Hector Okada da Silva

«Chill - October» -- John E. Millais (1870)

Wise words on nature, science and art

«The scientist does not study nature because it is useful to do so. He studies it because he takes pleasure in it, and he takes pleasure in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful it would not be worth knowing, and life would not be worth living. [...]»

Henri Poincaré, «Science and Method»

«[...] Even he was modest, even he - Raphael that he was - was submissive. Let us therefore be humble before nature.»

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

«The pursuit of science has often been compared to the scaling of mountains, high and not so high. But who amongst us can hope, even in imagination, to scale the Everest and reach its summit when the sky is blue and the air is still, and in the stillness of the air survey the entire Himalayan range in the dazzling white of the snow stretching to infinity? None of us can hope for a comparable vision of Nature and the universe around us, but there is nothing mean or lowly in standing below the valley below and waiting for the sun to rise over Kanchenjunga.»

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Painting

I am interested in art history (painting specifically), including its socio-historical background, of the 18-19th century. I particularly like the French and Russian schools (think neoclassicism, romanticism, realism) -- some specific artists are shown/quoted here. An extended list of personal favorites includes:

I am interested in drawing (studying e.g the plates from Bargue's «Cours De Dessin») and oil painting. All I know of the latter and how to see, I learned from Paul Reuther.

Miscellanea

Although I do not read as avidly as before, I enjoy reading supernatural tales as escapades from physics. I have read Edgar A. Poe, Edogawa Rampo, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood and H. P Lovecraft. My favorite story by HPL is «The Color Out of Space». My favorite fictional book is «Gary Lineker's Book of Ghost Stories». It's very scary altogether -- as much as the beast.

Also, I am a fan of the «most important of the least important things in life», football. I am a supporter for Paysandu Sport Club, the most traditional and successful team from Northern Brazil.

Books

A list of what I have read.

2020

2019