When I first became interested in Human Origins, back in the 1960s, the only known ancestors were: the Neanderthals, Homo Erectus, Homo Habilis and Australopithecus Africanus. Over the last 50 years an enormous amount if information has been found by scientific researchers. The story of human origins has become more complex and much more interesting.
The series of videos in this post give an excellent summary of the of the current understanding of the field.
The only issues left out are the Denisovans , Homo floresiensis and the Red Dear Cave People These are fairly recent findings and are still enigmatic so it is not surprising that they have been left out. These three groups, though, support the possibility that non-modern humans persisted until relatively recent times.
Thank you to Black Ryder Films for producing this great series.
Here is a link to a documentary series on Darwin.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Lake Maggiore 2012
We stayed in a hotel on the shore of Lake Maggiore at Baveno.
The highlight of our stay on the lake, was a visit to the island of Isola Bella.
Enough of my pedestrian prose! I will let my photos and videos describe this beautiful location.
Three traveling companions from our probus club, Judy, Julie and Margaret.
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For more of my Lake Maggiore pictures click on this link.
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Our next destination - the amazing city of Venice
The highlight of our stay on the lake, was a visit to the island of Isola Bella.
| As the (Google Earth) photo shows, the island is almost completely covered with a Palazzo and gardens, construction of which started in 1632 and was completed in 1671.
Lake Maggiore is the second largest lake in Italy. It is 68 km long and stretches over the border into Switzerland. (As always, click on the photograph to open a larger version.) |
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Enough of my pedestrian prose! I will let my photos and videos describe this beautiful location.
Three traveling companions from our probus club, Judy, Julie and Margaret.
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For more of my Lake Maggiore pictures click on this link.
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Our next destination - the amazing city of Venice
Pisa and Milan 2012
Our next overnight stay (after Florence) was on Lake Maggiore.
On the way to the lake we spent some time in Pisa and Milan.
In Pisa we visited the city's main tourist attraction: The Leaning Tower. As you can see from the video below, Margaret indulged in a bit of shopping.
It is a "freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry." Source: here
In Milan we spent some time in another Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo)...
Adjoining the Piazza is The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II:
"a double arcade ... formed by two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala.
The Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was originally designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877." Source: here. For a detailed description of Italian Unification see here.
At the beginning of the previous video the statue of Leonardo da Vinci can be seen in the Piazza della Scala. "Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie". Source.
Here is a closer view of Leonardo...
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Click on this link for my pictures of Milan. ____________________________________________________
I might have missed out on my favourite opera, but we had the spectacular scenery of Lake Maggiore to come
On the way to the lake we spent some time in Pisa and Milan.
In Pisa we visited the city's main tourist attraction: The Leaning Tower. As you can see from the video below, Margaret indulged in a bit of shopping.
It is a "freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry." Source: here
In Milan we spent some time in another Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo)...
| ... and toured the Cathedral.
Construction of the cathedral started in 1386 and it took 450 years to complete. See this link for details. (Click on images for a larger version) |
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Adjoining the Piazza is The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II:
"a double arcade ... formed by two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala.
The Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was originally designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877." Source: here. For a detailed description of Italian Unification see here.
At the beginning of the previous video the statue of Leonardo da Vinci can be seen in the Piazza della Scala. "Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie". Source.
Here is a closer view of Leonardo...
| The video finishes with the famous La Scala opera house. The exterior is not particularly impressive, but the interior, which I viewed from the museum, certainly is - as shown in the photo. (That is not one of my photos, I found in on the net.) The show for that evening was the incomparable Tosca. Tickets were still available, and I would have purchased one if we were staying in Milan. |  |
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Click on this link for my pictures of Milan. ____________________________________________________
I might have missed out on my favourite opera, but we had the spectacular scenery of Lake Maggiore to come
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Florence 2012
Florence was established by the Roman general and consul, Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 80 BC.
The city did not have a major influence during Roman times but came into its own during medieval and renaissance times.
A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
Source: Wikipedia
The city did not have a major influence during Roman times but came into its own during medieval and renaissance times.
A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
As in many Italian cities, Florence contains some wonderful squares (piazzas) including Piazza Di Santa Croce and Piazza della Signoria :
Piazza Di Santa Croce
... takes its name from the Basilica of Santa Croce that overlooks the square.
The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils, and its tombs and cenotaphs. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo Buonarroti, Niccolò Machiavelli, Enrico Fermi, Galileo Galilei, Ugo Foscolo, Guglielmo Marconi, Luigi Cherubini, Leon Battista Alberti, Vittorio Alfieri, Gioacchino Rossini, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Lorenzo Bartolini, Pier Antonio Micheli, Bartolomeo Cristofori, Giovanni Gentile, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie). Source: Wikipedia
The video finishes with the statue of Dante Alighieri (poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker) who was born in Florence though is buried in Ravenna.
Piazza della Signoria
| Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square surrounded by Palazzos (palaces) ...
... the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city.[1] It is the meeting place of Florentines as well as the numerous tourists. Source: Wikipedia. It also contains many sculptures including a copy of Michaelangelo's David. The photo (at right) is where the original was first located, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, but it was later moved to the Academy of Fine Arts. Another copy can be seen in the background of this photo. Other sculptures in the square include Perseus with the Head of Medusa which can be viewed here. |
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Two of the major landmarks of Florence can be seen in the photograph of the city below. On the left, spanning the river Arno is the Ponte Vecchio. To the right the dome of the cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, stands clearly on the cities skyline.
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Ponte Vecchio
... a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers ... Source: Wikipedia
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Here is a video taken at one end of the bridge. Can you determine which road is the bridge?
San Gimignano
About 60 kms from Florence lies the beautiful hill town of San Gimignano. On our second day in Florence we traveled through the Tuscan countryside ...
... to visit the town.
It sits on a hill which means that its famous towers are clearly visible from a distance.
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The towers ...
... were built during medieval times by the rich and powerful families to flaunt their wealth.
We entered the town through the main gate in the city wall ...
... and found the main square ...
... which houses a famous gelato shop ...
... and enjoyed the views over the surrounding countryside ...
... before heading back to Florence for the afternoon.
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For more reference on San Gimignano see links: here , here and here
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Click on this link for my photos of Florence. _________________________________________________
Next stop Pisa and its famous tower
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