Bartosz Ciechanowski

On "Moon"

Topic Selection

I knew I wanted to write about the Moon right around the time I was finishing the "Airfoil" article because it's been a while since I focused on space. Having covered "Earth and Sun" awhile ago, it was finally time to tackle the Moon itself.

The Moon felt like a great topic. It was conceptually much simpler than the...

Moon

In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbor. Its face, periodically filled with light and devoured by darkness, has an ever-changing, but dependable presence in our skies.

https://ciechanow.ski/moon/

On "Airfoil"

Topic Selection

After finishing my article on bicycles, I investigated and then abandoned two potential topics for the next blog post. The time spent researching those two has contributed to the unfortunate gap of eleven months since my blog's previous installment. Thankfully, I don't think it was a total waste of time, ...

Airfoil

The dream of soaring in the sky like a bird has captivated the human mind for ages. Although many failed, some eventually succeeded in achieving that goal. These days we take air transportation for granted, but the physics of flight can still be puzzling.

https://ciechanow...

On "Bicycle"

Topic Selection

"Something about bicycles" has always been on the list of ideas to write about one day, and this topic even got requested by one of my Patrons over a year ago, but at the time it didn't feel that compelling, mostly because I'm actually not much of a bike enthusiast myself.

I started thinking about bicycles again rig...

Bicycle

There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity.

http://ciechanow.ski/bicycle/ 

On "Sound"

Topic Selection

After finishing the last article, I meandered for a while trying to find a new topic. I eventually strongly considered writing about lasers – their function relies on a few interesting physical phenomena that were worth visualizing. 

I wanted to understand and explain these concepts from the ground up, by fir...

Sound

Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry beautiful music or annoying noises. In this article I’ll explain what sound is, how it’s created and propagated.

https://ciechanow.ski/sound/

On "Mechanical Watch"

I'm not even entirely sure where the idea to write about mechanical watches came from. I think part of it was inspired by drawing the watch in the GPS article, and part came from seeing ads for watchmaking sets.

I myself don't even own any traditional watches, so the topic was very new to me. Thankfully, it was easy to understand the gist ...

Mechanical Watch

In the world of modern portable devices, it may be hard to believe that merely a few decades ago the most convenient way to keep track of time was a mechanical watch. Unlike their quartz and smart siblings, mechanical watches can run without using any batteries or other electronic components.

2022-05-04 15:06:30 +0000 UTC View Post

On "GPS"

When I started working on the article, I quickly realized that to explain GPS, I'd need to talk about trilateration first. To do that, I originally considered using some sort of "treasure hunt" story to justify the need for trying to relate one's position in the world to a position on the map. However, I'm not a huge fan of fable-like fiction us...

GPS

Global Positioning System is, without a doubt, one of the most useful inventions of the late 20th century. It made it significantly easier for ships, airplanes, cars, and hikers to figure out where they are with high degree of accuracy.

https://ciechanow.ski/gps/

On "Curves and Surfaces"

After publishing an article I often find myself reflecting on what worked well and what didn't, which ideas got abandoned and which I really liked. I figured my Patreon is a good place to publish some of those thoughts. It's more of a loose collection of notes than anything structured, but I hope it will provide at least some insight.

...

Curves and Surfaces

From fonts to animated movies, curves and surfaces constitute fundamental building blocks of many geometrical designs.

https://ciechanow.ski/curves-and-surfaces/

Naval Architecture

When I first heard the term naval architecture I thought it was the artistic practice of designing beautiful boats. It turns out it’s a proper scientific discipline dedicated to the engineering of ships.

https://ciechanow.ski/naval-architecture/

Internal Combustion Engine

The invention of the internal combustion engine in the 19th century has revolutionized transportation over land, water, and air. Despite their omnipresence in modern day, the operation of an engine may be cryptic.

2021-04-29 15:27:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Cameras and Lenses

Pictures have always been a meaningful part of the human experience. From the first cave drawings, to sketches and paintings, to modern photography, we’ve mastered the art of recording what we see.

https://ciechanow.ski/cameras-and-lenses/