“De re aedificatoria” | Leon Battista Alberti
Christianity is surging in America.
We will not become Europe.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 25, 2025
Compute the stress curves for the half-circular arch beam
“De re aedificatoria” | Leon Battista Alberti
Christianity is surging in America.
We will not become Europe.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 25, 2025
Compute the stress curves for the half-circular arch beam
FIREWORKS: PYROTECHNIC ARTS AND SCIENCES IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
Simon Werrett | University College London
Fireworks are synonymous with celebration in the twenty-first century. But pyrotechnics—in the form of rockets, crackers, wheels, and bombs—have exploded in sparks and noise to delight audiences in Europe ever since the Renaissance. Here, Simon Werrett shows that, far from being only a means of entertainment, fireworks helped foster advances in natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, and many other branches of the sciences.
Fireworks brings to vibrant life the many artful practices of pyrotechnicians, as well as the elegant compositions of the architects, poets, painters, and musicians they inspired. At the same time, it uncovers the dynamic relationships that developed between the many artists and scientists who produced pyrotechnics. In so doing, the book demonstrates the critical role that pyrotechnics played in the development of physics, astronomy, chemistry and physiology, meteorology, and electrical science. Richly illustrated and drawing on a wide range of new sources, Fireworks takes readers back to a world where pyrotechnics were both divine and magical and reveals for the first time their vital contribution to the modernization of European ideas.
Municipalization refers to a local governmental unit purchasing a merchant utility; a practice gathering pace in university towns in recent years. It is a very large transaction. Best practice discovery and promulgation begins with an accumulation of case studies before any concepts stabilize into a “standard”. Today at the usual hour we examine a few representative case studies. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
This topic is a standing item on the agenda of the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee
Relata:
Today at the usual hour we review a selection of global building codes and standards that guide best practice for safety, accessibility, and functionality for day care facilities; with special interest in the possibilities for co-locating square footage into the (typically) lavish unused space in higher education facilities.
Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
“A Group of Children Playing the Game ‘Oranges and Lemons’ in a Domestic Interior”
Harry Brooker (1848-1940)https://t.co/YpxsSUf8nV pic.twitter.com/kjhgJvYxPs— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) February 24, 2025
This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.
Net Position: $1.479 billion | Impact of Philanthropy
Nearly 200 St. Thomas students, faculty, staff and community members participated in the Center for Well-Being’s Wellness 5K Run/Walk on Oct. 12. See more here: https://t.co/Uni3U0VxrX pic.twitter.com/zwNH1j68a1
— University of St. Thomas (@UofStThomasMN) October 17, 2024

“Pythagoras — The school of Athens” Raphael’s Fresco (1511)
American philanthropists who amassed fortunes through innovation, risk-taking, and market competition frequently channel hundreds of millions into university capital campaigns. They seek the immortality of a named building—a library, business school, or engineering center—yet confront an academy overwhelmingly skeptical of the capitalist system that enabled their success.
This creates a persistent tension: why continue subsidizing institutions whose faculty often view profit, markets, and even individual achievement as morally suspect?
Many donors reconcile the contradiction through pragmatic optimism. They believe education transcends transient ideology. A new engineering building trains skilled graduates who will later build companies, regardless of postmodern seminars occurring across campus. Others adopt a long-game strategy: by endowing centers for free enterprise, constitutional studies, or empirical social science, they hope to introduce intellectual diversity and counter ideological monocultures.
Some simply prioritize legacy and prestige. Yet the reconciliation remains imperfect. Surveys show humanities and social science faculties lean heavily left. Donors thus risk becoming unwitting patrons of ideas that undermine the very system that created their wealth.
Relata:

“Pythagoreans Celebrate the Sunrise” | Fyodor Bronnikov (1869)
Real estate titan Stephen Ross has donated $321 million to school that bears his name: http://t.co/Hd0iyfWhKL pic.twitter.com/WTl0VZl9Ba
— Forbes (@Forbes) September 15, 2015
The Patrick and Shirley Ryan Family makes largest gift in @NorthwesternU history, which will advance research, educational initiatives, and redevelop Ryan Field.
📈 https://t.co/nulrSi9DmZ#GoCats | @NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/gOE7gAUTER
— Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) September 22, 2021
“Keep a green tree in your heart
and perhaps a singing bird will come”.
— Chinese proverb
The condition of campus gardens, trees and landscaping is a central element of ambiance, brand identity, environmental instruction and even revenue to education communities when tied to charitable donations. The Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) is trade association of 2300 private tree care firms that is also an ANSI-accredited standards developer. It has several titles relevant to education communities and posts drafts of best practice titles at the link below:
Current Projects & Public Review Periods
Last year we tracked a revision of TCIA A300 that asserted leading practice for lightning protection has been released for public consultation. The consultation period closed and, like many standards setting organizations, leading practice discovery has been impeded by the circumstances of the pandemic.
We encourage our colleagues in business units responsible for lawns, trees, gardens and pathways to participate in the TCIA standards development process (Learn more HERE). Stakeholders in any interest category may communicate directly with Amy Tetreault at the Tree Care Industry Association, (603) 314-5380, atetreault@tcia.org, 136 Harvey Rd # 101, Londonderry, NH 03053.












We maintain the TCIA standards catalog on our periodic Bucolia and Pathway colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meting; open to everyone.
Issue: [Various]
Category: Bucolia, Pathways
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
LEARN MORE:
A Brief History of Isaac Newton’s Apple Tree
Learn how to apply an SRS redirect without unloading your primary suspension point in this instructional video and article featuring Aaron Feather, CTSP! https://t.co/qJCSQeg2iz
— Tree Care Industry Association (@WeAreTCIA) May 22, 2020
Always return to this Czesław Miłosz: pic.twitter.com/3Ydw75jwCQ
— Dr. Maya C. Popa (@MayaCPopa) July 4, 2023
This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
Standards Michigan Group, LLC
455 East Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 300
Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
888-748-3670