LITMIR.BIZ

      Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) was a German scientist and the first to notice that the continents of earth look as if they might fit together. Africa and South America share a suspiciously similar-looking coastline, for example.

      Wegener’s theory was that continents drift on enormous plates – and if time could be wound back, they would creep towards one another. The original land mass would have been a single super-plate that slowly broke up to form modern continents. Later measurements of drifting plates and similarities in fossil records have borne out the theory. The name ‘Pangaea’ was coined to describe that single land mass of ‘all the earth’.

      5

IS THE EARTH SLOWING DOWN?

      The short answer is yes. This is measurable by the length of the day, which is getting longer. That much is certain – 2017 was the fourth year in a row that we measured a decrease in the earth’s spin. The reasons for this are still a matter of conjecture, of course. One theory is that the moon exerts a braking effect on the earth. That is a good possibility. We know tides are created by the moon’s gravitational pull. It makes sense that this might exert a slowing effect.

      However, the effect is incredibly small. It would take millions of years to get to the point of a 28-hour day, for example.

      6

WHAT ARE THE LONGEST RIVERS?

      There are two possibilities. The Nile is usually given as the longest river system on earth, providing water to eleven countries and stretching 4,200 miles (6,700 km) across Africa. However, until every tributary and source has been mapped and measured, we can never know for certain.

      The river rises in the great lakes of central Africa and flows north until it reaches Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

      The Amazon in South America is the other candidate. Usually described as the second-longest river in the world, it too has its champions and it is true that more water passes through the Amazon than the Nile each day. It begins in Brazil – or Peru, depending whom you ask. Rivers can run underground, which is one of the reasons it’s not always easy to measure their length and pin down the exact source. Still, these are by far the two longest – the Amazon is just over 4,000 miles (6,400 km).

       TYING A WINDSOR KNOT

      Every boy learns a basic tie knot in school – the ‘four-in-hand’ or ‘schoolboy’ knot. You can probably do it in your sleep. However, that’s no reason to go through your whole life tying the same knot. The Windsor knot is just as easy to do – and it’s a neat, symmetrical knot. In From Russia, With Love, Ian Fleming writes that a Windsor knot is too flashy – a knot that rouses James Bond’s suspicions. If that was ever true, it isn’t now. The Windsor is used by the Royal Air Force and the armed forces of Canada and the United States. It suits a wide collar. Tie it a dozen times. Chances are, you’ll never go back to your primary-school knot again.

      There is a ‘wide end’ and a ‘narrow end’ to a tie. That’s pretty much it for terminology.

      1. Begin with the wide end ten or twelve inches longer than the narrow end. You’ll find a first position that works for you – and you’ll learn which shirt button (fourth or fifth) you prefer to align with the narrow end. Cross the long wide end over the narrow end.

      2. Bring the wide end up underneath on the left side of the narrow end, pulling it through.

      3. Take the wide end around the back of the narrow end and then over the right-hand side of the knot, pulling it through.

      4. Completing the knot is very similar to the schoolboy knot. Take the wide end across, then up behind the knot. Poke it under the top layer and pull taut. Adjust as you would for the knot you know.

      The result is pretty magnificent – a triangular, symmetrical knot – and simpler than most people realise. Left, right, across and under. Worth learning.

       ADVICE FROM FIGHTING MEN

      Left and right. Mary Evans Picture Library

      ‘Boxing is the first necessity for a gentleman, unless he wishes to be imposed upon whenever he comes into the company of rough men, stronger than himself. It is necessary, if he wishes to be able to protect a lady from insult, a position in which a man often finds himself.’

      Colonel T.H. Monstery, Self-Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies

      ‘Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face.’

      Mike Tyson, former world heavyweight boxing champion

      Many years ago, a friend of the authors got into an altercation with a group of six men outside a pub in London. The friend was young and fit, but he knew he couldn’t possibly take on so many. As the leader went for him, he sprinted away – and, of course, they followed, howling, in his wake.

      Men run at different speeds. When he risked a glance over his shoulder, he noticed they had begun to string out over distance. The slowest were quite far back, while one keen young greyhound was right out in front of the rest. Our friend slowed just a touch to let the man in the lead catch all the way up. He waited until his pursuer was almost on top of him, then stopped suddenly. The one chasing was not ready for the move. As he

Скачать книгу