Potsdam - Day 15 - 2010-6-15

The Einstein Tower by Erich Mendelsohn. It categorized as "expressionist architecture." Also, Richard Neutra was working in Mendelsohn's office at the time. It was built to prove or disprove his theory of relativity, but if I remember right it was photographs taken elsewhere (Australia...?) that actually validated his theory. A series of plates (photos taken during a solar eclipse through a telescope in this case) that showed light bending around the Sun due to gravity. The full story of the repeated attempts to take such photographs and make the measurements is a great story in and of itself.

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"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein in a letter to Harry Truman

I went to the Printer's Row Book Fair yesterday scouring the area for old platinum prints. I found one. This is a 12 inch coastal gun being fired. You can see the round moving just beyond the barrel. I'm not sure where or when it's from, but my guess is that it's Great Britain around one of the world wars.

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"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not with a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." - Albert Einstein

I really like Nietzsche, but even after reading a biography and two of his books I still don't feel comfortable saying that I know much about his work. So I ordered 5 or 6 more of his books. We'll see if that helps. Nietzsche was a great admirer of Spinoza and his writings. Which is rare, Nietzsche basically hates on everyone. Anyways, at least read Spinoza's wiki. He had some really original and interesting ideas.

This is a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson that is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

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'Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving." - Albert Einstein

I may be posting here a bit less for the next two weeks or so. I've decided to enter an architectural design contest. The challenge is to design a town/city for impoverished villages abroad using monolithic dome type architecture. I'll post scans of my drawings as they progress.

This is the first (and so far only) photo that I've uploaded to Wikipedia. It's a print I bought at the Printer's Row Book Fair. They actually make the process of uploading a photo somewhat cumbersome. I've also edited a few paintball related articles that desperately need a lot more work. The idea of Wikipedia is amazing. It's like a repository for all human knowledge that's free to everyone.