Maria Sibylla Merian, Metamorphosis of the silkworm, from Studienbuch (Book of Studies).
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-04-02 – 1717-01-13) was born in Frankfurt am Main, she is notable as an entomologist and scientific illustrator. She spent much of her life living in what is now Germany and the Netherlands, where she died, but also two years in the Dutch colony of Surinam, in South America. Today, it is 375 years since she was born.
After her father, Matthäus Merian der Ältere (1593 – 1650), a Swiss-born engraver/ publisher, died when she was three, her widowed mother, Johanna Sybilla Heim(ius), remarried Jabob Marrel (1613/4 – 1681), a still-life painter, in 1651. Merian received her artistic training from Marrel.
Many Dutch dissenters also moved to Frankfurt, seeking refuge from persecution in the Netherlands. They turned their attention to silkworm breeding and the silk trade towards the end of the 16th century. Maria Sibylla Merian’s earliest nature studies had their origins in this context. She started to collect insects as an adolescent. At 13, she raised silkworms.
In 1665, Merian married Johann Andreas Graff, an apprentice of Marrel. In 1668, her first child, Johanna, was born. The family moved to Nuremberg in 1670. In addition to painting and other artistic activities she gave drawing lessons to unmarried daughters of wealthy families, which helped her family financially, and gave her with access to private gardens, where she could collect and document insects.
She published her first book of natural illustrations in 1675. In 1678 a second daughter, Dorothea Maria, was born, and the family moved back to Frankfurt am Main. In 1679 she published the first volume of a two-volume series on caterpillars, opening with a presentation of the silkworm’s life-cycle.
Merian’s marriage was unhappy, and she moved in with her mother after her stepfather died in 1681. The second volume on caterpillars appearing in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched. These documented the process of insect metamorphosis, and recorded the plant hosts of 186 European insect species. She also included descriptions of insect life cycles.
In 1683, Merian travelled to Gottorp, in Schleswig-Holstein, where she became attracted to the Labadist community, founded by Jean de Labadie (1610–1674). He originally came from the Bordeaux region of France. Later, the community moved to Walta Castle, at Wieuwerd in Friesland.
In 1685, Merian moved with her mother, husband, and children to Friesland. The Labadist community generated income from farming, milling and craftsmenship. Children were tutored communally. Women had traditional roles. A printing press was set up, to disseminate writings by Labadie and others, including Anna van Schurman, (1607 – 1678) painter/ engraver/ poet/ scholar and defender of female education. Another member, Hendrik van Deventer (1651 – 1724),[skilled in chemistry and medicine, set up a laboratory and was regarded as a pioneering obstetrician.
Here, Merian studied natural history and Latin, used as a scientific language. On Friesland’s moors she observed frog development, collecting and dissecting them. Merian’s mother died in 1690, and Merian moved, with her daughters, to Amsterdam in 1691. In 1692, her husband divorced her, and her daughter Johanna married Jakob Hendrik Herolt, a successful merchant in the Surinam trade.
In 1699, Merian and her younger daughter, Dorothea Maria Graff (1678–1743), travelled to Surinam to study and record the tropical insects native to the region. This was financed by selling 255 paintings. For two years she travelling throughout the colony, sketching local animals and plants, recording local/ native names and describing local uses.
Merian criticised the colonial merchants for their obsession with sugar. She took a broader interest in local agriculture, especially the vegetables and fruits that could be grown in Suriname, such as the pineapple. She also condemned their treatment of slaves. One such enslaved person assisted her in her research, and allowed her to interact with other Amerindian and African slaves.
In 1705, she published Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium. Merian’s Metamorphosis has been credited with influencing a range of naturalist illustrators. In Metamorphosis, she writes: “I have been concerned with the study of insects since my youth. I started with silkworms in my native Frankfurt. Later I realized that other caterpillars developed into much more beautiful diurnal and nocturnal butterflies.”
Because of her documented observations of butterfly metamorphosis, she is often considered to be the founder, and a significant contributor, to the field of entomology. Through her studies, Merian discovered many facts about insect life, earning her the title of mother of biology.
Maria Sibylla Merian from 1679, possibly by Jacob Marrel
More information about the life and work of Merian can be found in an article by Tanya Latty.
Logo for the Système International d’Unités created by the Bureau international des poids et mesures.
This post presents general material about SI ( Système International [d’Unités]), created by the Bureau international des poids et mesures. It started out as a presentation of the joule in particular. In addition, a number of personal prejudices about units of measurement are freely presented.
What appeals to me about SI is that fact that it is a system, not an arbitrary collection of units. Its units are the only ones with official metric status since 1960.
There are seven base units: the second (symbol s, the unit of time), metre (m, length), kilogram (kg, mass), ampere (A, electric current), kelvin (K, thermodynamic temperature), mole (mol, amount of substance), and candela (cd, luminous intensity). The system allows for an unlimited number of coherent derived units, which can always be represented as products of powers of the base units. Twenty-two coherent derived units have special names and symbols. It may not be perfect, but it is consistent, which makes it easy to use.
Since 2019, the magnitudes of all SI units have used seven defining constants to express their values. These are: the speed of light in vacuum c, the hyperfine transition frequency of caesium ΔνCs, the Planck constant h, the elementary charge e, the Boltzmann constant k, the Avogadro constant NA, and the luminous efficacy Kcd.
For most of my life, I have been trying to forget the number of feet or yards in a mile. I can’t. Yet, I cannot easily express a mile in inches. I would have to take one of those numbers I am struggling to forget, and multiply it by either 12 or 36, respectively. In contrast, there is no problem converting metric units. 1 km = 1 000 m = 1 000 000 mm.
If anyone wonders why I use a space as a separator, it is because both a comma (,) and a period/ point (.) are used to indicate the start of decimal fractions. Most of the time I use a period/ point (as is the preference in English speaking countries), while most continental Europeans, including Norwegians, use a comma. Yes, I am capable of using a comma, if required. The keys are right beside each other on my computer keyboard. On paper, the symbol I use deliberately looks like something in between – an elongated period/ point, or a truncated comma.
The so-called Imperial system is not international. In terms of liquid measure the system employs four units: 4 gills = 1 pint; 2 pints = 1 quart; 4 quarts = 1 gallon. In the American system a gallon is 3.785 litres or 231 cublic inches. This American system deviates in several areas from the one Brexiters are wanting to reimpose in England, and the one I grew up with in Canada. Here, a gallon is 4.54609 litres or 277.4194 cubic inches. The Imperial system of units was first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824. It continued to be developed through a series of Weights and Measures Acts and amendments.
Of course, this only applies to liquids. Dry materials have their own system where one starting point is the dry gallon. The US fluid gallon is about 14.1% smaller than the dry gallon, while the Imperial fluid gallon is about 3.2% larger. The system involves: 2 pints = 1 quart; 4 quarts = 1 dry gallon; 2 dry gallons = 1 peck; 4 pecks = 1 bushel; 10 pecks or 2.5 bushels = 1 barrel.
For me, dry units of volume were just something to memorize. It was not until a librarian from Wisconsin described the basket I was using to transport grass clippings from a lawn to a compost heap, as a bushel basket, that I began to understand the size of that unit. Thank you, Jane.
Imperial measurements of length are equally convoluted. Here are some, and their relationship to a foot, a unit that is precisely defined as 0.3048 m. A twip = 1/ 17 280; a thou or mil = 1/ 12 000; a barleycorn = 1/ 36; an inch = 1/ 12; a hand = 1/ 3; a yard = 3; a rod = 16.5; a chain = 66; a furlong = 660; a mile = 5 280.
In surveying, much of the emphasis is in determining area, typically the acre, in the Anglosphere. Here the rod is particularly useful: 4 rods = 1 chain; 40 rods = 10 chains = 1 furlong. Whole number multiples of a rod can be used to determine area in acres. A perfect acre is 40 rods by 4 rods or 160 square rods or 10 square chains. To gain a rough understanding of area in units that I understand, I take the area in acres and divide it by 250. This gives an approximate area in square kilometers. In metric units, a prevalent standard unit of area is the hectare, which is 100 m by 100 m = 10 000 square meters. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometer.
At sea, other measurements are used that are subdivisions of the nautical mile (n.m.) = 1 852 meters. These are fathom = 1/ 1 000 n.m. = 1.852 m = 6.0761 feet (and not 6 feet, as myth would have it, although the British Admiralty allowed – some would say encouraged – this deviation); cable = 100 fathoms = 1/ 10 of a nautical mile = 185.2 m.
In the seamanship and navigation courses I have taken in Norway, a nautical mile is used extensively. In 1 degree (°) of latitude or longitude = 60 minutes (‘). 1′ = 60 seconds (“). While distances vary along parallels of latitude, that run east to west, the distances are constant along meridians of longitude that run north to south: 1’ = 1 n.m. and 1° = 60 n.m.
In an interconnected world, there is a need for a common language of measurements. Take speed, as an example. While your local meteorologist uses m/s, your local Harley-Davidson motorcyclists may be using miles/hour (refusing to use km/h, even in Europe). 1 m/s = 3.6 km/hour, exactly = about 2.237 miles per hour. Most people cannot judge speeds precisely, but rely on instruments – including speedometers – to tell them. Thus, it should be possible to set up some approximations that could help with transitions.
I survived a speed limit transition in Canada, 1977-09-01, when motor vehicle speed limits went from mph to km/h. My (imperfect) recollection of the speeds were: 10 mph = 20 km/h; 20 mph = 30 km/h; 30 mph = 50 km/h; 40 mph = 60 km/h; 50 mph = 80 km/h; 70 mph = 110 km/h. Those with better memories can contact me, and these will be corrected. The highest speed limit in Canada is 120 km/h found on British Columbia’s Coquihalla Highway.
At the time there were complaints that 30 mph was actually only 48.28 km/h. However, it was also pointed out that the average Canadian driver drove at speeds that exceeded the speed limit. It was judged more appropriate to use round numbers. The opposite problem arose with 20 mph = ca. 32.19 km/h while the new speed limit was only 30 km/h.
In terms of accident prevention, speeds in m/s gives relevant information to drivers, who know that they have to react to events within seconds. While a speed of 10 km/h is about 2.78 m/s, it can be regarded as 3 m/s. With this approach, speed limits become: 10 mph = 20 km/h = 6 m/s; 20 mph = 30 km/h = 9 or more likely 10 m/s; 30 mph = 50 km/h = 15 m/s; 40 mph = 60 km/h = 18 or more likely 20 m/s; 50 mph = 80 km/h = probably 25 m/s; 70 mph = 110 km/h = 30 m/s.
The Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM) is an intergovernmental organisation, with 63 member-states and 40 associate states/ economies, that sets measurement standards in four areas: chemistry, ionising radiation, physical metrology, and coordinated universal time. It is based in Saint-Cloud, on international territory located in a suburb almost 10 km west of Paris, France. It was founded 1875-05-20. This date continues to be celebrated annually as World Metrology Day.
There have been many proposals for metric base units. The first was developed by Carl Friederich Gauss (1777 – 1855), who proposed using millimetre, milligram and second in 1832. In 1873, a British Association for the Advancement of Science committee that included both James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – 1879) and William Thomson (1824 – 1907) recommended centimetre, gram and second. This became known as the cgs system, and was officially adopted in 1881. In 1881, Rudolf Clausius (1822 – 1888) proposed erg as the official energy unit, from ergon = work/ task in Greek. It was officially adopted in 1882, but lost its official status on 1978-01-01.
Wilhelm Siemens (1823 – 1883) proposed joule as a unit in 1882, to honour James Prescott Joule (1818 – 1889) for his work in thermodynamics. Originally, it was defined in terms of amperes and ohms. This tended to make it an electrical unit. However, in 1946 it was redefined in terms of newtons and meters, to make it a more generalized and acceptable unit of work. In 1948, the joule became the preferred unit of heat, effectively replacing the calorie. It can always be defined in terms of base units: kg⋅m2⋅s−2
The problem with calories. First, there are two different types of calories: large calories or kilocalories = 1 000 small calories or gram calories. These are related to the energy needed to raise either 1 kilogram or 1 gram of water, respectively, 1 Celsius = 1 Kelvin. The small calorie was included in the SI system, but it was replaced by the joule in 1948. 1 small calorie = 4.184 J; 1 large calorie = 1 kilocalorie = 4.184 kJ. These can most easily be expressed as 4 J or 4 kJ, respectively.
Adding to the confusion, there are also watt-hours. The international unit of time is the second. 1 Wh (watt-hour) = 60 x 60 = 3 600 Ws (watt-seconds) = 3.6 kWs, which is just another name for a joule. So, 1 Ws = 1J.
The size of rechargeable batteries is increasingly expressed in terms of electric charge (Ah). I regard this as a marketing ploy to increase the apparent energy capacity of a battery. People want to know how long a battery will last before it has to be recharged. The electric charge in itself is uninteresting, because it has to be multiplied by the voltage used. This varies. I have computers that use 10.8 V, radios that use 13.8 V, electric power tools that use 18 V, a lawnmower that uses 40 V. Most of the time there is a caveat on the battery, stating that this is the maximum voltage.
The 40 V electric lawnmower battery I held in my hand a few seconds ago is rated at 5.0 Ah. It also states that it provides 180 Wh of energy, not the 200 that should be expected by multiplying 5 x 40. Part of the reason for my skepticism about using Ah as a metric, is that it does not take voltage drop into account. Internal resistance, and chemical transformations in the electrolyte are two reasons for this decline in voltage. Regardless, I expect battery manufacturers to provide me with realistic values for the amount of energy I can use, before charging.
For traction batteries used in electric vehicles, kWh is the common unit, in part because many people do not know (or even care about) the battery voltage. On modern vehicles this can vary from 200 to 800 V.
What I hope is that electric battery suppliers will provide energy values in joules. The 180 Wh in the lawnmower battery noted above is 648 MJ. This is about the size of the smallest battery pack used in a scooter. The smallest battery pack for a car is currently about 20 kWh traction battery offers 72 GJ; 40 kWh = 144 GJ; 60 kWh = 216 GJ; 80 kWh = 288 GJ; 100 kWh = 360 GJ. A battery pack for a locomotive might be 2 400 kWh. However, I would appreciate more standardized batteries using preferred numbers, as developed by Charles Renard (1847–1905). If the R5 were implemented it would lead to traction batteries of 630 MJ, 1 GJ, 2.5 GJ, 4.0 GJ, 6.3 GJ, 10 GJ, 16 GJ, 25 GJ, 40 GJ, 63 GJ, 100 GJ, 160 GJ, 250 GJ, 400 GJ, 630 GJ, 1.0 TJ, 1.6 TJ, 2.5 TJ, 4.0 TJ, 6.3 TJ and 10 TJ for assorted vehicle types, covering everything from scooters to locomotives.
Metabolism refers to necessary processes to keep a body functioning. Standard metabolic rate (SMR) is the rate of energy expenditure per unit time by animals at rest. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is a special case of SMR used with endothermic aka warm-blooded animals. In humans, BMR is the amount of energy per unit of time that a person needs to keep the body functioning at rest: breathing, blood circulation, controlling body temperature, cell growth, brain and nerve function, and contracting muscles. BMR accounts for about 60 to 75% of an individual’s energy expenditure. There are suggestions that a mean BMR could be somewhat over 6 MJ per day.
It is often suggested that the average human consumes about 2 000 – 2 500 large calories of food per day, in round numbers. This is somewhere around 8 – 10 MJ per day, in yet more round numbers.
For joules to be understood in kitchens and the heads of people on diets, there will also be a need to internalize values. On one website, a list of 45 common food products was presented, along with the calories of each. One of these was a banana, medium which offered 105 calories. Bananas vary in size, and I am uncertain exactly how big a medium banana is. I am sure that I have eaten small bananas that provide only 80 calories, and larger ones that have 120. Thus, I am going to state that on at least some days, my banana only has 100 calories. Since 1 large calorie has about 4 kJ, this item will provide me with 400 kJ of energy. I do not see using joules, instead of calories, as an insurmountable challenge.
On a personal note: One Norwegian has been director of the Bureau, Ole Jacob Broch (1818 – 1889), from 1883 (some sources say 1879) until his death. At various times he was a mathematician, physicist, economist and government minister. He was born in Fredrikstad, Norway, from where I trace my Norwegian ancestry. The spelling of his surname is precisely how Norwegians want to spell my forename, unless they know better.
Related, future posts. Prolog, provides information about the Prolog programming language. Cooksum, examines metabolism, “the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available.” In particular it looks at the work of Herman Pontzer. The content of these four posts, will be used in Cookbase, a nutritional knowledge base being developed as a kitchen tool. It builds, a database of ingredients and their characteristics, recipes with number of servings, ingredients and quantities, preparation instructions etc.
In discussing this post with Trish, she decided that the cookbook she owned that best suited my personality, was Michele Evans, Fearless Cooking Against the Clock: Great Gourmet Menus in Minutes (1982). The advantage of this cookbook is that it works at the menu (in contrast to dish) level. The recipes in the book are divided into 15 minute, 30 minute and 60 minute “quick and easy” preparation times. Each recipe has been timed, so that the cook can plan accordingly.
Chapter 1, The Larder, begins with: “A well-stocked larder is essential for convenient and efficient quick cooking.” After a short introduction, it is divided into eight sections, named below, along with the number of ingredients in each section in parentheses: Herb and spice shelf (34), Canned products (11), Miscellaneous baking, bottled and packaged ingredients (43 – sometimes with many separate items listed under each ingredient), Dairy products (7), Fresh foods (6), Frozen foods (7 – but with 5 separate types listed under vegetables), Wines, spirits and liqueurs [solely for cooking] (13), and Kitchen supplies (7).
Chapter 2, Cooking Equipment, is similar in arrangement. There is an introduction, followed by five sections, named below, along with the number of items found in each section: Implements and equipment (53), Pots and pans (31), Miscellaneous (5), Knives (9), and Serving essentials (20).
Chapter 3, Strategies for Quick Cooking, will have all ten of its rules quoted here. 1. Select a menu. 2. Make a shopping list of those ingredients not in supply. Keep an ongoing shopping list in the kitchen. 3. Shop for first-quality ingredients at a convenient time. 4. Set table in advance, if possible, and have serving dishes, coffee cups and saucers, etcetera ready for immediate serving. 5. Read each recipe thoroughly before starting to cook. 6. Set out all ingredients needed for each dish on the menu, unless they require refrigeration or freezing. 7. Set out all pots, pans, cooking equipment and utensils needed for preparing meal. 8. Work at a steady pace; don’t poke or race. If there are others present who can help by washing and drying lettuce or chopping vegetables, welcome their assistance. 9. Keep waste basket near the work area and clean up as you work, when possible. 10. When it is convenient, serve main courses and vegetables in same serving dish or platter.
The chapters after this are: 4) 15-minute meals, occupying 64 pages. 5) 30-minute meals, using 76 pages. 6) 1-hour meals, over 98 pages. All three of these chapters are subdivided by main ingredient, typically a meat category, such as seafood, poultry or beef. 7) Holiday meals, has 56 pages, after an initial dinner party planning section, holidays appear chronologically through the year. 8) Cocktail parties has only 16 pages. After describing the bar, it looks at the topic by season. The last chapter, 9) Children’s parties, is only eight pages long. The book ends with an index, with 31 pages of entries.
While most menus and recipes are for four people, exceptions are made for celebrations where holidays typically involve 6, 8 or 12 people. Valentine’s day provides a menu for two. Cocktail parties are huge affairs, involving 12, 25 or 50 people. Birthday parties are for 12.
Evens has also written:
The Salad Book (1975)
The Slow Crock Cookbook (1975)
Fearless Cooking for Men (1977)
Fearless Cooking for One (1980)
Fearless Cooking for Company (1984)
Fearless Cooking for Crowds (1986) [8 to 50 people]
This is the third of an unspecified number of posts about cooking instructions for people who eat to live. All of these posts (will) begin with cook, which can be used as a search term to find previously published posts.
Friday, 2022-03-11 is world plumbing day 2022! Starting today, I am using this day, once a year, to inspect the plumbing at Cliff Cottage. It was inspired by an event on Sunday, 2021-07-25 when wastewater from the washing machine started to back up over the bathroom floor. The piping leading from the washing machine was clogged. It had probably gone at least a decade since the piping was last checked.
After an hour’s work spread over two days, everything worked normally again. To prevent these sorts of emergencies in the future, I decided that the best way was to perform preventative maintenance once a year. I googled plumbing day, and discovered it was an event happening around the world, on this date that started in 2010.
There are several similar days throughout the year that I won’t be celebrating, in part because they are too similar: World Water Day = 03-22; World Cleanup Day = 09-15; Global Handwashing Day = 10-15; World Toilet Day = 11-19. Yes, on this weblog, International Standard ISO 8601 is used for dates, in the format YYYY-MM-DD. Here, only MM-DD appear.
It is very easy to avoid/ postpone preventative maintenance activities. Thus, a fixed date, once a year, helps people schedule activities. In Norway, 12-01 is set aside as Smoke Detector Day. Batteries on all of the smoke detectors in the house are replaced once a year on that date, with the older batteries recycled to power less critical operations, or given to the public library that has taken over the techno workshop.
Other days that could be useful for doing related maintenance and other work, include: Global Recycling Day = 03-18; World Gardening Day = 04-14; Naturalists may prefer Naked Gardening Day, which is the first Saturday in May, In 2022 that is 05-07.
Voluntary Assignment: Are there other days in the year that should be set aside/ used for various maintenance activities? If so, please share these as a comment.
Not just days, but years and decades
Since this is 2022, it is the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. Artisanal fishing consists of various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households, often coastal or island ethnic groups that make short fishing trips close to the shore. In 2023, it will be the International year of Millets. Millets are highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder = animal feed, and human food. Millets are important crops in the semiarid tropics of Asia and Africa (especially in India, Mali, Nigeria, and Niger). 97% of millet production occurs in developing countries. The crop is favoured due to its productivity and short growing season under dry, high-temperature conditions.
World Water Day (03-22) was an event I managed at Leksvik senior secondary school. The municipality of Leksvik (now amalgamated with Rissa to form Indre-Fossen) is adjacent to Inderøy. It hosted numerous companies making water related products, everything from domestic faucets, long-length infrastructure piping and and valves for ship ballast systems, to containerized desalination equipment. Many of the companies producing these products have now sold off their product lines, or moved, either abroad or to other parts of Norway. The school received funding to start a project with a focus on energy and water. In 2008, I was hired as project manager. My focus was on building and using submersibles = remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). I also transformed the building housing the project into Nautilus, a virtual submarine. It took its name from the Jules Verne’s (1828 – 1905) fictional submarine featured in his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874). When I worked there, the school celebrated World Water Day from 2009 to 2015.
Note: When published it was claimed that World Water Day and World Goth Day shared the same date. They do not. World Water Day is 03-22, while World Goth Day is 05-22. Updated: 2022-03-23 at 19:30.
Artemisia Gentileschi, St Cecilia Playing a Lute, circa 1610–1612, Spada Gallery, Rome.
Maddalena Casulana (c. 1544 – c. 1590) was an Italian composer, lutenist and singer of the late Renaissance, and the first female composer to have had a book of music printed/ published, in the history of western music. Between 1568 and 1583, three books of madrigals were published under her name, although only one of those has survived complete.
Madrigals are secular = non religious, in the vernacular = the daily language of the people living in a place, polyphonic = having several voices, through-composed = different music for each stanza of lyrics, and unaccompanied = no rhythmic or other instruments are used. While there can be two to eight voice, three to six are most common. Metre varies between two or three tercets = three lines of poetry in a stanza, followed by one or two couplets = two lines of poetry in a stanza = grouped set of lines.
To celebrate Women’s Day 2022, music ensemble Fieri Consort will perform newly rediscovered songs composed by Casulana, on BBC Radio 3. The Fieri Consort was founded in 2012 and initially consisted of young ensemble singers based in London. It is un-conducted, typically with one or two voices to a part.
The painting illustrating this post is by Artemisia Gentileschi, (1593 – c. 1656) titled St Cecilia Playing a Lute. It was made sometime in the period 1610–1612, and is currently in the collection of the Spada Gallery, Rome. She is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century painters, producing professional work by the age of fifteen. While St Cecilia Playing a Lute is associated with Casulana, the painter was born after the composer’s death.
Musicologist Laurie Stras, professor of music at the universities of Southampton and Huddersfield, has found the lost alto partbook of Casulana’s 1583 book of five-voice madrigals, so that 17 madrigals have been added to her surviving repertoire.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, vocal/ instrumental polyphonic music was handwritten/ printed using partbooks, a separate one for each part. Sometimes, one or more of these partbooks go missing. Here, it was the alto parts for these madrigals.
An article in the Guardian includes information about Stras’ detective work, in finding the missing partbook.
Wikipedia provides a number of interesting articles that provide insight into topics presented here. These include:
An article on Madrigals, with more detailed information about their history and evolution.
An article on Casulana provides biographical information, as well as more detailed musicological information, especially about her extant compositions. There are also links to musical scores.
An article on Artemisia Gentileschi also provides many examples of her artwork, in addition to biographical information about her.
The sound of a Clavioline cannot be said to have dominated popular music, but it could be heard on: Del Shannon’s (1934 – 1990) Runaway (1961); the Tornados/ Tornadoes instrumental Telstar (1962), if only from an imitation Univox, and not a real instrument; three of Sun Ra’s (1914 – 1993) albums, including The Magic City (1966); The Beatles’ Baby, You’re a Rich Man (1967). Fast forward to a new millenium, past several notable musicians, to Mike Oldfield (1953 – ), Return to Ommadawn (2017).
HearingTelstar on a Clavioline can take less than 30 seconds.
The Clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, regarded as an immediate precursor of the analogue synthesizer. Constant Martin (1910 – 1995), a French radio technician/ electrical engineer, invented and developed it in 1947.
This was not his first electronic instrument. From 1932 to 1937 Martin developed an organ-like instrument, which used harmonium reeds. It was demonstrated in 1939. In 1943, he constructed another electronic organ that used independent oscillators and harmonic analyzers. In the 1950s, he used recently developed integrated circuits to improve organs and bells. In 1961, he used transistors to add harmonic effects to produce sounds that convincingly sound like a pipe organ. Martin pioneered, some would say revolutionized, the manufacture of electronic instruments. He was concerned about producing a variety of sounds, that could impact many musical genres.
The Clavioline consisted of two physically separate units: a keyboard and an amplifier with speaker. In addition to the 36 conventional, horizontal keys expected, the keyboard also used vertically mounted, front-facing switches (called stops) to alter the tone of the sound produced, along with a vibrato, that provided effects and was the instrument’s defining feature. The vacuum tube oscillator produced almost square waveforms, suitably altered using high-pass and low-pass filters, and the vibrato. After the electric signals were passed from the keyboard to the amplifier unit, the amplifier deliberately added distortion to create the instrument’s signature tones.
The Clavioline was covered by US Patent 2 563 477, filed 1948-05-01, issued 1951-08-07. Information about the invention, including circuit diagrams, can be found here. With his intellectual property protected, Martin , licensed production to others, rather than manufacturing it himself: Henri Selmer in France, who also produced and sold it in the United Kingdom; Gibson in the USA; and Jörgensen Electronic in Germany.
Underneath the keyboard there was a knee lever/ slider consisting of two protruding metal rods. Pushed to the left, this transposed the instrument down an octave, pushed to the right it transposed up an octave, giving the Clavioline a five-octave range.
A Selmer Auditorium = Gibson Standard model provided a five-octave range with 18 stops. These were named 1 to 9, plus O, A, B, V and P, along with four vibrato switches: I, II, III and Amplitude.
A Selmer and Gibson Concert model provided 22 stops. These four additional stops were used to provide greater flexibility. These activated octave dividers that produced a tone one octave (Sub I) and two octaves (Sub II) below the unmodified voice. A Reverb Concert model was also produced for a short period that added a spring reverberator.
Number stops
Letter stops
Vibrato
Amplitude
Range
Alto Saxophone
2 3
–
II
Off
M
Arabian Flute
1 4 8
–
I
Off
H
Bagpipe
1 4 8 or 1 9
–
I
Off
M or H
Banjo
3 4
B P
–
–
M
Bass Saxophone
4
–
III
Off
L
Bass Violin
1
V
I
Off
L
Bassoon
3 7
–
–
–
L
Violoncello
1
V
II
Off
L
Church Organ A
4 6
–
–
–
L or M
Church Organ B
4 9
–
–
–
L or M
Church Organ C
6
–
–
–
L or M
Cornet
6
–
I
Off
M
Electric Guitar
4
P
II
Off
M
English Horn
2 3
B
–
–
M
Harpsichord
3 5 6 8
P
–
–
H
Horn
2 3
–
III
On
L
Fife
–
B O
–
–
H
Flute
3 4 5
–
I
Off
H
French Horn
3
–
–
–
L
Harpsichord
3 5 6 8
P
–
–
M or H
Hawaiian Guitar
1 4 6
P
II
On
M
Hunting Horn
3
–
III
On
L
Mandolin
3 6 8
P
–
–
H
Musical Saw
3
B
II
On
H
Muted Gypsy Violin
1
O
II
On
M
Oboe
1 4 8
–
I
Off
M
Orch Horn
3
–
II
Off
L or M
Piccolo
1 4 0
–
II
Off
H
Reed-Pipe
–
B
–
–
H
Tenor Saxophone
4
–
III
Off
L
Theatre Organ
4
–
III
On
M or H
Trombone
3
–
II
Off
L
Trumpet
–
–
II
Off
M or H
Viola
1
O or V
II
On
H
Violin
1
O or V
II
On
H
Clavioline Tone
3 4 6
–
III
On
M
Vox Celesta
4 5 6
–
III
On
M
Zither
1 4 6
P
III
On
M
Selmer published the above list of the switches/ stops that needed to be activated to imitate various instruments.
Harald Bode (1909 – 1987) created a six-octave model using octave transposition, that was made by Jörgensen.
As a monophonic instrument, the Clavioline met with initial success. It also inspired imitation. In England, the Jennings Organ Company produced the Univox, their first successful product with a self-powered electronic keyboard. In Japan, Ace Tone’s first prototype, the Canary S-2, launched in 1962, was based on the Clavioline. However, the Clavioline was unable to compete, when polyphonic synthesizers were introduced.
In 1959, Maxfield Crook (1936 – 2020) modified a Clavioline to create the Musitron, made from assorted discarded electronic components sourced from television sets, amplifiers, reel-to-reel tape machines and household appliances. Because most of its components came from previously patented products, the Musitron was unpatentable. Crook first used it for recording at Berry Gordy’s Detroit studio on an unreleased version of Bumble Boogie. Later, it became world famous, for its performance on Del Shannon’s Runaway (1961).
Much of the information about the Clavioline was provided by Gordon Reid, in an article published in 2007. It also has photographs illustrating the technical details.
Bebe (1925 – 2008) and Louis (1920 – 1989) Barron were credited with the first entirely electronic film score for Forbidden Planet (1956). Norbert Wierner’s Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948), played an important role in the development of the Barrons’ composition. Cybernetics proposes that certain natural laws of behaviour apply to some complex electronic machines, as well as animals.
Sisters with Transistors is a 1h25m38s video about electronic music’s female pioneers. It begins with an assertion that the history of women has been a history of silence. Undoubtedly, an old male is not the best person to comment on this or on any of the challenges female composers/ musicians faced. However, there are similarities with pop art, where female painters, the initial innovators of the art form, were removed from its history, to be replaced by second-wave male copyists, who had the right connections.
I suspect a similar situation may very well be the case with these female electronic music pioneers. Once again, one has to ask how much credit men are taking for creative work undertaken by women?
Two of the composers in this film have been featured in previous weblog posts that promote female composers/ musicians/ songwriters/ singers. These are Pauline Oliveros and Delia Derbyshire. Sisters with Transistors also provides insights into other female composers/ experimenters/ musicians who use audio technology to liberate humankind from traditional instruments and to transform how music is produced.
Keyboard instruments are versatile. A single player can play up to ten notes simultaneously on, say, a piano. With foot pedals and stops, organ players can produce even more. However, a synthesizer offers even greater capabilities, particularly in terms of its ability to construct tones that defy the physical limitations of acoustic instruments. Thus, a synth based composer/ musician has an ability to create a personal sonic universe, then shape the music allowed within it.
Two minutes into the video viewers are told it is 1974-04-30. Suzanne Ciani, is speaking. She describes the Buchla synth she will be playing a concert on, then says: “I think they are sensual. May I have a cigarette?” One is immediately taken back into a time period when smoking was an acceptable activity. It was an era when pants/ trousers were not fully acceptable as female attire, when women were expected to give up their identity and assume that of their husbands.
Assignment #1: What collective noun would readers prefer to be used to describe multiple synths? For example, one has a choir of angels, a bunch of bananas, a deck of cards and a cluster of diamonds. Some suggestions are provided, towards the bottom of this post.
The appeal of a synth
As one of the film’s subjects, Laurie Spiegel explains: “We women were especially drawn to electronic music when the possibility of a woman composing was in itself controversial. Electronics let us make music that could be heard by others without having to be taken seriously by the male dominated Establishment.”
As promotional materials for the video express it, within the wider social, political and cultural context of the 20th century, “the documentary reveals a unique emancipation struggle, restoring the central role of women in the history of music and society at large.”
With Laurie Anderson (1947 – ) as narrator, the video examines the evolution of electronic music: how new devices opened music to the entire field of sound, how electronic music not only changed the modes of production but the very terms of musical thought.
There is little point in discussing the details of this documentary further, without the reader/ listener/ viewer having an opportunity to hear and see it. Thus, readers are encouraged to find the video, enjoy it and reflect on it.
Assignment #1 (revisited)
Collective noun suggestions for synths, include 1) general terms for musical groups: band, choir, combo, ensemble, orchestra; 2) quantity related: duo, trio, quartets, quintets, sextets, septets, octets; 3) computer related: cluster, network.
Interested readers may also want to read av article in the Guardian about the video.
This post was originally scheduled to be published 2021-08-07 at 12:00, but was postponed until 2022-02-26 at 12:00 to allow for further reflection.
EV1A014, is as rare as a unicorn. 2011-03-29 Photo: RightBrainPhotography (Rick Rowen) Subsequently retouched by Mariordo.
Life is hard; it is harder if you are stupid. John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison, 1907 – 1979)
Today, I am entering the prophecy business, and, in particular, will be looking at predictions for electric vehicle technology in 2030. Some might question my sanity, or at least my intelligence. Prediction is a double-edge sword. It could result either in adulation (admittedly, a less likely result) or condemnation – perhaps worse (decidedly, more likely). I approach the task fearlessly. If the predictions turn out to be more correct than wrong, rest assured I will remind everyone about it in 2030. If they turn out to be less correct, I won’t bring up the matter again.
Predictions for 2030
New vehicles in advanced economies will be battery electric vehicles.
Dynamic wireless charging along main roads will start becoming standard, in addition to static charging at residences.
Environmentally friendly graphene ultra-capacitors and sodium-ion batteries will start to replace lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in most vehicles. Some of these will have a life-expectancy exceeding 1 million km.
Vehicle owners will have a Right to Repair their own vehicles.
Yes, some of these predictions lack millimetre precision. However, here are a few points of clarification …
Different markets will achieve different levels of EV penetration at different times, but EVs in all markets will be on their way to displace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Wireless means that plugs will become outdated technology. Dynamic charging refers to charging while a vehicle is in motion. This would probably result in smaller batteries. Commuter vehicles could end up with a battery capacity of about 25 kWh.
The term battery, as used in this prediction, is intended to include other forms of electrical storage, including the use of various types of capacitors.
Right to repair does not necessarily mean a right to do-it-yourself (DIY), it could involve local workshops, run by certified mechanics, or even specialists, especially when high voltage is involved.
Previous predictions
Between 1996 and 2002, I took a lot of chemistry and chemical engineering courses, including some related to physical chemistry. At the time I wrote a paper (not lost, just not found) about fuel cells, the technology of the future! At about the same time, General Motors had proven to the world, with the EV1, that there was no future for electric vehicles. The EV1 “was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major auto-maker and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset.”
Unfortunately, General Motors was wrong. The documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) explains and condemns the short life and brutal death of the EV1. It puts GM in a negative light. There were 660 Gen(eration) I EV1 cars produced, followed by 457 Gen IIs. While a few vehicles were disabled and given to museums and universities, almost all the others were crushed, or shredded.
Could I ever own a GM product? Possibly, in a parallel universe where I am converting a Pontiac Aztek, with a defunct engine, to an EV. But not on this planet. Note: the Aztek is appreciated not just for its utilitarian appearance, but especially for its ability to carry standard sheets of plywood, inside.
Some of the 275 people working for Ballard, in Burnaby, British Columbia. Photo: Ballard
I was also wrong about fuel cells taking over the world. Perhaps this too was wishful thinking. With Ballard Power located in Burnaby, the neighbouring municipality to New Westminster, I was well aware of their proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology, and thought that this would dominate future vehicles. PEMs, more generally, was the topic of my missing paper. Looking at Ballard’s website in 2022, they have not lost their optimism, but seem more focused on heavy transport (buses, commercial trucks, trains, marine vessels) and stationary power applications.
Ulf Bossel (1936 – )has been arguing against Hydrogen technology since 2006. He concluded that Hydrogen technology is unlikely to play a major role in sustainable road transport. This has met with considerable scepticism. Recently, Patrick Plötz, in Nature Electronics 5, 8–10 (2022) confirms that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, (HFCV), including commercial trucks, are not likely to catch up to battery EVs. Part of the reason is explained in the following diagram, originally developed by Bossel.
Ulf Bossel’s original argument again hydrogen, shown in a diagram.
The diagram illustrates that FCEVs are three times less efficient, as BEVs. In addition, they require an entirely different (and more expensive) investment in infrastructure. For BEVs, every electrical outlet is a potential charging station.
As I write this, a message from my daughter, Shelagh, California resident and owner of one half of a BMW i3 EV, has just ticked in on the teletype: “I read that 84% [83.7%] of all vehicles sold I Norway in January we’re electric[.]” This statistic refers to the 6 659 battery electric vehicles and the 1 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sold. Hybrids are excluded, or more correctly, appropriately included with ICE vehicles in the other 16.3% of vehicles sold. Here, there were 910 rechargeable (or plug-in) hybrid vehicles, 175 with power from gasoline and 212 using diesel. These add up to a total of 7 957 vehicles. As the statistics show, there is no longer a sizeable market for ICE vehicles in Norway. From 2025-01-01, all new vehicles under 7.5 tonnes, will have to be EVs (or use fuel cells).
Dynamic charging
If Norway is ahead in cars, Sweden is ahead in roads. Sweden launched the first public electric road in 2016. The electric road outside Sandviken and Gävle utilises overhead lines, which powers freight trucks while driving. eRoadArlanda, outside the Arlanda Airport, provides a test track to generate knowledge and experiences about electric roads.
This was followed up with Evolution Road, a conductive, surface mounted electric road system to increase knowledge about electric roads on a 1-km stretch of road at Getingevägen in Lund, in southern Sweden.
On the Swedish, Baltic Sea island of Gotland, ElectReon is testing a dynamic wireless charging system on a 1.65-km public road, as part of the Smartroad Gotland project. A video demonstrates the construction process. A battery electric (BEV) long-haul truck was the first vehicle to be charged wirelessly. It drove on a 200-meter road segment, at various speeds of up to 60 km/h, averaging a transfer rate of 70 kW, while showing that snow and ice do not affect charging capabilities.
Modern electric road systems provide a number of benefits: the elimination of downtime for recharging – especially important for transit buses, delivery vans, long-haul trucks and robotaxis, reduction of battery sizes by 50–80 per cent (yes, my unscientific estimate is that 25 kWh batteries will be the standard size on EVs once electric roads become common), greater energy efficiency, because smaller batteries mean lighter vehicles, and, most types of electric vehicles: cars, trucks, utility vehicles and buses will be able to use the same system.
Seven years after Sweden, the first stretch of road in the United States to wirelessly charge electric vehicles while in motion will begin testing in Detroit. This electrified road will be up to 1.6 km long, and allow EVs to charge whether they’re stopped or moving. It is hoped that this in-road charging will encourage widespread EV adoption, by reducing consumers EV hesitancy. Michigan state will contribute $1.9 million toward the project, which will also be supported by Ford Motor, DTE Energy and the city of Detroit.
Israel based ElectReon is world leading in terms of dynamic wireless charging. While there are other companies hoping to be part of the solution, they have done little to prove their capabilities. Most potential suppliers of charging equipment are opting for static wireless charging systems in places like parking garages, taxi stands, and bus or truck depots. They should probably take a reality check. Nobody wants to stand still to charge, is the option is to charge while on the move.
It should also be mentioned that there are ongoing dynamic wireless charging pilot projects in Germany, Italy and Israel. All of these use induction technology with on-board receivers facilitating the transfer power from coils buried underground to the vehicle. ElectReon estimates that the cost of a receiver will be reduced to between $1 000 and $1 500, when installed by an EV manufacturer. Another approach is to tie the cost of the receiver to a monthly (?) subscription, that also provides the power.
Terminology.
I find it extremely interesting that one of the celebrated proponents of the International System of Units (SI) was the American electrical engineer, George Ashley Campbell (1870 – 1954). Yet, on an almost daily basis so many Americans, Britons and Canadians (but few others) want to retain all or parts of an antiquated, inconsistent measurement system. Readers have no doubt noticed the avoidance of conventional/ non-metric units, and the usage of SI units on this weblog. However, in this post, some non-SI units will be used. These units are commonly used with EVs throughout the world. I ask for the indulgence and forgiveness of readers.
If one really wants to be correct and use internationally accepted SI units, energy is measured in joules (J). There is also a distinction made between specific energy = massic energy = gravimetric energy density, which specifies energy per unit mass, as in J/kg, and energy density, which specifies energy per unit volume as in J/l (litre). Despite this clear demarcation, most people seem to engage in terminology convergence. They refer to energy density, but express it in terms of watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). Purists may want to remember: 1 Wh = 3600 J = 3.6 kJ.
Batteries and ultra-capacitors
Batteries have come a long way from the invention of the lead-acid battery in 1859 by Gaston Planté (1834 – 1889). Global sales in 2020 = $ 50 billion. These are still ubiquitous, cheap and reliable, but toxic. Finding out exactly how much lead ends up poisoning the environment is difficult. The Battery Council, with close ties to those with vested interests in battery production, typically estimates that 99% of lead is recycled. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a less optimistic, and more varied estimate that ranges from 60% to 95%. In addition, lead-acid battery recycling is the world’s most deadly industrial process, where an estimated 2 to 4.8 million disability-adjusted life years are lost annually and globally.
In 1989 Sony commercialized the Li-ion battery, and it has become the dominant battery technology. It is the first choice for Evs, stationary batteries, and mobile devices. One challenge with lithium technology, is that it has so many patents and intellectual property rights associated with it, that it becomes problematic to make anything – as a startup. Someone is sure to claim that there is a patent infringement.
Another challenge is availability. Lithium mainly comes from Australia, Chile, China and Argentina. It is also found in smaller quantities in many other places. Extraction is difficult and polluting. It currently costs about $ 5 000 / tonne. Other resources used in lithium (Li) batteries are also problematic. Cobalt (Co), especially. EV batteries can have up to 20 kg of Co in each 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) pack, or up to 20% of its mass.
There are many other Li-ion battery manufacturers who are also attempting to make new viable products, many with a focus on solid-state Li-ion technology. The reason for this focus is to reduce mass = weight. Unfortunately, this type of battery is almost always years away from being introduced, in part because other battery technologies are always moving the goal posts.
Some social media influencers, such as Sandy Munro, claim that one of the most important Li-ion battery developments in the world at the moment, is taking place at Our Next Energy, Inc. (ONE), located in Novi, Michigan. They have developed an experimental battery, Gemini 001, that stores over 200 kWh of electrical energy, with an energy density of 416 Wh/l, using pouch technology.
Another important development is taking place at Gruber Motors in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is especially important for saving the lives of innumerable bricked Tesla vehicles. It describes itself as an independent Tesla service organization providing engineering and aftermarket support. I refer to Pete Gruber as a guerilla technologist. In a video, he describes their graphene ultra-capacitor cells that now exceed 1 000 km range, and could soon reach 1 600 km. They are estimated to allow about 43 000 charging cycles, with each charge taking about 15 minutes, providing a battery potentially capable of propelling a vehicle exceeding 43 million km, and last 100 years. Graphene is made of a single layer of carbon, one of the most common elements.
The technology upon which the Gruber graphene capacitor is based could be made by Skeleton Technologies of Tallinn, Estonia. This company is providing graphene ultra-capacitor technology to many different industries, including high power applications for automotive, heavy transportation (rail, especially), marine, grid (wind turbines, for example), aerospace, and manufacturing. These use curved graphene sheets to produce mesospores that are accessible to and wettable by ionic electrolytes at voltages up to 4 V. This provides a specific energy of about 85.6 Wh/kg. One characteristic, appreciated in climates with winter, is its ability to operate in cold temperatures, without any performance loss. More information, about a number of technical topics and more, is available from their download page.
Chemical abundance is important when determining the suitability of future technologies for electric vehicle batteries. Here WebElements values will be used for comparative purposes, typically expressed in parts per million (ppm) by mass.Readers who want it expressed in terms of ppm by mole, are encouraged to undertake their own calculations.
Sodium (Na), is the 6th most common element in the Earth’s crust, at 23 000 ppm. In contrast Li ranks 33rd, at 17 ppm. This makes Na over 1 350 times more abundant than Li. This is reflected in its price, at about: $ 150 / tonne. Carbon (C) ranks 17th, at 420 ppm. Not only is this almost 25 times more abundant than Li, its existence in the atmosphere as CO2 makes it an ideal target for battery production.
Na-ion batteries were developed at about the same time as Li-ion batteries. They are suitable for stationary power and short range EVs. That is, applications where energy density is not an issue. For example, energy storage for renewal energy sources such as solar and wind. However, they are not really suitable for hand-held devices.
Like a Li-ion battery they have cathode, anode, porous separator, electrolyte. The same engineering and production methods can be used, but with different materials.
This does not apply to some of the earlier sodium based batteries. Some of the first research projects with sodium batteries were done at the Ford Motor Company where Joseph T. Kummer & Neill Weber published A Sodium-Sulpher Secondary Battery (1968). They state an energy density of 330 Wh/ kg, in contrast to 22 Wh/ kg for a lead acid battery. Later, others have considered this energy density an exaggeration, and have reduced it to about 150 Wh/kg in the real world. The most negative characteristic of this battery was its high operating temperature, 300 – 350 C.
The sodium-nickel-chloride battery, developed under the Zeolite Battery Research Africa Project, started in South Africa in 1985, and commonly called the Zebra battery. This is also a rechargeabe molten salt battery, that distinguishes itself from the Sodium Sulfer battery by it use of commonly available materials. It is simpler, safer, cheaper, but less energy dense, at about 90 to 120 Wh/kg.
From 2010, sodium batteries were developed that could operate at room temperatures. Typically, they have an anode made of hard carbon = charcoal; an electrolyte with low viscosity, high conductivity and electrochemically stable, (typically sodium salts dissolved in organic carbonate); a cathode, often a more problematic choice, but with a focus on sodium layered oxides, with crystalline structure, similar to lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO 2).
In 2020, Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory develop a more powerful sodium battery with the potential to produce 160 Wh/ kg. Other producers of So-ion batteries include: Faradion (UK), Altris AB (Sweden) with a Prussian blue cathodes, HiNa (China), and Natron Energy (USA) with Prussian blue cathodes. Prussian blue cathodes typically offer 95% charge retention after 10 000 cycles; However they do not function well in the presence of moisture, hence Prussian white.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited (CATL) has also developed a sodium battery. It has an anode made of hard carbon with a unique porous structure that lengthens the cycle lifetime and allows for more sodium-ion movement. The cathode is made of Prussian white, an analogue of the pigment Prussian blue. Energy density is currently 160 Wh/ kg, but there is a goal for G2 = 200+ Wh/ kg. Because of CATL’s intereconnection with Li-ion batteries, only a 10 – 30% price saving can be expected from these batteries.
Right to Repair
Relationships with the service departments of automotive dealers, are not always positive experiences. Going back several years now, here is one customer’s experience of a dealership service centre, that has permanently put him off wanting to use such a place. The customer had replaced original, inferior wiper blades with premium blades that were still in excellent condition when he delivered his vehicle in for servicing. When, the car was picked up, those premium blades had been replaced with inferior blades, and the customer was charged a price for them that exceeded those of the premium blades. When the customer requested the inferior blades removed, and replaced with his premium blades the dealership refused, citing that the manufacturer, required them to perform servicing to the letter, in order not to void the warranty. Wiper blades were part of the required service. The customer then asked for the premium blades to be returned to him, but the dealership could not find them.
Some weeks later, an indicator light showed that the vehicle needed immediate servicing, and should not be driven. The dealership was contacted, and they picked up the vehicle, transporting it on the back of a tow truck (a 70 km round trip from the workshop). It turned out that the dealership had forgotten to reset the servicing interval when they undertook the service, indicating that they were not following the servicing guide to the letter, as they had previously claimed. They then had to transport the vehicle back to the customer on the back of the same tow truck, two days later.
Shortly thereafter, a fuel injector failed on the vehicle (for a second time). Once again, a tow truck was needed to transport the vehicle, which was at the customer’s place of work. This time it involved a 160 km round trip, followed by a 70 km round trip after replacement. The fuel injector had to be replaced under warranty, and the customer wondered if the dealership had failed to do something else during the servicing, that had resulted in this failure. Some months later, the vehicle warranty expired, and the customer ended his relationship with the dealership. These incidents were so traumatic that the customer vowed never to buy that brand of vehicle again.
With EVs a different experience of service may be offered. EVs have fewer parts in total, and fewer moving parts, the operating environment is less extreme because there is no combustion to produce excessive amounts of heat. Thus, EVs typically require less service than their ICE counterparts. While legacy auto-makers may attempt to continue on as before, EV startups will probably be less reliant on dealerships, and more reliant on websites, for sales. They may also attempt to approach service and repairs in a different way.
Take Sono Motors GmbH as an example. Sono is a crowdsourced German company working on the development of the electric solar car, the Sion. It will have solar cells embedded in the plastic body panels on the roof and sides. Electricity generated will be fed into the traction battery, potentially providing about 5 000 km of range per year. Over an eight year period, over 260 000 vehicles are expected to be produced in Trollhättan, Sweden, at the National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) production facility. NEVS is a Swedish electric car manufacturer that acquired the assets of Saab from a bankruptcy estate in 2012.
There are currently about 13 000 customers waiting for production of the Sion to start. Potential purchasers are distributed (almost) randomly throughout Europe. This could mean that it would be very expensive for Sono to set up service centres. Fortunately, they have opted for something different: Low Cost Maintenance, with a 3-step maintenance system they claim will keep repair/ servicing costs as low as possible.
Standard replacement parts that can be replaced by almost anyone. That is, without needing much prior knowledge, these can be replaced by owners/ users. Sion says, DIY is back!
A workshop handbook, will allow an extensive network of independent mechanics, to undertake work that is beyond the capability of ordinary people. This is the essence of most Right to Repair legislation.
For repairs involving high-voltage or body parts, Sono intends to cooperate with an established European service provider.
Once one auto-maker has shown the viability of this approach, it will be difficult for others to avoid step #1. As shown previously, one of the challenges facing dealerships is that they are not behaving particularly professionally, when it comes to servicing vehicles. Another challenge in the future, is that there will be a shortage of workers available. Work that can be eliminated or reduced should be. Ron Hetrick explains what is happening in USA, but the same applies to other advanced economies.
Currently, I rank Sono Sion as my third choice for an EV. Above these are two families of MPVs: the upcoming Renault Kangoo, and its badge engineered Nissan Townstar, along with an upmarket Mercedes EQT; and the Stellantis MPVs: Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter and Opel Combo, badge engineered variants.
EV Tipping Points
A-Ha keybordist Magne Furuholmen, in the driver’s seat of a Fiat Panda EV, with lead singer Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and environmentalist Frederic Hauge in front (Photo: Bellona)
In 1989, A-ha lead singer Morten Harket and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, were in Switzerland with Norwegian environmentalist Frederic Hauge, attending an EV conference. After inspecting a privately converted Fiat Panda EV, Harket and Furuholmen bought the car, and took it back to Norway. Norwegian regulations at the time, prohibited the registration of electric cars. Since it was fitted with a propane-fuelled heater, it could be, and was, registered as a recreational vehicle/ motor home.
The Panda was enthusiastically driven around Oslo, without paying local road tolls and ignored all subsequent fines. This resulted in an enormous amount of publicity, in Norway. It also resulted in the car being confiscated, and auctioned off, with yet more publicity. However, since no-one else wanted to buy the car, the original owners bought it back again. This cycle repeated itself several times. The fine was NOK 300 each time, and they bought the car back each time for NOK 200.
In 1996, Norway’s Government abolished road tolls for EVs. This was a key incentive that started an EV policy, that resulted in generous subsidies and other incentives, leading to a situation where over 80% of all new light vehicles are EVs in 2022.
Tim Lenton, at the University of Exeter, is quoted in the Guardian as saying: The only way we can get anywhere near our global targets on carbon emissions and biodiversity is through positive tipping points. People, whether they’re business leaders, policymakers or whatever, know what needs to change. The question is how? It’s starting to happen, but it’s not going quick enough. The complexity [of the climate and ecological crises] can be paralysing,. I wanted to show that, if you understand the complexity, it can open up windows of opportunity to actually change things.
An analysis of this problem has been published in Global Sustainability.
Predictions, in general
I hope that my legacy as a person is not dependent on my ability to predict the future. Rather, I hope it is related to my ability to love a few people, and to show concern for the well-being of all of humanity and the planet more generally, now and into the future. Hopefully, I have learned something, including humility, from my years of living.
When it comes to judging the success or failure of predictions, I like to turn to the world of film, especially works set in the future. I am not a fan of either Gene Roddenberry’s (1921 – 1991) Star Trek, despite its debut on Canadian CTV on 1966-09-08 and set in the 23rd century, or George Lucas’ (1944 – ) 1977 Star Wars and successive films, taking place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, which excludes it from being set in the future. More appreciated are: Lucas’ 1967/ 1971/ 1977/ 2004 THX 1138; Stanley Kubrick’s (1928 – 1999) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and A Clockwork Orange (1971); Richard Fleischer’s (1916 – 2006) Soylant Green (1973) set in 2022; Michael Anderson’s (1920 – 2018) Logan’s Run (1976), set in 2274. Perhaps most of all, I admire Ridley Scott’s (1937 – ) Blade Runner (1982), set in Los Angeles in 2019, 37 years into the future, and currently three years in the past, if only because of its inability to predict the advent of the cell phone.
Yet, of these, it is Soylant Green that is the most haunting, and to where the political class seems to be leading the world: dying oceans, excessive humidity, pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty and – ultimately – euthanasia.
If one focuses on one random member of the political class – no better nor worse than many of the others – Joe Biden (1942 – ) born in Pennsylvania, the state where USA’s first oil well was drilled in 1859. He grew up in Delaware, where his father ultimately worked as a successful used-car salesman. In 2018, the US became the world’s largest crude oil producer (15%), exceeding Russia and Saudi Arabia. In 2021, some sources state that this resulted in 10.3 million jobs, and 8% of USA’s gross domestic product (GDP). Oil companies are major contributors to politicians, in the expectation that they will act positively to the needs of these companies and their shareholders. Chevron made 28% of its $4.9 million in political contributions to Democratic candidates and party, while Exxon made 41% of $1.7 million contributions to them.
Not everyone is happy with him. It is very strange that Biden can mention the electrification efforts at GM and Ford, without mentioning Tesla. Unfortunately, this could be because he is more interested in the profits of the oil industry, that are dependent on ICE vehicles from GM, Ford and others. Biden was willing to auction off 320 000 square kilometres of oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest sale in US history, although only slightly less than 7 000 square kilometres were ultimately leased, yielding $192 million. So far, Biden is approving 320 drilling permits on public land each month, exceeding Trump’s 300 a month.
This support of the oil industry does not in any way mesh with a necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, that climate in crisis requires. Indeed, Biden’s environmental policy, if it exists, is difficult to understand. It seems to begin and end in words. The stated aim is a halving of greenhouse emissions by 2030, with them reaching net zero by 2050.
USA has many American EV manufacturer, to be appreciated. Aptera has the most efficient EVs; Arcimoto is making fun utility vehicles (FUVs); the Fisher Ocean should appeal to anyone wanting a conventional SUV; Ford has had great success with its Mustang, and sees promise in its upcoming F-150 Lightning; Rivian has started to provide adventure pickups and SUVs; Tesla is making the most EVs; and, last and least, General Motors is making an excessive, large and brutal Hummer EV that effectively shows that not all EVs benefit the world!
As John Wayne says, life is hard. It will be harder still for all people, smart or stupid, if politicians stupidly fail to implement environmental policies that stop the current rise in temperatures. This includes the elimination of fossil fuels, and fossil plastics, that are burnt as fuels once their few seconds of shelf-life are finished. The four predictions discussed in this weblog post, are all dependent on politicians enabling people to make enlightened changes to their ways of life, quickly! Most of those changes will have to take place now in advanced economies. If people alive today don’t start making changes to their lifestyle, the lives of upcoming generations will be immeasurably harder.
A double page from Rosemary Wadey’s Mexican Cooking Step-by-Step (1994).
My son, Alasdair, commented that he liked the style of Rosemary Wadey, in her Mexican Cooking Step-by-Step (1994). While this offers something similar to the numbering of steps in a cookstrip, the colour photographs show what is to be done, and what the final dish should look like when served.
The recipe starts with a general description, putting the recipe in context. It also explains what the dish is expected to be served with. The preparation of these items is not described in the recipe.
After this is a statement about the number of servings the recipe will produce, typically this is 4. This allows people to adapt the recipe to accommodate the number of people expected, or to give an indication of the quantity of left-overs that will be produced.
Next comes a list of ingredients, with conventional names. While I am content with metric units, this cookbook also provides quantities in American/ British units. The condition of the ingredients as they are to be used is also provided here.
This is followed by procedural steps and timings. All of these should be read in advance. In the bean soup recipe depicted, croutons, for example, can be prepared two days (48-hours) in advance. This also comes with advice as to how to store the prepared food until it is needed.
The author also acknowledges that specific products can be difficult to purchase in certain markets. A variation box provides the name of other products that can substitute for the original.
Some of the other books written by Rosemary Wadey in the same style are:
Continental Cuisine Step by Step Cookbook (1987)
Step by Step Cooking for One and Two (1996)
Step by Step Wok Cooking (1996)
Step by Step Vegetarian (2001)
Step by Step Italian (2001)
This is the second of an unspecified number of posts (currently seven) about cooking instructions, all beginning with Cook… Yes, you can use that as a search term to find previously published posts. If you have a favourite way of interacting with cooking information, and would like to have that presented in a weblog post that, in a good week, reaches ten or more people, send your proposal in an email to: brock@mclellan.no
Today, it is 350 years since Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) sent the world’s first journal article to Henry Oldenbourg (1615-1677), secretary of the Royal Society of London, on 1672-02-06. It was about telescopes, and optics more generally. While authorship is important, Oldenbourg is historically important for introducing the concept of peer review to scientific writing.
Newton writes, “To perform my late promise to you, I shall without further ceremony acquaint you, that in the beginning of the Year 1666 (at which time I applyed my self to the grinding of Optick glasses of other figures than Spherical,) I procured me a Triangular glass-Prisme, to try therewith the celebrated Phaenomena of Colours. And in order thereto having darkened my chamber, and made a small hole in my window-shuts [shutters], to let in a convenient quantity of the Suns light, I placed my Prisme at his entrance, that it might be thereby refracted to the opposite wall. It was at first a very pleasing divertisement [diversion], to view the vivid and intense colours produced thereby; but after a while applying my self to consider them more circumspectly, I became surprised to see them in an oblong form; which, according to the received laws of Refraction, I expected should have been circular. They were terminated at the sides with streight [straight] lines, but at the ends, the decay of light was so gradual, that it was difficult to determine justly, what was their figure; yet they seemed semicircular.”
Of course, if one looks hard enough one can always find predecessors to almost everything. Thus, most historians working in the area add the adjective, modern, to the noun, review. In this way they can forget about the more original contribution made by Adab aț-Ṭabīb, = Morals of the physician, where modern readers could use practical ethics to replace morals, in the title. It was a historical Arabic book written by Al-Ruhawi, a 9th-century (probably) Nestorian physician who regarded physicians as guardians of souls and bodies. The twenty chapters of the work encompassed various medical topics, influenced by the works of Hippocrates and Galen.
