How do you write this? Awestruck by every turn it takes from the beginning to this end. 💜 Not tempted to tamper with the past because I am grateful that one has found their way towards writing.
What a wonderful post, Will! I read it twice and even more interesting the second time. Love the photos, too. Your grandfather was both brilliant and handsome…
My grandpa just read me Calvin & Hobbes and had me listen to baseball on the radio, which taught me sarcasm and the perfect time to make a double switch
Another marvelous dispatch. Will Dowd’s posts seem lit from within by the mysterious glow of the penumbra. A magical essayist and an artist of the tangential finesse. Thank you!
This was so beautifully written. Thank you. I too missed the eclipse up in Maine, because I'm currently so swept away by my passion for my Beatles writing that I don't have time or interest in dating other experiences.
Speaking of, I'd add John Lennon and Paul McCartney to the list of possible time travelers. If we're making a list, that is.
Finally, *By a freakish cosmic coincidence, the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to the Earth, making the Moon and the Sun appear roughly the same size in the sky and allowing the occasional perfectly fitted solar eclipse.*
It seems to me to stretch credibility more to call this a coincidence than to consider that it's very much not. Add that to all the other "coincidences" that had to happen for the earth to be the exact right distance from the sun in order to support life (till we f*cked it up with climate change, of course) and the insanely small odds against the exact elements being created in the Big Bang to allow for the formation of life, and the coincidence angle starts to be the least probable explanation of all.
That's one of the best things about theoretical physics, of course -- take it far enough and it inevitably becomes something else... poetry... spirituality.... philosophy...
Another genius post, Will - and I love the idea that the Moon has been constructed.
Another contender for time traveller is of course JS Bach - but this is not an original thought. Douglas Adams included it as a final notion in one of his novels - excuse me while I check the title - I think it must be in Dirk Gently (it’s been a while). Won’t someone notice that ‘JS Bach’ has composed enough music to fill three lifetimes? No, probably not.
I think it’s terrific that your grandfather is still turning up with maths problems for you. He clearly thinks you are capable of solving them. Such a vote of confidence!
lovely work, Will. Sorry you missed the eclipse - but so did everyone in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s no big deal. Come and see one of ours sometime: 5 December 2029.
You did cover a LOT of territory. It was interesting, though.
Maybe Dr. Sarfatti was a Time Lord ?
& after my dad died, I still had dreams that I would awaken from dripping sweat, teeth clenched, pulse pounding, because my dad & I argued in them. & we weren't on the Moon either. 😏🖖
Hi Will, I stumbled across your essay through a Substack portal and enjoyed it immensely. Your segues sent me spinning in the best possible way and I look forward to reading more.
That freakish cosmic coincidence of the relative sizes of the sun and the moon and their distances from one another has always blown me away. I was discussing it with my youngest son only the other day in fact. In fact it strikes me that the likelihood is so ridiculously unlikely, that I proposed to him that it might not be coincidental at all, and that - maybe - it’s in fact an example of some kind of cosmic symmetry, the finer points of which the human race is yet to understand. We left our discussion there. Interesting food for thought.
Such beautiful and magical and deep-thinking writing, Will! I have been through a few eclipses in my lifetime and our moon is always a potent force for us all. When I hear "pink moon", I have to think of the decades-old marvelous TV commercial with Nick Drake's haunting song "Pink Moon" as the background, as a small group of young people are out for a midnight drive in a VW convertible. The drive, the youth, the music, the stunning summer night, it still makes me tear up as I also remember my own youth. Enjoy the minutes of your life, it goes SO fast! Just look up "Pink Moon VW commercial" and you will find this utter masterpiece. No dialogue, just the enjoyment of the people, the moon, the drive and the music. Cherish your life! Moonlight is certainly a powerful thing...
Will, each essay of yours is a brilliant loop to fall into. I cannot wait to see which threads you pull into your essays, how they seem to breathe on the page, following along to their own moonlit momentum. Just so beautiful, we're lucky to have you share these with us each full moon. 🌕
This was amazing. I have no idea how you manage to cover so much ground and weave everything together so neatly like this! I loved it so much I reread it immediately as soon as I got to the end (and to get my head around some of the time travel theory.) The way you write about your grandad is beautiful.
As interesting as ever Will Dowd. And sly, and subtle and sad. But tell me please, why Pink Moon? Also, what does ‘become a mathematician’ mean? Are you not one by virtue of doing the maths? Like writing?
How do you write this? Awestruck by every turn it takes from the beginning to this end. 💜 Not tempted to tamper with the past because I am grateful that one has found their way towards writing.
What a wonderful post, Will! I read it twice and even more interesting the second time. Love the photos, too. Your grandfather was both brilliant and handsome…
My grandpa just read me Calvin & Hobbes and had me listen to baseball on the radio, which taught me sarcasm and the perfect time to make a double switch
Another marvelous dispatch. Will Dowd’s posts seem lit from within by the mysterious glow of the penumbra. A magical essayist and an artist of the tangential finesse. Thank you!
This was so beautifully written. Thank you. I too missed the eclipse up in Maine, because I'm currently so swept away by my passion for my Beatles writing that I don't have time or interest in dating other experiences.
Speaking of, I'd add John Lennon and Paul McCartney to the list of possible time travelers. If we're making a list, that is.
Finally, *By a freakish cosmic coincidence, the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to the Earth, making the Moon and the Sun appear roughly the same size in the sky and allowing the occasional perfectly fitted solar eclipse.*
It seems to me to stretch credibility more to call this a coincidence than to consider that it's very much not. Add that to all the other "coincidences" that had to happen for the earth to be the exact right distance from the sun in order to support life (till we f*cked it up with climate change, of course) and the insanely small odds against the exact elements being created in the Big Bang to allow for the formation of life, and the coincidence angle starts to be the least probable explanation of all.
That's one of the best things about theoretical physics, of course -- take it far enough and it inevitably becomes something else... poetry... spirituality.... philosophy...
Another genius post, Will - and I love the idea that the Moon has been constructed.
Another contender for time traveller is of course JS Bach - but this is not an original thought. Douglas Adams included it as a final notion in one of his novels - excuse me while I check the title - I think it must be in Dirk Gently (it’s been a while). Won’t someone notice that ‘JS Bach’ has composed enough music to fill three lifetimes? No, probably not.
I think it’s terrific that your grandfather is still turning up with maths problems for you. He clearly thinks you are capable of solving them. Such a vote of confidence!
lovely work, Will. Sorry you missed the eclipse - but so did everyone in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s no big deal. Come and see one of ours sometime: 5 December 2029.
Anne
Loved this, Will.
You did cover a LOT of territory. It was interesting, though.
Maybe Dr. Sarfatti was a Time Lord ?
& after my dad died, I still had dreams that I would awaken from dripping sweat, teeth clenched, pulse pounding, because my dad & I argued in them. & we weren't on the Moon either. 😏🖖
Hi Will, I stumbled across your essay through a Substack portal and enjoyed it immensely. Your segues sent me spinning in the best possible way and I look forward to reading more.
That freakish cosmic coincidence of the relative sizes of the sun and the moon and their distances from one another has always blown me away. I was discussing it with my youngest son only the other day in fact. In fact it strikes me that the likelihood is so ridiculously unlikely, that I proposed to him that it might not be coincidental at all, and that - maybe - it’s in fact an example of some kind of cosmic symmetry, the finer points of which the human race is yet to understand. We left our discussion there. Interesting food for thought.
Such beautiful and magical and deep-thinking writing, Will! I have been through a few eclipses in my lifetime and our moon is always a potent force for us all. When I hear "pink moon", I have to think of the decades-old marvelous TV commercial with Nick Drake's haunting song "Pink Moon" as the background, as a small group of young people are out for a midnight drive in a VW convertible. The drive, the youth, the music, the stunning summer night, it still makes me tear up as I also remember my own youth. Enjoy the minutes of your life, it goes SO fast! Just look up "Pink Moon VW commercial" and you will find this utter masterpiece. No dialogue, just the enjoyment of the people, the moon, the drive and the music. Cherish your life! Moonlight is certainly a powerful thing...
Will, each essay of yours is a brilliant loop to fall into. I cannot wait to see which threads you pull into your essays, how they seem to breathe on the page, following along to their own moonlit momentum. Just so beautiful, we're lucky to have you share these with us each full moon. 🌕
This was amazing. I have no idea how you manage to cover so much ground and weave everything together so neatly like this! I loved it so much I reread it immediately as soon as I got to the end (and to get my head around some of the time travel theory.) The way you write about your grandad is beautiful.
Every time I read one of your pieces, I am full of admiration for how elegantly you write and the tangents you draw 😍
As interesting as ever Will Dowd. And sly, and subtle and sad. But tell me please, why Pink Moon? Also, what does ‘become a mathematician’ mean? Are you not one by virtue of doing the maths? Like writing?