Author Archives: William Hooke

(Exercising a smidgen of creative license) In 1961, Ed Lorenz went for a brief walk on the MIT campus while waiting for the computer to run a recalculation. He happened to spot three caterpillars making their way across the quad. … Continue reading →

Megatherium – the giant sloth – failed to survive the Pleistocene. Can we do a better job navigating the Plastocene? The bar might seem low – but the stakes are high, and, fact is, only time will tell. Some of … Continue reading →

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.” ― Lee Iacocca “Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.” ― Jacques … Continue reading →

“Be as shrewd as snakes, and as innocent as doves.” – Jesus (Matthew 10:16, NIV) “In capturing the rattler, to be fair, [Pecos Bill] gave it the first three bites.” – part of the legend of Pecos Bill Across the … Continue reading →

“…And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”  – concluding words of the Declaration of Independence Here’s … Continue reading →

My morning rhythm includes joining 800,000 others (give or take) in a DC-area-wide Metro commute. During rush hours, this includes navigating crowded platforms to-or-from street level. The key to success involves following. The path from train exit door to any … Continue reading →

Print and virtual media have been abuzz these past several days with the rollout of a new United Nations report suggesting that around a million species of animals and plants face extinction worldwide as a result of human activity. The … Continue reading →

Last Saturday (April 27th), at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society, Ernest Moniz, former Energy Secretary for President Barack Obama, and Daniel Nocera, Harvard chemistry professor (and inventor of the artificial leaf and the bionic leaf) – longtime friends … Continue reading →

Years ago, a friend of mine moved into a new house. In the process, he discovered one of the electrical outlets was non-functional. Curious, he pulled the cover and did a bit of disassembly, to find the outlet had been … Continue reading →

The sun is setting on Earth Day 2019. All the commemorations, celebrations, and orations – a world of them! – are winding down, wrapping up, time zone by time zone.   Perhaps the Day’s festivities and more solemn observances have consumed … Continue reading →