From deep in the archives, my first published article on the woman you may know only as “the founding mother of feminism.”
Happy Birthday, Elena! The First Female Ph.D., and Other Women Pioneers
Kudos to all the women who read when they didn’t have to.
One such woman was Lady Elena Lucretia Cornaro-Piscopia – born 375 years ago today on 5 June 1646. A true Renaissance woman, Elena Cornaro owns the distinction of being the first woman in the world to receive a Ph.D. (University of Padua, 1678). An expert musician, she mastered the harpsichord, the clavichord, the harp, and the violin. By age 11, she was proficient in Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, adding Hebrew and Arabic in her teens. Before she was 20, she was studying physics, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and linguistics… then set her sights on a doctorate in theology.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, So Old It’s New Again
Who controls the past controls the future.
George Orwell, 1984
Who controls the present controls the past.
George Orwell might have been alluding to the dangers of stealth-editing when he wrote these lines for his 1949 dystopian novel. It’s funny to think that a work of fiction once so futuristic is now “so old” it no longer has copyright protection, but it’s true, as true as two plus two is… four. Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel entered the public domain in the United Kingdom this year. With Orwell’s final book hitting the bestseller lists at various times during the last decade (pretty impressive for a 70-plus-year-old work), I expect we’ll see numerous U.K.-based publishers coming out with their own creative editions. The first-ever graphic novel adaptation is already slated for release in August.
Do You Have a Bumper Sticker for That?
Illustrated with vintage family photos and as timely today as when it appeared a decade ago, an essay on categorizing people from a bibliophile who has never liked labels.
Old Faithful Road Trip
From the Grand Tetons to The Badlands, new perspectives on old family favorites during a terrier- and toddler-friendly road trip. Enjoy the vintage camping photos as you flip through this cover story from the archives of Automotive Traveler magazine!