it contains valuable info re: the Berlin Academy, how it was set up, where they met, how it worked, the inner feuds, alliances and power plays, so it's a valuable research tool if one wants, say, write about Algarotti and/or Peter Keith having academic interactions.
That's exactly why I got it, and why I gave it to you. It was useful for "Lovers" already!
our otherwise dry author observes that she can't think of what Algarotti was supposed to contribute to the expedition, "except for his company", since he wasn't a geometer, a surveyor or a man of action who couldn't have helped with the hardcore travel parts. Ms Terrell, hot stuff Algarotti was clearly part of the intendended entertainment for the Lappland nights!
Lol! I noticed that! Dissertation author thinks he was supposed to contribute science, since he had experience reproducing Newton's experiments with prisms, and in fact was the first person in Italy to successfully reproduce the results.
But obviously you're right, Algarotti is supposed to be the antidote to the cold nights! I can just imagine our favorite people pleaser exhausted in the mornings from a less than restful night. :D
Maupertuis: Also gets married to Fräulein von Borck, scion of one of the old Brandenburg families
Terrell's footnote helped me figure out who the Borck was who was Peter's predecessor as Academy curator! We're definitely collecting Borcks; there were a few mentions in recent Ziebura reading, and those I still haven't sorted out.
(I have to say, his story about his reception at Vienna, which is partly in the main text and partly in a footnote, would have deserved some authorial scepticism from Terrel. I can buy FS gave him a golden watch to compensate him from the one stolen from him in the scuffle of him getting taken prisoner, but the supposed dialogue with MT about who's the most beautiful Queen of them all really defies belief.)
Right?
Maupertuis: ...Okay. Academy members, we will model this Academy and its interactions on the new modern state of Prussia. I'm Fritz, of course. You're everyone else.
I thought this was a very fascinating part of the book. And I totally believe the vote was unanimous because dissenters were intimidated, what with Fritz : Prussia :: Maupertuis : Academy.
Thank you for the hilarious and educational soap opera! I laughed and facepalmed with delight all the way through. :D You have a way with words; plus, this will make another excellent addition to rheinsberg.
Re: Maupertuis
That's exactly why I got it, and why I gave it to you. It was useful for "Lovers" already!
our otherwise dry author observes that she can't think of what Algarotti was supposed to contribute to the expedition, "except for his company", since he wasn't a geometer, a surveyor or a man of action who couldn't have helped with the hardcore travel parts. Ms Terrell, hot stuff Algarotti was clearly part of the intendended entertainment for the Lappland nights!
Lol! I noticed that! Dissertation author thinks he was supposed to contribute science, since he had experience reproducing Newton's experiments with prisms, and in fact was the first person in Italy to successfully reproduce the results.
But obviously you're right, Algarotti is supposed to be the antidote to the cold nights! I can just imagine our favorite people pleaser exhausted in the mornings from a less than restful night. :D
Maupertuis: Also gets married to Fräulein von Borck, scion of one of the old Brandenburg families
Terrell's footnote helped me figure out who the Borck was who was Peter's predecessor as Academy curator! We're definitely collecting Borcks; there were a few mentions in recent Ziebura reading, and those I still haven't sorted out.
(I have to say, his story about his reception at Vienna, which is partly in the main text and partly in a footnote, would have deserved some authorial scepticism from Terrel. I can buy FS gave him a golden watch to compensate him from the one stolen from him in the scuffle of him getting taken prisoner, but the supposed dialogue with MT about who's the most beautiful Queen of them all really defies belief.)
Right?
Maupertuis: ...Okay. Academy members, we will model this Academy and its interactions on the new modern state of Prussia. I'm Fritz, of course. You're everyone else.
I thought this was a very fascinating part of the book. And I totally believe the vote was unanimous because dissenters were intimidated, what with Fritz : Prussia :: Maupertuis : Academy.
Thank you for the hilarious and educational soap opera! I laughed and facepalmed with delight all the way through. :D You have a way with words; plus, this will make another excellent addition to