A Ton of Crap (76 page)

Qu´ôc Ngữ
Beginning in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Asian languages started to become Romanized by Catholic priests in an effort to translate the Bible. French Jesuit priest Alexandre De Rhodes created quốc ngữ, the Roman-based script (using the Latin alphabet) of the Vietnamese language that is still used today. De Rhodes arrived in Vietnam in 1627, and within six months was able to preach fluently. Quốc ngữ grew increasingly popular with the people of Vietnam, and it was recognized as the official writing system of the nation following independence from the French in the beginning of the twentieth century.

WORLD WAR I

The Battle of Cambrai
The Battle of Cambrai began on November 7, 1917, and continued through December. It was the first large-scale battle in World War I where tanks were used (they were introduced in the Battle of Fiers-Courcelette of 1916). Following the failure at the Third Battle of Ypres (with conditions less than suitable), the popularity of tanks dwindled, and they were seen as prone to malfunctioning and had limited use. Though the British would lose the Battle of Cambrai, the use of tanks during this particular battle showcased the strengths of these machines.

MYSTERY

Dorothy Sayers
Dorothy Sayers published her first novel,
Whose Body
, in 1923. In
Whose Body
, Sayers introduces the detective that she would use for eleven more novels and twenty-one more stories: Lord Peter Wimsey. In the 1930s, Sayers stopped writing mystery novels, focusing on radio plays and theological dramas. In 1929, Sayers founded the Detection Club, a group of British mystery writers including members such as G. K. Chesterton and Agatha Christie.

LOGIC

Use of Parentheses
Parentheses play an important part in writing out logical arguments. If we wanted to negate a sentence, we would use the symbol ~. But if we write ~
A
^
B
, that does not mean the entire thing is negated, but rather only
A
is. Parentheses help us clarify. So, we would write it out like ~(
A
^
B
). Parentheses also help distinguish the sentences while working. Logic problems can be very complex, sometimes with thirty lines of derivation, so the parentheses keep it all in an orderly fashion.

THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION

Wave Function
Another aspect of the Copenhagen interpretation describes wave function. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the complete description of a wave-particle is its wave function. This means that information that cannot be derived from the wave function does not exist. For example, if a wave is spread out over a large area, the particle’s location cannot be determined. Therefore, since the wave function doesn’t provide a location, there is no location for the particle.

VIETNAMESE

Dialects
There are three dialects found in Vietnamese. These correspond to the three geographical regions of Vietnam. The dialects are Hanoi (Northern Vietnamese), Ho Chi Minh City (Southern Vietnamese), and Hue (Central Vietnamese). Some also believe there to be a distinction between the Northern Vietnamese dialect and the North-Central dialect. The standard language is based on the Northern Vietnamese dialect, and the dialects are, for the most part, mutually intelligible. The Geneva Accords of 1954, responsible for dividing the country into North and South Vietnam, brought on a great migration of people from the north moving to the south. When Vietnam reunified in the mid-1970s, another wave of migration occurred. As a result of these migrations, there is a significant number of southern Vietnamese speakers in the north and vice versa.

WORLD WAR I

The United States Enters the War
When the war broke out, the United States remained neutral and encouraged isolationism, even though there was pro-British propaganda spreading throughout the nation. On May 7, 1915, the
Lusitania
, a British passenger ship that brought people to and from the United States and Britain, was sunk by a German U-boat. The sinking of the ship, which had American citizens aboard, outraged the citizens of the United States. As wishes of neutrality started to wane, the British government intercepted the Zimmermann Telegram, which was from the German ambassador to Mexico, asking Mexico to attack the United States if the United States declared war on Germany. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany.

MYSTERY

Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie lived from 1876 to 1976, and is one of the most well-known and prolific mystery writers. Her protagonist Hercule Poirot, the Belgian private detective, appeared in forty-two of her seventy-eight books, including one of her most famous novels,
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
, which came out in 1926. Much like Sayers, Christie’s novels took place in Britain’s upper- and middle-class country houses, in villages, and even on trains. Agatha Christie was able to produce work that was intricately detailed, complex, slightly humorous, and carefully researched (she was even an expert on poisons).

LOGIC

The Rules of Logic
There are twelve rules of logic:

1. Assumption: You can assume anything, but you have to keep track of your assumptions
   
2. −> Introduction: If you presume
   A
   and then obtain
   B
   , you can write (
   A
   −>
   B
   )
   
3. ^ Elimination: If you have (
   A
   ^
   B
   ), then you can also have
   A
   and you can have
   B
   
4. Repetition: If you have
   A
   , then you are allowed to have
   A
   
5. ^ Introduction: If you have
   A
   and you have
   B
   , then you can have (
   A
   ^
   B
   )
   
6. −> Elimination: If you have
   A
   and you have (
   A
   −>
   B
   ), then you can have
   B
   
7. <−> Introduction: If you have (
   A
   −>
   B
   ) and (
   B
   −>
   A
   ), then you have (
   A
   <−>
   B
   )
   
8. <−> Elimination: If you have (
   A
   <−>
   B
   ), and you have
   A
   , then you can have
   B
   (and vice versa)
   
9. ~ Introduction: If you have
   A
   and find a contradiction, you can have ~
   A
   
10. ~ Elimination: If you have ~
    A
    and find a contradiction, you can have
    A
    
11. v Introduction: If you have
    A
    , you can write (
    A
    v
    B
    ) no matter what
    
12. v Elimination: If you have (
    A
    v
    B
    ) and (
    A
    −>
    C
    ) and (
    Y
    −>
    C
    ), then you can have
    C