Jan Freeman writes The Word column for Ideas.
Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based writer, editor, and multimedia
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Christopher Shea writes the Critical Faculties column for Ideas.
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Mind the gap
Shop talk What he learned in the newsroom Mr. Boffo lays an eggcorn Curse of the mummy's tummy More in Word Watch  |
« 2006 in a word | Main | Argonaut Folly » Tuesday, November 14, 2006Oh, yeah, THAT"... and Keith mentions my forthcoming essay on what I call the 'Argonaut Folly.'" Josh, did you really think you were going to get away with dropping that phrase and not explaining it? In the interview you link to, Gessen also offers not a hint. What folly are you tilting at in the next n + 1? (Google confirms you are the first person on the planet to identify it, or to give it that name.) (And that gyroball? In that video, it looks like a good old fashioned fast curve. It's not spinning like a football, as Slate says it should be. I agree that, so far, Lucas Hanft's piece on the gyroball for Ideas remains the definitive take on its bafflements and mythical qualities. He quotes a Yale physicist as saying it "may be impossible" to throw a fast pitch with a spiral. Moreover, the scientist says, "there's also no point.") Posted by Christopher Shea at 10:36 AM
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