Diversion

So recently I find myself reading The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson, whom I may never forgive for failing to write a sequel to The Diamond Age, even if he has done pretty well for himself. In any case, the Cycle is all about 1600's Europe, the birth of modern science & finance and fun things to do in the Mediterranean when you're half-mad with syphilis. I am nerdy enough where I find the bits where characters argue about Newtonian physics nearly as exciting as the scenes where people make bold escapes through Paris on horseback, BUT NOT QUITE. But don't feel bad, Newton, nobody can compete with a character referred to as The Vagabond King. I digress.

The real point here is I caught myself thinking "Oh these Royal Society fellows, I could drop such science bombs on them as would make their heads spin!", which is most likely a lie. When you come down to it, these people were working directly with sciences they barely had names for, but they were elbow-deep and involved with them in ways I can hardly fathom. I, meanwhile, have a lot of vague understandings of advanced theories that I can't claim to understand.

So basically, before I go back in time to impress English gentlemen-philosophers, I better brush up on my physics. And chemistry. And biology. And oh crap, I'm doomed.