Notes on COVID Part III

I should've been writing more frequently but PhD pressures made sure I didn't do anything beyond an intransigent proof.

Still, for record keeping purposes, this was my draft from April 22, unedited,

----------

We'll start this edition by pointing out an erratum in my first post. First, Shakespeare did not write King Lear during the plague, he wrote it during a period of brief respite from it, between 1603 and 1610. He did write a play, Coriolanus, during the plague years. Read more here.

The New Yorker also tries to make an argument that Newton's two year hiatus from Cambridge, and ensuing isolation, was not the reason for his brilliant achievements. He was already thinking deeply about the problems at least a year before, and continued producing outstanding work after re-joining academic life.

I don't buy the argument. That he was a genius and was producing outstanding work all his life is indubitable. Yet, it doesn't mean he couldn't have had an extra spurt of creativity from his isolation. The argument doesn't convince me, but the article is still an inspiring read.

*****

I will be focusing on India in this post. I do so because the country stands at the cusp of exponential explosion. It is a critical time and understanding the data would do some good.

----------

Yeah, India did see the exponential increase in cases.

And just for completeness sake, right now we seem to be on the cusp of an exponential rise in deaths from COVID here in the US.

Sigh.