Traditionally scientists have treated the laws of physics as simply 'given ' elegant mathematical relationships that were somehow imprinted on the universe at its birth and fixed thereafter. Inquiry into the origin and nature of the laws was not regarded as a proper part of science.
Three centuries after the appearance of Franklin's 'Courant ' it no longer requires a dystopic imagination to wonder who will have the dubious distinction of publishing America's last genuine newspaper. Few believe that newspapers in their current printed form will survive.
I set records that will never be equaled. In fact I hope 90% of them don't even get printed.
If I go into a sandwich shop or anywhere that features 'Today's specials' on a chalkboard more than 10 feet away I have to ask for a printed menu. I smile at people I don't know on the street and ignore those I do. When at home I often find myself grabbing my 'back-up' glasses to search for the better-loved pair I have left on top of my dresser.
Jews have a special relationship to books and the Haggadah has been translated more widely and reprinted more often than any other Jewish book. It is not a work of history or philosophy not a prayer book user's manual timeline poem or palimpsest - and yet it is all these things.
I grow daily to honour facts more and more and theory less and less. A fact it seems to me is a great thing a sentence printed if not by God then at least by the Devil.
Here in Hollywood you can actually get a marriage license printed on an Etch-A-Sketch.
My uncle Sammy was an angry man. He had printed on his tombstone: What are you looking at?
With paper printed books you have certain freedoms. You can acquire the book anonymously by paying cash which is the way I always buy books. I never use a credit card. I don't identify to any database when I buy books. Amazon takes away that freedom.
I worked on scores. I went to the musical library in Berlin which is very famous. I discovered that we had scores of Beethoven printed scores of Beethoven that are full of mistakes. Not the wrong or false notes but the wrong dynamic understandable things.