Retrospect
Journal.
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY'S HISTORY, CLASSICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE
-
The Identity Crisis of a Planet: Pluto’s Discovery and Reclassification
Written by Kat Jivkova. Writing the history behind Pluto’s “demotion” to a dwarf planet. Kat Jivkova examines the history of the discovery and classification of Pluto, an accident that provoked remarkable emotional reaction.
-
The Portrayal of Female Desire and Lesbianism in Deepa Mehta’s Fire
Written by Kat Jivkova. Deepa Mehta’s deeply impactive 1996 film, ‘Fire’, is a portrayal of female desire as resistance to Hindu patriarchy. Kat Jivkova asks why, as something deeply embedded in Indian life and a not a mere Western import, this stirred much imagination, and ire, on its release.
-
The Voice of Stephen Hawking: Dennis Klatt’s Developments in Speech Synthesis
Written by Kat Jivkova. While a fundamental part of the legacy of the late physicist Stephen Hawking was the speech synthesis that allowed him to partly triumph over his disability, the creator and background the Computer Speech Synthesis has been neglected. Kat Jivkova aims to rectify this by shedding much delayed light on the work…
-
An Lushan and the Fall of China’s Golden Age
Written by Kat Jivkova. The Tang period witnessed an incredible cultural blossoming amidst the pre-modern imperial magnificence, but what proved to be the cause of smouldering away?
-
Leonhard Euler and the Russian Connection
Written by Kat Jivkova. Leonhard Euler was in his own time recognised as the most distinguished mathematician of the eighteenth century, though certain circumstances of his life have brushed aside. Kat Jivkova discusses his deep connection to St. Petersburg, a site of his scientific achievements and eventual home.
-
Being the Ricardos Review: Sorkin fails to dazzle in detached biopic of I Love Lucy Stardom
Written by Kat Jivkova. ‘I Love Lucy’ was the first big American sitcom, premiering in 1951. Though, the complex relationships behind the scenes, interlocking with the contradictions of the 1950s United States, is something Aaron Sorkin’s mishandled 2021 biopic is judged as being incapable of grasping.
-
Compatibilising the Incompatible: A Brief History of String Theory and its Limitations
Written by Kat Jivkova. How has String Theory in physiscs developed since the 1970s? Kat Jivkova examines the twists and turns in this controversial yet enduring ‘theory of everything’.
-
Benshi Performance in the Japanese Silent Film Era
Written by Kat Jivkova. The Japanese world of silent film is often criticised for its epitomised use of the Katsudo shashin benshi, but new re-evaluations seek to examine the feature in a much more positive light.
Retrospect Journal 