A Ton of Crap (97 page)

Ch’ol
There are around 130,000 indigenous people who speak Ch’ol in Chiapas, located in southeastern Mexico. The Ch’ol languages can be divided into two languages: Tila and Tumbala, and these two are mutually intelligible. It is believed that the Ch’ol languages are the closest to the language spoken during the Classic era in the Central Lowlands. Ch’olan languages are more conservative in terms of phonology and vocabulary, and it is believed they might have been treated as a prestigious language that coexisted with other dialects.

THE COLD WAR

The Space Race
With the arms race and threat of nuclear war, fear of the Soviet Union grew. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite into space,
Sputnik 1
. The launch was a surprise to Americans, who believed they were the leaders in technology, and many feared
Sputnik
was a weapon. The United States launched the
Explorer 1
only four months after
Sputnik
. The Soviet Union originally led in the Space Race. In April of 1961, the Soviet Union was the first to launch a man into orbit (twenty-three days later, the United States sent their first man into orbit), and in June of 1963, the Soviet Union sent the very first woman into orbit. Ultimately, the United States won the Space Race, however. In 1961, President Kennedy announced the goal of sending a man to the moon. Eight years later, that goal was achieved.

BIOGRAPHIES

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, an editor, author, and journalist for the French
Elle
magazine, suffered a devastating stroke that left him in a coma for three weeks. When he awoke from his coma, he suffered from locked-in syndrome, where his mind still functioned but his body was left completely motionless. The only thing he could move was his left eyelid. In 1996, as a person said the alphabet to him, he would blink at each letter he wanted. The result was his memoir,
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
.

APPLIED MATHEMATICS

Operations Research
In operations research, also known as management science, models and concepts are used to improve problems relating to managerial issues or problems pertaining to organizations, as well as how effectively technology is used in organizations. There are many different types of techniques that can be applied to operational research, including game theory, probability theory, graph theory, statistics, and simulation. Some of the fields involved in operations research include transportation, financial engineering, marketing engineering, energy, and manufacturing. Operations research began following World War II, stemming from the work of military planners.

BIOMES

Forest
There are three types of forests: tropical, temperate, and boreal. The greatest diversity in wildlife can be found in tropical forests. These forests do not experience winter, and have only two seasons, a rainy season and a dry season. Temperate forests grow in areas with well-defined seasons that have a distinct winter (such as Wisconsin or the Adirondacks). The largest of the biomes are the boreal forests. Boreal forests (also known as taiga) are found across North America and Eurasia, and seasons are defined as short and moist summers that are moderately warm and winters that are cold, dry, and long.

MAYAN LANGUAGES

Q’eqchi’
In Guatemala and Belize, 500,000 people speak Q’eqchi’ (or Kekchi). Q’eqchi’ speakers speak Q’eqchi’ as their native language and Spanish as a second language (and some do not speak Spanish at all). There are two dialects of the language: one found in Guatemala, Alta Verapaz, and Cobán, and then an “eastern” dialect that is spoken elsewhere. Two orthographies are widely used. The first was developed in the 1960s and still remains in circulation, though it is no longer the standard. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, an orthography was developed that is now the standard form used in Guatemala.

THE COLD WAR

The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was more than just a division between West and East Germany. It was symbolic of Democracy versus Communism. The split had also occurred in the capital, Berlin. West Berlin was actually encircled by the rest of East Germany. While West Germany experienced economic growth, East Germany, under the Soviet Union’s Communist influence, had a dragging economy and individual’s rights were severely restricted. By the 1950s, many residents of East Germany were fleeing to West Berlin. Once there, they were able to fly to West Germany. By 1961, 2.5 million people had left East Germany, and several attempts, with the help of the Soviet Union, were made to control West Berlin, until finally a wall was built that stretched hundreds of miles.

BIOGRAPHIES

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
John Nash is a mathematical genius. He founded game theory, worked for RAND during the Cold War, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994, and even challenged Albert Einstein on a theory of quantum mechanics when he was just twenty years old. He also suffered greatly from paranoid schizophrenia. Sylvia Nasar’s book,
A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
, explores Nash’s life as he suffers with his illness, becoming entangled in his own thoughts and creating amazing mathematical accomplishments.

APPLIED MATHEMATICS

Actuarial Science
Actuarial science involves the assessment of risk and the creation of insurance policies to mitigate the risk for finance and insurance industries. Statistics, probability, finance, and economics are all used in actuarial science. Actuarial science also allows actuaries (those who work to assess risk and create insurance policies) to be able to predict income levels that would be needed for specific retirement incomes. In order to become an actuary, you must take several exams and become certified so that you can apply and perform the science.

BIOMES