"It profits me but little that a vigilant authority always protects the tranquillity of my pleasures and constantly averts all dangers from my path, without my care or concern, if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life."

--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Birthdays Today

It's Galileo's birthday today.   Born in 1564, Galileo, of course, is the man who first theorized that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and who was tried by the Roman Inquisition for his heresy.   Galileo has had the last laugh in history -- Einstein called him the father of modern science -- but he lived out his life under house arrest.


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