Cybernetic

Cybernetic (pronounced sahy-ber-net-ik)

(1) Of or relating to cybernetics (the theoretical study of communication and control processes in biological, mechanical, and electronic systems, especially the comparison of these processes in biological and artificial systems).

(2) Of or relating to computers and the Internet (largely archaic (ie "so 1990s").

1948 (in English): From the Ancient Greek κυβερνητικός (kubernētikós) (good at steering, a good pilot (of a vessel)), from κυβερνητική τέχνη (kubernētikḗ tékhnē) (the pilot’s art), from κυβερνισμός (kubernismós) or κυβέρνησις (kubérnēsis) (steering, pilotage, guiding), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō) (to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot (and the ultimate source of the Modern English "govern").  Cybernetic & cybernetical are adjectives, cybernetics, cyberneticist & cybernetician are nouns and cybernetically is an adverb; the noun cybernetics is sometimes used as a plural but functions usually as a as singular (used with a singular verb)  

Although it's undocumented, etymologists suspect the first known instance of use in English in 1948 may have been based on the 1830s French cybernétique (the art of governing); that was in a paper by by US mathematician and philosopher Norbert Wiener (1894-1964) who was influenced by the cognate term "governor" (the name of an early control device proposed by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879)), familiar in mechanical devices as a means of limiting (ie "governing") a machine's speed (either to a preferred rate or a determined maximum).  That was obviously somewhat different from the source in the original Greek kubernētēs (steersman) from kubernan (to steer, control) but the idea in both was linked by the notion of "control".  The French word cybernétique had been suggested by French physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836), (one of the founders of the science of electromagnetism and after whom is named the SI (International System of Units) unit of measurement of electric current, the ampere (amp)) to, describe the then non-existent study of the control of governments; it never caught on.  From cybernetics came the now ubiquitous back-formation cyber which has, and continues, to coin words, sometimes with some intellectual connection to the original, sometimes not: cybercafé, cybercurrency, cybergirlfriend, cybermania, cybertopia, cyberculture, cyberhack, cybermob, cybernate, cybernation, cyberpet, cyberphobia, cyberpunk, cybersecurity, cybersex, cyberspace, cyberfashion, cybergoth, cyberemo, cyberdelic etc.

Feedback

MIT Professor Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician and philosopher and one of the early thinkers developing the theory that the behaviour of all intelligent species was the result of feedback mechanisms that perhaps could be simulated by machines.  Now best remembered for the word cybernetics, his work remains among the foundations of artificial intelligence (AI).

The feedback loop at its most simple.

Cybernetics was an outgrowth of control theory, at the time something of a backwater in applied mathematics relevant to the control of physical processes and systems.  Although control theory had connections with classical studies in mathematics such as the calculus of variations and differential equations, it became a recognised field only in the late 1950s when the newly available power of big machine computers and databases were applied to problems in economics and engineering.  The results indicated the matters being studied manifested as variants of problems in differential equations and in the calculus of variations.  As the computer models improved, it was recognised the theoretical and industrial problems all had the same mathematical structure and control theory emerged.  The technological determinism induced by computing wasn’t new; the embryonic field had greatly been advanced by the machines of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Cybernetics can be represented as a simple model which is of most use when applied to complex systems.  Essentially, it’s a model in which a monitor compares what is happening with what should be happening, this feedback passed to a controller which accordingly adjusts the system’s behavior.  Wiener defined cybernetics as “the science of control and communications in the animal and machine”, something quite audacious at the time, aligning as it did the working of machines with animal and human physiology, particularly the intricacies of the nervous system and the implication the controller was the human brain and the monitor, vision from the eyes.  While the inherently mechanistic nature of the theory attracted critics, the utility was demonstrated by some success in the work of constructing artificial limbs that could be connected to signals from the brain.  The early theories underpinned much of the early work in artificial intelligence (AI).

Of cyberpunks and cybergoths

A cyberpunk Lindsay Lohan sipping martinis with Johnny Depp and a silver alien by AiJunkie.

The youth subcultures “cyberpunk” and “cybergoth” had common threads in the visual imagery of science fiction (SF) but differ in matters of fashion and political linkages.  Academic studies have suggested elements of cyberpunk can be traced to the dystopian Central & Eastern European fiction of the 1920s which arose in reaction to the industrial and mechanized nature of World War I (1914-1918) but in its recognizably modern form it emerged as a literary genre in the 1980s, characterized by darkness, the effect heightened by the use of stark colors in futuristic, dystopian settings, the cultural theme being the mix of low-life with high-tech.  Although often there was much representation of violence and flashy weaponry, the consistent motifs were advanced technology, artificial intelligence and hacking, the message the evil of corporations and corrupt politicians exploiting technology to control society for their own purposes of profit and power.  Aesthetically, cyberpunk emphasized dark, gritty, urban environments where the dominant visual elements tended to be beyond the human scale, neon colors, strobe lighting and skyscrapers all tending to overwhelm people who often existed in an atmosphere of atonal, repetitive sound.

Cybergoth girls: The lasting legacy of the cybergoth's contribution to the goth aesthetic was designer colors, quite a change to the black & purple uniform.  Debate continues about whether they can be blamed for fluffy leg-warmers.

The cybergoth thing, dating apparently from 1988, thing was less political, focusing mostly on the look although a lifestyle (real and imagined) somewhat removed from mainstream society was implied.  It emerged in the late 1990s as a subculture within the goth scene, and was much influenced by the fashions popularized by cyberpunk and the video content associated with industrial music although unlike cyberpunk, there was never the overt connection with cybernetic themes.  Very much in a symbiotic relationship with Japanese youth culture, the cybergoth aesthetic built on the black & purple base of the classic goths with bright neon colors, industrial materials, and a mix of the futuristic and the industrial is the array of accessories which included props such as LED lights, goggles, gas masks, and synthetic hair extensions.  Unlike the cyberpunks who insisted usually on leather, the cybergoths embraced latex and plastics such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), not to imitate the natural product but as an item while the hairstyles and makeup could be extravagantly elaborate.  Platform boots and clothing often adorned with spikes, studs and chains were common but tattoos, piercings and other body modifications were not an integral component although many who adopted those things also opted to include cybergoth elements. 

Although there was much visual overlap between the two, cyberpunk should be thought of as a dystopian literary and cinematic genre with an emphasis on high-tech while cybergoth was a goth subculture tied to certain variations in look and consumption of pop culture, notably the idea of the “industrial dance” which was an out-growth of the “gravers” (Gothic Ravers), movement, named as goths became a critical mass in the clubs built on industrial music.  While interest in cyberpunk remains strong, strengthened by the adaptability of generative AI to the creation of work in the area, the historic moment of cyberpunk as a force in pop culture has passed, the fate of many subcultures which have suffered the curse of popularity although history does suggest periodic revivals will happen and elements of the look will anyway endure.

Palliate

Palliate (pronounced pal-ee-yet)

(1) To relieve or lessen (pain, disease etc) without curing or removing; to mitigate; to alleviate.

(2) To attempt to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (conduct (especially as of offenses)) by excuses, reasons, apologies etc; to extenuate.

(3) To cause an offence to seem less serious; some act of concealment.

1490s: From the Late Latin palliāre (to cover up), from palliātus (cloaked, covered), (in Late Latin the past participle of palliare (to cover with a cloak)), from palliāre (to cover up) or pallium (cloak).  Palliate is a verb & adjective, palliation, palliator & pallium are nouns, palliative is a noun & adjective, unpalliated is an adjective, palliated & palliating are verbs and palliatively is an adverb; the common noun plural is palliatives.

Palliate is one of those words in English which has become mostly overwhelmed by the associative meaning of a derived form. Palliative medicine (or palliative care) is a branch of medicine which focuses on those terminally ill (usually with months, at the most, to live) by providing pain relief and attempting to allowing the dying to enjoy the best possible quality of life.  The alternative industry is that of voluntary euthanasia (the so-called right-to-die movement) which is now permitted and regulated by legislation in many jurisdictions.  Palliative medicine gained the name from the idea of the use of “palliatives”, drugs which provide pain relief for those for whom there is no possibility of a cure.  In that sense, the treatment regime “cloaks rather than cures” and expectations are limited to concealment of the consequences of the condition.  Although such practices (along with euthanasia, voluntary and not) had been part of medical practice for centuries, it was in the 1960s it came to be recognized as a discipline and a structural part of (or adjunct to depending on the jurisdiction) the hospital industry, and there are both academic courses in the subject and peer-reviewed journals such as the European Association for Palliative Care’s (EAPC) Palliative Medicine, published since 1987.  Although On Death and Dying (1969) by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926–2004) is sometimes cited as the intellectual impetus for emergence, it happened really because of the mid-century advances in hygiene, nutrition, pharmaceuticals & surgical techniques and the extension of medical services in the welfare states which extended life-spans but not necessarily wellness, thus the increasing population of those terminally ill and in need of care.  The ability to prolong life (sometimes for decades) of someone in a debilitated condition, combined with the social changes which had seen the decline in numbers of extended family living arrangements, meant a substantially public-funded industry needed to evolve.

Cloaked for the occasion: Lindsay Lohan in appropriate Grim Reaper mode, fulfilling a court-mandated community service order at LA County Morgue, October 2011.

That has meant the word has faded from some of its historic uses.  In law, it used to be part of the language of courtrooms, defense counsel attempting to palliate the conduct of their client in the hop the just or jury would view the alleged act less harshly and deliver a verdict less severe.  That sense came into use in seventeenth century England and in courtrooms it described attempts to cover or disguise the seriousness of an offence by reasons (fanciful & not), excuses (plausible & not) or apologies (sincere & not).  In legal use, palliate has been replace by mitigation (a plea assembling reasons why conduct should be regarded more favourably than it may appear and be thus awarded with a lesser sentence), from the Middle French mitigation, from the Latin mitigation from mītigātus (softened, pacified).  The companion term is exculpation which etymologically and legally is unrelated both to palliate & mitigate.  Exculpate was from the Medieval Latin exculpātus, the perfect passive participle of exculpō, from the Latin ex culpa, the construct being ex- (out, from) + culpa (fault; blame (and familiar in Modern English as “culpability”)).  Whereas a plea of palliation or in mitigation was entered in the context of asking certain matters be considered so a guilty party may receive a lesser punishment, an successful exculpation exonerates the accused.  The lawyers in the 1630s picked-up and adapted palliate’s earlier meaning.  In the fifteenth century, true to the Latin origin derived from “a cloak”, it was used to mean “to relieve the symptoms of; to ameliorate” the sense (concealing the symptoms) to which palliative medicine would in the 1960s return.  This use was extended by the mid-1500s to become a general way to “conceal, hide or disguise” and was used widely in fields such as tailoring, architecture, landscaping, interior decorating and anywhere else where techniques of illusion were valued.

Many of the artistic depictions of scenes from Antiquity are probably at least misleading (no epoch has ever been so idealized) but one aspect of the fashions seems usually faithfully to have reflected what really was: the garb of the physicians, philosophers and teachers which was a woollen cloak, draped over the left shoulder and wrapped around the body; the Romans called it a pallium and it was the stage garment also of the hetaerae (plural of hetaera (in Ancient Greece, a high-price escort of some beauty & culture who entertained upper-class men with company, conversation and other services; they're sometimes referred to as courtesans but this can be misleading and a more accurate modern comparison is probably with the business model of the “sugar-babe”)).

Appreciative audience: Phryne revealed before the Areopagus (1861), oil on canvas by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

The painting depicts Phryne (circa 371-320 BC), a legendarily beautiful hetaera of Ancient Greece, on trial before the Areopagus (from the Ancient Greek Ἄρειος Πάγος (Áreios Págos (literally “Rock of Ares”)) which during some periods in classical times functioned as the final appellate court (both civil & criminal matters) in Athens.  As a deliberative body, the Areopagus (it picked up the name from the location where the sittings were conducted) may also at times have been a legislative (or at least an advisory) assembly something like a senate.  The comparison with the UK's House of Lords in its historic role as both the (upper) house of review is sometimes made because of the dual function as both a legislative body and a final court of appeal but the history of the role of the Aeropagus in law-making is sketchy and as a judicial organ it seems also to have sat as a whole, never restricting (as the Lords eventually did) the judicial hearings to committees of those with appropriate legal experience.

Defended (and by dubious legend not very well) by the speech-writer Hypereides (circa 390–322 BC), she was arraigned before the Areopagus on a charge of Asebeia (a criminal indictment alleging impiety, something like blasphemy towards the divine objects and perhaps an occupation risk in her profession and the charge appears to have been brought by a jilted and vengeful ex) and the most told tale of the trial is that acquittal was secured when she bared her breasts to those assembled to judge.  Depending on which imaginative medieval scribe was writing, either her counsel pulled the pallium from her body or she disrobed herself although all agree the unusual legal tactic was resorted to because the defence was going not well.  The famous legal critique of the Roman writer Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (circa 35-circa 100), the verdict was secured “non Hyperidis actione... sed conspectus corporis” (not by Hypereides' pleading, but by the sight of her body") and as a gesture it wasn’t unknown in Athenian culture.  Although the trial and acquittal (by a majority vote) are uncontested history, whether the “boobs offered in mitigation” ever happened is at least suspect but if true, it’s not surprising the venerable gentlemen judging her were impressed because she also modelled her nude form for the sculptor Praxiteles who based his Aphrodite of Knidos on those sessions.  In the late eighteen century, something of a Phryne cult formed among European artists although what is history and what myth in the stories of her illustrious career is mostly uncertain although there’s no doubt she’d often have worn a pallium.

Life Roots Palliate Cream 30ml Twin Pack.

Containing bilberry, witch hazel, mangosteen, sage, rosemary, calendula, rose flower, sea buckthorn, lemon grass, grapefruit, nettle & Iceland moss, Life Roots' Palliate Cream is advertized as an agent to (1) moisturize, (2) reduce inflammation & (3) protect against dryness.  This would suggest the product is thought something which genuinely improves the state of the skin, rather than just “papering over the cracks” (as some skin-care products unashamedly are).  The phrase “to paper over the cracks” is a particular sense of palliation meaning “to use a temporary expedient; to create the semblance of order or agreement; temporarily to conceal problems”.  The phrase (in English translation) is attributed to the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815-1989; Chancellor of the German Empire 1871-1890) who used the equivalent German expression in a letter dated 14 August 1865 during the negotiations of the Convention of Gastein (1865), a treaty between Austria and Prussia which temporarily would postpone the onset of the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and can thus be thought a prelude to the wars and the subsequent system of intricately interlocked treaties which would be the framework of the Bismarckian form of Reichism: “We are working eagerly to preserve the peace and to cover the cracks in the building.”  Under Bismarck, the stresses inherent in the structure were contained but in the hands of hiss less able successors, the forces became unleashed and consumed the continent ending the rule of four dynastic empires.  Still, “papering over the cracks” remains often the way politics is done, usually the way coalitions are formed and of late, a new flavor of the technique has emerged: Benjamin Netanyahu (b 1949; Israeli prime minister 1996-1999, 2009-2021 and since 2022) doesn’t care if people see the cracks through the paper.

Molyneux

Molyneux (pronounced mol-un-ewe)

(1) A habitational surname of Norman origin, almost certainly from the town of Moulineaux-sur-Seine, in Normandy.

(2) A variant of the Old French Molineaux (an occupational surname for a miller).

(3) An Anglicized form of the Irish Ó Maol an Mhuaidh (descendant of the follower of the noble).

(4) In law in the state of New York, as the “Molineux Rule”, an evidentiary rule which defines the extent to which a prosecutor may introduce evidence of a defendant’s prior bad acts or crimes, not to show criminal propensity, but to “establish motive, opportunity, intent, common scheme or plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.”

(5) In philosophy, as the “Molyneux Problem”, a thought experiment which asks:”If someone born blind, who has learned to distinguish between a sphere and a cube by touch alone, upon suddenly gaining the power of sight, would they be able to distinguish those objects by sight alone, based on memory of tactile experience?”

Pre 900: The French surname Molyneux was from the Old French and is thought to have been a variant of De Molines or De Moulins, both linked to "Mill" (Molineaux the occupational surname for a miller) although the name is believed to have been habitation and form an unidentified place in France although some genealogists have concluded the de Moulins came from Moulineaux-sur-Seine, near Rouen, Normandy.  Despite the continental origin, the name is also much associated with various branches of the family in England and Ireland, the earliest known references pre-dating the Norman Conquest (1066).  The alternative spelling is Molineux.

The "Molyneux Problem" is named after Irish scientist and politician William Molyneux (1656–1698) who in 1688 sent a letter to the English physician & philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), asking: Could someone who was born blind, and able to distinguish a globe and a cube by touch, be able to immediately distinguish and name these shapes by sight if given the ability to see?  Obviously difficult to test experimentally, the problem prompted one memorable dialogue between Locke and Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753 (who lent his name, pronounced phonetically to the US university) but it has long intrigued those from many disciplines, notably neurology and psychology, because sight is such a special attribute, the eyes being an outgrowth of the brain; the experience of an adult brain suddenly being required to interpret visual input would be profound and certainly impossible to imagine.  Philosophers since Locke have also pondered the problem because it raises issues such as the relationship between vision and touch and the extent to which some of the most basic components of knowledge (such as shape) can exist at birth or need entirely to be learned or experienced.

The Molineux Rule in the the adversarial system 

The Molineux Rule comes from a decision handed down by the Court of Appeals of New York in the case of People v Molineux (168 NY 264 (1901)).  Molineux had at first instance been convicted of murder in a trial which included evidence relating to his past conduct.  On appeal. the verdict was overturned on the basis that as a general principle: “…in both civil and criminal proceedings, that when evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts committed by a person is offered for the purpose of raising an inference that the person is likely to have committed the crime charged or the act in issue, the evidence is inadmissible.”  The rationale for that is it creates a constitutional safeguard which acts to protect a defendant from members of a jury forming an assumption the accused had committed the offence with which they were charged because of past conduct which might have included being accused of similar crimes.  Modified sometimes by other precedent or statutes, similar rules of evidentiary exclusion operate in many common law jurisdictions.  It was the Molineux Rule lawyers for former film producer Harvey Weinstein (b 1952) used to have overturned his 2020 conviction for third degree rape.  In a 4:3 ruling, the court held the trial judge made fundamental errors in having “…erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes because that testimony served no material non-propensity purpose.” and therefore the only “...remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

Harvey Weinstein and others.

Reaction to the decision of the appellate judges was of course swift and the opinion of the “black letter” lawyers was the court was correct because “…we don't want a court system convicting people based on testimony about allegations with which they’ve not been charged.”, added to which such evidence might induce a defendant not to submit to the cross-examination they’d have been prepared to undergo if only matters directly relevant to the charge(s) had been mentioned in court.  Although the Molineux Rule has been operative for well over a century, some did thing it surprising the trial judge was prepare to afford the prosecution such a generous latitude in its interpretation but it should be noted the Court of Appeal divided 4:3 so there was substantial support from the bench that what was admitted as evidence did fall within what are known as the “Molineux exceptions” which permit certain classes of testimony in what is known as “character evidence”.  That relies on the discretion of the judge who must weigh the value of the testimony versus the prejudicial effect it will have on the defendant.  In the majority judgment, the Court of Appeal made clear that in the common law system (so much of which is based on legal precedent), if the trial judge’s decision on admissibility was allowed to stand, there could (and likely would) be far-reaching consequences and their ruling was based on upholding the foundations of our criminal justice system in the opening paragraphs: "Under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to account only for the crime charged and, thus, allegations of prior bad acts may not be admitted against them for the sole purpose of establishing their propensity for criminality. It is our solemn duty to diligently guard these rights regardless of the crime charged, the reputation of the accused, or the pressure to convict."

The strict operation of the Molineux Rule (which this ruling will ensure is observed more carefully) does encapsulate much of the core objection to the way courts operate in common law jurisdictions.  The common law first evolved into something recognizable as such in England & Wales after the thirteenth century and it spread around the world as the British Empire grew and that included the American colonies which, after achieving independence in the late eighteenth century as the United States of America, retained the legal inheritance.  The common law courts operate on what is known as the “adversarial system” as opposed to the “inquisitorial system” of the civil system based on the Code Napoléon, introduced in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; leader of the French Republic 1799-1804 & Emperor of the French from 1804-1814 & 1815) and widely used in Europe and the countries of the old French Empire.  The criticism of the adversarial system is that the rules are based on the same principle as many adversarial contests such as football matches where the point of the rules is to ensure the game is decided on the pitch and neither team has any advantage beyond their own skill and application.

That’s admirable in sport but many do criticize court cases being conducted thus, the result at least sometimes being decided by the skill of the advocate and their ability to persuade.  Unlike the inquisitorial system where the object is supposed to be the determination of the truth, in the adversarial system, the truth can be something of an abstraction, the point being to win the case.  In that vein, many find the Molineux Rule strange, based on experience in just about every other aspect of life.  Someone choosing a new car, a bar of chocolate or a box of laundry detergent is likely to base their decision from their knowledge of other products from the same manufacturer, either from personal experience or the result of their research.  Most consumer organizations strongly would advise doing exactly that yet when the same person is sitting on a jury and being asked to decide if an accused is guilty of murder, rape or some other heinous offence, the rules don’t allow them to be told the accused has a history of doing exactly that.  All the jury is allowed to hear is evidence relating only to the matter to be adjudicated.  Under the Molineux Rule there are exceptions which allow “evidence of character” to be introduced but as a general principle, the past is hidden and that does suit the legal industry which is about winning cases.  The legal theorists are of course correct that the restrictions do ensure an accused can’t unfairly be judged by past conduct but for many, rules which seem to put a premium on the contest rather than the truth must seem strange.

Atlas

Atlas (pronounced at-luhs (U) or At-lass (non-U))

(1) A bound collection of maps, named after the Greek god. Since the sixteenth century, pictures of Atlas and his burden have been used as decorations on maps.

(2) A detailed visual conspectus of something of great and multi-faceted complexity, with its elements splayed so as to be presented in as discrete a manner as possible whilst retaining a realistic view of the whole.  Most associated with anatomy, especially of the human body, it’s long been used to describe detailed collections of drawings, diagrams etc of any subject.

(3) In anatomy, the top or first cervical vertebra of the neck, supporting the skull and articulating with the occipital bone and rotating around the dens of the axis.

(4) In stationery, a size of drawing or writing paper, 26 × 33 or 34 inches (660 x 838 or 864 mm); in some markets sold in a 26 x 17 inch (660 x 432 mm) form.

(5) In architecture, a sculptural figure of a man used as a column; also called a telamon (plural telamones or telamons) or atlant, atlante & atlantid (plural atlantes).

(6) A mountain range in north-west Africa.

(7) In classical mythology, a Titan, son of Iapetus and brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus, condemned for eternity to support the sky on his shoulders as punishment for rebelling against Zeus: identified by the ancients with the Atlas Mountains.

(8) A very strong person or who supports a heavy burden; a mainstay.

(9) In rocketry, a liquid-propellant booster rocket, originally developed as the first US intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), used with Agena or Centaur upper stages to launch satellites into orbit around the earth and send probes to the moon and planets; also used to launch the Mercury spacecraft into Earth orbit.

(9) in military use (US rocketry) & astronautics, the SM-65, an early ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile), re-purposed as the launch platform for orbital vehicles (satellites) and later used with Agena or Centaur upper stages to send probes to the moon and planets; also used to launch the Mercury spacecraft into Earth orbit.

(10) In astronomy, a small satellite of Saturn, discovered in 1980.

(11) In astronomy, a crater in the last quadrant of the moon.

(12) In astronomy, a triple star system in the Pleiades open cluster (M45) also known as 27 Tauri.

(13) In psychiatry, as Atlas personality, a term used to describe the personality of someone whose childhood was characterized by excessive responsibilities.

(14) As the ERA Atlas, the original name for the UNIVAC 1101 computer, released in 1950.

(15) In differential geometry & topology, a family of coordinate charts that cover a manifold.

(16) A rich satin fabric (archaic).

1580-1590: From the Latin Atlas, from the name of the Ancient Greek mythological figure Ἄτλας (Átlas) (Bearer (of the Heavens)), from τλῆναι (tlênai) (to suffer; to endure; to bear).  The traditional translation of the Greek name as "The Bearer (of the Heavens)" comes from it construct: a- (the copulative prefix) + the stem of tlenai (to bear), from the primitive Indo-European root tele- (to lift, support, weigh) but some etymologists suggest the Berber adrar (mountain) as a source and argues it’s at least plausible that the Greek name is a "folk-etymological reshaping" of this. Mount Atlas, in (then) Mauritania, featured in the cosmology of Ancient Greece as a support of the heavens.  Atlas had originally been the name of an Arcadian mountain god before being transferred to the mountain chain.  In Arabic script atlas was أَطْلَس‎ and Atlas Mountains جِبَال ٱلْأَطْلَس, Romanized as jibāl al-ʾaṭlas.  The Atlas mountain range lies in north-west Africa and separates the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara.  The noun plural is atlases for the collection of maps and atlantes for the architectural feature.  Atlas is a noun and atlas-like is an adjective; the noun plural is atlases.  When used as a proper noun to refer to the figure of mythology, it's with an initial capital.

The first use of the word atlas (in English translation) in the sense of a "collection of maps in a volume" is thought to have the 1636 edition of the 1595 Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (Atlas or cosmographical meditations upon the creation of the universe, and the universe as created) by Flemish geographer & cartographer Gerhardus Mercator (1512-1594).  An impression of the Titan Atlas holding the globe was imprinted on the frontispiece and many subsequent atlases followed, creating a tradition which has endured until today. Mercator died prior to publication of the atlas, the first edition of which he had already largely complied and assembled; the final editing was undertaken by his son who would also pursue a career in cartography.

The adjective (resembling or pertaining to Atlas) was atlantean which from 1852 extended to “pertaining to Atlantis".  The mythical island (even sometimes a continent) become widely known in Europe only after circa 1600 after translations of Plato’s Timaeus and Critias (both written circa 360 BC) became available.  Even then, like some previous medieval scholars who knew the texts, many thought regarding Plato as a historian as dubious and considered Atlantis entirely an invention, a device used to illustrate a political cautionary tale.  Still, given a long history of earthquakes and sea-level rise since the last peak of the ice-age (in which we’re still living), it’s not impossible there are buried settlements which would, by the standards of the time, have been thought large.  The Greek Atlantis (literally "daughter of Atlas”), is a noun use of the feminine adjective from Atlas (stem Atlant).

A brace of Atlantes at the tomb of Louis Phélypeaux (1598–1681), seigneur de La Vrillière, marquis de Châteauneuf and Tanlay (1678), comte de Saint-Florentin, church of Saint Martial of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire.

In European architectural sculpture, an atlas (also known as an atlant, atlante & atlantid (plural atlantes)), was a (usually decorative) support sculpted in the form of a man and either part of or attached to a column, a pier or a pilaster.  The Roman term was telamon (plural telamones or telamons), from a later mythological hero, Telamon, one of the Argonauts, the father of Ajax.  Pre-dating the alantes in Classical architecture was the caryatid, an exclusively female form where the sculpture of a woman stands with each pillar or column.  Usually in an Ionic context, they were traditionally represented in association with the goddesses worshiped in the temples to which they were attached and rarely were they full-length forms, usually crafted as a conventional structural member below the waist, assuming the female lines above.  One difference between the male and female renderings was the atlantes often bore expressions of strain or had limbs bent by the effort of sustaining their heavy load.  The caryatids were almost always purely decorative and carved to show a nonchalant effortlessness.

Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque (1943), oil on canvas by Sir Winston Churchill (1974-1965).

In January 1943, Winston Churchill (1874-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) and Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945; US president 1933-1945) met at Casablanca to discuss Allied political and military strategy.  One of the critical meetings of the war and one which tends to be neglected compared with the later tripartite conferences (which included Comrade Stalin (1878-1953; leader of the USSR 1924-1953) at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, it’s remembered for a statement which emerged almost casually at the end of the ten day session: that Germany, Italy and Japan must surrender unconditionally.  The phrase "unconditional surrender" came from the president and surprised many (including Churchill) and it proved a gift for the ever-active Nazi propaganda machine. 

Churchill prevailed on the president to stay another day before returning to Washington DC, insisting one couldn’t come all the way to Morocco without visiting Marrakech and seeing the sun set over the Atlas Mountains.  They stayed at the Villa Taylor on 24 January and the next day, after the American delegation had departed, the prime-minister painted his view of the Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, framed by the Atlas Mountains.  He’d visited Marrakech during the 1930s and completed several paintings but this was the only one he would paint during the war.  It was sent it to Roosevelt, as a present for his birthday on 30 January.  Churchill was a keen amateur painter, even having published Painting as a Pastime (1922) but never rated his own skills highly, often when speaking with other amateurs cheerfully admitting their work was better but he did think the 1943 effort was “a cut above anything I have ever done so far”.  He would have been surprised to learn that on 1 March 2021, Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque sold at auction at Christie’s in London for Stg£8,285,000 (US$11,194,000).

The Farnese Atlas (left) which historians concluded was a Roman copy (circa 150 AD) in marble of (second century BC) work typical of the style of the Hellenistic period.  It depicts Atlas holding the world on his shoulders and is the oldest known representation of the celestial spheres and classical constellations, Napoli, Museo archeologico nazionale (National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy).  Lindsay Lohan (right) reprises the look in an aqua swimsuit, Mykonos, Greece, July 2017.

After the war Churchill was amused to read that but for a misunderstanding, he may never have got to paint in Morocco at all.  The wartime meetings of the leaders were all top-secret but in something of a coup by North African agents of the Abwehr (the German military-intelligence service 1920-1944), the details of the meeting at Casablanca were discovered and Berlin was advised to consider a bombing mission.  Unfortunately for the Abwehr, the decoders translated “Casablanca” literally as “White House” and the idea of any action was dismissed because the Germans had no bomber capable of reaching the US.  Casablanca had originally been named Dar al-Baiḍā (دار البيضاء (House of the White) in the Arabic, later renamed by the Portuguese as Casa Branca before finally being Hispanicized as "Casablanca".

Group photograph of the political leaders with the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee, Casablanca Conference, Morocco, 14-24 January 1943.  It was at this conference the president unexpectedly announced the allied demand for "unconditional surrender" by the Axis powers and historians have since debated the political and military implications, one theory being it was something which mitigated against the possibility of any attempt within Germany to depose Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945).

Sitting: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945) (left); Sir Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) (right).

Standing, left to right (retirement ranks used): General Brehon B Somervell (1892–1955; head of US Army Service Forces 1942-1946); General of the Air Force Henry H "Hap" Arnold (1886–1950; head of US air forces 1938-1947); Fleet Admiral Ernest J King (1878–1956; US Chief of Naval Operations 1944-1945); General Lord (Hastings "Pug") Ismay (1887–1965; chief of staff to the prime-minister in his capacity as minister of defence 1940-1965); General of the Army George C Marshall (1880–1959; US Army chief of staff 1939-1945); Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound (1877–1943; First Sea Lord 1939-1943); Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke (1883–1963; Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) 1941-1946); Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord (Charles "Peter") Portal (1893–1971; Chief of the RAF Air Staff 1940-1945); Admiral of the Fleet Lord (Louis) Mountbatten (1900–1979; First Sea Lord 1955-1959).

Scapulimancy

Scapulimancy (pronounced skap-yuh-luh-man-see)

Divination of the future by observation of the cracking of a mammal's scapula (the shoulder blade, the bone connecting the clavicle to the humerus), sometimes after having been heated by fire or a hot instrument.

1870–1875: The construct was scapul(a) + -i- + -mancy.  Scapula was from the Late Latin scapula (shoulder), from the Classical Latin scapulae (shoulders).  The -mancy suffix was from the Latin -mantīa, ultimately from the Ancient Greek μᾰντείᾱ (manteíā) (divination).  In English it was appended to convey the sense either of (1) divination or (2) in fantasy, varieties of magic, especially those controlling or related to specific elements, substances, or themes.  The synonym is omoplatoscopy and the alternative spelling scapulomancy.  Scapulimancy is a noun, scapulimantic is an adjective and scapulimanticly is an adverb.

Sheep shoulder blades.

Divination was from the Latin divinare (to foresee, foretell or predict; tom make prophesy) and is a general term describing attempts to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice, usually involving either (1) some object or objects in which special qualities are said to be vested, (2) an alleged contact or interaction with supernatural entities or agencies such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the other forces “of the universe” or (3) the interpretation of signs or omens, variously defined.  As a cultural practice, divination has been identified in many cultures and at the root of it is probably a desire to have explained what is by all other means available, inexplicable.  That obviously offers some potential for exploitation by those seeking social, political or religious authority but it can also be a business model and between that and religion especially, there’s historically been some overlap, something alive and well today.  The notion of using the shoulder blades of slaughtered animals for this purpose may seem strange but as a method it seems no more or less convincing than instruments such as the tea-leaf, rune stones, Tarot-cards or the movement of objects in the heavens, some billions of miles remote from the apparent randomness of events on Earth.

Butchered & dressed lamb shoulder chops (left) and lamb shoulder chops with garlic and rosemary (right).

Although much-associated with priests, magicians and prophets (again, the overlap not hand to find), divination was practiced also by those for whom religion (in the way the word is conventionally understood) wasn’t a significant force.  The Hun of the Eurasian steppe, best remembered for their fifth century invasion of the Roman Empire, may have Turkic language (though one much infused with words from others), are known to have never developed writing and never seem to have flirted beyond the vaguest with God or gods, the only devotional aspect of their culture a kind of “nature worship”, something which would probably now attract much sympathy.  There may though have been something of a cargo-cult in that various objects seem to have been associated with a kind of veneration, notably swords or weapons linked with military success and generals down the ages, however practical and pragmatic they might have been in other matters, are recorded by historians or in diaries as being fond of consulting soothsayers the night before a battle.  The Huns definitely practiced scapulimancy, the logs of travelers and merchants recording how a shaman-like figure would take from the fire the shoulder blades of the roasted sheep, “reading the patterns” on the surface to make predictions for the days, the foretold omens revealed by pits, stains ridges & hollows which made each bone as unique as a finger-print.  This use for the sheep’s scapula adds another layer to the oft-repeated observation about the reductive efficiency of the steppe peoples in the husbanding of their scare resources: “For some purpose, they used every part of the sheep”.  Because the Huns left no written records, all that is known of their scapulimantic technique comes from third-party observers but as far as is known, their practice was in the “pyromantic” tradition (the “preparing” of the bone by leaving it for a time in the embers of the cooking fire), the “apyromantic” (examination after the flesh had been cut from the bone) method most known in Europe & Northern Africa.  Both these descriptions came from the work of nineteenth century anthropologists.

Lohanic scapulae; a tetrad:  Four photographs of Lindsay Lohan's shoulder blades.

It’s not only in the post-Enlightenment West that divination has (mostly) been dismissed as silly superstition, many thinkers from Antiquity pointing out in their writings the absurdity of the idea and their most effective criticism was probably not the abstract arguments philosophers usually can’t resist but a simple “fact-checking”: comparing predictions with outcomes, the success rate found predictably low.  In the text of one sceptic however, there appears to be the first mention of the efficacy, even in the age of climate change, of one reliable prediction about the weather: “three times out of four, the weather tomorrow will be much the same as today.” (YMMV).  However, despite the two-thousand-odd years of intellectual scorn, the lure of prediction by dubious means remains strong, some otherwise respectable publications regularly including a horoscope, even though there’s nothing to suggest astrology is otherwise taken seriously.  It seems star-sighs exert a special fascination and many identify with their birth sign and read the horoscope, even if usually for amusement.  For some though it’s serious.  Nancy Reagan (1921–2016; US First Lady 1981-1989) regularly consulted an astrologer (on the White House payroll for a reputed US$3000 a month) after one warned her husband Ronald Reagan (1911-2004; US president 1981-1989) would be “in danger” on a certain day; on that day he survived an assassination attempt.

Others couldn’t quite decide.  Being interviewed by a prison psychologist in 1945, Rudolf Hess (1894–1987; Nazi Deputy Führer 1933-1941) claimed he’d made his bizarre attempt to secure a negotiated peace between Germany on the UK (his flight to Scotland in May 1941 on the eve of the Nazi’s invasion of the Soviet Union) because the year before “…one of his astrologers had read in the stars that he was ordained to bring about peace”, adding that both Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) and Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945; Reichsführer SS 1929-1945) “…had come to have an abiding belief in astrology.”  It was a claim he would repeat to a journalist in the 1980s.  Despite that, as soon as the news of the flight was brought to Hitler at the Berghof (the Führer’s alpine retreat in the Bavarian Alps) the party hierarchy instantly was summoned from Berlin and the scramble was on to find the most plausible way to spin to the world an explanation why the “second man in the Reich” had delivered himself to the enemy.  In the circumstances, madness probably was the best option and the task was made easier by the British who made no attempt to exploit the defection for propaganda purposes.  Dr Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945; Nazi propaganda minister 1933-1945) put out a statement saying Hess had fallen under the influence “…of soothsayers and fortune-tellers” and had become “...a deluded, deranged and muddled idealist, ridden with hallucinations traceable to World War (ie the 1914-1918 conflict) injuries.”  Immediately, just to make things more plausible still, the state security apparatus (a well-oiled machine) conducted a crackdown on soothsayers and fortune-tellers, locking up many until the scandal had passed which it did remarkable quickly.

All must have been forgiven by 1945 when in the Führerbunker Goebbels, after reminding Hitler of the “miracle of the House of Brandenburg” when the death of a czarina had saved Frederick II (Frederick the Great, 1712–1786, Prussian king 1740-1786) from defeat, consulted two horoscopes kept in the files, one written on 9 November 1918 (the date on which the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) was formed), the other from 30 January 1933 (the date Hitler was appointed chancellor).  According to Goebbels, both documents predicted “…the outbreak of the war in 1939, the victories until 1941, and the subsequent series of reversals, with the hardest blows during the first months of 1945, particularly during the first half of April.  In the second half of April we were to experience a temporary success.  Then there would be stagnation until August and peace that same month.  For the following three years Germany would have a hard time, but starting in 1948 she would rise again.”  Confident that “…according to historical logic and justice things were bound to change”, he must have felt vindicated a few days later when the new broke of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945); history had given Goebbels his czarina: “Bring out our best champagne!” he commanded, adding “And get me the Fuehrer on the telephone!”  Unfortunately for Goebbels, while he might have felt he wrote his will across the sky, the stars dimmed and fell, the horoscopes no more a reliable predictor of the future than scorched shoulder blades.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro (pronounced kee-ahr-uh-skyoo-roh)

(1) The distribution of light and shade in a picture.

(2) In painting, the use of deep variations in and subtle gradations of light and shade in color, especially to enhance the delineation of character and for general dramatic effect.

(3) In monochrome painting, using light and dark only, as in the grisaille technique.

(4) The artistic distribution of light and dark masses in images.

(5) A woodcut print in which the colors are produced by the use of different blocks with different colors.

(6) A sketch in light and shade1680-1690: From the Italian chiaroscuro (disposition of light and dark in a picture (literally "bright-dark"), the construct being chiaro (clear, bright) from the Latin clārus ((clear, bright, renowned, famous, illustrious)) + oscuro (dark) from the Latin obscūrus (dark, dusky, shadowy, indistinct, unintelligible, obscure, intricate, involved, complicated, unknown, unrecognized; (of character) reserved, secret, close). Related forms are the nouns chiaroscurist and chiaroscurism.  The seventeenth century Italian forms were chiaroclear and oscuroobscure.  Chiaroscuro is a noun & adjective, chiaroscurist is a noun and chiaroscuroed is an adjective; the noun plural is chiaroscuros or chiaroscuri.

De koppelaarster (The Matchmaker) (1625) by Gerrit van Honthorst (1592–1656).

In oil painting, the technique of Chiaroscuro emerged during the Renaissance.  Essentially, it aimed to create the optical illusion of three-dimensional forms by emphasizing the tonal contrasts between light and dark. It’s a clever artistic trick achieved by having light fall against the edges of solid, darker forms and the most celebrated exponents were Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt.  Artists have of course always been aware of the mechanics, the English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition John Constable (1776–1837) noting in one of his many sketchbooks: “My first lesson was when Benjamin West [US born “history painter” Benjamin West (1738–1820)] told me not to forget that ‘light and shadow never stand still’.”

Three photographs of Lindsay Lohan following the chiaroscuro technique.

Now less fashionable in painting, probably because modern artists are understandably not anxious to seek comparison with old masters, it’s perhaps the dominant technique in photography and when working in monochrome, it can produce fine results.  Called the Rembrandt technique or Rembrandt lighting, it’s also been occasionally adopted by film directors although it’s difficult to execute and ultimately renders a product not at all realistic which sometimes can be the director’s intent; sometimes perhaps not.  In the case of some Soviet cinema, the technique was adopted and is considered a distinctive element in many works in the genre of "socialist realism" although that is something quite distinct from "appearing realistic".  Soviet art was riddled with such paradoxes.

Paris-based Bulgarian photographer Elina Kechichevna (b 1979) created Dior’s 2021 Spring Summer collection (SS21) campaign, emulating Caravaggio’s (1571-1610) masterful handling of the technique of chiaroscuro.  Thematically, Kechichevna explored a number of strands including feminist thought, romanticism and the interplay of chiaroscuro’s layering of light with tricks of geometry in placement.

Sydney Sweeney, “cleavage hack” PSA, October, 2025.

In addition to her movie work and promotional activities, actor Sydney Sweeney (b 1997) also does PSAs (public service announcements) and in October 2025 posted to Instagram what she described as a “cleavage hack”.  What she did was apply in three dimensions the chiaroscuro technique artists use in two.  Just as painters seek to achieve deep variations in and subtle gradations of light so too do women seeing to add delineation to their cleavage.  What the admirable Ms Sweeney did was selectively apply make up to strategic points on her décolletage, the interplay of darker and lighter skin emphasising the effects naturally created by her curves.  Of course, as we know from American Eagle’s recent campaign, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”, one aspect of her genetic luck is she’s less in need than many of a “cleavage hack” but the trick works with flesh in just about any dimensions.  For those without her advantages, the chiaroscuro effect can further be enhanced by using a “wonderbra” of some type and experts caution that because what’s being sought is contrast, users may need to experiment with different colors to determine which best suits the skin tone.  Expertly done (practice makes perfect), a bronzer or highlighter in the right shade will optimize the contours and produce a sculpted look.