Reference (1) is a collection of significant film clips dedicated to Hypatia of Alexandria.
The film clips offer us glimpses of modern Alexandria, interviews with several scholars, visits to several museums, archeological sites, drawings of the ancient Alexandria and accounts of Hypatia’s achievements in Philosophy, Astronomy and Mathematics.
Some of the highlights are:
• The late Carl Sagan told 600 million television viewers, "here in the Library of Alexandria, were the first trials to understand the world (1,2)."
• Bettany Hughes (3) made the point that Alexandria was more famous than Athens and Rome.
• In her film clips Bettany included: (i) segments from Amenabar’s film “Agora”; and visits to: (a) The Bibliotheca Alexandrina. (b) the Temple of Apis in Saqqara; and (c) the archeological site of the Royal Alexandrian Library at the Kom-el-Dika.
A Polish team of archeologists discovered the ruins of the Royal Alexandrian Library and its Mouseion, the research centre of the Royal Library.
Hypatia lived and died in Alexandria as a Humanist among religious zealots
(1) http://wn.com/Hypatia_of_Alexandria.
(2) “Cosmos”- The popular television series.
(3) Oxford scholar / archeologist / BBC presenter / author of "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore."
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Publishing Revolution - P.S. Thank You Amazon
Two traditional publishers published my two university textbooks because I had a long list of publications in the field of Radio Astronomy; in their language I had a platform.
After I wrote my first literary novel I spent many months trying to find a publisher to no avail mainly because I didn’t have a platform in the literary circles. I therefore, like many authors, have a dossier of rejection letters from traditional publishers.
As I was keen to get my work out there, I approached a local publisher in Adelaide who published my first literary novel Hollywood Amarroo – a chronicle about two young lovers who ignored the prejudices of the sixties in Australia to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter.
I organized a successful book launch but after that happening, I didn’t sell many copies of my book because no one advertised and / or marketed my book.
Outskirts Press published Hypatia’s Feud, my second literary book, because I didn’t want to go for another merry go round with the traditional publishers. The time it took Outskirts Press to convert my manuscript, MS, as a WORD doc to a book and e-book was about six months. Amazon now advertises and markets my book but it was a costly experiment.
Thanks to the publishing revolution authors now have a third alternative: Amazon’s CreatSpace. An author sends the finished MS to Amazon’s CreateSpace where it is converted into an e-book and presto the author’s book is out there in the virtual world! Parenthetically I’ll add that the cost of converting the MS as a WORD doc to an e-book is less than$100. With this approach the author has absolute control of every aspect of production and earns royalties worth 70% of the book’s purchase price. The royalties offered by CreatSpace therefore compare favourably with the 15% (of the book’s purchase price) I earn from my university text books. It is simply brilliant!
Royalties aside imagine how many trees authors would save using Amazon’s CreateSpace to put their work out there. Many readers would simply visit the virtual Amazon bookshop before they can buy any e-books, costing less, say, $6.00. E-books are simply transmitted to the reader via the Internet, almost instantly, so no one pays packaging or postal charges. And more importantly no more merry go rounds for authors dealing with traditional publishers. Lastly non- English authors can also use Amazon’s CreateSpace to get their work out there.
I’m already working toward re-issuing my Hollywood Amarroo book as an e-book. Now you know the route I’ll pursue to publish all my future books.
After I wrote my first literary novel I spent many months trying to find a publisher to no avail mainly because I didn’t have a platform in the literary circles. I therefore, like many authors, have a dossier of rejection letters from traditional publishers.
As I was keen to get my work out there, I approached a local publisher in Adelaide who published my first literary novel Hollywood Amarroo – a chronicle about two young lovers who ignored the prejudices of the sixties in Australia to defend an Aboriginal mother accused of manslaughter.
I organized a successful book launch but after that happening, I didn’t sell many copies of my book because no one advertised and / or marketed my book.
Outskirts Press published Hypatia’s Feud, my second literary book, because I didn’t want to go for another merry go round with the traditional publishers. The time it took Outskirts Press to convert my manuscript, MS, as a WORD doc to a book and e-book was about six months. Amazon now advertises and markets my book but it was a costly experiment.
Thanks to the publishing revolution authors now have a third alternative: Amazon’s CreatSpace. An author sends the finished MS to Amazon’s CreateSpace where it is converted into an e-book and presto the author’s book is out there in the virtual world! Parenthetically I’ll add that the cost of converting the MS as a WORD doc to an e-book is less than$100. With this approach the author has absolute control of every aspect of production and earns royalties worth 70% of the book’s purchase price. The royalties offered by CreatSpace therefore compare favourably with the 15% (of the book’s purchase price) I earn from my university text books. It is simply brilliant!
Royalties aside imagine how many trees authors would save using Amazon’s CreateSpace to put their work out there. Many readers would simply visit the virtual Amazon bookshop before they can buy any e-books, costing less, say, $6.00. E-books are simply transmitted to the reader via the Internet, almost instantly, so no one pays packaging or postal charges. And more importantly no more merry go rounds for authors dealing with traditional publishers. Lastly non- English authors can also use Amazon’s CreateSpace to get their work out there.
I’m already working toward re-issuing my Hollywood Amarroo book as an e-book. Now you know the route I’ll pursue to publish all my future books.
Monday, May 9, 2011
My book "Hypatia's Feud" is in Amazon
The publication of my book “Hypatia’s Feud” marks the end of a three year project during which I researched, wrote and edited the manuscript.
During that period I had many interesting conversations with friends and colleagues. Some women who graduated from various courses broadly labeled as Women Studies were not happy hearing that I was writing a book based on the life and times of Hypatia. The insinuation was that Hypatia belonged to them and I, a man, had no right to write a literary novel about their hero and idol.
The fact that I had a classical education didn’t matter to them. I reminded them that as an astronomer, qualified in Science and Mathematics I understood her achievement in these branches of science. Lastly I mentioned that I spent several summers in
An astrophysicist, I respect, insisted that Hypatia was just a mathematician. In vain I tried to convince him she was the quintessential philosopher-hero who lived and died as a Humanist among religious zealots. Sensing I could not change his mind I mentioned she was the conduit of ancient wisdom to the modern world but failed again to change his mind.
To my religious friends I stressed that Hypatia’s Feud at the dawn of the fifth century CE with all dogmatic religions and political creeds, is our feud too because her foes under different names are ever-present.
The moral of my experiences is that no matter what we choose to do or write we will always have detractors. What is important to me is to explore universal issues and put my work out there.
“Hypatia’s Feud” is now available as a book and as e-book from Amazon.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Nicholas Fourikis, another portrait
Nicholas Fourikis, another portrait.
Sue Heinemann painted my portrait in March 2009
Adelaide the City of Churches
Thank you Sue
Sue Heinemann painted my portrait in March 2009
Adelaide the City of Churches
Thank you Sue
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Desalination plants utilizing solar / wind power
Desalination plants utilizing solar / wind power
Q & A Inputs for the ABC Program chaired by Tony Jones
Preamble
We are now experiencing a global economic downturn and serious environmental concerns about the future of the planet. The obvious solution to both problems is to invest in the construction of minimal cost Green Projects that yield everlasting benefits.
The question
In that context why do we spend money toward cleaning coal (a pie in the sky project) and insulating homes when we could be spending money constructing Green Desalination Plants that utilize wind and / or solar energy?
Background information
The Kwinana desalination plant located just south of Perth yields 140,000m3 of drinking water per day and is powered by 48 wind turbines located in the Emu Downs Wind farm. The attractive features of this Green Desalination Plant are:
(i) The technology is available NOW.
(ii) The energy is renewable
(iii) The construction of several Green Desalination Plants would employ thousands of construction workers / engineers / scientists.
(iv) The water can be utilized for irrigating large areas of land also, thus producing more crops.
(v) The benefits are everlasting and very visible – Such projects can easily be the Snowy Mountain Schemes of the 21st century
(vi) Additional benefits are the generation of electricity. The Emu Downs Wind Farms for instance generates 270 GWh/year but the Kwinana Green Desalination Plant uses only 180 GWh/year.
A proposal for the construction of the Point Paterson Green Desalination Plant utilizing solar energy near Port Augusta, in South Australia is in the planning stage but capital for its construction (estimated about 450million$ ) is not forthcoming. The plant is to produce 5.5 gigalitres of water per year.
Australia, the sunburn country, has cheap coal and abundant sunshine. Wind power is also available for harnessing in many parts of the country. Cleaning coal is not a technology we possess now while the technologies for harnessing solar / wind power are available now.
Q & A Inputs for the ABC Program chaired by Tony Jones
Preamble
We are now experiencing a global economic downturn and serious environmental concerns about the future of the planet. The obvious solution to both problems is to invest in the construction of minimal cost Green Projects that yield everlasting benefits.
The question
In that context why do we spend money toward cleaning coal (a pie in the sky project) and insulating homes when we could be spending money constructing Green Desalination Plants that utilize wind and / or solar energy?
Background information
The Kwinana desalination plant located just south of Perth yields 140,000m3 of drinking water per day and is powered by 48 wind turbines located in the Emu Downs Wind farm. The attractive features of this Green Desalination Plant are:
(i) The technology is available NOW.
(ii) The energy is renewable
(iii) The construction of several Green Desalination Plants would employ thousands of construction workers / engineers / scientists.
(iv) The water can be utilized for irrigating large areas of land also, thus producing more crops.
(v) The benefits are everlasting and very visible – Such projects can easily be the Snowy Mountain Schemes of the 21st century
(vi) Additional benefits are the generation of electricity. The Emu Downs Wind Farms for instance generates 270 GWh/year but the Kwinana Green Desalination Plant uses only 180 GWh/year.
A proposal for the construction of the Point Paterson Green Desalination Plant utilizing solar energy near Port Augusta, in South Australia is in the planning stage but capital for its construction (estimated about 450million$ ) is not forthcoming. The plant is to produce 5.5 gigalitres of water per year.
Australia, the sunburn country, has cheap coal and abundant sunshine. Wind power is also available for harnessing in many parts of the country. Cleaning coal is not a technology we possess now while the technologies for harnessing solar / wind power are available now.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Creative use of cliches
To cliché or not to cliché, that is not the question.
An essay
Nicholas Fourikis
‘I’m a Nazi when I see clichés,’ Helen told me the other day. Is she right or should I assume she has a blind spot?
Helen is a long standing friend. She is also an interesting writer with a degree in creative writing under her belt. I admire her in many ways but she can’t stand anyone using clichés.
In many ways she is right because clichés express something that has become overly familiar or common place, stale, stereotypical and timeworn. Writers are supposed to be creative, and we are expected not to use words that have a timeworn ring to them.
As John Simon notes in Paradigms Lost, Vanity of a peacock is to imagery what a twenty-times-used blade is to shaving.
‘I love the twinkle in your eyes.’ Is a tired cliché that is too generic to be useful? It could apply to a cockatoo, for instance.
The trouble is that we all use clichés in our conversations. It’s natural therefore to allow our characters to use clichés. Moreover the clichés our characters use define their socioeconomic milieu, their frustrations or exhilarations. In many ways clichés reveal character.
Writing a novel without using clichés would be like describing a world that has no cultural resonances. In a less abstract way our book would be like a beautiful empty house waiting for carpets and pictures. It would have all possibilities. It could become a palace or a brothel.
If there was a way we can use clichés creatively we will have the best of all possible worlds. No one could accuse us of not being creative and we would be mining the cultural treasures clichés offer. Is this quest a pie in the sky misadventure? The answer is a firm and unequivocal “No.”
In passing, and it’s only in passing, did you notice how creative Simon was with the title of his book Paradigms Lost? (Remember Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost?)
If this example is too literary try the following:
She is the cow in the ointment.
It was lust at first bite.
He is a legend in his soup.
These are clichés that some creative writer tweaked – twichés. Here are some more from reference [1]
A media guru described Madonna’s latest diet Footloose and Fat-Free.
George W Bush has gone from abject wealth to riches, Jon Stewart quipped.
A legend in his own mind
‘A good tweak,’ the author of reference [1] writes, ‘leads readers one way, then jerks them into the delight-giving realm of surprise.’
Is that all we can do to infuse life into timeworn clichés? Definetely “Not” because creativity knows no bounds.
Tom Skinner an Australian author wrote Round Fish, Square Bowl - a children’s book full of clichés [2]. It’s OK to be different was the message of Tom’s book.
As you can imagine I cannot reproduce all his clichés in this essay but here are some samples that would elate you.
If you are as slow as a tortoise don’t worry because the tortoise often beats the hare.
If you are mad as a hatter, the madder the merrier.
If you are an ugly duckling, remember ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans.
I’m sure you get the drift of Tom’s beautifully illustrated book. Parenthetically it is worth noting Tom abandoned his boring day job, sold his house, and educated himself to become a great writer. He dedicated his book
To Mum
For the immovable belief that being different was my virtue rather than my millstone.
Thank you Tom and Helen. Nazi or not I owe her a lot for inspiring me to take time off and reflect on clichés.
[1] A. Plotnik. Twist worn expressions into winners. The Writer. Aug 2006. p15
[2] T. Skinner. Round fish, square bowl. 2006. New Frontier Publishing
An essay
Nicholas Fourikis
‘I’m a Nazi when I see clichés,’ Helen told me the other day. Is she right or should I assume she has a blind spot?
Helen is a long standing friend. She is also an interesting writer with a degree in creative writing under her belt. I admire her in many ways but she can’t stand anyone using clichés.
In many ways she is right because clichés express something that has become overly familiar or common place, stale, stereotypical and timeworn. Writers are supposed to be creative, and we are expected not to use words that have a timeworn ring to them.
As John Simon notes in Paradigms Lost, Vanity of a peacock is to imagery what a twenty-times-used blade is to shaving.
‘I love the twinkle in your eyes.’ Is a tired cliché that is too generic to be useful? It could apply to a cockatoo, for instance.
The trouble is that we all use clichés in our conversations. It’s natural therefore to allow our characters to use clichés. Moreover the clichés our characters use define their socioeconomic milieu, their frustrations or exhilarations. In many ways clichés reveal character.
Writing a novel without using clichés would be like describing a world that has no cultural resonances. In a less abstract way our book would be like a beautiful empty house waiting for carpets and pictures. It would have all possibilities. It could become a palace or a brothel.
If there was a way we can use clichés creatively we will have the best of all possible worlds. No one could accuse us of not being creative and we would be mining the cultural treasures clichés offer. Is this quest a pie in the sky misadventure? The answer is a firm and unequivocal “No.”
In passing, and it’s only in passing, did you notice how creative Simon was with the title of his book Paradigms Lost? (Remember Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost?)
If this example is too literary try the following:
She is the cow in the ointment.
It was lust at first bite.
He is a legend in his soup.
These are clichés that some creative writer tweaked – twichés. Here are some more from reference [1]
A media guru described Madonna’s latest diet Footloose and Fat-Free.
George W Bush has gone from abject wealth to riches, Jon Stewart quipped.
A legend in his own mind
‘A good tweak,’ the author of reference [1] writes, ‘leads readers one way, then jerks them into the delight-giving realm of surprise.’
Is that all we can do to infuse life into timeworn clichés? Definetely “Not” because creativity knows no bounds.
Tom Skinner an Australian author wrote Round Fish, Square Bowl - a children’s book full of clichés [2]. It’s OK to be different was the message of Tom’s book.
As you can imagine I cannot reproduce all his clichés in this essay but here are some samples that would elate you.
If you are as slow as a tortoise don’t worry because the tortoise often beats the hare.
If you are mad as a hatter, the madder the merrier.
If you are an ugly duckling, remember ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans.
I’m sure you get the drift of Tom’s beautifully illustrated book. Parenthetically it is worth noting Tom abandoned his boring day job, sold his house, and educated himself to become a great writer. He dedicated his book
To Mum
For the immovable belief that being different was my virtue rather than my millstone.
Thank you Tom and Helen. Nazi or not I owe her a lot for inspiring me to take time off and reflect on clichés.
[1] A. Plotnik. Twist worn expressions into winners. The Writer. Aug 2006. p15
[2] T. Skinner. Round fish, square bowl. 2006. New Frontier Publishing
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The 8th International Conference on Greek Research
The abstract of a paper I am to present to the 8th International Conference on Greek Research. To be held at Frinders University in South Australia from the 2nd to the 5th July 2009.
Aristarchus and Hipparchus
Nicholas Fourikis PhD
Aristarchus the Samian (310-230 BCE) proposed the Heliocentric System because he could not conceive that the Sun, a massive star, rotates around tiny Earth. Cleanthes, a philosopher, thought the Greeks ought to prosecute Aristarchus for setting the Earth in motion.
Hipparchus of Nicaea (190-120 BCE) assembled the first catalogue of 1000 stars with their magnitudes and calculated the distance between Earth and the Sun.
His crowning achievement was the calculation of the precession of the Earth’s axis using his observations, the observations of Timocharis & Aristillus taken 150 years before his time and the observations of the Babylonians taken over 2000 years.
His calculation of the precession was astonishingly close to the correct value of 50.26 arc seconds.
Aristarchus pursued high risk / high yield research while Hipparchus pursued low risk / high yield research.
2009 is the Year of Astronomy
Aristarchus and Hipparchus
Nicholas Fourikis PhD
Aristarchus the Samian (310-230 BCE) proposed the Heliocentric System because he could not conceive that the Sun, a massive star, rotates around tiny Earth. Cleanthes, a philosopher, thought the Greeks ought to prosecute Aristarchus for setting the Earth in motion.
Hipparchus of Nicaea (190-120 BCE) assembled the first catalogue of 1000 stars with their magnitudes and calculated the distance between Earth and the Sun.
His crowning achievement was the calculation of the precession of the Earth’s axis using his observations, the observations of Timocharis & Aristillus taken 150 years before his time and the observations of the Babylonians taken over 2000 years.
His calculation of the precession was astonishingly close to the correct value of 50.26 arc seconds.
Aristarchus pursued high risk / high yield research while Hipparchus pursued low risk / high yield research.
2009 is the Year of Astronomy
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