Travels in the Knowledge Web:

Mozart to the Helicopter

Mozart 1756-1791 – German genius child-prodigy composer and wild man, who started composing aged five. Commissioned by Kings and Emperors. Taught Beethoven. A pal of Haydn, Gluck and JC Bach. Traveled Europe. Died at 35. Best known for operas: ‘Don Giovanni,’ ‘The Magic Flute,’ and ‘The Marriage of Figaro,’ based on a story by… Caron de Beaumarchais – French playwright (also wrote ‘The Barber of Seville’), who started out as clockmaker to French King Louis XV, then graduated to French spy and chief financier of the secret French expedition to help the American rebels during the War of Independence. He never got his money back. Much admired by… Jefferson – Founding Father and third President of the USA. Also Secretary of State under Washington and Vice President under John Adams. Arranged the Lousiana Purchase. Knew everybody. A great libertarian, as Virginia Governor he tried to get capital punishment off the statute books, influenced in this by… Cesare Beccaria – Small Milanese academic whose work: ‘Crime and Punishment’ virtually invented criminology. A pal of Voltaire, he influenced such as Bentham, Catherine the Great and prison architect Haviland. His anti-capital-punishment argument: ‘Why should the state commit murder to punish murder?’ His ideas on criminology and social reform appealed to… Gall and Spurzheim – Inventors of pseudo-science of phrenology (bumps on the skull indicated a person’s character, so study of them could tell you if somebody were anti-social and needed treatment). Phrenology was a rave success everywhere and fans included Bismarck and Marx. When Spurzheim died his funeral elogy was read by German radical… . Karl Follen – German lawyer, fanatical nationalist and political refugee (after his pal Karl Sand murdered right-wing writer August von Kotzebue). He finally ended up in the US, lecturing on Kant and Fichte, and, in 1826, promoting gymnastics at Harvard. Earlier, during Berlin Commission hearings into radicalism, he was hauled up before judge… ETA Hoffmann – Who also wrote short stories about the weird. One such story was used by Delibes for his opera ‘Coppelia.’ He also influenced Berlioz, Wagner and Offenbach (who starred his character in ‘Tales of Hoffmann.’) His work was translated and became successful in the US, where he made a big impression on… Edgar Allan Poe – After failing at West Point, he turned to poetry (‘The Raven’), journalism and short fantasy stories. These included ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’ He wrote the first detective story, featuring C. Auguste Dupin. He died of drink. His work inspired Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and the Russian composer… Rachmaninoff – Pianist, composer, conductor at the Bolshoi, mentor of Tchaikovsky and pal of singer Chaliapin. In 1918 he went to the US and gave forty concerts in four months, and did early recordings on player-piano rolls. In 1923 he invested in an aeronautics company run by a fellow Russian emigre… Sikorsky – After a promising start as designer and builder of airplanes, the Russian Revolution of 1917 foced him to flee Russia for the US, where he produced the first flying boats (inaugural flight by Lindbergh) used by PanAm. With Rachmaninoff’s $5,000, Sikorsky was able to build the first commercial…