Word: idea
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...life. In fact, says Elisofon, some of the objects "were believed to be alive by their makers. An important belief of the Polynesians was in mana, an impersonal supernatural power. Sculptures contained mana." Such modern sculptors as Lipchitz, Gonzalez, David Smith and Brancusi are not far from this idea, and for mana they, too, sacrifice resemblance. "The primitive artist and the modern one," says Elisofon, "both produce more of what they feel than of what they...
...cost $60,000 and up, need trained engineers to program and manage their operations; every instruction in a process must be turned into a mathematical equation, which is fed into a computer and transmitted first to punch tape, then to magnetic tape to guide the machines. The Marantettes' idea was far simpler: they wanted to use a stylus-like device connected to high-speed electric motors to "write" instructions directly on magnetic tape; when the tape was fed back electronically through the system of motors, the motors would then convert the tape impulses to mechanical action...
...make the idea work, the inventors had to develop a system of electric pulse motors that were able to direct a machine to perform all the intricate steps contained on the tape. Called pulse-servos, such motors have been in operation for years; the problem was that the fastest available could handle only 1,700 pulses per second, which was not enough for really sophisticated work. The great breakthrough came with the development of a super pulse-servo that could handle 6,000 pulses per second, fast enough to direct the most complex piece of milling work. To start...
...book (TIME, Feb. 6. 1950) displayed the Irish talent for tirade in formidable measure, and he revealed a teeming and generous vision of life, a Rabelaisian sense of comedy. To make a straight commercial movie out of such a vital, abundant creation was at best a poor idea, but it has to be said for Britain's Alec Guinness, who wrote the script and plays the principal part, that he has marshaled all of his considerable intelligence, taste and humor to make the best...
...object wasn't to make money," an official commented. "It was just a party game. We got the idea from a movie in Boston...