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Gnomon Chronicles is a work of fiction and nonfiction by Karl Jones (nonfiction).

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Today's Permalink: September 30

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Philip K. Dick

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  Cop Has Fearsome Wild Mentality is an anagram of "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said".

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  "Did you step on a butterfly in Texas during a tornado while watching Jurassic Park in Brazil under the influence of JJ-180?" is a question which if you answer Yes you are probably a very confused unintentional time traveler under the influence of a fictional yet illegal drug such as Clandestiphrine.

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  "I've seen people you things wouldn't believe." —Roy Batty

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  The Gnomon Chronicles Society for the Advancement of VALIS (SAV) reminds you — With enough redheads, we can project a beam of pink VALIS light into space, so other worlds know that we have redheads too.

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  The Gnomon in the High Castle is a 1962 alternative history novel by Philip K. Dick in which the United States is ruled by sundials.

Are You Sure ...

... that the first known calculation of the golden ratio, expressed inversely as a decimal of "about 0.6180340", was written in 1597 by astronomer and mathematician Maestlin in a letter to Johannes Kepler?

On This Day in History and Fiction: September 30

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  1550: Astronomer and mathematician Michael Maestlin born. He will be a mentor to Johannes Kepler, and play a sizable part in his adoption of the Copernican system.

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  1882: Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States.

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  1913: Mathematician Samuel Eilenberg born. He will co-found category theory with Saunders Mac Lane, and propose the Eilenberg swindle (a construction applying the telescoping cancellation idea to projective modules).