I'd like to broaden my horizons by getting a better understanding of life in different cultures and time periods. Please recommend great books or films (fiction or non-fiction) which paint a broad, immersive, reasonably accurate picture of a place and time. [more inside]
posted by MetaMonkey on Jul 12, 2008 - 29 answers

What are some good books on calendars, chronology and the division and measurement of time? I'm interested in the history, physics and especially mathematics of it all. A giant encyclopedic reference tome would be excellent. Thanks!
posted by hoverboards don't work on water on Mar 2, 2008 - 10 answers

How is the meaning of art and artefacts being altered by the methods we use to: Experience, Define and Preserve them... In other words, in what ways have technologies been used to experience, re-define and/or preserve art and artifacts? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 5, 2008 - 12 answers

DesignFilter. Help me poke and prod my nondesigner's mind to consider new ways to present that hackneyed standby of the elementary school social studies textbook, the timeline. Too much information inside. [more inside]
posted by foxy_hedgehog on May 2, 2007 - 12 answers

I have an audio cassette tape which has been waterlogged and soaked in dirt for over 10 years. What are my options for respooling/fixing the tape with its contents intact? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Dec 26, 2006 - 12 answers

I'm on the hunt for sites and/or blogs about big ideas... Who wants to join me? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jul 9, 2006 - 17 answers

Have perceptions of time changed in the last few hundred years? Did people used to speak more casually about periods of time? I'm reading Jane Eyre, and Charlotte Bronte uses "ten minutes" in an odd way. I suspect she means (by today's standards) 30 seconds. Is this sloppy writing, cultural difference or what? [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Mar 28, 2005 - 20 answers