driver Education Program and more information can be found here. Representatives from Autonautics International Driving School will register students at Adelphi Academy on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 4:15pm with a late registration on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 also at 4:15pm. For more information, please contact Autonautics at (718) 745-3273 or Adelphi Academy (718) 238-3308.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
September 18, 2008
Office of the President
GAINING SELF ESTEEM THROUGH SERVICE FOR OTHERS
Dear Parents,
I spent the last nine years as Executive Director of a fifty four (54) year old National
not-for-profit organization; Communities in Schools, New York (CISNY). I headed the New York City program. Throughout the United States, there are hundreds of CIS programs in twenty seven(27) states working with over two million young people and their families and communities.
The basic mantra of Communities in Schools is to provide young people access to five fundamental resources that all need in order to grow up as a caring, confident, and
self supporting citizen.
The Fundamentals are:
- An ongoing relationship with a caring adult. (parent/mentor/teacher/coach/tutor)
- A safe place in which to live, learn and grow.
- A healthy start
- Learn a marketable skill
- An opportunity to give back to their community through service.
There is endless self-discovery through giving. When young people discover that they can do something for others, it boosts their own self esteem. They gain a sense of importance and empowerment that the world needs their activities and unique gifts and talents.
It is often said that a lack of self esteem holds back many individuals from achieving their goals and dreams. Once students improve their own self esteem and are conscious of ongoing character development, they will develop life long habits of continued honesty, responsibility and self-control. As our young people improve they become more open to accepting constructive criticism, the setting of personal goals and the treatment of others with respect.
Citizenship is not a quality we are born with. It is a trait that must be taught and learned; the earlier the better. An informed citizenry is the best defense against our country losing any rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution. In this fashion, our young will be prepared to preserve the heritage of our great nation.
Adelphi Academy is proud to initiate this program as part of the continuing effort to build our national character.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 16, 2008
Office of the President
SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, ADELPHI ACADEMY
Dear Parents,
We are fortunate to be living in a free and democratic nation where any citizen can make a difference. An important part of the Adelphi Academy plan for this school year (2008-2009) is our obligation to introduce students to the many ways each of them can become connected to their world. It is my fervent hope that these attempts will make the world a better place in which to live.
The Academy’s school and community service program turns service into service learning, where Adelphi students learn lessons for life from the type of service they are involved in.
There are many reasons for your child to get involved in community service through the Academy.
I have prepared the following list for your perusal of the benefits of this type of program.
- Promotes awareness of cultural and social diversity
- Provides recognition and emphasizes responsibility
- Fosters a service ethic, altruism and social values
- Develops social competence
- Facilitates vocational and career opportunities
- Increases employability
- Promotes good self image
- Promotes pride in the school
- Creates a bond with the community
- Encourages careers in public service
The old African proverb, it takes a whole village to raise a child is very much in evidence in school and community service at the Academy.
On Friday morning, I visited Dr. Dodson’s senior homeroom class. One of their morning activities is to have students note the daily happenings in the areas of international, national, local, entertainment and sports news. The student reporting on national news spoke to the class about the pending hurricane about to create havoc on our shoreline, and noted that this storm had already caused 10,000 deaths in Haiti and Cuba and made one million people homeless. The class responded by immediately designing a campaign to collect canned goods; the only thing relief authorities wanted collected, in Adelphi for the next two weeks. The senior class will send out notification to all teachers, classes and parents through our website and with a memo. A perfect example of community involvement on a more global basis, however a blueprint for our student’s future as citizens of the world.
Later in the morning a contingent of young ladies from the eleventh grade visited my office to discuss series of topics amongst them; community service.
We, as an institution, take community service very seriously and in the next few days, we will publish an inventory checklist for all students so we can plan ahead for this ongoing endeavor. The entire Adelphi family of students, teachers, administrators, support staff and families is encouraged to submit ideas or plans for the Academy. We will in a collaborative fashion select the activities democratically and put them into our programming.
I will follow-up this memorandum with additional information.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 15th , 2008
Dear Adelphi Families,
Please be advised that 86th Street (off of Ridge Boulevard) will be undergoing major construction for the next several months. We ask that you please be mindful that this is a school safety zone as there are three schools located in this area. As a result, traffic is normally heavy. However, we expect there to be even more congestion due to the construction. Please be alert and diligent when driving through and around this area for the safety of our students, the students at neighboring schools, as well as the parents who will be picking up and dropping off their children at all three schools.
Thank you very much for your attention regarding this important matter.
Sincerely,
Mr. Russell J. Kain
Dean of Students
School Safety & Security Officer |
September 11th , 2008
Office of the President
SAT TEST PREPARATION COURSE
Dear Junior and Senior Class,
The Academy has secured the services of Mr. Michael Marlowe, the President of the MEC Company. (Math/English Company) Mr. Marlowe is one of the premier SAT test preparation instructors in the United States, he will give a Fourteen (14) hour SAT test preparation at Adelphi Academy on the following dates and times.
Saturday, October 18th 9AM-4PM
Saturday, October 25th 9AM-4PM
(LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED ON BOTH DAYS)
The entire Junior and Senior Class is required to attend, the cost per student is $225.00; factoring out as a rate of $16.00 per hour. Mr. Marlowe and associates charge hundreds of dollars per hour for test preparation. The SAT materials being used have all been created by Mr. Marlowe.
All juniors and seniors are to register for the November 1st SAT Examination.
This specially designed course will offer content materials in Mathematics/English Writing subject areas.
You will acquire successful test-taking organizational and study skills, hints, tips and strategies for the November 1st SAT Examination.
Please have your Parent(s) write a check or a money order made out to Adelphi Academy for $225.00 to cover the cost of these study sessions. They should note that the check or money order is for the SAT Prep.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration in this matter.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 9th , 2008
Attention All New Adelphi Academy Students:
Please meet Ms. Fatino and Ms. Romanos in the Lockwood Auditorium on Thursday, September 11th, 2008, from 3:30pm to 4:00pm for a mandatory new student meeting.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Adelphi Academy |
September 8th , 2008
Office of the President
Opening Day
Dr. Blash's Excerpt of the Day - Introduction
My wife, Ellie, recently gave me a copy of a book entitled The Intellectual Devotion, reviving the mind and completing one's education. The 365 daily lessons are from the following seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion.
The daily readings are placed on our message board (located on the right side of this home page) as a means to refresh our spirit, stimulate our minds, and fill in some educational gaps we have encountered in our lives.
The readings though short, are designated to regularly exercise our brains keeping them fresh and ready for the day's challenges. Please look upon them as an escape from the daily routine and as a part of a transition from an information society to a knowledgeable society to a wise society. This approach is employed at Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn so your child will acquire the skill sets to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Roy J. Blash, President |
September 7th , 2008
Attention all students, parents, alumni, administration, faculty, and staff:
On Thursday, September 11th, 2008, at 9:00am, everyone at the Academy will observe ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE to commemorate the Seventh Anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Each classroom teacher will prepare their own plan of approaching the topic to maintain age appropriateness in it's presentation.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Adelphi Academy |
September 4th , 2008
Attention all Middle and Upper School Students:
Please report to the Lockwood Auditorium on Monday, September 8th, 2008 (opening day) at 8:20am to meet the Academy's new President, Dr. Roy J. Blash, and recieve homeroom assignments and schedules.
Attention all Seniors:
After the above-mentioned meeting with Dr. Blash, please proceed to the Adelphi Room for an important Senior class meeting.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Adelphi Academy |
August 1st , 2008
The Student "Back To School" Packet for the upcoming 2008-2009 academic year is now available and online here.
Thank You,
Adelphi Academy |
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Colonel Sprague invented a system of Fire Drills, which he put into effect at Adelphi, making it the first school to encompass drills into their program. This system is now exercised worldwide. |
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President's Daily Devotional
November 18th, 2008
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (1160-1227) was a Mongol warrior, who in the span two decades led his ruthless army of nomadic tribesman to conquer vast stretches of Asia. When he died in 1227 AD, the Mongol Empire he founded was the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. Although the empire quickly disintegrated under his heirs, the bloody Mongol invasions marked a turning point in the history of both Europe and Asia and earned the Mongol king a reputation for brutality that endures to the present.
November 17th, 2008
Epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge. One major project in epistemology that goes back to Plato is the attempt to define just what knowledge is. Traditionally, philosophers have defined knowledge as true, justified belief.
November 14th, 2008
Time
Since Aristotle, philosophers have tried to understand the nature of time. After the work of Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), many believed time is a thing with many parts. On other words, there are individual "times". For these philosophers, to say an event happened at a particular time is to mean that the even filled that part, or unit, of time.
November 13th, 2008
Gravity
Gravity is a great mystery of the universe. The theory behind gravity is that every mass in the universe pulls on every other mass, and the strength of that pull is affected by distance. The greater the mass, the greater the pull. The greater the distance, the less the pull. But why does every object in the universe pull on every other object? No one knows.
November 12th, 2008
A Priori Knowledge
Much of our knowledge of the world comes from experiencing it. We know there is a tree outside a window, for instance, because we see it. We know the tree requires sunlight and water to thrive, because scientists have carefully observed these facts. In general, we know about immediate environment by perceiving it, and we gain scientific knowledge about the world by observing it and conducting experiments on it.
November 10th, 2008
Albert Einstein
We tend to picture Albert Einstein as an old professor with a black moustache and tufts of white hair, but actually, he produced his greatest contributions to math and physics when he was only 26 years old. In 1905, while working as a patent office clerk in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein wrote four papers that are each regarded as works of genius. The year 1905 is known annus mirabilis, Einstein's "year of miracles".
November 7th, 2008
Irish Potato Famine
In a single ten-year period from 1841 to 1851, hundreds of thousands of impoverished farmers in Ireland starved to death in one of the worst famines in modern European history. By some estimates, the population of the Emerald Isle fell by 20 percent. The famine was a human catastrophe of tragic proportions and had profound implications far beyond Ireland's shores. It prompted a huge exodus of starving farmers from the island, many of whom migrated to the United States to seek a better life, forming one of the first major waves of immigration into the United States.
November 6th, 2008
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
No composer's life or music is surrounded with more legend than that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Born in Salzburg, Austria, to Leopold Mozart, a low-level court composer and teacher, Mozart spent most of his childhood as a traveling prodigy, journeying to foreign courts and kingdoms in Munich, Vienna, London, Paris, and Rome. He performed for kings, queens, dukes, and popes, doing little tricks of musical memory and technical skill.
November 5th, 2008
Magna Carta
With the fall of London, King John negotiated a settlement at Runnymede, a meadow by the river Thames. The settlement was a guarantee of basic liberties and a series of limits on the absolute power of the king, summarized in a proclamation called the Magna Carta. On June 19th, the Magna Carta was affixed with the royal seal and ordered to be read throughout the land. It bound not only King John but his heirs, forever.
November 3rd, 2008
Logic
Logic is the study of formally valid arguments. An argument consists of several sentences that are premises, or assumptions, and a sentence that states a conclusion. Here is an example: Socrates is a man. If Socrates is a man, then Socrates is mortal. Therefore Socrates is mortal.
October 31st, 2008
Antonio Vivaldi
Born a sickly child to a Venetian violinist, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) entered the priesthood in 1703. He quickly became a violin teacher, a conductor, and a composer-in-residence at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta, a Venetian conservatory for orphaned girls. The young women were trained rigorously in music, and their concerts, often comprised of Vivaldi's original works, were very popular with the cities music loving audiences.
October 30th, 2008
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, more than probably any other figure, is responsible for drawing the world's attention to Latin American literature during the 20th century. In his novels and short stories, he has explored the history and people of his home continent through a lens that combines real events with pervasive currents of fantasy and myth.
October 29th, 2008
Impressionism
Impressionism began in France in the 1870's. The aim of impressionist painters was to replicate the visual impression made by an object on the human eye. More than anything else, they were interested in the changing nature of light and the way it affected vision.
October 28th, 2008
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was a radical pamphlet writer and political philosopher whose famous 1776 book Common Sense convinced many Americans to join the Revolution against British rule. Paine despised the British monarchy and believed republicanism was the best form of government. Paine himself was a lifelong rabble-rouser an propagandist who was attracted to revolutionary cause against desotic governments. Truly a man of the world, Paine also participated in the French Revolution and wrote another fiery book, Rights of Man, defending the revolution that toppled Louis XVI.
October 27th, 2008
Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was one of literature's great masters of the short story and one of its finest dramatists. In several landmark plays and countless miniature prose masterpieces, he minded remarkable stories from everyday life. Although his works are by and large serious, they consistently walk the tightrope between comedy and tragedy.
October 23rd, 2008
The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal in Agra is considered by many people to be the most beautiful building in the world. The white marble mausoleum was built between 1631 and 1648 to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of the Mugal ruler, Shah Jahan, who died giving birth to her fourteenth child.
October 22nd, 2008
Marie Curie
When people talk about wome in science, the first name that always comes up is Marie Curie (1867-1934). And with good reason. She was not only the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, she was the first person to ever earn two Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie won her first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her research into radioactivity. Curie concluded that the emission of rays, or radioactivity-a term she coined- was a property of atoms, not the product of a chemical reaction.
October 21st, 2008
The Placebo Effect
The placebo effect is the beneficial influence of a treatment that has no medical value. Inject a sick person with salt water or give him a sugar pill, and for some reason, he often feels better. This is especially true for subjectively assessed disorders such as migraines, back pain, and depression. The placebo effect may account for a large part of the therapeutic value as we ascribe to medications.
October 20th, 2008
Form
The term form, when used in classical music, refers to the structures that guide the competition of a piece – a set of characteristics that are common to a substantial number of works. There are several important forms that determine how compositions are divided into movements and thematic sections. They serve as blueprints for each piece.
October 17th, 2008
Catch-22
Joseph Heller's Catch-22 gave the English language one of it's finest war novels and black comedies, and now-common figure of speech. Upon publication in 1961, the unusual work met with mixed reviews: some called it brilliant; others, shocking and offensive. In any case, Catch-22 was a landmark protest novel that introduced absurdity and surrealism into mainstream American literature.
October 16th, 2008
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is the most general study of reality-what there is, and what it is like. Many philosophers share one tenet of metaphysics that believes that there are two very general kinds of things: substances and properties. Substances are objects in the ordinary sense, while properties are ways those substances are. For instance, a sweater is a substance, while the color of a sweater is a property of the sweater. Many metaphysical questions arise from the notions of substance and property.
October 15th, 2008
Aristotle
"All men by nature desire to know." – Aristotle, Metaphysics
The influence of Aristotle (384-322 BC) on philosophy and Western culture generally would be hard to exaggerate. Born in Macedonia, north of Greece, in 384 BC, Aristotle founded his own school, Lyceum.
October 14th, 2008
Supernova
Most stars die quietly, using up all their nuclear fuel through nuclear fusion. Then 99 percent fade away into dull celestial objects called white dwarfs. But if a star is big enough and hot enough, it can, under the right conditions, explode. The explosion is called a supernova.
October 10th, 2008
Rosetta Stone
In 1799, French soldiers in Napoleon’s army discovered a mysterious black rock curried in the sands near the city of Alexandira, Egypt. The stone was inscribes in three ancient languages. The rock’s first inscription was in Greek. Scholars determined it dated from about 196 BC, when Egypt was a province of the Greek empire created by Alexander the Great. The other two inscriptions on the black rock were in different versions of hieroglyphics, the traditional writing of the Egyptians.
October 8th, 2008
Homer
The stories told in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have been long embedded in Western culture that they are inescapable even to this day. From the Trojan Horse to the Cyclops, from Achilles’ heel to the Sirens’ song, elements of both epics remain mainstays of our literature and everyday language nearly 3,000 years after they were written.
October 7th, 2008
Forms
Consider all the beautiful things in the world. Do they have anything in common? What explains the fact that they are all beautiful? According to Plato (429-347 BC) the answer to both these questions is that there is a form or idea called beauty and each beautiful thing is beautiful because it has some relation to that form. Plato believed that there are many forms that function in this way, not just the form of beauty. There is a form of redness, that accounts for all red things in the world; a form of the good that accounts for all the good in the world and so on.
October 6th, 2008
Sparta vs. Athens
Sparta, a small city in the rugged mountains of southern Greece, fielded the most feared military in the ancient world. Spartan soldiers, hardened by grueling training that began at birth, never lost a battle in the bloody conflicts that raged this remarkable army, elders in Sparta tested every newborn for weakness and deformities. Babies deemed unlikely to become strong soldiers were tossed into a gorge. For those that passed the test, training was cruel and relentless. The Greek historian and essayist Plutarch wrote that for many of the Spartan soldiers marching to battle was a relief: “For the Spartans, actual war was a holiday compared to their tough training.”
October 3rd , 2008
The Greenhouse Effect
The expression Greenhouse Effect refers to an increase in greenhouse gases over the last century that may be contributing to global warming. The earth's surface temperature has risen one degree in the past hundred years, with a sharp increase in the past two decades, according to the National Academy of Sciences. The year 1998 was the hottest year on record. At the same time, greenhouse gases, proven to retain heat, have increased dramatically. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up to 30 percent since before the industrial revolution, and the levels of methane have more than doubled.
October 2nd , 2008
Venus de Milo
The statue, which is six and a half feet tall, is sculpted out of Parian marble. Its subject is Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, known to the Romans as Venus. A sculpted arm holding an apple was found nearby. Many scholars believe that the arm was originally attached. According to myth, Paris of Troy had given Venus a golden apple to identify her as the most beautiful woman in the world.
September 29th , 2008
Paradise Lost
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) is a vast, detailed rendition of mankind's fall from innocence told in the Biblical book of Genesis. Considered the finest epic poem in English, Milton's masterpiece is important not only as a landmark in Western Literature but also as an influential work of the Protestant reformation.
September 26th , 2008
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was born in Macedonia, a mountainous kingdom in northern Greece, and educated by the famous Athenian teacher Aristotle. His father, King Phillip II, had expanded Macedonia’s territory to include most of the ancient city-states of Greece, including Athens. Alexander inherited his father’s crown at age twenty, following Phillip’s assassination at a theater.
September 25th , 2008
Cain and Abel
One day, God asked Cain and Abel to each make a sacrifice to him. It is said that Abel thought very hard about what kind of sacrifice would make God happiest. He decided to sacrifice one of his precious lambs. Cain, on the other hand, thought only about what he needed least. He sacrificed some fruit and grain. God clearly preferred Abel's sacrifice.
September 24th , 2008
Plato
Plato (429-347 BC) was born in fifth-century Athens to a wealthy family. A young Athenian of his station would have been expected to pursue politics, but instead Plato followed the path of his mentor, Socrates, and became a philosopher.
September 23rd , 2008
Harmony
Music may start with a melody, but harmony is what gives it color. Harmony refers to the sounding of two or more different pitches in unison, but the mechanics of harmony are vast and complicated, and many theorists have spent the better part of their careers analyzing it.
September 22nd , 2008
The Solar System
In grade school we were taught that the solar system consists of the sun, nine planets, and their moons. It’s not that simple. No one really knows how many planets there are because there is no settled scientific definition of a planet. All astronomers agree upon the validity of the four terrestrial planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and the four gaseous giants – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – but arctic Pluto is a matter of great dispute.
September 19th , 2008
Bust of Nefertiti
One of the most famous works of Egyptian art, the limestone bust of Nefertiti was discovered in 1912 by German archeologist Ludwig Borchardt near the modern Egyptian town of Tell-el-Amarna. It was found in the workshop of the ancient sculptor Thutmose and smuggled out of the country disguised as pieces of broken property.
September 18th , 2008
Ulysses
James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) is widely regarded as the greatest novel written in English in the twentieth century. It retells Homer's Odyssey in the context of a single day – June 16, 1904 – in Dublin, Ireland, recasting Homer's great hero Odysseus in the unlikely guise of Leopold Bloom, an aging ad salesman who spends the day running errands and making various business appointments before he returns home at long last.
September 17th , 2008
Hammurabi's Code of Laws
Hammurabi was a king of Babylonia, an ancient civilization in present-day Iraq. He ruled for forty-three years and conquered several rival nations, but he is most famous as history's first lawyer. Near the end of his reign, Hammurabi issued one of the first written codes of law in recorded history, which spelled out the rules for his citizens and the punishments for lawbreakers. The very concept of laws that applied to everyone was an unheard of novelty in Hammurabi's time, when most societies were governed only by the whims of their despotic rulers.
September 16th , 2008
King Solomon
King Solomon is remembered for his great wisdom, epitomized by the following story. Two women went before Solomon claiming a baby was theirs. Solomon, in a surprising decision, ordered the baby cut in half. While the false mother was willing to allow this, the true mother – not wanting any harm to come to her child – asked Solomon to let the other woman take the baby. Thus, Solomon, knowing no woman would allow harm to her own child, was able to ascertain the identity of the true mother.
September 15th , 2008
Appearance and Reality
Throughout its history, one of the great themes of philosophy has been the distinction between appearance and reality. This distinction was central to the thought of the earliest philosophers, called the Presocratics, because they lived before Socrates.
September 12th , 2008
The Basics
Music is organized sound that can be replicated through imitation or notation. Music is distinct from noise in that the sounds of a door creaking open or fingernails on a blackboard are irregular and disorganized. The sound waves that map these noises are complex and cannot be heard as identifiable pitches.
September 11th , 2008
Eratosthenes
Many scientists in Ancient Greece believed the world was round. But none of them knew how big it was until the third century BC when Eratosthenes (276-194 BC), chief librarian of Alexandria, devised an ingenious way to measure the earth's size.
September 10th , 2008
Lascaux Cave Paintings -
The cave paintings at Lascaux are among the earliest known works of art. They were discovered in 1940 near the village of Montignac in central France when four boys stumbled into a cave. Inside they found a series of rooms with nearly 1,500 paintings of animals that were between 15,000 and 17,000 years old.
September 9th , 2008
Ernest Hemingway -
After writing a number of short stories based on his boyhood summers in upper Michigan and his later travels through Europe, Hemingway penned his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises (1926). This book, about a disaffected young American whiling away time in Spain and France, brought Hemingway instant acclaim. He followed with A Farewell to Arms (1929), a tragic World War I romance between an American ambulance driver and an English nurse, and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), a tale of guerrillas in the Spanish Civil War that was inspired by Hemingway’s own work as a journalist during the conflict. The protagonist of the latter novel epitomizes what many have termed the “Hemingway code hero” – a stoic, disillusioned male who exhibits grace and nobility in the face of violence and adversity.
September 8th , 2008
The Alphabet -
Linguists believe that almost all modern alphabets are derived from the simplified version of the hieroglyphics devised by the Egyptians four thousand years ago to communicate with their slaves, the development of an alphabet, the writing system used throughout the Western world changed the way the ancients communicated.
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