History

The Raytheon Radarange was the first commercially available microwave. A clunky, chrome box weighing over 340 kg and costing over $5,000, the Radarange wasn’t widely adopted at the time. However, this artifact was chosen because it was a foundational step in advancing consumer food technology by changing the way Americans prepared food. The Radarange was invented as a result of melted chocolate. In a Raytheon lab, Percy Spencer realized that his candy bar melted when he placed his chocolate bar next to a magnetron. Spencer realized that the magnetron (a special type of vacuum tube) was producing electromagnetic radiation, causing his chocolate bar to melt. Fascinated by this result, Spencer then took a bag of corn kernels and placed them near his magnetron, all of which popped into fresh, hot popcorn all over his lab. Presumably after a few laughs, Spencer and Raytheon realized the true potential of the technology they had on their hands and refined it to create the Radarange, sold starting in 1947. ...

This is an advertisement for the Altair 8800 personal computer in the Popular Electronics Magazine. The Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer kit and was sold beginning in January 1975, when it was featured on the cover of the Popular Electronics magazine. This magazine had been the life and soul of the personal electronics culture in America, and being nominated to the cover marketed the Altair 8800 massively. It was sold as a DIY kit for around $400, and it was a plain metal box with switches and blinking lights. It was nowhere close to the PCs that consumers have today, but it was a massive success with the “hackers” of the 1970s. ...

From the moment we are born, there are expectations placed on us: go to school, find a job, start a family, build a life. Society gives us a blueprint on how to live a “meaningful” life. However, existentialism fundamentally rejects the premise that we have some “predetermined” purpose; instead, it suggests that it is up to an individual to find purpose in their life. Existentialists become aware of the “absurdity” of human existence: the fact that life itself lacks any inherent meaning beyond what we choose to give it. This problem, where humans seek purpose in a universe that offers none, leads to a dilemma: should we accept the illusion of meaning from society, or should we create our own? ...

We’ve seen the rise of many great empires and nations–Romans and their expansive empire, the British and their global dominance–only to see it crumble to dust. We can blame a lot of things on these collapses: new rising nations, changing technology, unexpected external factors. However, the collapse typically comes from within, as the relationship between the government and its citizens starts to crack and fail. This dramatic decay can be explained by a concept called the social contract. The social contract is one of the most important ideas in political philosophy (the study of the nature of politics, society, and the relationship between citizens and government). It states that citizens willingly consent to give up some personal freedoms to a governing authority, in exchange for the protection of their rights. To put it really simply, citizens give up some free will to gain protection from the government. The social contract was essential to the founding of the United States, but the digital age is bringing new changes to this centuries-old concept. ...

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana The present can seem like a very unstable and turbulent time. It seems as if the world is splitting itself apart, becoming more polarized and opinionated. However, to understand the direction the world is headed, we need to look back in the past for answers. Now, Hegel is notorious for being incredibly difficult to read. His works are often long-winded and use poor english to convey his thoughts. However, his ideas are incredibly important to understand. However, one of his ideas is incredibly important to understand: the dialectic. When broken down, the dialectic is not a very complicated idea. ...

Since the dawn of human civilization, the night sky has captivated us in a way that no other object has. From the silvery moon rising in the sky to the tiny pinpricks of light we now know as stars and planets, humans have spent countless hours observing and documenting the night sky. The process began as far back as the Babylonians and their written record of the night sky, to the Mesoamerican civilizations who based a large majority of their calendar on the moon, and then the Indian and Arabic civilizations with their massive technological advancements to help observe the night sky. ...

On February 24, 1803, the first and most influential supreme court case of America occurred. This case lives in obscurity to most citizens, but without it, the Supreme Court would not have the power it has today. The issue of the case arose from a seemingly simple dispute. It all began during the Election of 1800. When incumbent president John Adams was voted out of office, he created a scheme to keep his party, the Federalists, in control of one of the branches of the government. Adams promoted many Federalists to become circuit judges and justices of peace. This way, the Federalist party could control the Judicial Branch of the government. However, one man that was promised a commission, William Marbury, never received one before Jefferson came into office. Jefferson declared the commission void and told his Secretary of State, James Madison, to not deliver the commission. Marbury sued Madison, and the court case began. The Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison changed America for the better because it established the principle of judicial review, increased the power of the Supreme Court, and protected the rights of citizens. ...

Hi. It’s been a while. Sorry for not writing at all! I’ve been pretty busy, but I didn’t write because I was very lazy. So anyways, I’m back! Let’s get into today’s topic! China. You can’t read the news without hearing about China. China is predicted to take over the US as the number one global superpower by 2032, and some estimate that to be even earlier. But how did this happen? As always, when you look at a topic, start with the basics. How did China begin, and how did their beginning differ from the US? Let’s dive into the birth of China. ...