The eNotes Blog The Indie Bookstore Tour ofSeattle

The Indie Bookstore Tour ofSeattle Have you ever arrived in a new city and just wanted to see the bookstores? Whether youre a Seattleite or have never been to the rainy city, weve created a bookstore tour of Seattle! After scouting some of the best and most indie bookstores in the city, we visited each one to snap a few pics and really get a feel for the place. Our tour starts and ends at our Capitol Hill office, but you can jump in anywhere along the way and go for as long as you want! Depending on the time of day and how long you spend in each bookstore, this can be  a proper day trip. Download the full-resolution PDF of our Bookstore Tour of Seattle! 1. Twice Sold Tales 1833 Harvard Ave, 98122 Nested in Capitol Hill, Twice Sold Tales is a cozy bookstore that offers secondhand books at great prices. Through a maze of books stacked floor to ceiling, youll get to see books from every decade and every genre. Twice Sold Tales also has two little tails that roam the floors- youll probably make a new feline friend or two! 2. Adas Technical Books and Cafe 425 15th Avenue East, 98112 Adas Technical Books and Cafe will satiate  the cravings of a technical mind and give your inner geek something to snack on. With an assortment of scientific paraphernalia available in tandem with great books to accompany them, Adas offers a nice atmosphere to hang out, sip, and catch up with Halleys Comet. 3. Magus Books 1408 NE 42nd St, 98105 Magus Books is also a used bookstore but features rare and out-of-print books. Located just  a few  blocks from the University of Washington, Magus is a delightful smattering of shelves with books of all kinds. The store personnel are knowledgable about the books they have and enjoy talking to you. 4. Book Larder 4252 Fremont Ave N, 98103 Book Larder is every modern cooks dream. As a community cookbook store, it features every cookbook imaginable, as well as an in-store kitchen for demos and classes. The books here are new, so you can be sure that they wont share any marks from someone elses kitchen blunders. With its  bright and clean feeling, Book Larder is a wonderful place to peruse- just dont go there hungry! 5. Ophelias Books 3504 Fremont Ave N, 98103 Ophelias Books is one of the coolest bookstores just in architecture alone. One straight staircase beckons readers to attend the low-ceilinged upstairs reading area, while a narrow and mysterious spiral staircase calls visitors to the downstairs where its live-in cat may be found. A  quiet, soft, and inviting space, Ophelias is a good place to hunker down with a book you find. 6. Queen Anne Book Company 1811 Queen Anne Ave N, 98109 Queen Anne Book Company has new books and an smorgasbord of things that accompany books such as art supplies and funny socks. Both  sci-fi and kids books have great selections here.  With a reading room out back and a patio out front  with El Diablo Coffee, its  perfect for  a sunny day. 7. Mercer Street Books 7 Mercer St, 98109 Mercer Street books has an eclectic feel and a book selection to match. Carrying  a little bit of this and a little bit of that, Mercer comes together as a classic indie bookstore. The $0.50 books out front are a great deal, and so much fun to look through! 8. Lamplight Books 1514 Pike Pl # 14, 98101 Right at Pike Place,  Lamplight Books gives an intimate indie bookstore experience. Lit by the  soft lighting of  lamps throughout, its the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the market on any given day. 9. Left Bank Books Collective 92 Pike St # B, 98101 Left Bank Books Collective is owned by its workers and is a cry of radicalism. It features many radical works alongside many used titles, with some strongly worded buttons and stickers. Not for the faint of heart, Left Bank Books is definitely a place to go to experience a different kind of indie bookstore. 10. BLMF Literary Saloon 1501 Pike Pl #322, 98101 In the heart of Pike Place Market,  BLMF Literary Saloon is a remarkable secondhand books store. With books spilling out of every shelf and onto the floor, there is no lack of literature here. They encourage exploration and surely have  enough interesting titles to provide. 11. Lion Heart Book Store 1501 Pike Pl #432, 98101 Lion Heart Book Store is a mix of new and used books, all of which can be recommended and found by the very knowledgable owner. Many  little displays set up amongst the books make it  a fun place to explore even if you arent going to be buying any books. 12. Kinokuniya Bookstore 525 S Weller St., 98104 Kinokuniya Books is a larger bookstore* with a spacious feeling and  offers many new titles.  Entire walls hold their extensive collection of Japanese Manga and other Asian books.  Kinokuniya also has many art supplies, collectibles, and American books.  Its part of the Uwajimaya Asian Foods Store, so you can pair it with a great lunch! *This isnt technically an indie bookstore but we felt it unique enough to warrant inclusion in our tour. 🙂 13. Pegasus Book Exchange 4553 California Ave SW, 98116 Pegasus Book Exchange is  an awesome bookstore that is especially great for finding paperback fiction, kids books, and unique subjects. They have their popular $5 Surprise Book deal ongoing that doesnt allow you to see its cover until youve bought it! A really cool idea, and if that wasnt entertaining enough, the little quotes that sprinkle the bookcases will keep you wandering from shelf to shelf. 14. Elliott Bay Book Company 1521 10th Ave, 98122 Elliott Bay Book Company is just a huge selection of new books. In a beautiful wooden setting with  sunlight filtering down through the rafters, Elliot Bay is perfect for any bibliophile. Kids will be enamored with the play castle among their books, while adults can sit at any of the wooden tables and sit in the quiet of the store. If youre there for the long haul, be sure to stop at the Little Oddfellows cafe in the back! And thats it! Take this Indie Bookstore Tour of Seattle and have at it!

Biography of Eratosthenes, Greek Geographer

Biography of Eratosthenes, Greek Geographer Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 BCE–192 or 194 BCE) was an ancient Greek mathematician, poet, and astronomer who is known as the father of geography. Eratosthenes was the first person to use the word geography and other geographical terms that are still in use today, and his efforts to calculate the circumference of the Earth and the distance from the Earth to the Sun paved the way for our modern understanding of the cosmos. Among his other many accomplishments were the creation of the first map of the world and the invention of an algorithm known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, which is used to identify prime numbers. Fast Facts: Eratosthenes Known For: Eratosthenes was a Greek polymath who became known as the father of geography.Born: c. 276 BCE in Cyrene (present-day Libya)Died: 192 or 196 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt Early Life Eratosthenes was born around 276 BCE in a Greek colony in Cyrene, a territory located in present-day Libya. He was educated at the academies of Athens and in 245 BCE, after earning attention for his skills, he was invited by Pharaoh Ptolemy III to run the Great Library at Alexandria in Egypt. This was a major opportunity, and Eratosthenes was excited to accept the position. In addition to being a mathematician and geographer, Eratosthenes was also a very gifted philosopher, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He made several significant contributions to science, including the discovery that a year is slightly longer than 365 days, requiring an extra day- or leap day- be added to the calendar every four years to keep it consistent. Geography While serving as the head librarian and scholar at the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes wrote a comprehensive treatise about the world, which he called Geography. This was the first use of the word, which in Greek means writing about the world. Eratosthenes work introduced the concepts of torrid, temperate, and frigid climate zones. His map of the world, though highly inaccurate, was the first of its kind, featuring a grid of parallels and meridians used to estimate distances between different locations. Though Eratosthenes original Geography did not survive, modern scholars know what it contained thanks to reports by Greek and Roman historians. The first book of Geography contained a summary of existing geographical work and Eratosthenes speculations about the nature of the planet Earth. He believed it was a fixed globe whose changes only took place on the surface. The second book of Geography described the mathematical calculations he had used to determine the circumference of the Earth. The third contained a map of the world in which the land was divided into different countries; it is one of the earliest examples of political geography. Calculating the Circumference of the Earth Eratosthenes most famous contribution to science was his calculation of the circumference of the Earth, which he completed while working on the second volume of his Geography. After hearing about a deep well at Syene (near the Tropic of Cancer and modern-day Aswan) where sunlight only struck the bottom of the well on the summer solstice, Eratosthenes worked out a method by which he could calculate the circumference of the Earth using basic geometry. Knowing that the Earth was a sphere, he needed only two critical measurements to calculate the circumference. Eratosthenes already knew the approximate distance between Syene and Alexandria, as measured by camel-powered trade caravans. He then measured the angle of the shadow in Alexandria on the solstice. By taking the angle of the shadow (7.2 degrees) and dividing it into the 360 degrees of a circle (360 divided by 7.2 yields 50), Eratosthenes could then multiply the distance between Alexandria and Syene by the result to determine the circumference of the Earth. Remarkably, Eratosthenes determined the circumference to be 25,000 miles, just 99 miles over the actual circumference at the equator (24,901 miles). Although Eratosthenes made a few mathematical errors in his calculations, the, canceled each other out and yielded an amazingly accurate answer that still causes scientists to marvel. A few decades later, the Greek geographer Posidonius insisted that Eratosthenes circumference was too large. He calculated the circumference on his own and obtained a figure of 18,000 miles- about 7,000 miles too short. During the Middle Ages, most scholars accepted Eratosthenes circumference, though Christopher Columbus used Posidonius measurement to convince his supporters that he could quickly reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. As we now know, this was a critical error on Columbus part. Had he used Eratosthenes figure instead, Columbus would have known he was not yet in Asia when he landed in the New World. Prime Numbers A noted polymath, Eratosthenes also made notable contributions to the field of mathematics, including the invention of an algorithm used to identify prime numbers. His method involved taking a table of whole numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) and striking off the multiples of each prime, beginning with multiples of the number two, then multiples of the number three, etc. until only the prime numbers remained. This method became known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, as it works by filtering out the non-prime numbers in the same way that a sieve filters solids out of liquids. Death In his old age, Eratosthenes became blind and he died of self-induced starvation in either 192 or 196 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. He lived to be about 80 to 84 years old. Legacy Eratosthenes was one of the greatest Greek polymaths, and his work influenced later innovators in fields ranging from mathematics to geography. Admirers of the Greek thinker called him Pentathlos, after the Greek athletes known for their prowess in a number of different events. A crater on the Moon was named in his honor. Sources Klein, Jacob, and Franciscus Vieta.  Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra. Courier Corporation, 1968.Roller, Duane W.  Ancient Geography: the Discovery of the World in Classical Greece and Rome. I.B. Tauris, 2017.Warmington, Eric Herbert.  Greek Geography. AMS Press, 1973.