This is the first post from the Minnows Accelerator Project (MAP). I feel we have enough authors to already make this a stimulating and vibrant collection of articles. Indeed, there is no underlying theme apart from being stimulating and vibrant, with points of view across the cultural spectrum of the arts and sciences.
The first step to joining MAP yourself is to signup at the most recent MAP August Signups page. Then, if selected, you will participate in a Six of the Best contest and thereby become part of the MAP community. All the writers below have gone through this process. Good luck!
Tramontana
The Tramontana is a northern wind; in Italy this refers to the wind from the "trans montanus", beyond the Alps. The French "tramontane" was first used by Marco Polo in 1298 - although for a different northerly wind. But in modern Italian, the word "tramonto" also means sunset, so that Tramontana came to mean not just "beyond the mountains" but also "above the mountains"; and for Italians this meant the North Star.
Polaris is such a beacon for navigators that there developed the 17th century French saying "perdre la tramontane", meaning "to lose one's orientation", or "to be lost". So strong is the desire to be oriented that we have an aesthetic aversion to seeing a map with North at the bottom, as if seeing water flow up a mountain. We are accustomed to seeing our beliefs verified, and thereby strengthened. But the universe is far stranger than most can imagine, and the maps we have made will look as dated as Mediterranean portolans.
Please indulge yourself in looking at some maps upside-down; welcome to some of our "disorientations"!
Tales from the MAP Room
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Have you been... entertained?
Brought to you by the Minnows Accelerator Project
Editor: @rycharde (vote for me as witness here)
Artwork: Pixabay, check the original articles
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