Sketchplanations - A weekly explanation in a sketch

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Explaining the world one sketch at a time

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is the sort of artefact that makes history fascinating. It is amazing to behold, has a fascinating story and a controversial past, and is the key to the mystery of hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone has inscribed on it a decree by priests honouring Ptolemy V, who was 13 at the time. The inscription is in hieroglyphic and demotic - both scripts of the Egyptian language - and Greek. Comparing the known Greek with the hieroglyphs with some remarkable talent became the key to deciphering the written language of hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone can be seen for free at the British Museum. I highly recommend it. You could also read Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, a manga comic book featuring the Rosetta Stone.…The Rosetta Stone is the sort of artefact that makes history fascinating. It is amazing to behold, has a fascinating story and a controversial past, and is the key to the mystery of hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone has inscribed on it a decree by priests honouring Ptolemy V, who was 13 at the time. The inscription is in hieroglyphic and demotic - both scripts of the Egyptian language - and Greek. Comparing the known Greek with the hieroglyphs with some remarkable talent became the key to deciphering the written language of hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone can be seen for free at the British Museum. I highly recommend it. You could also read Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, a manga comic book featuring the Rosetta Stone.

16 Sep 2015

Phases of the moon

When it comes to the phases of the moon, it’s good to know your waxing (growing) from your waning (shrinking), and that a gibbous is the shape of the moon when you take a crescent of shadow from a circle of light, and that the hardest moon to see is a new one. Or, as a reader passed on: If it’s light on the right, it’s gonna get bright. If it’s light on the left, it ain’t. Like the moon? Apparently, so do I. Also see: The moon illusion Super moon One side of the moon Blue moon…When it comes to the phases of the moon, it’s good to know your waxing (growing) from your waning (shrinking), and that a gibbous is the shape of the moon when you take a crescent of shadow from a circle of light, and that the hardest moon to see is a new one. Or, as a reader passed on: If it’s light on the right, it’s gonna get bright. If it’s light on the left, it ain’t. Like the moon? Apparently, so do I. Also see: The moon illusion Super moon One side of the moon Blue moon

9 Sep 2015

Ed happily passes the salt when cued to listen to the question with his name upfront: "Ed, would you pass the salt?"

Front load names to cue attention

A helpful observation from not following this many times in my life.…

2 Sep 2015

Koomey’s Law

Koomey's law roughly translates to: The energy efficiency of computers doubles roughly every 18 months. In a new twist beyond Moore’s Law, which shows signs of reaching it’s limits, there’s Koomey’s Law. In his own words, the idea is: “…at a fixed computing load, the amount of battery you need will fall by a factor of two every year and a half.” Why does this matter? It means we can fit more computing power into smaller and smaller devices. This is much of the reason the phone in your pocket is probably more powerful than the EDVAC there in the chart.…Koomey's law roughly translates to: The energy efficiency of computers doubles roughly every 18 months. In a new twist beyond Moore’s Law, which shows signs of reaching it’s limits, there’s Koomey’s Law. In his own words, the idea is: “…at a fixed computing load, the amount of battery you need will fall by a factor of two every year and a half.” Why does this matter? It means we can fit more computing power into smaller and smaller devices. This is much of the reason the phone in your pocket is probably more powerful than the EDVAC there in the chart.

26 Aug 2015

Moore’s Law

This chart is from the original he published - just the five data points. Pretty simple huh? The “observation, originally made in 1965, that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would continue to double every year. Although this increase has slowed to a doubling in eighteen to twenty four months, Moore’s law has held true for nearly fifty years and is the foundation for the astounding Information Technology revolution we see around us.” For those interested in Moore’s law, remarkably, I think the best information is my Dad’s book, The Computing Universe, which is also the source of the quote.…This chart is from the original he published - just the five data points. Pretty simple huh? The “observation, originally made in 1965, that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would continue to double every year. Although this increase has slowed to a doubling in eighteen to twenty four months, Moore’s law has held true for nearly fifty years and is the foundation for the astounding Information Technology revolution we see around us.” For those interested in Moore’s law, remarkably, I think the best information is my Dad’s book, The Computing Universe, which is also the source of the quote.

19 Aug 2015

How to say ghoti as fish from George Bernard Shaw

Crazy English: ghoti

Ghoti is a constructed word intended to illustrate some of the craziness in English punctuation, in that, taking the sounds of its parts from different places, it could be said as fish. Said as: fish Written as: ghoti Derived from: enouGH, wOmen, naTIon In my book -ough, in particular, is the craziest as in enough, thorough, bough, through, although - all pronounced totally differently. I’d heard it credited to George Bernard Shaw, but apparently, his biography credits it to an ‘anonymous spelling reformer’. Related Ideas to Ghoti Also see: Anadiplosis Ordering English adjectives Ablaut Reduplication Homonyms, homographs, homophones and heteronyms Pleonasm…Ghoti is a constructed word intended to illustrate some of the craziness in English punctuation, in that, taking the sounds of its parts from different places, it could be said as fish. Said as: fish Written as: ghoti Derived from: enouGH, wOmen, naTIon In my book -ough, in particular, is the craziest as in enough, thorough, bough, through, although - all pronounced totally differently. I’d heard it credited to George Bernard Shaw, but apparently, his biography credits it to an ‘anonymous spelling reformer’. Related Ideas to Ghoti Also see: Anadiplosis Ordering English adjectives Ablaut Reduplication Homonyms, homographs, homophones and heteronyms Pleonasm

13 Aug 2015

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