[…] so fascinating and exciting is this method of idling away time which might be much more profitably and improvingly employed, that many of the fishermen frequent the cliffs, and peril their lives in the forbidden pursuit.

Robert Mayer is well known as one of the several codiscoverers of the principle of the conservation of energy, the formulation of which was arguably the most important single development in physics during the ...

[W]e observe both Hindoo and Mahomedan guarding most consciously against solar heat, as well as cold. The turban and cummerbund meet our eye at every step:—the former, to defend the head from the direct rays of a powerful sun; the latter, apparently, for the purpose of preserving the important viscera of the abdomen from the deleterious impressions of cold. This [cummerbund] is certainly a most valuable part of their dress; and one that is highly deserving of imitation. […] In situations where atmospherical vicissitudes are sudden, a fine shawl round the waist forms an excellent cummerbund, and should never be neglected, especially by those who have been some time in the country, or whose bowels are in any degree tender.

The pandemic has not only caused an immediate fall in ticket revenues for the world’s public transit networks—rail ridership in Barcelona, Moscow, Beijing and New York City at times plummeting 80%—in some cities it also has thrown into question the future of mass urban transportation.