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Who Was Dr. Frankenstein?mental_floss Blog - Oct 14, 2008 Was there a real Dr. Frankenstein? Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is considered by many to be the first science fiction novel. It was written in 1816-1817, during a time when bringing the dead back to life was … Also tagged: blogs, history, science, miss cellania |
mental_floss Blog - Sep 4, 2008
Charlie Kaufman is the writer behind movies including Adaptation, Being John Malkovitch, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (He also wrote two episodes of the TV classic Get a Life, though he didn’t win any …
Also tagged: blogs, movies, celebrities, literature, pop culture
mental_floss Blog - Aug 22, 2008
I’m a huge Neal Stephenson fan. There, I said it. Yesterday I pointed to an article on how one fan solved a mystery related to Stephenson’s book Quicksilver, last month I pointed to his best essay ever, and today I’m …
Also tagged: technology, blogs, history, computers, antiquity
mental_floss Blog - Aug 21, 2008
In 2003, Neal Stephenson’s book Quicksilver hit the stands. It was the first in a series called The Baroque Cycle, featuring (among many other things) the exploits of alchemists and mathematicians. But before …
Also tagged: games, blogs, history, puzzles, advertising, antiquity
mental_floss Blog - Aug 15, 2008
Sci-Fi writers seem to enjoy coining Laws: adages bearing their own names that live on past their appearances in Sci-Fi stories. Here are five of my favorites, plus one bonus law (actually a Principle) from the world …
Also tagged: blogs, humor, science, pop culture
mental_floss Blog - Aug 14, 2008
In 1946, George Orwell published an essay in the British literary magazine Horizon, arguing against poor usage of English by modern writers. In the essay, Orwell cited five examples of “the English language as it is …
mental_floss Blog - Aug 13, 2008
George Orwell began keeping a series of diaries on 9th August 1938 (love that British date formatting!). These diaries were never published. Seventy years later, the diaries are being released day by day in an …
Also tagged: politics, blogs, literature, around the world
mental_floss Blog - Aug 6, 2008
The New York Times has posted a nineteen-part slideshow featuring book advertisements from the Sixties and early Seventies. The ads typify a lost art in which photos of the author (or foxy reviewer) are mingled with …
Also tagged: blogs, advertising
mental_floss Blog - Jul 17, 2008
The short process is: meet someone who works at the OED evaluating new words for inclusion. The slightly longer process involves plying him or her with drink. The most complete answer is contained in Lyza Danger …
mental_floss Blog - Jul 14, 2008
Ammon Shea spent a year working his way through the Oxford English Dictionary. The result is his book Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages. But in the run-up to his book’s publication, Shea shared many of …