The title is a reference to the first chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which mentions the "many strange conjectures..." Basil Hallward's sudden disappearance caused. It's also meant to be a nod to mathematical conjectures, one of my favorite being Euler's conjecture about MOLS of oddly even orders not being possible. The exact wording was n ≡ 2 (mod 4)), but it was disproved for n ≥ 7 in 1959 by a group of mathematicians dubbed the "Euler spoilers" (R. C. Bose, S. S. Shrikhande, and E. T. Parker). I find the nickname very funny, and the Scientific American magazine issue from that year's November issue has a beautiful illustration of a MOLS(10) with different colors taking the place of the Greek and Latin in the array. It also features an article on how American eastern crows and French jackdaws can recognize and respond to each other's calls. The sound spectrogram of the crows' calls is quite visually interesting. Spectrograms are somewhat similar to audio waveforms but they differ because they include frequencies in the graphing. A spectrogram usually has a third dimension or differing colors to represent differences in frequency. Anyways, I don't think the fact that the November 1959 Scientific American issue features spectrograms of crow calls is any more remarkable than a computer built in the same year. Impressive and at a relatively early time in computing history, sure, but from what I've seen, the timeline of computers and spectrograms line up pretty closely. Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine in the 1830s, and received some funding from the British government, although the funding ceased early on in the project because they were unsure how much of an investment it would be.

While they knew it would be an impressive and useful feat/development of mathematics, didn't know what sort of legacy it would have. Though certainly not the same beginnings, some 50 years later in June 1881, William Huggins made a spectrogram of Comet Tebbutt. Both spectrograms and computer science would not see a major revival until the mid 20th century. WWII brought a need for delicate calculations and better techniques for code-breaking that were both met by computers, and at the same time, scientists at Bell Laboratories developed the sound spectrograph to analyze sound waves, which could be used to detect submarines and decipher enemy codes. Both technologies would not see commercial use until a decade later. The Kay Electric Co. started producing their Sonagraphs in 1951, the first commercially available spectrographs, which remained popular until the 1990s. Computers were seeing commercial uses by mainly big companies for payroll processing, billing, and inventory management in the 1950s, as well. I find it quite striking how both spectrograms and computers had their start in the 19th century, weren't seriously considered until WWII, and then saw commercial use in the decades following. I should also mention that spectrograms and computers didn't really take off and enter the common lexicon until the 60s-80s (depending on who you ask), and how the rapid decline in popularity of Sonagraphs coincided with the rise of the internet. This makes a lot of sense because the internet itself is accessible through advanced computer software, and spectrographs were becoming easier to make at the same time using computer software.

Hello, this is my humble abode on the web. I have a few projects in mind for this space, including but not limited to posting my comic, creating archives for my favorite websites, random nerdy rants, and a collaborative poetry space called Shoebill. I write poetry, draw a lot (mainly people and swords), compose music, and I love delving into random topics. I am slowly but surely working on a comic about my silly chaotic D&D bard character who invented rock n roll and carving with pickles. His adventures feature many many instances of self-sabotage, and lots of over-the-top drama. I am also piecing together a collaborative poetry engine inspired by none other than the Spoonbill Generator! If you want to get a loose idea of what it will be like, go on by to spoonbill.org to get a taste of collaborative poetry. If you'd like to embark on this journey with me, come back and stick around!