4 Comments

I first heard about domino toppling at some point in the 1970s and became fascinated with the concept. Bob Speca then an astronomy student (a favorite subject of mine and my college minor), studying at University of Pennsylvania set a Guinness Book of World Records with 11,111 dominoes toppled. Of course that number today would be considered quaint with the hundreds of thousands toppled today routinely.

Expand full comment

Michel Grand has pointed out to me that the 2 illustrations from Kolumbus-Eier (ca 1889) were "rented/stolen" from the weekly magazine "La Nature" directed by Gaston Tissandier!

The 1st image is from La Nature 419 du 16-06-1881 (p. 28)

https://cnum.cnam.fr/pgi/fpage.php?4KY28.17/0032/30/432/8/420

And it has been later published in the 5th edition of Tissandier's "Les récréations scientifiques" (p. 47) see

https://www.livre-rare-book.com/book/29917375/WOC-1034

The 2nd image is from La Nature 834 du 25-05-1889 (p. 416)

https://cnum.cnam.fr/pgi/fpage.php?4KY28.32/0420/50/432/5/420

Expand full comment

Fame at last! Thanks, David.

You can do something similar to your last illustrations as a game of trust for a group of people. Get them to stand in a circle, each one facing the back of the person next to them, about 15 inches, or 40 cm, apart. Then all simultaneously sit down on each other's knees. Though, given the squeamishness of teenage boys and girls - "I'm not sitting on HIS knee!" - it often results in them falling like dominoes :-)

Expand full comment

Does this count as 'misusing teenagers'?

Expand full comment