Futility Closet

In 1835, a Native American woman was somehow left behind when her dwindling island tribe was transferred to the California mainland. She would spend the next 18 years living alone in a world of 22 square miles. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the poignant story of the lone woman of San Nicolas Island. We'll also learn about an inebriated elephant and puzzle over an unattainable test score. Intro: As construction began on Scotland's Forth Bridge, engineers offered a personal demonstration of its cantilever design. In the 1880s, Manhattan's rationalist "Thirteen Club" held a dinner on the 13th of each month to flout superstition. Sources for our feature on the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Sara L. Schwebel, ed., Island of the Blue Dolphins: The Complete Reader's Edition, 2016. William Henry Ellison, ed., The Life and Adventures of George Nidever, 1937. Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser, eds., "Original Accounts of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island," in Aboriginal California: Three Studies of Cultural History, University of California Archaeological Research Facility, 1963. Travis Hudson, "Recently Discovered Accounts Concerning the 'Lone Woman' of San Nicolas Island," Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 3:2 (1981), 187-199. Marla Daily, "The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: A New Hypothesis on Her Origin," California History 68:1/2 (Spring-Summer 1989) 36-41. Jon M. Erlandson, Lisa Thomas-Barnett, René L. Vellanoweth, Steven J. Schwartz, and Daniel R. Muhs, "From the Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Unique Nineteenth-Century Cache Feature From San Nicolas Island, California," Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 8:1 (2013), 66-78. Amira F. Ainis, et al. "A Cache Within a Cache: Description of an Abalone 'Treasure-Box' from the CA-SNI-14 Redwood Box Cache, San Nicolas Island, Alta California," California Archaeology 9:1 (2017), 79-105. Eighth California Islands Symposium, National Park Service, Oct. 25, 2012. Steve Chawkins, "Island of the Blue Dolphins' Woman's Cave Believed Found," Los Angeles Times, Oct. 29, 2012. S.J. Schwartz, "Some Observations on the Material Culture of the Nicoleño," in Proceedings of the Sixth California Island Symposium 2005, 83–91. Ron Morgan, "An Account of the Discovery of a Whale-Bone House on San Nicolas Island," Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 1:1 (1979), 171-177. Louis Sahagun, "With Island Dig Halted, Lone Woman Still a Stinging Mystery," Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2015. "The Woman of San Nicolas Island," [Lake Providence, La.] Banner-Democrat, Dec. 28, 1901. Associated Press, "Traces of Prehistoric People are Found on Pacific Island," Dec. 14, 1940. Robert L. Carl, "The Lost Woman of San Nicolas Island," Western Folklore 11:2 (April 1952), 123-124. "A Female Crusoe," London Journal 69:1785 (April 26, 1879), 268-268. Ron Givens, "Island of Blue Dolphins Revisited," American History 48:1 (April 2013), 10. Emma C. Hardacre, "Eighteen Years Alone," Century Magazine, September 1880, 657-663. L.L. Hanchett, Lennox Tierney, and Austin E. Fife, "The Lost Woman of San Nicolás," California Folklore Quarterly 3:2 (April 1944), 148-149. C.F. Holder, "The Wind-Swept Island of San Nicolas," Scientific American 81:15 (Oct. 7, 1899), 233-234. Margaret Romer, "The Last of the Canalinos," Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 41:3 (September 1959), 241-246. Clement W. Meighan and Hal Eberhart, "Archaeological Resources of San Nicolas Island, California," American Antiquity 19:2 (October 1953), 109-125. "On an Isle of Skulls," New York Times, Dec. 1, 1895, 29. "Relics of Vanished Race Found on a Desert Isle," New York Times, May 1, 1927, XX4. "Relic Hunt in the Pacific," New York Times, June 22, 1897, 1. "Old California Islanders," New York Times, June 16, 1897, 2. Gladwin Hill, "California's Little-Known Offshore Island," New York Times, Jan. 12, 1958, XX22. "Sea Lion Herds Bask on Island," Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1949, A1. S.J. Mathis, "The Lone Woman of San Nicolas," Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 1899, B11. Harold Orlando Wright, "San Nicolas -- Abode of Demons," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 29, 1931, K6. "Indians Once Lived on Channel Islands," Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1951, 2. "Centerpiece: Once Upon a Time There Was a Little Girl Stranded on a Channel Island," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 13, 1990, VCJ1. William Crosby Bennett, "Mrs. Robinson Crusoe," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 9, 1936, I3. William S. Murphy, "5,000-Year-Old Mystery Probed," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20, 1970, C1. "Story of Lost Woman Retold," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 28, 1928, A14. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Pasilalinic-Sympathetic Compass" (accessed Oct. 27, 2017). Toby Howard, "Progress at Snail's Pace," Skeptic, 1995. Daniel Hahn, The Tower Menagerie, 2004. Isabelle Janvrin and Catherine Rawlinson, The French in London, 2016. Laura Bannister, "Rare Beasts, Birds, and the Calaboose," Paris Review, Sept. 22, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Robert Cairns. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1940, Germany was sending vital telegrams through neutral Sweden using a sophisticated cipher, and it fell to mathematician Arne Beurling to make sense of the secret messages. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the outcome, which has been called "one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of cryptography." We'll also learn about mudlarking and puzzle over a chicken-killing Dane. Intro: In 1836, three boys discovered 17 tiny coffins entombed near Edinburgh. On his 1965 album A Love Supreme, John Coltrane "plays" a poem on the saxophone. Sources for our feature on Arne Beurling: Bengt Beckman, Codebreakers: Arne Beurling and the Swedish Crypto Program During World War II, 1996. David Kahn, The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing, 1967. David Joyner, ed., Coding Theory and Cryptography, 2000. Bengt Beckman and Jonathan Beard, "Codebreakers: Arne Beurling and the Swedish Crypto Program During World War II," Intelligence and National Security 18:4 (January 2004), 206-207. Lars Ulfving, "The Geheimschreiber Secret: Arne Beurling and the Success of Swedish Signals Intelligence," in Bo Hugemark and Probus Förlag, eds., I Orkanens Öga, 1941 -- Osäker neutralitet, 1992. Louis Kruh, "Arne Beurling and Swedish Crypto," Cryptologia 27:3 (July 2003), 231. John Wermer, "Recollections of Arne Beurling," Mathematical Intelligencer 15:3 (January 1993), 32–33. Jurgen Rohwer, "Signal Intelligence and World War II: The Unfolding Story," Journal of Military History 63:4 (October 1999), 939-951. Bo Kjellberg, "Memories of Arne Beurling, February 3, 1905–November 20, 1986," Mathematical Intelligencer 15:3 (January 1993), 28–31. Håkan Hedenmalm, "Codebreakers: Arne Beurling and the Swedish Crypto Program During World War II," Mathematical Intelligencer 28:1 (December 2006), 57–59. Craig Graham McKay, "Swedish Cryptanalysis and the Saga of Arne Beurling: A Book Review," Cryptologia 23:3 (July 1999), 257. Louis Kruh, "Swedish Signal Intelligence History," Cryptologia 27:2 (April 2003), 186-187. "How Sweden Cracked the Nazi Code," Swedish History, Jan. 22, 2017. Lars Ahlfors and Lennart Carleson, "Arne Beurling In Memoriam," Acta Mathematica 161 (1988), 1-9. John Borland, "Looking Back at Sweden's Super-Code-Cracker," Wired, Aug. 11, 2007. "Arne Carl-August Beurling," MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (accessed Oct. 8, 2017). "Arne Beurling," Mathematics Genealogy Project (accessed Oct. 8, 2017). "Joins Advanced Study School," New York Times, Oct. 10, 1954. "Arne Beurling," Physics Today, February 2015. Listener mail: "Two Types: The Faces of Britain," BBC Four, Aug. 1, 2017. "Who Are the Mudlarks?", Thames Museum (accessed 10/21/2017). Lara Maiklem, "London's History in Mud: The Woman Collecting What the Thames Washes Up," Guardian, Sept. 14, 2016. Military High Command Department for War Maps and Communications, German Invasion Plans for the British Isles, 1940. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Carsten Hamann, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1911, three British explorers made a perilous 70-mile journey in the dead of the Antarctic winter to gather eggs from a penguin rookery in McMurdo Sound. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the three through perpetual darkness and bone-shattering cold on what one man called "the worst journey in the world." We'll also dazzle some computers and puzzle over some patriotic highways. Intro: In 2014, mathematician Kevin Ferland determined the largest number of words that will fit in a New York Times crossword puzzle. In 1851, phrenologist J.P. Browne examined Charlotte Brontë without knowing her identity. Sources for our feature on Apsley Cherry-Garrard: Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, 1922. Sara Wheeler, Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, 2007. "Scott Perishes Returning From Pole," Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 11, 1913. Paul Lambeth, "Captain Scott's Last Words Electrify England and World by Their Pathetic Eloquence," San Francisco Call, Feb. 12, 1913. Hugh Robert Mill, "The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic, 1910-1913," Nature 111:2786 (March 24, 1923), 386-388. "Cherry-Garrard, Explorer, Dead," New York Times, May 19, 1959. "Obituary: Apsley Cherry-Garrard," Geographical Journal 125:3/4 (September-December 1959), 472. James Lees-Milne, "From the Shavian Past: XCII," Shaw Review 20:2 (May 1977), 62. W.N. Bonner, "British Biological Research in the Antarctic," Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 14:1 (August 1980), 1-10. John Maxtone-Graham, "How Quest for Penguin Eggs Ended," New York Times, Oct. 2, 1994. Gabrielle Walker, "The Emperor's Eggs," New Scientist 162:2182 (April 17, 1999), 42-47. Gabrielle Walker, "It's Cold Out There," New Scientist 172:2315 (Nov. 3, 2001), 54. Edward J. Larson, "Greater Glory," Scientific American 304:6 (June 2011), 78-83. "When August Was Cold and Dark," New York Times, Aug. 8, 2011, A18. Robin McKie, "How a Heroic Hunt for Penguin Eggs Became 'The Worst Journey in the World,'" Guardian, Jan. 14, 2012. Matilda Battersby, "Cache of Letters About Scott Found as Collection of His Possessions Acquired for the Nation," Independent, July 19, 2012. Karen May, "Could Captain Scott Have Been Saved? Revisiting Scott's Last Expedition," Polar Record 49:1 (January 2013), 72-90. Karen May and Sarah Airriess, "Could Captain Scott Have Been Saved? Cecil Meares and the 'Second Journey' That Failed," Polar Record 51:3 (May 2015), 260-273. Shane McCorristine and Jane S.P. Mocellin, "Christmas at the Poles: Emotions, Food, and Festivities on Polar Expeditions, 1818-1912," Polar Record 52:5 (September 2016), 562-577. Carolyn Philpott, "Making Music on the March: Sledging Songs of the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic Exploration," Polar Record 52:6 (November 2016), 698-716. Listener mail: Robinson Meyer, "Anti-Surveillance Camouflage for Your Face," Atlantic, July 24, 2014. Adam Harvey, "Face to Anti-Face," New York Times, Dec. 14, 2013. "How to Find a Spider in Your Yard on a Tuesday at 8:47pm." This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Petr Smelý, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1848, five years before Japan opened its closed society to the West, a lone American in a whaleboat landed on the country's northern shore, drawn only by a sense of mystery and a love of adventure. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Ranald MacDonald as he travels the length of Japan toward a destiny that will transform the country. We'll also remember a Soviet hero and puzzle over some security-conscious neighbors. Intro: In 1794, two French Hussars began an episodic duel that would last until 1813. In 1945, the Arkansas legislature accidentally repealed every law in the state. Sources for our feature on Ranald MacDonald: Frederik L. Schodt, Native American in the Land of the Shogun, 2003. Jo Ann Roe, Ranald MacDonald: Pacific Rim Adventurer, 1997. William S. Lewis and Naojiro Murakami, Ranald MacDonald: The Narrative of His Early Life on the Columbia Under the Hudson's Bay Company's Regime, 1990. Herbert H. Gowen, Five Foreigners in Japan, 1936. Gretchen Murphy, Shadowing the White Man's Burden: U.S. Imperialism and the Problem of the Color Line, 2010. Joel E. Ferris, "Ranald MacDonald: The Sailor Boy Who Visited Japan," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 48:1 (January 1957), 13-16. Benjamin MacDonald, "Narrative of Benjamin MacDonald," Washington Historical Quarterly 16:3 (July 1925), 186-197. David N. Cooper, "Behind the Bamboo Curtain: A Nineteenth-Century Canadian Adventurer in Japan," Manitoba History 74 (Winter 2014), 40-44. Gretchen Murphy, "'A Home Which Is Still Not a Home': Finding a Place for Ranald MacDonald," American Transcendental Quarterly 15:3 (September 2001), 225-244. Frederik L. Schodt, "The Chinook Who Paved the Way for Perry: Ranald MacDonald's Adventure in Japan, 1848-1849," Whispering Wind 33:3 (June 30, 2003), 20. Frederik L. Schodt and Shel Zolkewich, "Ranald MacDonald's Excellent Adventure," The Beaver 83:4 (August/September 2003), 29-33. "When Japan Was a Secret: Japanese Sea-Drifters," Economist 385:8560 (December 22, 2007), 93. Jeffrey Dym, "Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan [review]," Canadian Journal of History 39:2 (August 2004), 446-448. F.G. Notehelfer, "Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan [review]," Journal of Asian Studies 63:2 (May 2004), 513-514. Gordon B. Dodds, "Ranald MacDonald: Pacific Rim Adventurer [review]," Journal of American History 85:2 (September 1998), 663-664. Stephen W. Kohl, "Ranald MacDonald: Pacific Rim Adventurer [review]," Pacific Historical Review 68:1 (February 1999), 103-104. Herman J. Deutsch, "Ranald MacDonald: Adventurer by Marie Leona Nichols [review]," Pacific Historical Review 10:2 (June 1941), 231-232. Listener mail: "Stanislav Petrov, Who Averted Possible Nuclear War, Dies at 77," BBC News, Sept. 18, 2017. Associated Press, "Stanislav Petrov, 'The Man Who Saved the World' From Nuclear War, Dies at 77," Sept. 21, 2017. Roland Oliphant, "Stanislav Petrov, the 'Man Who Saved the World' Dies at 77," Telegraph, Sept. 18, 2017. Kristine Phillips, "The Former Soviet Officer Who Trusted His Gut -- And Averted a Global Nuclear Catastrophe," Washington Post, Sept. 18, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Mike Davis. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In the 1860s, San Francisco's most popular tourist attraction was not a place but a person: Joshua Norton, an eccentric resident who had declared himself emperor of the United States. Rather than shun him, the city took him to its heart, affectionately indulging his foibles for 21 years. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the reign of Norton I and the meaning of madness. We'll also keep time with the Romans and puzzle over some rising temperatures. Intro: Amazon customers have been reviewing a gallon of milk since 2005. G.W. Blake patented a flyswatter pistol in 1919. Sources for our feature on Joshua Norton: William Drury, Norton I: Emperor of the United States, 1986. William M. Kramer, Emperor Norton of San Francisco, 1974. Catherine Caufield, The Emperor of the United States of America and Other Magnificent British Eccentrics, 1981. Benjamin E. Lloyd, Lights and Shades in San Francisco, 1876. Fred Dickey, "Norton I: Ruler of All He Imagined," American History 41:4 (October 2006), 65-66,68,70,6. Robert Ernest Cowan, "Norton I: Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico (Joshua A. Norton, 1819-1880)," California Historical Society Quarterly 2:3 (October 1923), 237-245. Eric Lis, "His Majesty's Psychosis: The Case of Emperor Joshua Norton," Academic Psychiatry 39:2 (April 2015), 181–185. Gary Kamiya, "How Emperor Norton Rose to Power," San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2017. "Street Characters of San Francisco," Overland Monthly 19:113 (May 1892), 449-459. "Death of an American Emperor," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 49:1271 (Feb. 7, 1880), 428-429. "Emperor Norton," Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Jan. 26, 1880, 1. "Collections: The Emperor's Cane," California History 82:2 (2004), 3, 59. Alejandro Lazo and Daniel Huang, "Who Is Emperor Norton? Fans in San Francisco Want to Remember," Wall Street Journal, Aug. 13, 2015. David Warren Ryder, "The Strange Story of Emperor Norton," Saturday Evening Post 218:6 (Aug. 11, 1945), 35-41. Julian Dana, "San Francisco's Fabulous Fools," Prairie Schooner 27:1 (Spring 1953), 45-49. Jed Stevenson, "Notes Issued by the Self-Crowned Emperor of the United States Have Become Collector's Items," New York Times, Dec. 9, 1990, 84. "Death of an Eccentric Californian," New York Times, Jan. 10, 1880, 5. Listener mail: Leonhard Schmitz, "Hora," in William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1875. Wikipedia, "Roman Timekeeping" (accessed Sept. 23, 2017). "A Brief Guide to Roman Timekeeping and the Calendar," World History (accessed Sept. 23, 2017). Wikipedia, "Finger-Counting" (accessed Sept. 23, 2017). Aditya Singhal, "Math Teachers Should Encourage Their Students to Count Using Fingers," Math Blog, July 20, 2016. Nancy Szokan, "Think Counting on Your Fingers Is Dumb? Think Again," Washington Post, July 30, 2016. An Indian 5-year-old doing mental sums. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sofia Hauck de Oliveira, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Get a free audiobook with a 30-day trial at Audible. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1770, Hungarian engineer Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled a miracle: a mechanical man who could play chess against human challengers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Kempelen's Mechanical Turk, which mystified audiences in Europe and the United States for more than 60 years. We'll also sit down with Paul Erdős and puzzle over a useful amateur. Intro: Lewis Carroll sent a birthday wish list to child friend Jessie Sinclair in 1878. An octopus named Paul picked the winners of all seven of Germany's World Cup games in 2010. Sources for our feature on the Mechanical Turk: Tom Standage, The Turk, 2002. Elizabeth Bridges, "Maria Theresa, 'The Turk,' and Habsburg Nostalgia," Journal of Austrian Studies 47:2 (Summer 2014), 17-36. Stephen P. Rice, "Making Way for the Machine: Maelzel's Automaton Chess-Player and Antebellum American Culture," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, 106 (1994), 1-16. Dan Campbell, "'Echec': The Deutsches Museum Reconstructs the Chess-Playing Turk," Events and Sightings, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 26:2 (April-June 2004), 84-85. John F. Ohl and Joseph Earl Arrington, "John Maelzel, Master Showman of Automata and Panoramas," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 84:1 (January 1960), 56-92. James W. Cook Jr., "From the Age of Reason to the Age of Barnum: The Great Automaton Chess-Player and the Emergence of Victorian Cultural Illusionism," Winterthur Portfolio 30:4 (Winter 1995), 231-257. W.K. Wimsatt Jr., "Poe and the Chess Automaton," American Literature 11:2 (May 1939), 138-151. Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, "Playing Checkers With Machines -- From Ajeeb to Chinook," Information & Culture 50:4 (2015), 578-587. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "IBM's Chess Players: On AI and Its Supplements," Information Society 24 (2008), 69-82. Nathan Ensmenger, "Is Chess the Drosophila of Artificial Intelligence? A Social History of an Algorithm," Social Studies of Science 42:1 (February 2012), 5-30. Martin Kemp, "A Mechanical Mind," Nature 421:6920 (Jan. 16, 2003), 214. Marco Ernandes, "Artificial Intelligence & Games: Should Computational Psychology Be Revalued?" Topoi 24:2 (September 2005), 229–242. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "The Revenge of the Object? On Artificial Intelligence as a Cultural Enterprise," Social Analysis 41:1 (March 1997), 29-45. Mark Sussman, "Performing the Intelligent Machine: Deception and Enchantment in the Life of the Automaton Chess Player," TDR 43:3 (Autumn 1999), 81-96. James Berkley, "Post-Human Mimesis and the Debunked Machine: Reading Environmental Appropriation in Poe's 'Maelzel's Chess-Player' and 'The Man That Was Used Up,'" Comparative Literature Studies 41:3 (2004), 356-376. Kat Eschner, "Debunking the Mechanical Turk Helped Set Edgar Allan Poe on the Path to Mystery Writing," Smithsonian.com, July 20, 2017. Lincoln Michel, "The Grandmaster Hoax," Paris Review, March 28, 2012. Adam Gopnik, "A Point of View: Chess and 18th Century Artificial Intelligence," BBC News, March 22, 2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21876120 Ella Morton, "The Mechanical Chess Player That Unsettled the World," Slate, Aug. 20, 2015. "The Automaton Chess Player," Scientific American 48:7 (February 17, 1883), 103-104. Robert Willis, An Attempt to Analyse the Automaton Chess Player, of Mr. de Kempelen, 1821. "The Automaton Chess-Player," Cornhill Magazine 5:27 (September 1885), 299-306. Edgar Allan Poe, "Maelzel's Chess-Player," Southern Literary Messenger, April 1836, 318-326. You can play through six of the Turk's games on Chessgames.com. Listener mail: Nicholas Gibbs, "Voynich Manuscript: The Solution," Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 5, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript Has Finally Been Decoded," Ars Technica, Sept. 8, 2017. Natasha Frost, "The World's Most Mysterious Medieval Manuscript May No Longer Be a Mystery," Atlas Obscura, Sept. 8, 2017. Sarah Zhang, "Has a Mysterious Medieval Code Really Been Solved?" Atlantic, Sept. 10, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "So Much for That Voynich Manuscript 'Solution,'" Ars Technica, Sept. 10, 2017. "Imaginary Erdős Number," Numberphile, Nov. 26, 2014. Oleg Pikhurko, "Erdős Lap Number," Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick (accessed Sept. 15, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alex Baumans, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Explore the fascinating quest for accurate longitude at sea, highlighting John Harrison's relentless pursuit of the perfect clock. Discover how imprecise timekeeping led to shipwrecks and economic turmoil. Delight in unusual historical methods, like the Wounded Dog Theory, and the challenges Harrison faced from skeptics and the Board of Longitude. Learn about the monumental trials of his sea watch that transformed navigation forever, and ponder the riddle of a puzzling bus stop that conceals a clever story.

In March 1913, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson threw the most beautiful typeface in the world off of London's Hammersmith Bridge to keep it out of the hands of his estranged printing partner. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore what would lead a man to destroy the culmination of his life's work -- and what led one modern admirer to try to revive it. We'll also scrutinize a housekeeper and puzzle over a slumped child. Intro: Gustav Mahler rejected the Berlin Royal Opera because of the shape of his nose. In 1883, inventor Robert Heath enumerated the virtues of glowing hats. Sources for our feature on the Doves Press: Marianne Tidcombe, The Doves Press, 2002. The Journals of Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, 1926. "The Doves Press" -- A Kelmscott Revival," New York Times, Feb. 16, 1901, BR9. "The Revival of Printing as an Art," New York Tribune, Sept. 14, 1901, 11. "The Doves Press Bible," Guardian, March 10, 1904. "The Doves Press," Athenaeum, Jan. 12, 1907, 54-54. "The Doves Press," Athenaeum, June 13, 1908, 729-730. Dissolution of the partnership, London Gazette, July 27, 1909, 5759. "Doves Press Type in River: Memoirs of T.C. Sanderson Tell How He Disposed of It," New York Times, Sept. 8, 1926, 27. Arthur Millier, "Bookbinding Art Proves Inspiration: Doves Press Exhibit Reveals Devotion to Lofty Ideals," Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1933, A2. Charles B. Russell, "Cobden-Sanderson and the Doves Press," Prairie Schooner 14:3 (Fall 1940), 180-192. Carole Cable, "The Printing Types of the Doves Press: Their History and Destruction," Library Quarterly 44:3 (July 1974), 219-230. Marcella D. Genz, "The Doves Press [review]," Library Quarterly 74:1 (January 2004), 91-94. "Biographies of the Key Figures Involved in the Doves Press," International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, Dec. 22, 2009. "The Doves Type Reborn," Association Typographique Internationale, Dec. 20, 2010. "The Fight Over the Doves," Economist, Dec. 19, 2013. Justin Quirk, "X Marks the Spot," Sunday Times, Jan. 11, 2015, 22. Rachael Steven, "Recovering the Doves Type," Creative Review, Feb. 3, 2015. Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, "The Gorgeous Typeface That Drove Men Mad and Sparked a 100-Year Mystery," Gizmodo, Feb. 16, 2015. Rich Rennicks, "The Doves Press Story," New Antiquarian, Feb. 24, 2015. "One Man's Obsession With Rediscovering the Lost Doves Type," BBC News Magazine, Feb. 25, 2015. "15 Things You Didn't Know About the Doves Press & Its Type," Typeroom, Oct. 20, 2015. "An Obsessive Type: The Tale of the Doves Typeface," BBC Radio 4, July 28, 2016. Sujata Iyengar, "Intermediating the Book Beautiful: Shakespeare at the Doves Press," Shakespeare Quarterly 67:4 (Winter 2016), 481-502. "The Doves Type," Typespec (accessed Aug. 20, 2017). "Raised From the Dead: The Doves Type Story," Typespec (accessed Aug. 20, 2017). "History of the Doves Type," Typespec (accessed Aug. 21, 2017). "Doves Press," Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum (accessed Aug. 20, 2017). "Doves Press Collection," Bruce Peel Special Collections, University of Alberta (accessed Aug. 20, 2017). Listener mail: Becky Oskin, "Yosemite Outsmarts Its Food-Stealing Bears," Live Science, March 3, 2014. Kristin Hohenadel, "Vancouver Bans Doorknobs," Slate, Nov. 26 2013. Jeff Lee, "Vancouver's Ban on the Humble Doorknob Likely to Be a Trendsetter," Vancouver Sun, Nov. 19, 2013. Jonathan Goodman, The Slaying of Joseph Bowne Elwell, 1987. "Housekeeper Admits Shielding Woman by Hiding Garments in Elwell Home," New York Times, June 17, 1920. "Elwell Crime Still Mystery," Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1920. "Housekeeper Gives New Elwell Facts," New York Times, June 25, 1920. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Dean Gootee. Please visit Littleton Coin Company to sell your coins and currency, or call them toll free 1-877-857-7850. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In May 1920, wealthy womanizer Joseph Elwell was found shot to death alone in his locked house in upper Manhattan. The police identified hundreds of people who might have wanted Elwell dead, but they couldn't quite pin the crime on any of them. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the sensational murder that the Chicago Tribune called "one of the toughest mysteries of all times." We'll also learn a new use for scuba gear and puzzle over a sympathetic vandal. Intro: The Dodgers, Yankees, and Giants played a three-way baseball game in 1944. Avon, Colorado, has a bridge called Bob. Sources for our feature on Joseph Elwell: Jonathan Goodman, The Slaying of Joseph Bowne Elwell, 1987. Joseph Bowne Elwell, Bridge, Its Principles and Rules of Play, 1903 "J.B. Elwell, Whist Expert and Race Horse Owner, Slain," New York Times, June 12, 1920, 1. "Seek Young Woman in Elwell Mystery," New York Times, June 13, 1920, 14. "Scour City Garages for Elwell Clue," New York Times, June 14, 1920, 1. "'Woman in Black' at the Ritz Enters Elwell Mystery," New York Times, June 16, 1920, 1. "Two Men and Women Hunted in New Trail for Slayer of Elwell," New York Tribune, June 16, 1920, 1. "Housekeeper Admits Shielding Woman by Hiding Garments in Elwell Home," New York Times, June 17, 1920, 1. "Mrs. Elwell Bares Divorce Project," New York Times, June 17, 1920, 1. "Swann Baffled at Every Turn in Elwell Mystery," New York Times, June 19, 1920, 1. "'Mystery Girl in Elwell Case Is Found," Washington Times, June 19, 1920, 1. "Elwell, Discarding Palm Beach Woman, Revealed Threats," New York Times, June 20, 1920, 1. "Elwell, the Man of Many Masks," New York Times, June 20, 1920, 12. "Elwell Traced to Home at 2:30 on Day of Murder," New York Times, June 21, 1920, 1. "'Unwritten Law' Avenger Sought in Elwell Case," New York Times, June 22, 1920, 1. "Think Assassin Hid for Hours in Elwell Home," New York Times, June 23, 1920, 1. "Admits Breakfasting With Von Schlegell," New York Times, June 23, 1920, 3. "Officials Baffled by Contradictions Over Elwell Calls," New York Times, June 24, 1920, 1. "Housekeeper Gives New Elwell Facts," New York Times, June 25, 1920, 1. "Pendleton, Amazed Awaiting Inquiry in Elwell Case," New York Times, June 28, 1920, 1. "'Bootlegger' Clue in Elwell Case Bared by Check," New York Times, June 29, 1920, 1. "Elwell Rum Ring Bared by Shevlin," New York Times, July 2, 1920, 14. "Viola Kraus Again on Elwell Grill," New York Times, July 3, 1920, 14. "The People and Their Daily Troubles," Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1920: II2. "Says Witness Lied in Elwell Inquiry," New York Times, July 7, 1920, 11. "Whisky Is Seized in Elwell Mystery," New York Times, July 10, 1920, 10. "New Elwell Clue Found by Police," New York Times, July 11, 1920, 16. "'Beatrice,' New Witness Sought in Elwell Case," New York Tribune, July 11, 1920, 6. "Says He Murdered Elwell," New York Times, July 14, 1920, 17. "Quiz Figueroa Again in Elwell Mystery," New York Times, July 17, 1920, 14. "Chauffeur Quizzed in Elwell Mystery," New York Times, July 20, 1920, 8. "Elwell Evidence Put Up to Whitman," New York Times, April 2, 1921, 11. "Confesses Murder of Elwell and Says Woman Paid for It," New York Times, April 7, 1921, 1. "Admits Elwell Murder," Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1921, I1. "Confessed Elwell Slayer Identifies Woman Employer," New York Times, April 8, 1921, 1. "Confessed Slayer of Elwell Is Sane, Alienist Declares," New York Times, April 9, 1921, 1. "Harris Admits His Elwell Murder Tale Was All a Lie," New York Times, April 11, 1921, 1. "Elwell and Keenan Slayers Are Known," Fort Wayne [Ind.] Sentinel, Oct. 17, 1923, 1. "Elwell's Slayer Known to Police," New York Times, Oct. 21, 1923, E4. "Fifth Anniversary of the Elwell Murder Finds It Listed as the Perfect Mystery," New York Times, June 12, 1925, 21. "Elwell Cut Off," New York Times, April 12, 1927, 19. "Murder of Elwell Recalled in Suicide," New York Times, Oct. 15, 1927, 21. "Joseph Elwell Murder in 1920 Still Mystery," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 21, 1955. David J. Krajicek, "Who Would Want to Kill Joe Elwell?" New York Daily News, Feb. 13, 2011. Douglas J. Lanska, "Optograms and Criminology: Science, News Reporting, and Fanciful Novels," in Anne Stiles et al., Literature, Neurology, and Neuroscience: Historical and Literary Connections, 2013. Kirk Curnutt, "The Gatsby Murder Case," in Alfred Bendixen and Olivia Carr Edenfield, eds., The Centrality of Crime Fiction in American Literary Culture, 2017. Listener mail: Paul Rubin, "Burning Man: An Attorney Says He Escaped His Blazing Home Using Scuba Gear; Now He's Charged with Arson," Phoenix New Times, Aug. 27, 2009. Michael Walsh, "Autopsy Shows Michael Marin, Arizona Man Who Was Former Wall Street Trader, Killed Self With Cyanide After Hearing Guilty Verdict," New York Daily News, July 27, 2012. "Michael Marin Update: Canister Labeled 'Cyanide' Found in Arsonist's Vehicle, Investigators Say," CBS News/Associated Press, July 12, 2012. Ed Lavandera, "Ex-Banker's Courtroom Death an Apparent Suicide," CNN, July 11, 2012. At the guilty verduct, Marin put his hands to his mouth, apparently swallowed something, and collapsed in court: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWO_O4ScAsg Alex Papadimoulis, "Suzanne the 1000th Malone," The Daily WTF, Jan. 15, 2008. Lexico, "What Are the Plurals of 'Octopus', 'Hippopotamus', 'Syllabus'?" "Octopus," "Ask the Editor," Merriam-Webster. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Oliver Bayley. Here are some corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). Please visit Littleton Coin Company to sell your coins and currency, or call them toll free 1-877-857-7850. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

After Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941 two American servicemen hatched a desperate plan to sail 3,000 miles to Allied Australia in a 20-foot wooden fishing boat. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll join Rocky Gause and William Osborne as they struggle to avoid the Japanese and reach safety. We'll also tell time in Casablanca and puzzle over a towing fatality. Intro: H.M. Small patented a hammock for railway passenger cars in 1889. The clock face on the Marienkirche in Bergen auf Rügen, Germany, has 61 minutes. Sources for our feature on Damon Gause: Damon Gause, The War Journal of Major Damon "Rocky" Gause, 1999. William L. Osborne, Voyage into the Wind, 2013. Stephan Wilkinson, "10 Great POW Escapes," Military History 28:4 (November 2011), 28-33,5. "Two U.S. Officers Flee Philippines By a 159-Day Journey to Australia," New York Times, Oct. 20, 1942, 6. "Bataan-to-Australia Escape Takes 159 Days," Los Angeles Times, Oct. 20, 1942, 1. "U.S. Officers in Australia After Fleeing Philippines," New York Times, Oct. 24, 1942, 5. "Angry Officer Who Fled Luzon Tells Odyssey," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4, 1942, A1. "Crash Kills Gause, Who Fled Bataan," New York Times, March 17, 1944, 7. Mark Pino, "Bataan Survivors Meet, Share Stories of Strength," Orlando Sentinel, May 4, 1997, 1. Tunku Varadarajan, "Bidding War for Diary of Great Escape," Times, May 8, 1998, 20. David Usborne, "Hero's Voyage Ends in Hollywood," Independent, May 9, 1998, 13. Don O'Briant, "Georgia Officer's Great Escape to Get Hollywood Treatment," Atlanta Constitution, March 4, 1999, 1. Mark Pino, "War Hero's Tribute Marching On," Orlando Sentinel, April 21, 1999, 1. Bill Baab, "Journal Documents Great Escapes During War," Augusta Chronicle, Jan. 16, 2000, F5. Christopher Dickey, "The Great Escape," New York Times, Jan. 23, 2000. Don O'Briant, "Veterans Day: Sons Relive WWII Tale of Perilous Getaway," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov. 11, 2001, 1. "The Firsthand Account of One of the Greatest Escapes of World War II," Book TV, CSPAN2, 2000. Robert E. Hood, "The Incredible Escape," Boys' Life, May 2002. Chris Petrikin and Benedict Carver, "Miramax Escapes With 'War Journal,'" Variety, Feb. 9, 1999. Listener mail: Telling time in Casablanca. We discussed English as She Is Spoke in Episode 58. Deb Belt, "Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Is the Right House for $15K," Baltimore Patch, Aug. 1, 2017. Beth Dalbey, "5 Historic Great Lakes Lighthouses for Sale in Michigan," Baltimore Patch, July 28, 2017. A Maryland lighthouse for sale by the General Services Administration. To see all the lighthouses currently at auction, search for "lighthouse" on this page. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener David Pruessner. Please visit Littleton Coin Company to sell your coins and currency, or call them toll free 1-877-857-7850. Get your free trial set from Harry's, including a handle, blade, shave gel, and travel blade cover, by visiting http://harrys.com/closet. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!