Nostr notes by Project Gutenberg

Where Exactly Were the First Humans to Be Captured in a ...

2026-10-24T09:52:51Z

Where Exactly Were the First Humans to Be Captured in a Photograph Standing? Three Obsessed Filmmakers Solved the Nearly 200-Year-Old Mystery

The sleuths spent two years digging into archives and building 3D models of 19th-century Paris. The location is now immortalized by a bronze plaque celebrating the historic site and the “poetic” early photograph

by Sonja Anderson

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-exactly-were-the-first-humans-to-be-captured-in-a-photograph-standing-three-obsessed-filmmakers-solved-the-nearly-200-year-old-mystery-180989727/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=20261021-daily&lctg=93133550&user_id=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

Books about Daguerreotype at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/3072

#books #art #photography #culture

Frankenstein, The Vampyre, and the Spirit of the Humanities How ...

2026-10-24T09:38:36Z

Frankenstein, The Vampyre, and the Spirit of the Humanities

How one ghost story competition continues to haunt the humanities—just in time for Halloween.

By: Maria Papadouris

https://daily.jstor.org/frankenstein-the-vampyre-and-the-spirit-of-the-humanities/?utm_source=mcae&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jstordaily_10212026&utm_content=readmore

Books in Gothic Fiction at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/39

#books #literature #halloween #horror

Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish ...

2026-10-17T08:44:48Z

Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish Surgeon Who Used Deduction to Diagnose Patients and Investigate Crimes

A new book chronicles the exploits of Joseph Bell, an Edinburgh lecturer whose lessons sparked the creation of the world’s most famous detective

by Lindsey Fitzharris

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/arthur-conan-doyle-based-sherlock-holmes-on-a-real-life-scottish-surgeon-who-used-deduction-to-diagnose-patients-and-investigate-crimes-180989623/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=20261016-daily&lctg=93133550&user_id=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

Books about Sherlock Holmes at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/76

#books #literature

The Teenagers Who Imagined GPS Before the Civil War While at ...

2026-10-16T14:18:39Z

The Teenagers Who Imagined GPS Before the Civil War

While at Harvard in the 1830s, a 13-year-old Edward Everett Hale and his brother dreamed up a brick satellite that could pinpoint any ship’s location on Earth.

By: Alexander MacDonald

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-teenagers-who-imagined-gps-before-the-civil-war/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01M52DPKXZG0TEHYP8AAZXKRDN&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Books by Edward Everett Hale at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/650

#books #science #technology

The best books on Knitting recommended by Rosie Fletcher Knitting ...

2026-10-16T13:05:19Z

The best books on Knitting
recommended by Rosie Fletcher

Knitting provides a slow, screen-free creative outlet, and opens up a wealth of style choices that you can’t buy on the high street.

https://fivebooks.com/best-books/knitting-rosie-fletcher/

Knitting at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=knitting

#knitting #hobbies

When Europe’s monastic libraries were looted, Britain’s ...

2026-10-14T09:16:16Z

When Europe’s monastic libraries were looted, Britain’s richest book collectors went hunting

The forgotten story of how Britain acquired Europe’s rarest books.

by Kelsey Williams

https://theconversation.com/when-europes-monastic-libraries-were-looted-britains-richest-book-collectors-went-hunting-290690?utm_campaign=the-daily-39912&utm_content=the-daily-39912_uk%7C2%7C39912%7Cc4eb48b3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=When+Europe%E2%80%99s+monastic+libraries+were+looted%2C+Britain%E2%80%99s+richest+book+collectors+went+hunting

#books #history #colonialism

The Man Who Created a Written Language for the Cherokee Did It So ...

2026-10-13T08:54:26Z

The Man Who Created a Written Language for the Cherokee Did It So Efficiently and Elegantly, His Peers Thought It Was Magic

Sequoyah’s syllabary faced suspicion initially, but after a demonstration, his version of “talking leaves” was widely embraced. And then the word spread

by Andrew Lawler

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/man-created-written-language-cherokee-did-efficiently-elegantly-peers-thought-magic-180988850/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=20261012-daily&lctg=93133550&user_id=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

Books about Sequoyah and Cherokee Indians at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/1595
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/26692

#books #indigenous_language

"The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the ...

2026-10-13T07:24:08Z

"The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves."

Let's celebrate, today is Ada Lovelace Day!

Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was a pioneering mathematician. Known for creating the first machine algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Engine, she is widely celebrated as the first programmer.

Ada Lovelace at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/57832

#books #womeninstem

NASA Just Made Nearly 1 TB of Artemis II Data Available to the ...

2026-10-12T08:28:49Z

NASA Just Made Nearly 1 TB of Artemis II Data Available to the Public

The data drop includes photographs, audio, video, and astronauts’ notes that will be used to study the moon and prepare for future human missions.

by Jorge Garay

https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-just-made-nearly-1-tb-of-artemis-ii-data-available-to-the-public/

#astronomy

The Dramatic History Of San Francisco’s Cliff House, The ...

2026-10-10T13:39:43Z

The Dramatic History Of San Francisco’s Cliff House, The Beloved Estate That Survived The 1906 Earthquake And A Sailboat Full Of Dynamite

By Genevieve Carlton

Built in 1863, Cliff House was a renowned resort that hosted presidents, celebrities, and countless locals — and also survived multiple tragedies.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/cliff-house-san-francisco

#architecture

Can picking up a book really improve your brain? Reading draws on ...

2026-10-09T09:46:52Z

Can picking up a book really improve your brain?

Reading draws on brain systems involved in language and imagination. Studies are exploring how it relates to wellbeing and understanding others.

by Valerie van Mulukom

https://theconversation.com/can-picking-up-a-book-really-improve-your-brain-292274?utm_campaign=the-daily-39847&utm_content=the-daily-39847_uk%7C2%7C39847%7C3e15960a&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=Can+picking+up+a+book+really+improve+your+brain%3F

Books about Books and reading at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/574

#books #brain_health

Nostr event nevent1qqsdu08e9qx7cmaqza6egtac6t4spj4mleeemty9n0ucekh8j7ypv7czypn4svr8fp5tgz495pcy7tg4pdxqwev8whpq4fjmrcutzw53g6wyktaylfd

2026-10-08T10:54:24Z

And the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature goes to…

Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development ...

2026-10-08T10:49:42Z

Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90

Over two decades at MIT, Hamilton forged new paths in computer science and engineering. Her groundbreaking work included leading the team that programmed the first computers that took humans to the moon.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-hamilton-computing-pioneer-dies-1007

#womeninstem

Exclusive: How did Rosalind Franklin miss the helix in her iconic ...

2026-10-07T11:02:57Z

Exclusive: How did Rosalind Franklin miss the helix in her iconic DNA image? She didn’t

New analysis refutes James Watson’s claim he was first to recognize significance of famed photograph 51

ByTim Appenzeller

https://www.science.org/content/article/how-did-rosalind-franklin-miss-helix-her-iconic-dna-image-she-didn-t

#womeninstem

Nearly Every JPEG on Earth Runs on Math a Reviewer Called Too ...

2026-10-07T08:13:25Z

Nearly Every JPEG on Earth Runs on Math a Reviewer Called Too Simple to Fund in 1972

by Alex Cooke

https://fstoppers.com/historical/nearly-every-jpeg-earth-runs-math-reviewer-called-too-simple-fund-1972-904107

Why Robert E. Howard Is the True Father of Sword and Sorcery ...

2026-10-04T12:43:00Z

Why Robert E. Howard Is the True Father of Sword and Sorcery

American writer Robert E. Howard first emerged as an author in the 1920s and swiftly became one of the greatest writers of the Pulp Era.

https://www.thecollector.com/robert-e-howard-sword-and-sorcery/

Howard at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36031

#books #literature #PulpMagazines #fantasy

“Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature… but he who ...

2026-10-03T09:10:37Z

“Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature… but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself—"
Areopagitica, by John Milton (1644)

More than 50 years after a North Dakota school district burned copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse‑Five,’ the anti‑war novel is still being censored

by Susan Farrell

https://theconversation.com/more-than-50-years-after-a-north-dakota-school-district-burned-copies-of-kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five-the-anti-war-novel-is-still-being-censored-292561

#banned_books_week

10 Literary Translators on the Art of Translation "Like the ...

2026-10-02T09:16:00Z

10 Literary Translators on the Art of Translation

"Like the ghostwriter, the translator must slip on a second skin."

by Emily Temple

https://lithub.com/10-literary-translators-on-the-art-of-translation/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01M3HFF1V5N7DSGPM3ZEGE5QTC&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Books by translators at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=translators

#books #literature

Singapore is paying its citizens to read. (But will it work?) ...

2026-09-28T12:05:59Z

Singapore is paying its citizens to read. (But will it work?)

https://lithub.com/singapore-is-paying-its-citizens-to-read-but-will-it-work/

#books #literature

The wondrous history of fairy tale art – from wolves and ...

2026-09-28T09:27:09Z

The wondrous history of fairy tale art – from wolves and witches to fallen princesses

by Elena Sottilotta

Fairy tales continue to nourish artistic invention because their characters embrace continual metamorphosis, discovering yet another possibility within an old story.

https://theconversation.com/the-wondrous-history-of-fairy-tale-art-from-wolves-and-witches-to-fallen-princesses-292490?utm_campaign=the-daily-39638&utm_content=the-daily-39638_uk%7C2%7C39638%7C41ea8a7e&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=The+wondrous+history+of+fairy+tale+art+%E2%80%93+from+wolves+and+witches+to+fallen+princesses

Books in Children's Myths, Fairy Tales at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/216

#books #literature

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement ...

2026-09-27T09:33:15Z

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement That Eventually Became Paris. Archaeologists May Have Just Found It

While conducting excavations at a hospital on the Île de la Cité, in the Seine River, researchers discovered part of a wall that may have once protected Lutetia, the Gallic precursor to France’s capital

by Sarah Kuta

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-thousand-years-ago-julius-caesar-conquered-the-settlement-that-eventually-became-paris-archaeologists-may-have-just-found-it-180989569/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=20260925-daily&lctg=93133550&user_id=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

More information about Lutetia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetia

#archeology #history

Remembering Grazia Deledda, the Sardinian Nobel Prize-Winner We ...

2026-09-26T09:46:33Z

Remembering Grazia Deledda, the Sardinian Nobel Prize-Winner We Should All Be Reading

Jeff Biggers on the Legacy of a Little-Known Writer on the 100th Anniversary of Her Prize

https://lithub.com/remembering-grazia-deledda-the-sardinian-nobel-prize-winner-we-should-all-be-reading/

Books by Grazia Deledda at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/33472

#books #literature #nobelprize

Share books, discover neighbo(u)rhood libraries Book Corners maps ...

2026-09-25T08:48:41Z

Share books, discover neighbo(u)rhood libraries

Book Corners maps book exchange locations internationally. It currently lists 37,229 community libraries and little free libraries, including 15,926 in France. The programmer is Andrea Grandi.

https://www.metafilter.com/214595/Share-books-discover-neighbourhood-libraries

Books about Library science at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/1350

#books #libraries

Scientists re-created the Herculaneum scrolls. They found a clue ...

2026-09-23T12:37:40Z

Scientists re-created the Herculaneum scrolls. They found a clue to decoding hidden text

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/22/science/herculaneum-scrolls-lead-ink-experiment

#science #archeology

Meet Alison Frantz (1903–1995)—a true polymath whose camera ...

2026-09-22T17:24:24Z

Meet Alison Frantz (1903–1995)—a true polymath whose camera lens and intellect helped shape history!

From pioneering archaeological photography in Athens (including capturing the famous Linear B tablets) to serving with the OSS during WWII and acting as a US cultural attaché, her impact was massive. She even helped restore the Church of the Holy Apostles!

Her groundbreaking work in post-classical and Byzantine archaeology changed how we study history.

#archeology #womeninstem

My new essay about Samuel Johnson I am unashamed to call him a ...

2026-09-22T08:22:14Z

My new essay about Samuel Johnson

I am unashamed to call him a great man, to say that he is my hero. I can never write of him without strong feeling.

by Karen Swallow Prior and Henry Oliver

https://karenswallowprior.substack.com/p/samuel-johnson-a-writer-for-us-all

Books by Samuel Johnson at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/297

#books #literature #literaryCriticism

What Is the Pawpaw? North America's Lost Fruit The pawpaw ...

2026-09-20T12:57:51Z

What Is the Pawpaw? North America's Lost Fruit

The pawpaw fruit was a favorite of George Washington. It helped save the lives of the Lewis and Clark expedition. And it tastes sort of like a mango-banana creme brûlée. Why have you (probably) never heard of it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73l0zzX7_SY

#nature #plants

How to be a word detective Etymology unravels the mysteries of ...

2026-09-10T09:55:27Z

How to be a word detective

Etymology unravels the mysteries of language and the hidden webs that link people across the world. Here’s how to dive in

by Danny Bate

https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-be-a-word-detective?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=936cbb4e51-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_07_29_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972

Books about English language -- Etymology at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/2993

#books #literature #etymology

In 1925, 24-year-old graduate student Cecilia Payne calculated ...

2026-09-07T08:11:27Z

In 1925, 24-year-old graduate student Cecilia Payne calculated that the Sun and other stars were composed overwhelmingly of hydrogen and helium—a result so contrary to accepted astronomy that senior astronomer Henry Norris Russell called it “clearly impossible,”....

By Deep Field · Edited by Lachlan Brown

https://spacedaily.com/t-cecilia-payne-russell-hydrogen-helium-companion/

Stellar atmospheres at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73996

#books #astrophysics #Womeninstem

How Johannes Kepler Accidentally Destroyed the Science of ...

2026-09-05T13:04:30Z

How Johannes Kepler Accidentally Destroyed the Science of Astrology

Kepler was a court astrologer, but also a man of science, whose search for the truth had unintended consequences.

https://www.thecollector.com/johannes-kepler-destroyed-astrology/

#science #mathematics #astronomy

10 Essential Works of Decadent Literature You Need to Read Plunge ...

2026-09-05T09:56:24Z

My unsung hero of science: Harriet Taylor Mill, the radical ...

2026-09-04T08:48:00Z

My unsung hero of science: Harriet Taylor Mill, the radical feminist philosopher who lived in the shadow of her husband

I first heard about Harriet Taylor Mill when reading about her much more famous collaborator and future husband, the British philosopher and politician John Stuart Mill.

by Helen McCabe

https://theconversation.com/my-unsung-hero-of-science-harriet-taylor-mill-the-radical-feminist-philosopher-who-lived-in-the-shadow-of-her-husband-290875

Books by Harriet Mill at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/57060

#books #literature

Medieval Scottish Man May Be First Confirmed Case of Death by ...

2026-09-03T12:51:06Z

Medieval Scottish Man May Be First Confirmed Case of Death by Trebuchet

https://archaeology.org/news/2026/08/19/medieval-scottish-man-may-be-first-confirmed-case-of-death-by-trebuchet/

#history #archeology

Why we love literary anniversaries This special year saw a ...

2026-09-02T10:36:33Z

Why we love literary anniversaries

This special year saw a variety of high-profile celebratory events across the country, from regency balls and film screenings, to special tours and literary talks.

by Amy Wilcockson (from the archives)

https://theconversation.com/why-we-love-literary-anniversaries-273375

Gulliver’s Travels, The Last Man, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17157
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18247
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67098
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69087

#books #literature #literary_classics

Scientists Release Biggest 2D Map of the Universe The new DESI ...

2026-09-01T09:53:28Z

Scientists Release Biggest 2D Map of the Universe

The new DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys map serves as the foundation for the largest-ever 3D map of the Universe, used to investigate dark energy

https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2620/

More information:
https://www.legacysurvey.org/acknowledgment/

#science #astronomy

Why Did Degas Paint So Many Ballerinas? ...

2026-08-30T12:23:28Z

Why Did Degas Paint So Many Ballerinas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoc44aOjS_A

#art

Nasa’s new telescope is named after astronomer Nancy Grace ...

2026-08-30T09:48:39Z

Nasa’s new telescope is named after astronomer Nancy Grace Roman – but who was she?

by Ian Whittaker

The US astronomer battled discrimination in a male dominated field.

https://theconversation.com/nasas-new-telescope-is-named-after-astronomer-nancy-grace-roman-but-who-was-she-284330?utm_campaign=the-weekender-39315&utm_content=the-weekender-39315_uk%7C177%7C39315%7C71ec4ae2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=The+Conversation

#astronomy #Womeninstem

"He that uses words without any clear and steady meaning, ...

2026-08-29T07:53:06Z

"He that uses words without any clear and steady meaning, what does he
but lead himself and others into errors? And he that designedly does it,
ought to be looked on as an enemy to truth and knowledge."

~John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) via nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqkvnpp3m60derhwpqwc09zhk3ehk48tr6agc6dk9z2vggu9sga28qt06jwy (nprofile…6jwy)

#books #literature