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The Stereochemistry of Boats and Chairs
I would like to add some observation to the intriguing notion of cyclohexane mentioned in Robert Ausubel's response to "Boats and Deckchairs". One might add that the terms "boat" and "chair" are international standard in teaching the peculiarities of cyclohexane in stereochemistry. We find the terms "Boot" (boat) or "Wanne" (tub) and "Sessel" (chai
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3-D goes 4-D
This letter was received by Natural History and forwarded to Tout-Fait, as the original article appeared simultaneously in both Tout-Fait and the millennial issue of Natural History, December 1999- January 2000, volume 108, no. 10, pp. 32-44 Zirahuén Lake July 27, 2000 Dear Stephen J. Gould, For quite a few months I had been trying
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Rolling the “RRRR”
Stephen Jay Gould's text is very interesting and full of pleasant "interactive consonants." Though it seems important to add Frantz Fanon's "R- assimilationist" so to speak, to the discussion. Fanon actually devoted part of his book "Black Skin, White Mask" (1952) to the importance of language and pronunciation. A doctor and trained psychoanalyst,
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Watching the Detectives
Illustration 4 Photograph showing a lady veiled in the antique lacespan> Photograph of Marcel Duchamp by Hans Hoffmann, Munich, 1912 "L'oeuvre d'art est toujours basée sur ces deux poteaux du générateur et du spectateur, et l'étincelle qui vient de cette action bipolaire donne naissance à
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Response to “Boats & Deckchairs”
Dear Dr. Gould; When I saw the headline of the article you and your wife wrote in the December-JanuaryNatural History, as a chemist, one thought came to my mind: cyclohexane. As I read the article, I realized that the connection may be germane. When learning organic chemistry, the structures initially are written as two-dimensional. Only later
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Response to “What Makes the Bicycle Wheel a Readymade?”
click to enlarge Illustration 1 Duchamp's Studio, 33 West 67 Street, New York, 1917-18 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. click to enlarge Illustration 2 Marcel Duchamp, Unhappy Readymade, 1919 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. The Duchamp Bicycle Wheel(1913), and Stool was only referred to by D
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Response to “‘Infusion Ball’ or ‘Holy Ampule’?”
click to enlarge Marcel Duchamp,Fountain, 1917 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris Marcel Duchamp,Trébuche t (Trap), 1917 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. Marcel Duchamp, Hat Rack, 1917 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. We truly appreciate the effort that you made to resea
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What Makes the Bicycle Wheel a Readymade?
Dear Tout-Fait, This question is in my mind and it drives me crazy... Is the Bicycle Wheel a readymade? One of my first contacts with the work of Marcel Duchamp was an interview he gave (in French) in the late 60s. He explained very well what the idea behind a readymade is. He also explained the process that led to the Bicycle Wheel. I remember
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Duchamp and Repetition
Dear Rhonda, Who said, he hated repetition? Exactly — that was the crucial point in staring at Marcel Duchamp's work for almost one century. The solution does not lie in an agreement of the scholars, but in the deconstruction of this vain palace of interpretations. You are doing the main job. Just looking at the phenomena and describing the cont
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Response to “Duchamp’s Veiled Intentions Regarding Draft Pistons Gauze”
click to enlarge Illustration 1 Marcel Duchamp, signed version of Draft Pistons, 1914 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. Illustration 2 Marcel Duchamp, unsigned version of Draft Pistons, 1914 © 2000 Succession Marcel Duchamp ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. Rhonda Roland Shearer responds: Your interesting and correct observati
