Your teacher, Miss Peach, is at the chalk board again. Class, listen up. Watch as she sketches a water strider on the blackboard. It is walking across the surface of a pond. How is this possible? Water has a high surface tension and high viscosity thanks to the strong hydrogen bond in the H2O molecule. … Read moreThe Wonders of Water
In the last post, I described the strange nature of water. How peculiar to think ice (a solid) is lighter than liquid and yet an ice cube can float. What does that matter? Just shrug your shoulders and move on to other matters. Hold on a minute. Listen to this important message. Imagine that ice … Read moreNo Ice Fishing?
Now that is a crazy question! Ice floats because it is ice and ice floats. You drop an ice cube into lemonade, and it bobs to the surface. Simple explanation. Or is it? Think back to your elementary school science class. Miss Peach (your teacher) stands at the chalk board and writes the three stages … Read moreWhy Does Ice Float?
How Catholic monks saved the day. On one bitter cold day in the year 406 AD, the Rhine River lay thick with ice, solid enough for hundreds of thousands of starving people to cross this icy bridge into a land we now called Europe. The unthinkable had happened. The mighty Roman empire had fallen and … Read moreWho Preserved Western Civilization?
Winter mornings in Maine are dark and bitter cold, hard as ice on the body and soul. I arise before dawn, eager for a steaming mug of hot tea. That must wait. My first task is to start the wood stove. I open the door and check for embers. On this snowy morning, all looks … Read moreThoughts by the Wood Stove
