Shen Kuo was a polymath Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, agronomist, ethnographer, encyclopedist, and poet. He was the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, as well as an Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality. In his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, Shen was the first to describe the magnetic needle compass, which would be used for navigation (first described in Europe by Alexander Neckam in 1187). Shen Kuo devised a geological theory of land formation, or geomorphology, based upon findings of inland marine fossils, knowledge of soil erosion, and the deposition of silt. He also advocated a theory for gradual climate change, after observing ancient petrified bamboos that were preserved underground in a dry northern habitat that did not support their growth in his time. Shen Kuo wrote extensively about movable type printing invented by Bi Sheng, and because of his written works the legacy of Bi Sheng and the modern understanding of the earliest movable type has been handed down to later generations.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
312: Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome, leading him to end the Tetrarchy and become the only ruler of the Roman Empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge)
1886: In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, to commemorate the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty)
1940: The Balkans Campaign in World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the occupation of Greek territory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War)
1954: The Kingdom of the Netherlands was re-founded as a federacy with the proclamation of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands)
1965: Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI, absolving the Jews of the killing of Jesus, and calling for increased relations with all non-Christian religions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostra_Aetate)
_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:
retinue: A group of servants or attendants, especially of someone considered important. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retinue)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
I have dreams, and I have nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams. -- Jonas Salk (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk)
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