Poetry review – THE METAL EXCHANGE: Carla Scarano reviews David Cooke’s exploration of humanity’s complicated relationship with metals
technology
When Pythagoras met Homer: Michael Bartholomew-Biggs recalls a time when being a mathematician was like being a poet.
In 1894, Edouard Michelin, the fine artist of a gifted family, looked at a pile of tyres and said to his engineer brother André: “With arms and legs, that would look like a man.”
Bicycles are as close as it gets to the perfect blend of form and function — but that doesn’t stop designers seeking to make them sleeker, faster and funkier. As such, they are ideal subject-matter for the Design Museum in the Belgian city of Ghent, whose Bike to the Future, despite the corny title, is a wide and even subtle exploration of cycling design and its enormous impact.
Thomas Ovans finds that Jo Colley’s flying-related collection deals with much more than aeroplanes
Shearsman poet Alice Kavounas and Apple developer John Kennedy describe their collaboration and creation of a location-based app Words in Air: Poetry-in-Place.
Thomas Ovans tries to keep up with Mark Gerchick’s comprehensive analysis of the airline business which explains why and how the glamour of flying has now been reduced as much as the legroom in economy class.
Thomas Ovans uses the internet to solve mysteries round an air crash fifty years ago … and also uncovers some more recent concerns
Optimization & Optimism Michael Bartholomew-Biggs looks at links between mathematics & poetry
MIND AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE: John Lucas finds helpful information and some degree of comfort in James Hodgson’s primer for those trying to get to grips with AI and the issues surrounding it
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, psychology, society, technology, year 2024