Lenses in M&D--was ToV (spoilers out the b-tt) (fwd)

[Brian Siano]

Forwarded message:
> 
> > So now TRP gives us two scientific denizens of the Enlightenment who spent
> > the majority of their professional lives with one eye fixed to a lens--a
> > thingy that gives a distorted (i.e.--false) view of what lies before their
> > very reasonble eyes.  
> 
> And lets not forget wacky Ben Franklin, who intentionally changes the
> reality of what he sees through the invention of colored glasses.

	Not to mention _making_ music using glasses: in one of my
favorite scenes, Franklin is espied in a Philadelphia coffee-house,
wearing his tinted glasses, and playing tunes on his glass harmonica.
Couldn't help but wonder if the two women occasionally filled in on
the backing vocals of "What'd I Say?" and "Hit the Road, Jack."
	Added source of M&D joy: living in Philadelphia, and knowing
where many of the landmarks are. Also, history buffs may want to
acquire a copy of _American Aurora_, recently published, about a
magnificant muckraking newspaper that incurred John Adam,s' wrath. The
editor, Benjamin Franklin Bache, Franklin's grandson, was jailed 
for sedition. And yes, it's a Philly legacy.
	BTW, about a month before reading M&D, I picked up a
collection of pieces played on a glass harmonica-- and yes, the liner
notes did mention Mesmer's proficiency on the device. The guy who
plays the thing these days is a fellow named Bruno Hoffmann, and you
may be able to pick up a CD of his for about five bucks at Tower. The
thing sounds like a cross between a calliope organ and a flute.


Brian Siano - siano at cceb.med.upenn.edu