Darwin tells about being unable to cook potatoes at high altitude, because water boiled at too low a temperture.
He then mentions something I never knew existed. "Papin's digester". Here's one quote, giving its date:
"
Thomas Savery was an English military engineer and inventor who in 1698, patented the first crude steam engine, based on Denis Papin's "Digester" (pressure cooker) of 1679."
Any members ever hear of this before?

Fascinating, Bill - never heard of this guy myself, due apparently to another example of Albion's perfidy!

http://members.tripod.com/~american_almanac/papin.htm

from that page:

Leibniz

"67. Each portion of matter may be conceived of as a garden full of plants, and as a pond full of fishes. But each branch of the plant, each member of the animal, each drop of its humors is also such a garden or such a pond.

damn, fractals in the 17th Century... cool.

Hey,mav! that is a really sensational article! It's going to take me a while to "digest" it.