Difference between revisions of "Pages 489-508"

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489 · Back to Steeply and Marathe

Page 489

Y.D.A.U.

plexus
an intricate network

tête
French: head

Page 490

I/O
Input/Output

C'est ça
French: that's that

Page 491

ALGOL
a short term for Algorithmic language

491 · Flashback to Himself's Childhood

Page 491

Endnote 208

Institut für Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, Kernforschungszentrum
German: Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Engineering, Nuclear Research Center (a real organization)

Karlsruhe
a city in Germany about 90 miles south of Frankfurt (Main)

U.R.G.
probably United Republic of Germany

Y.T.M.P.

Springer-Verlag
one of the largest publishers in Germany

Wien
the German name for Vienna, capital of Austria

Page 491 (cont'd)

Bazin
André Bazin (1918-1958) was a French film theorist and director.

Page 492

Eureka
Ancient Greek for "I've found it," made famous by Archimedes

metastisate
He means "metastatize."

gibber
to chatter unintelligibly

Page 493

Synchronicity
the state of happening simultaneously

Concord
agreement

Page 494

declivity
downward slope or hill

Page 495

hypotenuse

the longest arm of a right triangle

right dihedral triangle
A right triangle is one whose largest angle is 90º. Dihedral means "having two sides."

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Page 497

ebullient
zestfully enthusiastic

caster
wheel

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Page 499

rodential
like a rodent

stalactite
the kind of V-shaped rock formations in caves that come down from the top

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Page 502

Powell's Peeping Tom
Michael Latham Powell (1905-1990) was a British filmmaker, and Peeping Tom was one of his films.

hex
i.e., hexagonal, having six sides

L'Hôpital
Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital (1661-1704), was a French mathematician.

Bernoulli
Jacob Bernoulli (1654-1705) was a Swiss mathematician.

Brachistochrone
a reference to a brachistochrone curve

Page 503

503 · NA Meeting

Page 503

anechoic vestry
Anechoic means "characterized by a low level of reverberation"; a vestry is where the priests' vestments (clothing for mass) are kept between ceremonies.

lassitude
weariness of body

catalepsy
suspension of sensation, which bodily rigidity

circadian arrhythmia
sleep disturbance

Page 504

anhedonia
inability to feel pleasure

peristyle
a colonnade surrounding an open space, or the space so encircled

astrolabes
a type of navigational device used before the invention of the sextant

prickets
sharp metal points on which to stick candles

Knights of Columbus
a Catholic fraternal order

Penn Station
the chief national train station in New York, at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue

Page 505

styptic
contracting tissue

dis
act of disrespect

Page 506

anorak
a hooded pullover jacket

bonhommic
a neologism, meaning "denoting good-heartedness"

Page 507

Keds
a brand of sneaker

507 · More Steeply and Marathe

Page 507

C'est la guerre
French: That's war

Perseus
the constellation of the flying horse

jongleur
a wandering minstrel

pantalone
a stock mime character, often the butt of jokes

Castor and Pollux
stars in the constellation Gemini, named for twin sons of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology

Page 508