Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 August 2

= August 2 =

Albert Maignan >
I was struck by the odd photographic quality of the diver figure and its apparent incongruity with the other works in the gallery and wanted to find out more; yet Google Images reverse search and Google does not bring up anything but Alamy Images and Wikipedia mirrors, and the link in the file description is unavailable in both the live web and in the Internet Archive recorded copy. Does anyone have more information about it? Suzukaze-c (talk) 00:31, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I could find nothing more in the way you're requesting, the subject of medusas being by the way submerged by the famous raft by Géricault, Albert_Maignan_-_La_sir%C3%A8ne.jpg was, besides artistic also a political matter. I can only suggest regarding Maignan's Méduses that there is a possibility there was half an allegoric, half of a promotional intent, an allegory leading to the depths instead of to torment in the skies like more often. Following a quite daring hypothesis would be it's an allegory about dentistry (so see also: Thomas W. Evans) Perhaps instead, or at the same time, an auto-parody by the painter himself. Or a hoax. He was criticized for not giving enough contrast and light to La Sirène "On voudrait un peu plus de scintillemens et de chatoiemens dans tous ces coquillages et ces fleurs aquatiques dont M. Albert Maignan a tapissé le Dormoir sous-marin de la Sirène,", "We would like more sparkle and sparkle in all those seashells and aquatic flowers(..)" source:Revue des Deux Mondes, 1891 --Askedonty (talk) 15:51, 2 August 2021 (UTC) I'm submitting a request to the author of the original upload on Commons for getting any possible updated details--Askedonty (talk) 16:24, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I've removed the image from the article and proposed it for deletion on Commons. Fut.Perf. ☼ 23:04, 8 August 2021 (UTC)

"We have landed on Niigata"
I recall hearing/seeing/reading somewhere a long time ago about how the Japanese radioed some innocuous statement to their fighter planes to communicate the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack. Maybe it was even heard by the Allies and dismissed as a random unrelated message. I'm pretty sure it went something like "We have landed on the hill at Niigata" or "The eagle has landed on Niigata" or something similar. I'm not finding anything useful on DDG. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I've found the Winds Code and the "Tora Tora Tora" codeword. I'm sure these aren't it, and "Tora Tora Tora" was transmitted after the attack, not before. 93.136.108.147 (talk) 03:10, 2 August 2021 (UTC)


 * "Climb Mt. Niitaka" (not Niigata). --184.144.99.72 (talk) 04:24, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Aah, that's it, thanks! 93.136.108.147 (talk) 08:17, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Who was Dr. Arthur Wiesler?
Dr. Arthur Wiesler was born on February 24, 1876 in Prague in Bohemia to the railway inspector Emanuel Wiesler and his wife Anna Wiesler. Can anyone provide a short biography and a photo? TIA. -- 10:06, 2 August 2021 Horus1927

Who was Dr. phil. Eugen Robert Müller?
Dr. phil. Eugen Robert Müller, Dipl. Masch.-Ing. E. T. H., born on February 23, 1878 in Kirchberg (Bern), son of Jakob Robert Müller-Landsmann (28.09.1852-Nov 1905). Can someone provide a biography and a photo of Eugen Robert Müller? He tried to extract gold from seawater in Nervi (Genoa) in 1914. Can anyone help me to find records on this? TIA. -- 10:38, 2 August 2021 Horus1927

Who was Victor-Felix Fabries?
Victor-Felix Fabries was born in d'Oran(French Algeria) on May 8, 1879. Can someone provide a biography and a photo? He took a patent in 1919-20 on a process to extract gold from seawater (FR501448). Can anyone help me to find the story behind it? TIA. -- 10:44, 2 August 2021 Horus1927


 * Hi Horus1927, am just adding the “find sources” templates in case that can help you or the volunteers here. But I note that we had no luck with the previous question on these gold-from-seawater chaps and that Victor-Felix Fabries in particular doesn’t return any hits in the obvious places. It may be that online isn’t the best place to research this and you’ll need to approach a good reference library? I did find some references discussing the phenomenon in general, including the large number of patents created: ; Wikipedia’s coverage is a couple of paragraphs at Gold, but includes the interesting information that at the time of all these patents, the concentrations of gold in seawater were vastly overestimated. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 17:37, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Arthur Wiesler:
 * Eugen Robert Müller:
 * Victor-Felix Fabries: