Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 May 19

= May 19 =

Reliable biography of Nikola Tesla
I have seen all sorts of nonsense about Nikola Tesla, pro- and con-. Can anyone recommend a sympathetic but not credulous biography? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 21:14, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

I am reposting this from the Science desk, whence it is about five minutes from archiving, the two disembiggened comments below were from the prior thread. μηδείς (talk) 23:58, 18 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Where do you draw the line between sympathetic and credulous? InedibleHulk (talk) 06:04, 15 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, one that doesn't embrace crackpot conspiracy theories, but which gives reliable, objective information on projects he's believed to have worked on--basically one that takes neither a pro- nor a debunking stance as a whole. I only ever learned enough electricity to pass Physics for Science Majors 201 & 202 over the summer, then promptly forgot it. So I know there are depictions of him by David Bowie and suggestions he was the basis for Ayn Rand's John Galt, but that's not very helpful or reliable. μηδείς (talk) 17:47, 15 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks, much clearer. No suggestions, sadly. Just wondering. Most of what I know about the man is from Wikipedia. Here's an "Epic Rap Battle" between him and Edison, though. You might like it. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:19, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

To bring up the obvious, did you look at the Wikipedia biography and its references? 70.36.142.114 (talk) 07:07, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I haven't read this book, but I'd start here if I were in the market . It's endorsed by the AAAS, which might be worth something. SemanticMantis (talk) 00:08, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

I've read the wikipedia article, but the problem is that it is not itself a reliable source. I certainly wouldn't read, say, the Ayn Rand article, and rely on its bibliography or citations for reliable sources. Semantic's recommendation seems to be what I am looking for. Except for some very obvious trolls, I trust the contributors here enough to expect an educated answer when someone says, well, I have read X and found it useful and reliable. μηδείς (talk) 02:36, 20 May 2014 (UTC)


 * I have ordered the one User:SemanticMantis has recommended. μηδείς (talk) 17:31, 22 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Cool, let me know if you'd recommend it ;) SemanticMantis (talk) 20:26, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

A general blackout
I have just seen the movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and there is a complete power outage in the city caused by the villain. Even the airport lost all power, and struggled trying to contact with two planes about to crash in midair for the sudden loss of communications that forces them to fly blind. The heroes manage to defeat the villain and restore power, just in time for the airport to tell the planes of the imminent clash, prevented with one of those crazy plane maneuvers usually seen in WWI fights.

This left me with the doubt: what if there was an epic fail somewhere in the line, and New York gets in a complete power outage as the one seen in the movie? Do airports or planes have backup plans for such circumstances (ignored in the movie for the sake of drama), or would they be in the same state of imminent disaster hinted by the movie? Cambalachero (talk) 00:01, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * If hospitals have generators, batteries, etc for vital functions (which they're supposed to), I'd assume airports do, too. Ian.thomson (talk) 00:04, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Modern airliners are equipped with airborne collision avoidance systems (particularly something like TCAS that operate independently of air traffic control or other ground facilities -- in the US, the mandate is over 20 years old. Additionally, in the event of catastrophic failure of ATC at a given airport, other area ATC centers would take up control, and all airliners would abort takeoff or landing procedures at the affected airport(s). Note further that such abort procedures are well-documented for all airports served by commercial interests in the US, and are required information to have on-hand in the cockpit. So no, the movie bears no resemblance to reality. &mdash; Lomn 00:57, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Note that New York City did in fact suffer "epic fail" blackouts in 1965, 1977, and 2003, and none of these resulted in any airline disasters. --50.100.193.30 (talk) 03:54, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * However, Scandinavian Airlines 911, almost ran out of fuel due to lack of ATC at what is now JFK in the 1965 blackout. CS Miller (talk) 14:25, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Just incidentally, it was it already JFK then. JFK had died in 1963.
 * Not a propitious flight number though. Alansplodge (talk) 17:09, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * The first episode of Connections (1978) discusses that blackout and portrays that flight (among other incidents), with James Burke narrating as he walks around the WTC. —Tamfang (talk) 23:23, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Not a propitious place to be walking around talking about that flight, then! --50.100.193.30 (talk) 03:37, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I remember watching that programme, the point of which was that if there was a big enough power cut, modern society would quickly end and we'd all have to revert to subsistence farming. Even as a teenager, I thought that was nonsense. Alansplodge (talk) 12:49, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Agreed, and he unfortuntely says so explicitly a couple of times through the series, but it served as a decent device to illustrate how interconnected everything is, which was his main point. He clarifies his position in the final episode, which is then hamstrung by a ridiculous extended sequence of things getting smashed with a hammer. Thankfully cut from most North American broadcasts. Matt Deres (talk) 20:17, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Isidore Chesse
Could someone help me find the exact dates or just months in which Isidore Chesse stayed on Huahine, Raiatea and Bora Bora, respectively and when he finally return to Tahiti? I'm guessing the dates are between July 1895 and February 1896. Also was he on the Aube when this was taken in 1897 (the rebellion ended in 1897).--KAVEBEAR (talk) 01:50, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Found this account, at (http://histoire.assemblee.pf/) Histoire de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie Française: Voyages autour du monde, pp.20-24. --Askedonty (talk) 06:49, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Corporate influence over politics in first world democracies
After looking over this study (and other works by the same authors), I've gotten to wondering:
 * If there's any counter research showing flaws in that study.
 * What the difference is between public opinion and actual policy is in other first world democracies or democratic republics.

For those who don't feel like reading the study, but might have run across it in the news, it's a Princeton study that concludes that policy-making in the US does not reflect the common voter's will at all but almost purely those of corporate interests, and that this has been a solid fact for decades. Ian.thomson (talk) 02:10, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * This is a matter of ongoing controversy. If you look for flaws, you will be disappointed to find confirmations. It's economic elites and special interest groups, not just corporate interests. EllenCT (talk) 05:29, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Just pointing out that study says "Forthcoming in Fall 2014" in a large watermark -- it isn't even fully "published" yet. I'm sure we could dig up critical references to other works by those authors, but nobody will be submitting critiques of a pre-print to peer-reviewed journals. Sometimes, an important article can get a critical response note in the next issue of the same journal. So keep your eye out for that in the fall. If you just want general criticism of the authors or their methods, use google scholar to search for papers that cite some earlier work, then search within those for articles that seem to come to different conclusions. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:56, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * How about if you're trying to avoid confirmation bias? EllenCT (talk) 17:14, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

wondering about a strange sociology documentary
I'm wondering about a documentary that we watched in high school Sociology class, about poor, rural Americans. I only remember two parts:

- A man wearing a "CAT" baseball cap said that he likes to sit on his porch holding a copy of the Bible to impress people, but that in fact he does not know how to read.

- A family sitting in their living room spontaneously decide to wrestle.

I think (although I am not certain) that it was black and white and filmed in the 1970's.

At the time I was shocked by how ignorant and strange the people seemed. Perhaps that was the intention.

Anyone know anything about it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Snoopies622 (talk • contribs) 16:31, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * The "CAT" is probably Caterpillar Tractor, which makes it likely to be set in the central USA. StuRat (talk) 16:57, 19 May 2014 (UTC)


 * I saw someone wearing a CAT hat just the other day, here in Hong Kong . . . DOR (HK) (talk) 03:51, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Do they have hipsters yet in Hong Kong?--06:10, 21 May 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.204.228.240 (talk)

Three newspapers that dropped Doonesbury because of the Andy Lippincott story
As explained, among other, in our article on Andy Lippincott, that "storyline led to a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Garry Trudeau, but three newspapers of the 900 carrying the strip refused to publish it as being in bad taste." The given reference is a snippet from the Miami Herald, but I'd have to purchase the article in order to find out which three newspapers are meant. Does anyone here know or can anyone find the names of these three newspapers? Thank you in advance! ---Sluzzelin talk  20:31, 19 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Web search finds the three papers were the "Columbus (Ohio) Citizen-Journal", the "Cleveland Press" and the "Houston Post". 70.36.142.114 (talk) 00:25, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks! ---Sluzzelin talk  06:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)


 * It's worth pointing out that as Trudeau's characters became more and more like political commentators, a number of newspapers got around this controversy by moving the strip from the comic page to the editorial page. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:40, 21 May 2014 (UTC)