Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 November 21

= November 21 =

Gardes-du-Corps du Roi
Can you help me to find info about Major-Général Marquis d'Aguesseau? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.116.56.46 (talk) 09:32, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * This genealogy site gives his full name as Charles-Albert Xavier d’Aguesseau, who died in Paris in 1806 (see p. 10). There are a few results when you google his full name, but not a whole lot besides his ancestry and a brief mention of his title. Xuxl (talk) 14:58, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Namesake of cities named Jackson
In 2021, people from New Hampshire voted to change the namesake of their city from Andrew Jackson to Charles Thomas Jackson because they didn't like the way Andrew Jackson was a slave-owner. But why didn't any other cities named Jackson participate in this event?? If possible, please show me some web sites that talk about why. Georgia guy (talk) 15:55, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * You could research the various cities with Jackson in their names and see how many were named for Andrew. But keep in mind that changing names of smaller entities like schools and buildings is one thing, but changing names of cities is another - rather expensive, and all on the shoulders of the taxpayers who, on average, probably don't feel like paying for it. Nearly every state has cities and other entities named for George Washington and/or Thomas Jefferson. Those aren't going to change anytime soon. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:06, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Baseball Bugs, this is not about changing the names of cities, such as changing a city's name from Columbus to Washington. This is about changing the namesakes of cities; specifically changing the namesake of a city from Andrew Jackson to Charles Thomas Jackson. Georgia guy (talk) 16:14, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * That's easy enough to do. See the history of Kenan Stadium, for example. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:09, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * This actually involved a name change: Kenan Memorial Stadium → Kenan Stadium. --Lambiam 11:03, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * For at the County level, King County, Washington change the name of its honoree. But there is nothing in the article that I think would help track down other cities or counties.Naraht (talk) 19:39, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Why would they? Seems like pointless virtue signaling that doesn't actually change the historic fact of who the city was really named for. And who's to say that the new namesake won't become just as hated in the future? Finally, how many people in towns like this know or even care whether it is named after Andrew Jackson or Michael Jackson? --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 20:11, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * And which Michael Jackson (disambiguation)? If a Jackson entity in Wisconsin or Illinois wishes to change their namesake without generating too many ripples, they might also opt for Andrew B. Jackson. --Lambiam 11:12, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * At the risk of straying into debate: 'virtue signalling' is not necessarily pointless if it is a conscious signal that someone does not agree with a long-standing societal imbalance, and wishes to demonstrate genuine sympathy with those who may feel distress as a result of it. A place name's origin is a historical fact, but a symbolic change may at least indicate that it is a history now officially regretted, in a society where inherited prejudice is still a significant factor.
 * I suspect that in the context of such towns in the USA a good many people, particularly those with formerly exploited ethnicities, are well aware of who Andrew Jackson was and what he stood for, and that the gesture would be a positive thing for them while costing everybody else nothing.
 * I write, incidentally, as an indigenous North-West European with no personal connection to the milieu (and continent) concerned: perhaps those who have first-hand involvement might also wish to respond. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.241.161.192 (talk) 01:28, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * If they really want to distance themselves from the original namesake, they should actually change the town's name. Just changing the namesake comes off as "we get that you're upset, but you can't really expect us to actually DO anything". As you say, it "cost[s] everybody else nothing" - making it worth exactly the same amount. And either option is pointless unless the people behave in a way that repudiates the bad behavior of the past. User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 12:11, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

SkyTrain (Vancouver)
Hi. SkyTrain (Vancouver) installed payment gates sometime around 2014 to 2016ish. Before that, there were no payment gates around the entire system.

Was SkyTrain (Vancouver) the last public transit system in North America without payment gates?

What was the second last public transit system in North America without payment gates? (Assuming that there was another one besides SkyTrain) Liberté2 (talk) 19:08, 21 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Capital MetroRail still relies on random ticket inspections, as far as I know (though it might not be considered much of a "system"...) -- AnonMoos (talk) 01:48, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Very interesting. Thank you. Liberté2 (talk) 00:40, 23 November 2023 (UTC)


 * I just found the Proof-of-payment article which is proper term for "no payment gate" systems.
 * The Proof-of-payment article links to RTA Rapid Transit, which is partially Proof-of-payment and partially payment gated. Liberté2 (talk) 00:47, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * GO Transit in Ontario also does not have ticket gates for rail service.70.67.193.176 (talk) 16:16, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

Are it matter?
What did the contemporary natural philosophers (scientists) said about Boscovichs attampt to disproof "matter"? What was the history of his reception? 2A02:8071:60A0:92E0:F449:B8EF:BF01:2FA1 (talk) 21:42, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * What's the Latin for "TLDR"? <-Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots-> 23:21, 21 November 2023 (UTC)


 * 2A02:8071:60A0:92E0:F449:B8EF:BF01:2FA1 -- The sentence in your section header sounds bizarrely ungrammatical to English speakers. Anyway, we have an article Roger Joseph Boscovich... AnonMoos (talk) 01:39, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I think its a failed wordplay with "does it matter". Because the section is about if matter exists at all. 2A02:8071:60A0:92E0:F449:B8EF:BF01:2FA1 (talk) 11:38, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Encountering the verb "are" automatically causes English-speakers to look for a plural or 2nd-person subject (or if the subject is "there", a plural predicate), so if there isn't one, then "are" is hanging out in space, unconnected with anything else... AnonMoos (talk) 21:02, 22 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Having read the article out of personal interest, it strikes me that in the Works section, the parenthesised English translations of his Latin-titled publications ought not to be in italics, and I cannot myself edit them as the article is semi-protected (and I have resolutely avoided opening a User account for the past 20 years). If I'm right, perhaps someone (, for example?) might care to. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.241.161.192 (talk) 07:31, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Why "ought" they not to be in italics? It is fairly common practice in other articles. For example, from Isaac Newton, "His pioneering book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, ...". From Molière, "Few plays survive from this period. The most noteworthy are L'Étourdi ou les Contretemps (The Bungler) and Le Docteur Amoureux (The Doctor in Love)". And from Alfred Döblin, "In May 1913, he completed his third novel The Three Leaps of Wang Lun (Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lun)." --Lambiam 10:09, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * See Manual_of_Style/Titles_of_works and take your pick. --Wrongfilter (talk) 11:08, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Joseph Priestly corresponded with Boskovich and expounded his theory of matter in the books The History and Present State of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light, and Colours (also referred to as The History of Opticks) (1772) and Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit (1777), arousing a great deal of interest in Boskovich's theory among British scientists. --Lambiam 10:51, 22 November 2023 (UTC)


 * The caption of the image of the first page of figures from Theoria Philosophiæ Naturalis in the article Roger Joseph Boscovich states,
 * Am I alone in not clearly seeing this? (Figure 2 might represent gravitational attraction.) --Lambiam 14:26, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Might refer to the asymptotic behaviour at large separations, with the wiggles and the central repulsion being Boscovich's thing? Figure 2 by comparison looks purely Newtonian. --Wrongfilter (talk) 15:32, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Yep, he develops and discusses the curve here (77ff.). --Wrongfilter (talk) 15:40, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Yep, he develops and discusses the curve here (77ff.). --Wrongfilter (talk) 15:40, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

I saw that I was mentioned, what are you talking about? JackkBrown (talk) 12:54, 22 November 2023 (UTC)


 * It was a matter of whether some italics should be de-italicised, which falls within your interests, but Lambian has persuaded me that I was wrong to suggest it, so don't worry about it. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.218.227.124 (talk) 00:38, 23 November 2023 (UTC)