[innercityteacher]

Thanks Jerry. Hope the pros dont roll their eyes too much when D and I post. Honestly there's the guys out on the hill and then there's the guys who dont teach.......Teaching golf is not easy. Ive been playing for 40 years and I still dont know what its all about. Thats why I love this game , this place. I dont expect to ever know this game.

What a weird sport........who invented this game anyways?

From the Merriam-Webster's online Dictionary

Main Entry: am·a·teur
Pronunciation: \ˈa-mə-(ˌ)tər, -ˌtu̇r, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌchu̇r, -chər\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Latin amator lover, from amare to love
Date: 1784

1 : devotee, admirer
2 : one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession
3 : one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science

— amateur adjective

— am·a·teur·ish \ˌa-mə-ˈtər-ish, -ˈt(y)u̇r-, -ˈchu̇r-, -ˈchər-\ adjective

— am·a·teur·ish·ly adverb

— am·a·teur·ish·ness noun

— am·a·teur·ism \ˈa-mə-ˌtər-ˌi-zəm, -ˌt(y)u̇r-, -ˌchu̇r-, -ˌchər-; -ˌtə-ˌri-, -ˌchə-ˌri-\ noun
synonyms amateur, dilettante, dabbler, tyro mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status. amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials <a painting obviously done by an amateur>; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration <remained an amateur despite lucrative offers>



The Sunday Times

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From The Times
November 5, 2009
X-ray machine voted most important invention in Science Museum poll
Hannah Devlin

Russell Reynolds had only one wish when in 1896 at the age of 15 he learnt of the discovery of X-rays: to possess his own X-ray machine.

The Westminster schoolboy enlisted the help of his father, John Reynolds, a GP, and set about building one. Within a year the machine was finished, and it is now displayed in the Science Museum in London.

Yesterday Reynolds’s pioneering spirit gained further recognition as the X-ray machine was voted the most important invention in the history of science. In a museum poll nearly 50,000 people voted on ten inventions and discoveries, which included penicillin, the Pilot ACE computer and Stephenson’s Rocket. The X-ray machine was a clear winner, with 9,581 votes.

Reynolds’s work reflected a broader contribution by late 19th-century amateurs that led to some significant scientific breakthroughs, according to Katie Maggs, associate curator of medicine at the Science Museum, who championed the inclusion of the X-ray machine on the shortlist. “It’s very inspirational to budding scientists to learn that an invention now declared the most important in world history could be pioneered by enthusiastic amateur inventors,” she said.

Announcing the result at the museum yesterday, Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, said that the vote reflected the public’s appreciation of advances in medical science. “The winner is also testament to our insatiable curiosity to find out how things work,” he said.

Penicillin came second in the poll, with 6,825 votes, followed by the DNA double helix, 100 votes behind.

X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen, the German physicist, in November 1895. He won a Nobel prize for his work, but much of the early development of X-ray equipment was carried out by amateurs. In the months immediately after Röntgen announced his discovery, in January 1896, a number of amateur scientists, including the Reynolds, began to develop their own models.

Reynolds went on to become a pioneer of radiology, developing the first method of taking X-ray images of internal organs. Although some doctors were quick to take up the invention, it was not until the 1920s that the use of X-rays became widespread.

Tim Boon, chief curator of the Science Museum, said that the invention came when science and medicine were going from being “crafts” to disciplines in their own right. “The X-ray machine came at the culmination of a whole wave of medical inventions,” he said. It followed the development of stethoscopes and thermometers.

Andy Adam, a radiologist at King’s College London, agreed that the X-ray machine revolutionised the practice of medicine. “The sophistication of medical imaging today is such that we are rapidly approaching the era of the ‘transparent patient’,” he said.

The discovery of X-rays is seen as an example of how technologies with widespread applications can spring from the pursuit of basic science. Röntgen came across X-rays almost by chance while investigating what happened when electrons were passed through various types of vacuum tube. He covered the tubes with black cardboard to prevent light escaping but noticed a shimmering coming from a screen about a metre away. It was only after further tests that he realised he was looking at a new type of radiation that could travel through materials that appear opaque to visible light.

Each of the ten discoveries included on the poll shortlist is represented by an iconic scientific object on display at the Science Museum.


Uhhmmm the rocket, x-rays, and Penicillin all seem like pretty important contributions by amateurs to me. The Chinese used bow and arrows of differing types prior to their invention of gunpowder. Egyptians invented perfumes using citrus and cinnamon.
Because it is raining here, please enjoy this tidbit:

Cinnamon History
Cinnamon has been used for embalming and meat preservation

By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com Guide
See More about:

* cinnamon recipes
* spice recipes
* how to cook with spices

"cinnamon history cassia quills bark sticks spice recipes receipts"

Ground Cinnamon and Cassia Quills or Sticks
© 2007 Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
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The pungent aroma of cinnamon is unmistakable, usually evoking dreams of hot cinnamon rolls from the oven. Cinnamon was once so highly-prized that wars were fought over it, it was used as currency, and it has aphrodisiacal powers.
Cinnamon History
Native to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), true cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, dates back in Chinese writings to 2800 B.C., and is still known as kwai in the Chinese language today. Its botanical name derives from the Hebraic and Arabic term amomon, meaning fragrant spice plant. Ancient Egyptians used cinnamon in their embalming process. From their word for cannon, Italians called it canella, meaning "little tube," which aptly describes cinnamon sticks.

In the first century A.D., Pliny the Elder wrote of 350 grams of cinnamon as being equal in value to over five kilograms of silver, about fifteen times the value of silver per weight.

Medieval physicians used cinnamon in medicines to treat coughing, hoarseness and sore throats. As a sign of remorse, Roman Emperor Nero ordered a year's supply of cinnamon be burnt after he murdered his wife.

The spice was also valued for its preservative qualities for meat due to the phenols which inhibit the the bacteria responsible for spoilage, with the added bonus being the strong cinnamon aroma masked the stench of aged meats.

In the 17th century, the Dutch seized the world's largest cinnamon supplier, the island of Ceylon, from the Portuguese, demanding outrageous quotas from the poor laboring Chalia caste. When the Dutch learned of a source of cinnamon along the coast of India, they bribed and threatened the local king to destroy it all, thus preserving their monopoly on the prized spice.

In 1795, England seized Ceylon from the French, who had acquired it from their victory over Holland during the Revolutionary Wars. (In the Victorian language of flowers, cinnamon means "my fortune is yours.")

However, by 1833, the downfall of the cinnamon monopoly had begun when other countries found it could be easily grown in such areas as Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Mauritius, Réunion and Guyana. Cinnamon is now also grown in South America, the West Indies, and other tropical climates.


I have to go practice my RFT/EA/Nose down Pivot, now.

Patrick