Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 February 7

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February 7

Classical music piece

Can somebody tell me which classical composition is in this video to listen? I have not a big musical knowledgment. Thanks. Leonprimer (talk) 00:40, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Swan Lake. —Amble (talk) 02:32, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

More specifically, it's from Act 1, Scene 1 and is usually known as the Swan's Theme or Song of the Swans. Alansplodge (talk) 13:02, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Free PDF file

Does anyone know where I can find a PDF file (hopefully, free) for this book: The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics by W. John Campbell? I have been searching online for hours ... and I can only find web-sites that seem sketchy (for example, they say that they are free, but they require registration and personal email info, etc.). Thanks. 32.209.55.38 (talk) 02:08, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Published in 2000. No, we can't help you find copyright-violating material. 69.174.144.79 (talk) 03:23, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

What part, exactly, is a "copyright violation"? Publishers publish their books in PDF format, all the time ... some for free; some for purchase. So -- again -- what part, exactly, is a "copyright violation"? 32.209.55.38 (talk) 03:54, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Because the book was published in 2000 by a major publishing house (Barnes & Noble), it is still in copyright. There is no way of obtaining a pdf of it for free. It's available as an ebook on Amazon for $9.95 or in hard copy for as little as $1.61. --Viennese Waltz 07:44, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Yes, exactly ...$1.61. Money is not the issue; I want/prefer a PDF file format. Not e-book or kindle or whatever. (Unless PDF is considered an "e-book".) So, the issue for me is the format, not the money. Many publishers publish their books in PDF format ... and sell them for a price ... and/or offer them on-line as a free download. So, my original question does not imply an inquiry into how to break federal laws (copyright, etc.). I don't appreciate the implication of such by any of the responses above. For a dollar and some change, I am going to risk going to federal prison? And publicly declare so, on the Internet here at Wikipedia? Yeah, good critical thinking process there. 32.209.55.38 (talk) 15:43, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

You can borrow an encrypted pdf of it, readable for 14 days, free from the Internet Archive The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics. Just need to open an account using an email address, no other info.John Z (talk) 16:04, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Who said you can buy a ebook for $1.61? That's a I assume used, hard copy. According the the post an ebook is $9.99 which sounds more realistic.

Also for the claim of federal prison. I assume you're referring to the US, I've never heard of anyone going to federal prison for simple personal copyright infringement. That sounds like some nonsense from the RIAA or MPAA or BSA or some thing like that. For commercial or other widespread copyright infringement i.e. where you are actually involved in distribution in a significant way rather than simply downloading an ebook for personal use, sure. But no one ever suggested that was implied here.

These "sketchy" websites you are referring to are undoubtedly committed copyright infringement if they really have the ebook. (Many won't but I suspect some might.) So I think editors can be forgiven for thinking that what you were trying to do when you told us you were trying to do it.

In any case, even if you weren't going to do it despite trying to do it, probably millions of people in the US do it every day no matter the very minor risk of federal action or the slightly more likely risk of civil action. Probably several thousand or more likely tens of thousands people in the US post about it on the internet every day. And quite a few of these in places where linking their real life identity is much easier e.g. Facebook. So your suggestion is just silly.

Anyway, a PDF is definitely an ebook. Also for something like this it's quite likely most copies you buy outside Amazon and maybe Apple will be available in PDF format. Nearly all distributors (e.g. Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google, Apple even I think Microsoft now as well as books directly from publishers) except for Amazon use ePub for reflowable books but for fixed width they often use PDF since fixed with was only introduced in ePub 3 and support can be spotty compared to PDF. So even if they have an ePub 3 version, they make PDFs available for older devices. This is especially the case for text book like books. I have no idea what Amazon uses for fixed width books, but possibly their own proprietary format like they do for reflowable eBooks. Apple may be more likely to only make books available in ePub given they tend to operate under a Apple only walled garden model and the iPad was one of the catalysts for ePub 3.

As Blueboar pointed out frankly the format isn't particularly important. It's trivial to convert even Amazon stuff to PDF nowadays. The issue is that nearly everything will be encrypted since most publishers demand it. Even if you have a PDF, it's only going to work in readers which support the encryption, probably Adobe Adept DRM. While there are ways to remove this, providing support for this on the RD is questionable since it potentially violates the DMCA even if you bought the book. Even if you don't live in the US, the WMF is based there.

If you actually bought the book and are having problems because of DRM, you could try asking an Apprentice I guess. I've heard one's called Alf are often a big help.

Nil Einne (talk) 22:09, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

• Here’s a thought... buy a hard copy, and scan it to PDF (which is OK if it is for your own personal use). Blueboar (talk) 17:44, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

The free software Calibre can convert from various eBook formats to PDF, I believe. Iuse it to convert AZW to EPUB for my Kobo. --ColinFine (talk) 18:03, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Nuclear missile launch from a sub

The internet says it takes about 10-15 minutes for a submarine-based nuclear missile to reach Russia (and vice versa). Apparently, this depends on submarine's location and its distance to target's coast (be it Russia or the US). Assuming the submarine takes some position in international waters closest to country's territorial waters (for fastest delivery time), would the travel time be shorter than that? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 11:16, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

I only found this paper which has a lot of detail about the latest US and British submarine-launched ICBMs, but nothing about flight time. I suspect that 10 minutes might be a minimum time, since the missile has to go a long way up, aim itself and then come down again, see ballistic missile flight phases. Alansplodge (talk) 12:48, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

The Trident II operating at a speed of Mach 24 can traverse about 29,000 km (18,000 mi) in 60 minutes. Vladivostok is a strategically important harbour that is located approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) from the high seas. The length along a parabolic arc with a 45° departure angle is about 2.3 times as long, say 3,450 km (2,140 mi). So taking a boost phase of 3 to 4 minutes into account, that target should be reachable in about 10 minutes. Other strategic targets in Russia are less close to international waters. The distance from Moscow is more like 3,000 km (1,900 mi). This will likely take a bit more than 15 minutes. Verifying the validity of a received strike command, setting the target, double-checking, triple-checking, and punching the launch button, will also take several minutes.  --Lambiam 14:27, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

I'm reasonably certain that the 10-15 minute number is based on the submarine loitering near the enemy coast. They certainly aren't launching from within their own harbors. 69.174.144.79 (talk) 04:48, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

And now we also see why having Turkey in NATO and maintaining a strong alliance with them is so important. Access to the Black Sea keeps U.S. subs within easy striking distance of Sevastopol, a hugely strategic important city for the Russian/Soviet Navy. Norway and Denmark (Artic Sea and Baltic Sea respectively) play a similarly important role for the other elements of the Russian fleet. The U.S. being able to get subs close to the major ports of Russia has been a key element to U.S. diplomacy for a long time. --Jayron32 14:41, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Yes, the fact that Russia's main naval ports are behind chokepoints like the Bosporus, the Baltic Sea or the GIUK gap has long been a key issue for naval strategy - sea supremacy was seen to hinge on Russia's ability to break the chokepoints and NATO's ability to hold them. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 14:58, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

This article details the importance of the Arctic Ocean as an ICBM launching site. Alansplodge (talk) 11:32, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Lenin surname in India

While I know the reason behind Lenin given name, Lenin (disambiguation) also mentions at least three people with that surname (B. Lenin, Cherukuri Lenin and Lalitha Lenin). How was that possible to get the Lenin surname (last name)? Also, was Lalitha Lenin named after Lolita? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 19:43, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Are any of these actually family surnames? Looking at a couple of the articles and comparing with Indian name, they seem to be given names that happen to be placed last, or else a parent or spouse’s given name. —Amble (talk) 20:54, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

B. Lenin doesn't share his name with either his father, A. Bhimsingh, or his brother, B. Kannan (the "B" stands for Bhimsingh, the father's given name). Alansplodge (talk) 00:39, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Right, B. Lenin and Cherukuri Lenin have Lenin as a given name that happens to come last, and Lalitha Lenin appears to have Lenin as her husband's given name, if I'm not mistaken. --Amble (talk) 01:33, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Just a hypothesis, but maybe a few Indians took on the Lenin surname in honor of Vladimir Lenin, especially if they were Communists and/or some other kinds of leftists? Futurist110 (talk) 22:36, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

The references agree with you; this report of an annual gathering of Malayali people with Russian given names such as Lenin, Stalin, Pushkin, Pravda and one chap called Krushchev, apparently all due to their families' "pro-Left ideology". Karela and Tamil Nadu in the far south were the strongholds of Soviet-style Communism in the 1950s and 1960s. A BBC report on the same gathering is here. Alansplodge (talk) 00:33, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

But those are again given names. I'm not seeing any examples of Lenin as a surname. --Amble (talk) 01:33, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

"Lalitha" is written ലളിതാ in the Malayalam script, while "Lolita" is spelled ലോലിത. The Indian female given name Lalitha, which is much older than Nabokov's novel (the actress Lalitha was born in 1930, while the novel is from 1955), may come from the musical term, which can also denote a folk dance, or refer to a sacred character in Hinduism.  --Lambiam 00:37, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Ok, I've adjusted Lenin (disambiguation) accordingly, placing those chaps under "People with the given name". 212.180.235.46 (talk) 08:03, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

A general remark on Indian names. India combines many cultures, religions and ethnicities, and there is no uniform treatment of names across these. The concepts of "given name" and "surname" that have become common in modern Western culture may be inadequate to capture various naming systems used in India, or may even be completely inappropriate. The Western systems have been made uniform by legislative measures, such as introducing mandatory and heriditary family names. Exceptions like the Hungarian "reverse" order (Bartók Béla Viktor János) or the Icelandic patronymic system (Björk Guðmundsdóttir) are easily explained and are uniform across the respective states. The systems in India can be much more complicated and may vary even for different groups in the same state.  --Lambiam 11:36, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

We have articles on matronymics and patronymics, and on Maiden and married names (referring to surnames). But I don’t find an article about the practice of using a husband’s given name as the wife’s married last name. This seems to be the case with Lalitha Lenin. Is there a term for this type of name or this type of naming practice in general? —Amble (talk) 15:57, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

The practice seems to be partially describe at Indian name#Tamil. While Lalitha Lenin may not be Tamil and she is still living in India, the reason may be the same i.e. coming up with something that sort of works with Western customs, especially as an academic and given that her husband may not really have something that's similar to a surname. Nil Einne (talk) 13:24, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Other centenarian members of the United States Cabinet

Other than George Shultz, did any other members of the United States Cabinet ever actually live to become centenarians? Also, were there any near-misses in regards to this? Futurist110 (talk) 22:26, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Henry_Kissinger and W._Michael_Blumenthal are getting close. RudolfRed (talk) 22:49, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

The first one has two years left to go and the second one has five years left to go. So, Yes, close, but not quite there. Lucile Randon is closer to surpassing Sarah Knauss's age than either of these two men are to becoming centenarians, for instance! Futurist110 (talk) 23:07, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

This query turns up a few ambassadors, a Chief of Staff of the Army (John L. Hines), a Director of the US Mint (Nellie Tayloe Ross), various legislators, and others, but no other cabinet members besides Shultz. --Amble (talk) 01:29, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

This says that Shultz at 100 was the oldest former Cabinet member ever. --Jayron32 13:41, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Some more from WikiData... The closest is Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz (98 1/2 years old when he died in 2008). Oldest living is indeed Kissinger. There's also Paul Ignatius, who is 100 years old and was Secretary of the Navy from 1967-69, when it was no longer a cabinet-level position. --Amble (talk) 17:23, 8 February 2021 (UTC)