|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
|
addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
I concede! I was thinking of things such as the company I used to work for. In our Spanish office the Japanese adn Spanish conversed in English - the 'lingua franca' of today. HOwever, the situation in 1067 and onwards wasn't wuite like that as there was a mass migration. More like French / English colonisation of Africa, and we can see the effects of that today.
Changing the subject, does anyone know how the worldwide numbers of (native) Spanish speakers stack up against either English or Chinese? And how the numbers are changing over time?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
Jazz, perhaps you should take up the writing of alternative history, a classy name for fiction which depends for its plots on an alternative outcome or development to a real historical fact. I just recently read several books by an author with the somewhat improbable name of Harry Turtledove, which take as their departure point what would have been the course of U.S. history if Robert E. Lee had won the battle of Gettyburg. Such works require a lot of real scholarship as well as imagination.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544 |
alternative history
Philip K. Dick, a science-fiction writer known for his originality (among other things, he wrote the story, entitled "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," upon which the movie Blade Runner was based) has a very interesting book that uses as its basic premise that the Axis powers triumphed in World War II. It takes place in the US, but a US dominated by Japanese culture and Nazi ideology - it's called "The Man in the High Castle," if memory serves.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
[opinion]
Harry Turtledove: wonderful imagination... hack writer.
[/opinion]
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
A Scots (memory fails on who?) discovered coal tar-- but the germans turned coal tar into aniline dyes-- and went on to lead the world in chemistry and physics for almost 100 years! No, No! (he cried in great pain) Whilst the Germans were pre-eminent in many branches of Science (Leibnitz in particular - but many others also) this one was definitely English. Coal Tar was a by-product of the Gas-making industry, so was not really "discovered" at all. In 1856, a chap named Sir William Perkins (born London, 1830) was messing around with coal tar (actually, trying to synthesise it, for some reason which I forget) and accidently produced a beautiful purple liquid which stained everything around it indelibly. As purple is a fiendishly expensive colour to produce from organic ingredients, he realised that he was on a winner. This purple was the first aniline dye. New colours were quickly developed in both England and France (which also had a well developed textile industry) Unfortunately, neither France nor Britain put enough investment into developing the production side, and the dyes were not produced in large enough quantities for the voracious textile industry, so the aniline dyes remained expensive. It was the Germans who saw the market opportunity and developed large scale production techniques. We Brits ended up (as usual  ) importing most of our synthetic dyes from Germany. For further info, read: Grierson S. (1989) Dyeing and Dyestuffs Shire Publications for a more learned treatment, try: Hardie D.W.F. & Pratt J.D. (1966) A History of the Modern British Chemical Industtry Pergammon Essays should be not more than 2000 words, to be handed in by Friday, Feb 16th 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
Essays should be not more than 2000 words, to be handed in by Friday, Feb 16th
OK, Professor Rhubarb, but I'm already in a quandary over a title for it. Should it be:
"The Color Purple" or "Aniline - Chemistry to Dye for"?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I'm already in a quandary over a title for it. Should it be:
"The Color Purple" or "Aniline - Chemistry to Dye for"?
Oh, Marty !! You (and the RC, too) are encourageable!
RC--if the dyers didn't have enough money to buy vats,
did they dig ditches so they could dye in the trenches?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
Oh, Marty !! You (and the RC, too) are encourageable!Tar, Jackie.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Tar, Jackie.
Is this what they mean by "black humour"?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
"Black humor" !! OH, U2 are indeed encourageable and
incorrigible! Both tarred with the same brush, obviously.
If necessary, I'll get out my sack of feathers for the both of you.
Incidentally, she said, suddenly leap-frogging threads--
that reminds me of the old expression of someone being
tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. The movie O Brother Where Art Thou had the first incident I have ever seen of anyone actually being ridden out on a rail. (Though he wasn't tarred or feathered.)
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,389
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
1 members (A C Bowden),
835
guests, and
2
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
