Aesthetics

There are a multitude of aesthetics in this world. Some find elegant reference in magazines such as the Tatler. Consider the notion of cottagecore.

Why are Noble Gases called Noble Gases?

 The term "noble gas" is a direct translation of the German term "Edelgas". 

This is the same word "Edel" as in "Edelweiss", which is a famous, alpine flower. Noble gases are also called inert gases.

Noble gases are gases at ordinary room temperature and pressure.  This leads to the interesting question of what happens when we liquefy or freeze the Noble gases.

Helium can be liquefied at standard atmospheric pressure. Liquid helium has been studied by Baku-born Soviet physicist Lev Landau and American Richard Feynman.

What is the Cocoa Nut?

Cocoa nut is the obsolete name for the cacao nut, which is not a nut per se, but the seed of the cacao tree. The name cacao comes from the Nahuatl word, cacahuatl.

Colchester, the Romans and Literature

Colchester is a market town in the English county of Essex. 

It was an important town for the Romans and was for a time the capital of Roman Britain. It contains a Norman fort known as Colchester Castle. The Roman name was Camulodunum. 

Part of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders was set in Colchester and the town was also mentioned explicitly in Orwell's 1984.

The English Chamber Orchestra

 The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) has performed in more countries than any other orchestra. Its patron is HRH The Prince of Wales. Kiri Te Kanawa and Luciana Pavarotti are among the names who have recorded with the ECO.

Judith Kerr

Judith Kerr was a children's author and illustrator. She started publishing in her forties. Her family fled Germany in 1933, first to Switzerland and eventually settling in England.