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Fred Morrison’s wonderful invention, the Frisbee
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/02/Frisbee.mp3[/podcast] Fred Morrison died on Tuesday at the age of 90, one of those people you may never have heard of, but really should have. Morrison invented the Frisbee. Since millions of these and other flying discs have been sold since the 1950s, it’s perhaps a bit humbling to discover, though, that even though throwing a Frisbee well is a skill that can be acquired, nobody has pinned down all the details of the science involved. Morrison, born in Richfield, Utah, said the inspiration for the Frisbee went back to a Thanksgiving Day picnic in 1937 when he and his girlfriend (and future wife), Lu Nay, began throwing the lid of a popcorn tin back and forth. They soon found that a tin cake pan ...Things I Found in my Mother-in-Law’s House: Kid Stuff
Notes for this week's CBC column...***If you have children, you know how child-related stuff tends to pile up. And since kids grow up so fast, some of it is barely used before they’re too big for it and it gets put away somewhere, never to see the light of day again......unless your son-in-law decides to turn the stuff he found in his mother-in-law’s house into a series on the radio, like Ed Willett.This week Ed has dug into some of the children’s stuff he’s found in his old house, and I joined him there this morning to take a look.Ed, does your mother-in-law, Dr. Alice Goodfellow, come from a big family?...Photo of the Day: The Light Fantastic
More photos here.P.S. An interesting optical illusion I just discovered. If you stare at this picture, the colored ball will appear to move around slightly against the black background.(Or maybe that's just me...)Science gifts for Christmas: 2003
It’s time once again for my scientific gift guide. (No, I don’t mean I have the purchasing of gifts down to a science--if I did, I’d set up in business and be a millionaire before the New Year. I mean, it’s time once again for my guide to scientific gifts.) Not being in a position to play with all the science-related toys on the market, however--again, more’s the pity--I have instead scoured the World Wide Web (so you don’t have to), consulted authoritative lists of dozens of science-related gifts--and then picked out the ones I like the most. (See, I told you it wasn’t scientific.) From the holiday toy list of the magazine Parenting for High Potential, for ...Science gifts for Christmas: 2000
Of all my Christmases as a small boy in Texas, the one I remember best is the one when I was seven, which is when my parents gave me my first microscope. Asked what I would recommend in the way of holiday gifts for children, then, a microscope--or something similarly scientific--is always at the top of my list. To that end, I spent a little time this week cruising the malls and the Internet for some ideas. And yes, you can still get a microscope, though it comes in a variety of different guises. You can still get the kind of "starter" microscope I got, more than adequate for a ...Science gifts for Christmas: 1999
There's been a lot of talk this year about how much easier the home computer has made Christmas shopping, and I agree--but not because I'm doing a lot of shopping on-line. I find computers have made Christmas shopping easier by opening up a whole new range of gift ideas. Any kid with a computer is a candidate for a computer-related gift: preferably, of course, if I have anything to do with it, one with a scientific bent. After an arduous search, I came up with the perfect example. (Well, OK, actually it was the first thing I saw when I went into the store, but it's still the perfect example!) The IntelPlay QX3 ...Science gifts for Christmas: 1995
When I was a kid, nothing made me happier at Christmas than a present that had something to do with science. Of all my Christmases as a small boy in Texas, the one I remember best is the one when I was seven, which is when my parents gave me my first microscope. Asked what I would recommend in the way of holiday gift-giving, then, for both children and adults, "something scientific" is naturally at the top of my list. To that end, I spent a little time this week cruising the malls and the Internet for some suggestions that can help you make this a scientific Christmas for people of all ages....Science gifts for Christmas: 1994
As a kid, I only wanted "fun" gifts for Christmas. I didn't want anything "practical," like (horrors!) underwear. And "educational" was way down my list, too. Yet my favorite gifts of all were actually very educational: I just didn't notice, because I was having so much fun with them. These were the gifts that involved science. There are three "classic" science-related gifts: microscopes, telescopes, and chemistry sets. I had all of them. I think I enjoyed the microscope most. I got one when I was seven, and it enthralled me for years. Table salt, human hair, blood, thread--anything and everything went under the lens. For a long time I regularly ...Tops and gyros
Frequently I begin my column by delving into my childhood for pleasant memories about some activity or other that just happens to relate to my topic. Not this time. This week, my topic is tops and gyroscopes, and the fact is that as a kid I never saw the point of them at all. Remember those little wooden tops you wrapped a string around and then flung at the ground? I couldn't have cared less. So they spun around and around for a while, then they fell over. Big deal. (All right, I admit I was never able to make one of the darn things work. Want to make something of it?) Gyroscopes were even ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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