When it first came out, I enjoyed reading Dava Sorbel's [sp?]
excellent account, _Longitude_, which told the story of John
Harrison's efforts in perfecting the Chronometer.
The problem of "longitude" is analogous to the main problem that
stood in the way of the going-forward of Neuroscience - the
'coordinate' system was incompletely-reified.
Tonight, on _Nova_ [PBS, 8:00pm], Harrison's story will be delivered
in the TV medium.
I recommend this topic for your viewing [in the hope that it'll be as
well-done as Sorbel' [sp?] book.
If you sit-in on it's presentation, keep alive in your mind the
analogousness of the problem "longitude" and the problem of 4-D
integration within nervous system function.
If you grasp the correlation, you'll gain new insight into into
what's accomplished in NDT.
You might also want to pay-attention to the fact that what Harrison
struggled to achieve was not the "measuring of 'time'", but coming up
with a way to cross-correlate ["integrate"] energy-flows.
If you've got anything left after NOVA, you might also want to stay
on for the ~"Scientific American Frontiers" show which promises to
delve into 'intelligent machines'.
And, after that, is the final episode of "The Rise and Fall of Jim
Crow". I've caught all of the prior episodes, and will be watching
tonight. Perhaps, in our various places across This Nation, we'll
weep 'together', at what "Abstract Ignorance" works in our midst.
k. p. collins
