We have belonged, for many years now, to a remarkable monthly reading group, officially known as the Gadianton Polysophical Marching and Chowder Society, that began decades ago in Santa Barbara — where some of its original members were either on the faculty at the University of California (e.g., Davis Bitton) or affiliated with a local think tank (John Sorenson) and at least one other was pursuing a doctorate in mathematics.  It’s a remarkable group, including some very portentous... Read more

    More notes from my reading.   A couple of passages from Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, taken from his book How It Began: A Time-Traveler’s Guide to the Universe (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012):   It’s a dark family tale.  Gaia is born on cue and emerges shrieking into the night.  Her twin sister Luna is born slightly later, after having... Read more

    My wife and I watched The Muppet Christmas Carol this afternoon.  Honest.  We did.   In that connection, I call your attention to an interesting article to which my friend and Interpreter Foundation colleague Craig Foster alerted me the other day:   “The Story Behind the Music of The Muppet Christmas Carol”   ***   I was really pleased to read about this:   “Kirtland Nativity event with nearly 1,000 creches draws Christmas lovers”   ***   But this... Read more

    I hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas season and that you’re having a joyous and satisfying Christmas Day, filled with warmth and love.   I will candidly report, though, that I have always found Christmas Day itself both happy and sad, even a bit depressing.   The reasons for this have changed over the years:   When I was very young, the wonder of the approaching holiday thrilled me.  And, of course, there was always the... Read more

    First of all, something fun, called to my attention by Steven Glover.  It makes my own house’s Christmas decorations seem very, very pedestrian:     ***   “Thousands Honor the Birth of Christ Through Unique Acts of Service: The Light the World initiative encourages people to follow Christ’s example”   ***   This is a bracing non-Mormon reflection on the story of Christmas:   “‘He Himself Carried the Fire’”   ***   I know.  I know.  My performance on... Read more

    Bill Hamblin and I published this column in the Deseret News on 11 December 2015:   When we think about the Nativity of Jesus, we tend to harmonize what the Gospels have to say. We often assume that the shepherds and the wise men all came on the night of Jesus’ birth, though it’s quite possible they came at different times days or even weeks after the birth. Generally, we create a unified narrative something like this: Birth... Read more

    “Santa Claus Converts To Calvinism, Moves Everybody To Naughty List”   ***     St. Nicholas of Myra, the prototype for St. Nicholas > Santa Claus, was an active participant at the Nicene Council.  My favorite scene from Nicaea comes when St. Nick, incensed at what the soon-to-be-designated arch heretic Arius of Alexandria had said, walks up and clobbers him.   Ho ho ho!   (And thus did the Holy Spirit guide the deliberations of the Fathers of... Read more

    The theme for today, the twenty-third day of the “Light the World” 2017 Christmas initiative sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is   “I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”   ***   In that connection, this was a spectacularly good idea, and I hope that it will spread even further next year (and perhaps throughout the year):   The Deseret News:  “Light the World initiative’s charity vending machines raise $469K”  ... Read more

    Below, I reproduce a column that I wrote for the Deseret News back in 2010.   First, though, here’s a link to the column that Bill Hamblin and I published in the Deseret News this morning:   “Christmas after the Protestant Reformation”   ***   And now on to the main event:   Today is Joseph Smith’s birthday. Contrary to the claims of our more extreme critics, Latter-day Saints don’t put up “Smithmas” lights, sing “Smithmas” carols or recite... Read more

    The English mathematician, mathematical physicist, and philosopher of science Sir Roger Penrose (b. 1931) is the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford.  Here are some passages that I’ve extracted from the first few pages of his book The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (New York: Vintage Books, 2004):   To mathematicians (at least to most of them, as far as I can make out), mathematics is not just a... Read more