scientists-from-new-york-state

"A lady who has given us some charming books of minute and faithful studies of birds and beasts, Mrs. Effie Bignell, says of the two robins who were free in her house, that they were entirely different in every characteristic, one of them loving and gentle "like a perfect gentleman," while the other was greed itself, with shocking table manners, and in every way different."

"s have contested for possession of the waters much as the have contended for supremacy on land, until it may be said that the dominant forage crop of our lakes, ponds, and s is to be found among the pondweeds, the s. Variety in form, adaptability to , and diversity in range have all contributed their share in giving prominence in this group and in furthering a natural resource whose propagation and control are vital factors in the economic relations of the life of inland waters."

"Written under the pen name Olive Thorne Miller, most of her children's fiction has been forgotten, but her , both for children and adults, are still read. She became interested in bird watching in 1880 and avidly pursued this hobby for the rest of her life. ... Olive Thorne Miller wrote books on birds that reflected a close observation of their habits. Although her treatment was sometimes , most of her facts were accurate, and her works were useful in stimulating popular interest in ."

"Mrs. Irene Grosvenor Wheelock, author of several books, and a careful student of living birds in the nest, has found decided individuality in young bluebirds as early as ten days old. One would be gentle, easily pacified, and trustful, while another was fierce and resentful of captivity."

"The solo of the differs from nearly all other bird-songs that I know, being a clear, distinct whistle that may easily be reduced to our musical scale, and perfectly imitated by the human voice; in this latter quality it is almost unique. The notes are very few, usually two, never, I think, more than three; and the little ditty consists of, first, a single long, deliberate note, then two short repetitious of one a third higher, followed by three triplets at the same pitch. It is so distinct, indeed, that the of northern Minnesota—as a traveler in that country kindly wrote me—have put it into words, namely, "Pu'orn chiman, chig-a-big, chig-a-big, chig-a-big," which being translated means, "The Sioux canoes are close to shore, close to shore, close to shore," and the friendly bird is held in much esteem by the grateful Chippewas."

"Because of its quiet tints, the beauty of plumage of the is often underrated. Nothing can be more attractive than the soft cinnamon browns of his back and wings, and the satiny white of breast and under parts, tinged in places with buff, and decorated profusely with lance-shaped spots of brown. Lovers of birds alive and free have reason to rejoice that our most interesting birds are not gaudy in coloring. The indiscriminate and terrible , is surely enough to make the most long-suffering lover of nature cry out in grief and pain. To me — let me say it frankly — they look not like an adornment of feathers, but like the dead bodies of birds, foully murdered to minister to a passing fashion."

"Also I should like to explain how a lover of free birds can endure to keep them in confinement. Each inhabitant of a in my house has been liberated from the positive discomforts of a , and besides the wearied effort to make their lives happy and as free as possible in a room, the moment one shows a desire for the world outside my windows, he is gladly allowed to depart."

"So long as you do only what you have done every day, though it be to sit within three feet of their nest, most birds accept you as a , but if you vary from your usual programme you shall have every bird within sight and hearing excited, calling in warning tones, anxious and angry "phit's," "tut's," and "chack's" on every side."

"... ', one of the largest of the , was produced in enormous quantity by natural means. The blue-green alga, , contributed directly to its support and proved to be the most desirable food of a heavy, natural culture of Daphnia pulex. The author's first observation of this association in the pond occurred on June 21, 1918. At this time a "bloom" of the Aphanizomenon was approaching it maximum. It was so abundant that the water appeared blue-green and oily. A few hand strokes of the net would bring up a of it in concentrated form."

"Collections of fish were made at weekly intervals and, if not examined at once in their fresh condition, were kept in an - preserving fluid until needed. In examining the food the method of (1918) was employed, that is, the food content of the digestive tract was pressed out upon a , moistened, and examined under the dissecting and compound microscopes."

"I had to be all things to all fishes."

"Even on the train we began to feel the grateful influence of restful country life. From the windows we watched the , the wayside flowers, and the , engaged in the surprising occupation of following the plow. At our station, a sang his sweet strain from a telegraph pole; we could hear s calling from the marshes. We took the only wagon that met the train, and drove through the village. It was a typical Mormon village, one of a line of closely connected settlements running along the valley between the and the ."

"New Mexico has the distinction of being the first State in the Union from which bird notes were recorded by white men. These notes refer to birds seen on the in 1540, three hundred and eighty-eight years ago, eighty-two years before the first recorded birds were seen in New England (see 's New English Canaan, printed in 1637). The actual study of the birds of New Mexico has attracted naturalists from the the days of the earliest explorations that crossed parts of New Mexico, the first records being made on the . ... The systematic survey of New Mexico was definitely undertaken in 1903, under the direction of , then Chief of the Biological Survey; and , who had just completed a survey of the adjoining State of Texas, .. was put in charge of the work."

"The amazing views of the naturally dominate and absorb the attention of the hurried visitor to the canyon rims, but between views the bird-minded may hear arresting songs and cath glimpses of feathered passers-by that will add intimate pleasures to the memories of the "great abyss." After a night in the familiar song of the may be heard on awakening, followed by the happy song of the rosy well associated with the sunshine of the Southwest. Then perhaps will come the coarse croak of the , adding a grateful bass note to the ."

"A tribute to Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948), a passionate ornithologist who revolutionized the way scientists and general nature lovers study birds. Keating introduces Florence as a child who was delighted to sit patiently in the woods to watch birds and take careful notes on their features and behavior. As an adult, she is outraged by the fashion of and killing birds in order to study them. She popularized bird watching and promoted protective legislation. She turned her years of note taking into field guides for professionals and the general public alike."

"... precisely how we shall educate the coming woman, is still an open question. Much that has been written has been purely theoretic. Facts, however, are multiplying. Four different experiments are now in process: University Examinations, the , Mixed Colleges, and . For a great University to condescend to examine female candidates and grant certificates, is a step forward; but it does not furnish the means of education."

"The recent addition of a specimen of this rare bird to the , is an event worthy of record. There are now three specimens in the United States; the one just mentioned, another in the , and a third in the Giraud Cabinet in Vassar College. The last is the most perfect specimen, and certainly possesses the greatest historical value, as it is the one from which Audubon made his drawing and description. It was caught on the banks of . The or Gare-fowl … was about the size of a goose, with a large head, a curved, grooved and laterally flattened bill; wings rudimental, adapted to swimming only, approaching in this respect the s of the southern hemisphere. … It was an arctic bird, dwelling chiefly in the , Iceland, , and Newfoundland."

"... and coffee plantations, vast in extent, arrest the eye. Passing these, the steamer brings you alongside of broad fields covered with the low, prickly pine-apple plant; the air is fragrant with a rich perfume wafted from a neighboring grove of and s; the spreads its dense, splendid foliage, and bears a golden fruit, which, though praised by many, tastes to us like a mixture of tow and ; the exotic waves its fig-like leaves and pendent fruit; while high over all the beautiful lifts its crown of glory. ..."

"The age is demanding a broader, deeper, truer, . Unreasonable prejudice is hiding itself, along with the effete and narrow views of our fathers; and the world has come to the consciousness, that the culture of both sexes must keep pace with the ever-changing sphere of personal activity."

"The Ornithological in the Vassar Museum, contains nearly twelve hundred distinct species, of which seven hundred are North American, and the remainder South American. Among them are several s and others of historical interest as the originals of ."

"The importance of every fact relating to the natural limits of animals and plants is felt in its bearing on the great question of the day—the ."

"The of mountain regions is very limited, for the number of species diminishes rapidly as we ascend in altitude or latitude. The reptilian life of any district, however, is highly interesting, as it is more natural and well defined than that of other vertebrates, because reptiles have a limited range ... and are less likely to be forced out of their original s or introduced by man. It has been supposed that in order of altitudinal range, lizards go highest, snakes next, and s and s last. There are no chelonians in the valley as far as we know; but we found frogs as high up as , and no lizards there. Gibbon found no snakes at ."

"There is no section of our country that may not reward a diligent search for precious or useful s. The rocks, however, between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic and between the and the Pacific furnish the greater variety and abundance. Here are found the best ores. Gold and silver seem to abound more on the western than eastern sides of both mountain-chains. A trap-region, like the shore of and the , is likely to be a good locality for copper and iron. The , or the region of , furnishes chiefly iron and lead; gold, silver and copper are seldom found. In general, where the layers of rock lie level and contain fossil shells, it is a locality good only for , ( excepted), , and salt. The regions of , , , , etc., offer the greatest inducement to search for useful minerals."

"I have avoided so far the use of the term —the analog in the of the . Certainly, deserves the credit for first exhibiting the mechanism in the context of . But as I have tried to show, it took other people to make it work. The Higgs boson is what is being looked for at . If they find it, we shall all be happy and relieved. And if not? I am reminded of a story about Einstein. He had just received a telegram with the news that the eclipse expeditions had confirmed his general relativity prediction about the Sun bending starlight. He was very pleased with himself and showed the telegram to one of his students, . She asked him what he would have done if the telegram had contained the news that the experiments disagreed with the theory. He replied, “Da könt mir halt der lieber Gott leid tun—die theorie stimmt doch. (Then I would have been sorry for the dear Lord. The theory is right).”"

"I once asked Bell whether during the years he was studying the quantum theory it ever occurred to him that the theory might simply be wrong. He thought a moment and answered, “I hesitated to think it might be wrong, but I knew that it was rotten.” Bell pronounced the word “rotten” with a good deal of relish and then added, “That is to say, one has to find some decent way of expressing whatever truth there is in it.” The attitude that even if there is not something actually wrong with the theory, there is something deeply unsettling—“rotten”—about it, was common to most of the creators of the quantum theory. Niels Bohr was reported to have remarked, “Well, I think that if a man says it is completely clear to him these days, then he has not really understood the subject.” He later added, “If you do not getschwindlig [dizzy] sometimes when you think about these things then you have not really understood it.” My teacher Philipp Frank used to tell about the time he visited Einstein in Prague in 1911. Einstein had an office at the university that over looked a park. People were milling around in the park, some engaged in vehement gesture-filled discussions. When Professor Frank asked Einstein what was going on, Einstein replied that it was the grounds of a lunatic asylum, adding, “Those are the madmen who do not occupy themselves with the quantum theory.”"

"The signs on Bell’s door read “J.Bell” and “M.Bell.” I knocked and was invited in by Bell. He looked about the same as he had the last time I saw him, a couple of years ago. He has long, neatly combed red hair and a pointed beard, which give him a somewhat Shavian figura. On one wall of the office is a photograph of Bell with something that looks like a halo behind his head, and his expression in the photograph is mischievous. Theoretical physicists’ offices run the gamut from chaotic clutter to obsessive neatness; the Bells’ is somewhere in between. Bell invited me to sit down after warning me that the “visitor’s chair” tilted backward at unexpected angles. When I had mastered it, and had a chance to look around, the first thing that struck me was the absence of Mary. “Mary,” said Bell, with a note of some disbelief in his voice, “has retired.” This, it turned out, had occurred not long before my visit. “She will not look at any mathematics now. I hope she comes back,” he went on almost plaintively; “I need her. We are doing several problems together.” In recent years, the Bells have been studying new quantum mechanical effects that will become relevant for the generation of particle accelerators that will perhaps succeed the LEP. Bell began his career as a professional physicist by designing accelerators, and Mary has spent her entire career in accelerator design. A couple of years ago Bell, like the rest of the members of CERN theory division, was asked to list his physics speciality. Among the more “conventional” entries in the division such as “super strings,” “weak interactions,” “cosmology,” and the like, Bell’s read “quantum engineering.”"

"Although it is always somewhat dangerous to look for the cause of a complex sociological phenomenon in a single event, nonetheless, I believe that a cause can be made for the proposition that the present widespread interest in the quantum theory can be traced to a single paper with the nontransparent title “On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox,” which was written in 1964 by the then thirty-four-year-old Irish physicist John Bell. It was published in the obscure journal Physics, which expired after a few issues. Bell’s paper was, as it happens, published in its first issue. Bell, who has worked since 1960 at CERN, the gigantic elementary-particle physics laboratory near Geneva, has been known to claim that his paper involves only the use of “high school mathematics”; however, its six pages are dense with an extremely abstract set of arguments, which even professionals in the field must work hard at to understand. In fact, for several years after its publication, few if any professional physicists bothered to try."

"Of course, the test difficulty depends on what you're doing, and on how you're doing it. I'm constantly asking "How much would I have to screw this up to write an incorrect function that passes these simple tests?" Occasionally the answer is "Not much," so I'll throw the code away and start over. It was probably perfect code, but that's not good enough."

""So it's tempting to incorporate a smaller resolver library into qmail. [...] I'd no longer be able to blame the BIND authors and vendors for the fact that attackers can easily use DNS to steal mail." [From the file "THOUGHTS" of the qmail distribution]"

""I often see people saying 'Nobody has produced an invulnerable software system; therefore, nobody will ever produce an invulnerable software system.'"By the same bogus reasoning, nobody will ever reach Mars; nobody will ever find MD5 collisions; nobody will ever cure cancer; nobody will ever prove the Poincare conjecture; nobody will ever clone a human; nobody will ever build a 1GHz CPU; nobody will ever find SHA-1 collisions; nobody will ever break the sound barrier; etc." (15 January 2005)"

"The great thing about attackers is that there are so many to choose from!"