A YouTube video.
When my son, Alex, and Lisa, were with us in the second half of last month, they spoke of the tremendous joy they experienced in visiting Yellowstone before they came to us.
What a fabulous memory!
Category: History
The building blocks of numbers
We are talking of prime numbers.
Science and mathematics have been a long interest of mine and I regret that I did not go to university to study science. But that was a long time ago!
However, thanks to The Conversation I can write about mathematics, in this case Prime Numbers.
ooOOoo
Prime numbers, the building blocks of mathematics, have fascinated for centuries − now technology is revolutionizing the search for them
Jeremiah Bartz, University of North Dakota
A shard of smooth bone etched with irregular marks dating back 20,000 years puzzled archaeologists until they noticed something unique – the etchings, lines like tally marks, may have represented prime numbers. Similarly, a clay tablet from 1800 B.C.E. inscribed with Babylonian numbers describes a number system built on prime numbers.
As the Ishango bone, the Plimpton 322 tablet and other artifacts throughout history display, prime numbers have fascinated and captivated people throughout history. Today, prime numbers and their properties are studied in number theory, a branch of mathematics and active area of research today.
A history of prime numbers
Informally, a positive counting number larger than one is prime if that number of dots can be arranged only into a rectangular array with one column or one row. For example, 11 is a prime number since 11 dots form only rectangular arrays of sizes 1 by 11 and 11 by 1. Conversely, 12 is not prime since you can use 12 dots to make an array of 3 by 4 dots, with multiple rows and multiple columns. Math textbooks define a prime number as a whole number greater than one whose only positive divisors are only 1 and itself.
Math historian Peter S. Rudman suggests that Greek mathematicians were likely the first to understand the concept of prime numbers, around 500 B.C.E.
Around 300 B.C.E., the Greek mathematician and logician Euler proved that there are infinitely many prime numbers. Euler began by assuming that there is a finite number of primes. Then he came up with a prime that was not on the original list to create a contradiction. Since a fundamental principle of mathematics is being logically consistent with no contradictions, Euler then concluded that his original assumption must be false. So, there are infinitely many primes.
The argument established the existence of infinitely many primes, however it was not particularly constructive. Euler had no efficient method to list all the primes in an ascending list.
In the middle ages, Arab mathematicians advanced the Greeks’ theory of prime numbers, referred to as hasam numbers during this time. The Persian mathematician Kamal al-Din al-Farisi formulated the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, which states that any positive integer larger than one can be expressed uniquely as a product of primes.
From this view, prime numbers are the basic building blocks for constructing any positive whole number using multiplication – akin to atoms combining to make molecules in chemistry.
Prime numbers can be sorted into different types. In 1202, Leonardo Fibonacci introduced in his book “Liber Abaci: Book of Calculation” prime numbers of the form (2p – 1) where p is also prime.
Today, primes in this form are called Mersenne primes after the French monk Marin Mersenne. Many of the largest known primes follow this format.
Several early mathematicians believed that a number of the form (2p – 1) is prime whenever p is prime. But in 1536, mathematician Hudalricus Regius noticed that 11 is prime but not (211 – 1), which equals 2047. The number 2047 can be expressed as 11 times 89, disproving the conjecture.
While not always true, number theorists realized that the (2p – 1) shortcut often produces primes and gives a systematic way to search for large primes.
The search for large primes
The number (2p – 1) is much larger relative to the value of p and provides opportunities to identify large primes.
When the number (2p – 1) becomes sufficiently large, it is much harder to check whether (2p – 1) is prime – that is, if (2p – 1) dots can be arranged only into a rectangular array with one column or one row.
Fortunately, Édouard Lucas developed a prime number test in 1878, later proved by Derrick Henry Lehmer in 1930. Their work resulted in an efficient algorithm for evaluating potential Mersenne primes. Using this algorithm with hand computations on paper, Lucas showed in 1876 that the 39-digit number (2127 – 1) equals 170,141,183,460,469,231,731,687,303,715,884,105,727, and that value is prime.
Also known as M127, this number remains the largest prime verified by hand computations. It held the record for largest known prime for 75 years.
Researchers began using computers in the 1950s, and the pace of discovering new large primes increased. In 1952, Raphael M. Robinson identified five new Mersenne primes using a Standard Western Automatic Computer to carry out the Lucas-Lehmer prime number tests.
As computers improved, the list of Mersenne primes grew, especially with the Cray supercomputer’s arrival in 1964. Although there are infinitely many primes, researchers are unsure how many fit the type (2p – 1) and are Mersenne primes.
By the early 1980s, researchers had accumulated enough data to confidently believe that infinitely many Mersenne primes exist. They could even guess how often these prime numbers appear, on average. Mathematicians have not found proof so far, but new data continues to support these guesses.
George Woltman, a computer scientist, founded the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, or GIMPS, in 1996. Through this collaborative program, anyone can download freely available software from the GIMPS website to search for Mersenne prime numbers on their personal computers. The website contains specific instructions on how to participate.
GIMPS has now identified 18 Mersenne primes, primarily on personal computers using Intel chips. The program averages a new discovery about every one to two years.
The largest known prime
Luke Durant, a retired programmer, discovered the current record for the largest known prime, (2136,279,841 – 1), in October 2024.
Referred to as M136279841, this 41,024,320-digit number was the 52nd Mersenne prime identified and was found by running GIMPS on a publicly available cloud-based computing network.
This network used Nvidia chips and ran across 17 countries and 24 data centers. These advanced chips provide faster computing by handling thousands of calculations simultaneously. The result is shorter run times for algorithms such as prime number testing.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a civil liberty group that offers cash prizes for identifying large primes. It awarded prizes in 2000 and 2009 for the first verified 1 million-digit and 10 million-digit prime numbers.
Large prime number enthusiasts’ next two challenges are to identify the first 100 million-digit and 1 billion-digit primes. EFF prizes of US$150,000 and $250,000, respectively, await the first successful individual or group.
Eight of the 10 largest known prime numbers are Mersenne primes, so GIMPS and cloud computing are poised to play a prominent role in the search for record-breaking large prime numbers.
Large prime numbers have a vital role in many encryption methods in cybersecurity, so every internet user stands to benefit from the search for large prime numbers. These searches help keep digital communications and sensitive information safe.
Jeremiah Bartz, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of North Dakota
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ooOOoo
I find it unbelievable that there are prizes for the first 100 million-digit prime number and also the first 1 billion-digit prime number. It is so far away from my understanding of these numbers that all I can say is: I find it unbelievable!
Picture Parade Four Hundred and Seventy-Five
Recent photographs of Sexton Mountain.
When my son and his partner, Lisa, were with us, just over a week ago, Alex suggested that he and I explored Sexton Mountain; some three miles to the North-East, as the crow flies. Normally the final stretch has to be walked because of a locked gate across the trail. However, that day the last 8/10ths of a mile were driven. It was a beautiful place with that summit 3,833 feet above sea-level (U.S. Geological Survey).
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
It was a grand occasion.
Artificial Intelligence and Mars
NASA hasn’t landed humans on Mars yet. But thanks to robotic missions, scientists now know more about the planet’s surface than they did when the movie, The Martian, was released.
Our human knowledge is constantly growing. In many, many directions. Here is a fascinating (well it is to me!) article from The Conversation.
ooOOoo
A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration
Ari Koeppel, Dartmouth College
Andy Weir’s bestselling story “The Martian” predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We are now 10 years past the Hollywood adaptation’s 2015 release and 10 years shy of its fictional timeline. At this midpoint, Mars exploration looks a bit different than how it was portrayed in “The Martian,” with both more discoveries and more controversy.
As a planetary geologist who works with NASA missions to study Mars, I follow exploration science and policy closely. In 2010, the U.S. National Space Policy set goals for human missions to Mars in the 2030s. But in 2017, the White House Space Policy Directive 1 shifted NASA’s focus toward returning first to the Moon under what would become the Artemis program.
Although concepts for crewed missions to Mars have gained popularity, NASA’s actual plans for landing humans on Mars remain fragile. Notably, over the last 10 years, it has been robotic, rather than crewed, missions that have propelled discovery and the human imagination forward.
Robotic discoveries
Since 2015, satellites and rovers have reshaped scientists’ understanding of Mars. They have revealed countless insights into how its climate has changed over time.
As Earth’s neighbor, climate shifts on Mars also reflect solar system processes affecting Earth at a time when life was first taking hold. Thus, Mars has become a focal point for investigating the age old questions of “where do we come from?” and “are we alone?”
The Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have driven dozens of miles studying layered rock formations that serve as a record of Mars’ past. By studying sedimentary layers – rock formations stacked like layers of a cake – planetary geologists have pieced together a vivid tale of environmental change that dwarfs what Earth is currently experiencing.
Mars was once a world of erupting volcanoes, glaciers, lakes and flowing rivers – an environment not unlike early Earth. Then its core cooled, its magnetic field faltered and its atmosphere drifted away. The planet’s exposed surface has retained signs of those processes ever since in the form of landscape patterns, sequences of layered sediment and mineral mixtures.
Arabia Terra
One focus of scientific investigation over the last 10 years is particularly relevant to the setting of “The Martian” but fails to receive mention in the story. To reach his best chance of survival, protagonist Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, must cross a vast, dusty and crater-pocked region of Mars known as Arabia Terra.
In 2022 and 2023, I, along with colleagues at Northern Arizona University and Johns Hopkins University, published detailed analyses of the layered materials there using imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey satellites.
By using infrared imagery and measuring the dimensions of surface features, we linked multiple layered deposits to the same episodes of formation and learned more about the widespread crumbling nature of the terrain seen there today. Because water tends to cement rock tightly together, that loose material indicates that around 3.5 billion years ago, that area had a drying climate.
To make the discussions about this area easier, we even worked with the International Astronomical Union to name a few previously unnamed craters that were mentioned in the story. For example, one that Watney would have driven right by is now named Kozova Crater, after a town in Ukraine.
More to explore
Despite rapid advances in Mars science, many unknowns remain. Scientists still aren’t sure of the precise ages, atmospheric conditions and possible signatures of life associated with each of the different rock types observed on the surface.
For instance, the Perseverance rover recently drilled into and analyzed a unique set of rocks hosting organic – that is, carbon-based – compounds. Organic compounds serve as the building blocks of life, but more detailed analysis is required to determine whether these specific rocks once hosted microbial life.
The in-development Mars Sample Return mission aims to address these basic outstanding questions by delivering the first-ever unaltered fragments of another world to Earth. The Perseverance rover is already caching rock and soil samples, including ones hosting organic compounds, in sealed tubes. A future lander will then need to pick up and launch the caches back to Earth.
Sampling Mars rocks could tell scientists more about the red planet’s past, and whether it could have hosted life.
Once home, researchers can examine these materials with instruments orders of magnitude more sensitive than anything that could be flown on a spacecraft. Scientists stand to learn far more about the habitability, geologic history and presence of any signs of life on Mars through the sample return campaign than by sending humans to the surface.
This perspective is why NASA, the European Space Agency and others have invested some US$30 billion in robotic Mars exploration since the 1960s. The payoff has been staggering: That work has triggered rapid technological advances in robotics, telecommunications and materials science. For example, Mars mission technology has led to better sutures for heart surgery and cars that can drive themselves.
It has also bolstered the status of NASA and the U.S. as bastions of modern exploration and technology; and it has inspired millions of students to take an interest in scientific fields.
Calling the red planet home?
Colonizing Mars has a seductive appeal. It’s hard not to cheer for the indomitable human spirit while watching Watney battle dust storms, oxygen shortages and food scarcity over 140 million miles from rescue.
Much of the momentum toward colonizing Mars is now tied to SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk, whose stated mission to make humanity a “multi-planetary species” has become a sort of rallying cry. But while Mars colonization is romantic on paper, it is extremely difficult to actually carry out, and many critics have questioned the viability of a Mars habitation as a refuge far from Earth.
Now, with NASA potentially facing a nearly 50% reduction to its science budget, the U.S. risks dissolving its planetary science and robotic operations portfolio altogether, including sample return.
Nonetheless, President Donald Trump and Musk have pushed for human space exploration to somehow continue to progress, despite those proposed cuts – effectively sidelining the robotic, science-driven programs that have underpinned all of Mars exploration to date.
Yet, it is these programs that have yielded humanity’s richest insights into the red planet and given both scientists and storytellers like Andy Weir the foundation to imagine what it must be like to stand on Mars’ surface at all.
Ari Koeppel, Postdoctoral Scientist in Earth and Planetary Science, Dartmouth College
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ooOOoo
Nothing to add from yours truly except to say that this quote is highly relevant: “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
(And this was the result of me looking online for quotes and coming across 50 quotes from USA Today.)
Yellowstone National Park
An amazing National Park!
Alex, my son, and his partner, Lisa, are coming to see us later today. They arrived in Portland on Sunday, 11th but first of all wanted to see Yellowstone.
Here is an extract from Wikipedia about the Park.
Yellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the US, and is also widely understood to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
Here is a YouTube video of the Park:
Improving equality
An extremely powerful new essay from George Monbiot.
While this post from G. Monbiot is about politics, I think it goes far beyond that. Hence my reason for republishing this essay, with George Monbiot’s permission. When I will die is not known but surely I will in the next ten years or so. I really want to leave this world seeing everything improving, from the lessening of the change in our climate, to a reduction in world fighting, to a greater equality for all.
Please, please be wrong, Mr. Monbiot.
ooOOoo
The Urge to Destroy
Posted on14th April 2025
It’s a cast-iron relationship: the more unequal a society becomes, the better the far right does. Here’s why.
By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 13th April 2025
“He’s really gone and done it this time. Now everyone can see what a disaster he is.” How many times have we heard this about Donald Trump? And how many times has it been proved wrong? Well, maybe this time he really has overstepped. After all, his clowning around with tariffs, sparking trade wars, then suddenly reversing his position, could provoke a global recession, perhaps even a depression. Surely his supporters will disown him? But I’m not banking on it, and this is why.
Already, Trump has waged war on everything that builds prosperity and wellbeing: democracy, healthy ecosystems, education, healthcare, science, the arts. Yet, amid the wreckage, and despite some slippage, his approval ratings still hold between 43 and 48%: far higher than those of many other leaders. Why? I believe part of the answer lies in a fundamental aspect of our humanity: the urge to destroy that from which you feel excluded.
This urge, I think, is crucial to understanding politics. Yet hardly anyone seems to recognise it. Hardly anyone, that is, except the far right, who see it all too well.
In many parts of the world, and the US in particular, inequality has risen sharply since the late 1970s. (The UK tracks this trend.) The world’s billionaires became $2tn richer last year, while the number of people living below the global poverty line is more or less unchanged since 1990.
There is strong evidence of a causal association between growing inequality and the rise of populist authoritarian movements. A paper in the Journal of European Public Policy found that a one-unit rise in the Gini coefficient (a standard measure of inequality) increases support for demagogues by 1%.
Why might this be? There are various, related explanations: feelings of marginalisation, status anxiety and social threat, insecurity triggering an authoritarian reflex and a loss of trust in other social groups. At the root of some of these explanations, I feel, is something deeply embedded in the human psyche: if you can’t get even, get mean.
In the US, a high proportion of the population is excluded from many of the benefits I’ve listed. Science might lead to medical breakthroughs, but not, perhaps, for people who can’t afford health insurance. A university education might open doors, but only if you’re prepared to carry tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Art and theatre and music improve our lives: good for those who can buy the tickets. So do national parks, but only if you can afford to visit them.
Democracy, we are told, allows people a voice in politics. But only, it seems, if they have a few million to give to a political party. As the political scientist Prof Martin Gilens notes in his book Affluence and Influence: “Under most circumstances, the preferences of the vast majority of Americans appear to have essentially no impact on which policies the government does or doesn’t adopt.” GDP growth was strong under Joe Biden, but as the economics professor Jason Furman points out: “From 2019 to 2023, inflation-adjusted household income fell, and the poverty rate rose.” GDP and social improvement are no longer connected.
All those good things? Sorry, they’re not for you. If you feel an urge to tear it all down, to burn the whole stinking, hypocritical, exclusive system to the ground, Trump is your man. Or so he claims. In reality his entire performance is both a distraction from and an accelerant of spiralling inequality. He can hardly lose: the more he exacerbates inequality, the more he triggers an urge for revenge against his scapegoats: immigrants, trans people, scientists, teachers, China.
But such killer clowns can’t pull this off by themselves. Their most effective recruiters are centrist parties paralysed in the face of economic power. In hock to rich funders, terrified of the billionaire media, for decades they have been unable even to name the problem, let alone address it. Hence the spectacular uselessness of the Democrats’ response to Trump. As the US journalist Hamilton Nolan remarks: “One party is out to kill, and the other is waiting for its leaders to die.”
In the UK, Labour, like the Democrats, has long assured itself that it doesn’t matter how wide economic disparities are, as long as the poorest are raised up. Now it has abandoned even that caveat: we can cut benefits, so long as GDP grows. But it does matter. It matters very much. A vast array of evidence, brought together in 2009 in The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett and updated in 2024, shows that inequality exerts a massive influence on social, economic, environmental and political outcomes, regardless of people’s absolute positions.
If there is a such a thing as Starmerism, it collapses in the face of a paper published by the political scientists Leonardo Baccini and Thomas Sattler last year, which finds that austerity increases support for the radical right in economically vulnerable regions. (My emboldening. PH) Austerity, they found, is the key variable: without it, less-educated people are no more likely to vote for rightwing demagogues than highly educated people are. In other words, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are busily handing their core constituencies to Nigel Farage.
Of course, they deny they’re imposing austerity, using a technical definition that means nothing to those on the sharp end. Austerity is what the poor experience, while they must watch the rich and upper middle classes, under a Labour government, enjoy ever greater abundance.
Starmer and his minions suggest there’s nothing they can do: wealthy people are already taxed to the max. As private jets and helicopters cross the skies, anyone can see this is nonsense. Of all the remarkable things I stumbled across while researching this column, the following is perhaps the most jaw-dropping. On the most recent (2022) figures, once benefits have been paid, the Gini coefficient for gross income in the UK scarcely differs from the Gini coefficient for post-tax income. In other words, the gap between the rich and the poor is rougly the same after taxes are levied, suggesting that taxation has no further significant effect on income distribution. How could this possibly be true, when the rich pay higher rates of income tax? It’s because the poor surrender a much higher proportion of their income in sales taxes, such as VAT. So much for no further options. So much for Labour “realism”.
The one thing that can stop the rise of the far right is the one thing mainstream parties are currently not prepared to deliver: greater equality. The rich should be taxed more, and the revenue used to improve the lives of the poor. However frantically centrist parties avoid the issue, there is no other way.
ooOOoo
George writes about Britain but my judgement is that this issue is not limited to that country; I suspect it is a far wider problem. Did you know that Finland is the world’s happiest country?
An extract of that article: “Finland has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the eighth successive year, with experts citing access to nature and a strong welfare system as factors.
It came ahead of three other Nordic countries in this year’s UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, while Latin America’s Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time.
Both the UK and the US slipped down the list to 23rd and 24th respectively – the lowest-ever position for the latter.”
Crater Lake
Two shots of this beautiful lake.
I was going through some files yesterday and found many photographs taken by me.
oooo
These were taken in 2018 which was when my son, Alex, and his partner, Lisa, came over to see us.
Here is the opening part of Wikipedia writing about Crater Lake:
Crater Lake (Klamath: Giiwas)[2] is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the Western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a 2,148-foot-deep (655 m) caldera[3] that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago[4] by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. No rivers flow into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 150 years.[5] With a depth of 1,949 feet (594 m),[6] the lake is the deepest in the United States. In the world, it ranks eleventh for maximum depth, as well as fifth for mean depth.
The rest of that Wikipedia article is here.
My dear friend, Richard.
Richard’s funeral was last Thursday.
Julie, his partner, sent me the Order of Service, held on the 20th, that I have published on LfD today.
(Click on the link to see the complete Order.)
UPDATE: Here is the service, sent to me on Sunday by Julie.
ooooo
In Loving Memory and to
Celebrate the Life of
Richard Julian Maugham
28th October 1946 – 9th February 2025
————–
Entrance Music –
Theme from Out of Africa (Flying Scene)
By John Barry
——————–
A very warm welcome as we unite in both love and friendship to say, not just goodbye, but more importantly to pay tribute and to celebrate the life of Richard Julian Maugham.
———————-
Richard was a true character, one of a kind, sociable, funny and a wonderful raconteur who led a varied and interesting life which we will hear more about shortly but even then, we will barely scratch the surface of all he was, but I hope when you leave here this afternoon that you will do so with a real sense of having shared in something special, for a friendly, popular and unique individual.
——————-
Reflection Music
We start today by playing a song from one of Richard’s favourite bands The Eagle’s, please sit back, listen and enjoy – ‘It’s Your World Now’
——————
Eulogy
The word Eulogy refers to a tribute of somebody’s life and it’s a pleasure for me share these words on behalf of Richard’s family and friends.
Richard was welcomed into this world on 28th October 1946 to parents Phylis and Lesley, born in Chiswick he would join his elder sister Vivienne who aged 4 was quizzed if she would prefer a brother or sister, prompting her response ‘I don’t really mind as long as it’s NOT a boy!’
But fortunately, it didn’t matter as Richard and Vivienne forged a wonderful relationship over the years and although not spending a lot of time together early on, Vivienne has such fond memories of cycling together with a picnic to the local swimming pool and also their cycle trips out with their dad too, Vivienne still recalls seeing Richard with his legs pedalling rapidly as he sped across the ground on the popular child’s bike of that era nicknamed the ‘fairycycle’.
They both appreciated their safe and secure upbringing enjoying quiet Christmas’s together with a few close relatives and even when their paths took them in different directions, they remained good friends with a great rapport and comfortable in each other’s company. Richard was always very fond of his sister but also couldn’t wait for her to get married and leave home so he could inherit her bedroom however after waiting patiently for this happen his plan was scuppered when his grandma moved in instead! This gave Vivienne a little chuckle at the time having been pestered constantly to tie the knot.
Growing up in Twickenham, Richard passed his eleven plus with ease and attended the best Boy’s Grammer School in the area which would certainly hold him in good stead throughout his career, Richard was sharp as a knife, a confident lad and already showing signs of having the gift of the gab plus a real knack of making friends, with some of you here today as his lifelong friends for over 65 years namely Ken and Robin who formed part of the group known as the Young Pretenders, all meeting annually in the summer for the past 30 years and to Richard this was a very important and a valued friendship group that he held with a great deal of affection.
Richard’s career path would typify his character a hard worker, charming, good with people and a fantastic communicator but the ideal person equipped to give us the best insight into Richard’s background is one of his best friends Tony, who shared these wonderful memories with me about the various sides to Richard having meet him in 1968 when working together in the Olivetti Sales and Management Training Centre in Haslemere. Tony was there to replace Richard or Dick as he was known then and to create a smooth transition within the workplace. But little did anyone know just what an impact this would have on the 2 of them and their future as friends, Tony for the first 3 months or so watched his every move, listened to his advice and even copied his jokes especially as they both shared the same sense of humour! Tony mused that Richard was your true dapper gentlemen, always extremely smartly dressed and often took on the role as Tony’s personal shopper, costing Tony a fortune in the process but it ensured he looked the part too, ready for their many nights out in Guildford or Haslemere and needless to say with that gift of the gab again, his looks and witty personality they had some memorable and extremely fun times through the years, Tony even recalls the time they attended the Cannes Film Festival, staying in a slightly sleazy apartment they nevertheless donned their best evening suits and walked the red carpet, a treasured memory.
This chance meeting at Olivetti really was the start of something very special, even when Richard went off to become a manager in Croydon and his career took him on a different pathway via some office supplies companies, a spell in Oman in the Middle East which certainly left an impression on him and onto roles in the car industry with Audi and VW as part of the Inchcape Group, Tony will forever remember the fond memories of their shared flats, shared holidays, shared clothing and a shared love of being just little rascals when together, so as you can imagine Tony was beyond proud when Richard asked him to be his Best Man when he married Jane in 1986, returning the compliment when Tony married as well some years later.
But Tony wasn’t the only lifelong friend that Richard would make during his salesmen years, for in 1982, whilst both selling the Commodore ‘PET’, he would encounter a fellow salesman, Paul, meeting in the Petjet, the private small jet owned by Jack Tramiel, the CEO of Commodore, they hit it off immediately while travelling to the Hannover International Fair.
Richard and Paul took the pilots out for dinner that evening which inspired Paul to start gliding and later power flying, Richard flew on many occasions with Paul, as both being members of a private aircraft club, they would often hire a plane to fly to Jersey or Scotland but one memorable flight was their trip to visit Tony, who had recently relocated to South West France, flying to Bergerac airport they stayed a few nights enjoying Tony’s hospitality before flying back home.
Richard by now had also developed a passion for all things aeronautical, often visiting air shows in later years and was visibly moved to tears whilst witnessing a Spitfire fly past when attending a Remembrance celebration at Seagry near Chippenham, a very special moment for him.
Paul’s friendship with Richard would continue to grow, living in Oregon now, he still recalls that meeting Richard in the way he did gave him a gift that he has treasured forevermore and a cherished relationship that also included meeting The Prince of Wales, this whilst both volunteering for the Prince’s Trust Charity where they helped many young people start their own businesses, one in particular being a gardening venture which Richard being the type of generous person he was duly employed the appreciative couple to work on his own garden, cementing Richard’s thoughtful and helpful approach to others.
Working until he was 77 years old, Richard will always be known as a hard worker, a great salesman, a fantastic speaker and presenter who was highly thought off across all his companies he graced but it was never all work and no play for Richard, helped by being a self-confessed petrol head, not only from working in the trade but also from the pure joy he experienced in his leisure pastimes with his passion for cars, watching the Monaco Grand Prix with a friend in the 70’s to his own Ferrari and Formula 3 Race Track Driving Experiences that he absolutely adored were just 2 of his highlights, as well as owning a MGB and Porsche that he loved.
Approaching his 60’s, Richard would also find love again, introduced by a friend, he met a lovely lady, Julie who subsequently relocated to Wiltshire to be with Richard. They would also go on to purchase a property in South West France to renovate, named Mason DeFrere which was once part of a Friary, used by the monks to study and pray whilst it was also located not far from his friend Tony and his wife Caroline, travelling regularly to France they enjoyed many good times, strolling around the markets and spending quality time as a foursome together.
Richard and Julie also enjoyed a shared love of music, at times Richard could be moved to tears demonstrating a real sensitive side to him not often seen but he could lose himself to the tunes of The Eagles or Hollies and seeing live music from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Tony Bennett, Simply Red and Billy Joel are particular fond memories for Julie.
Julie appreciated Richard’s sharp wit which was often fuelled by his love of the radio programme recently chaired by Jack Dee called ‘I’m sorry I haven’t a clue’, he would cry with laughter and often use the one liners himself to entertain his friends, he was an out and out ‘wordsmith’ loving his crosswords and an avid reader of the humorous dictionary ‘Meaning of Liff’ which again would have him in stitches and characterised his sense of humour perfectly.
Richard and Julie relocated to Essex to be closer to her son and grandchildren but Richard’s heart always remained in Wiltshire so a decision was made for him to return and continue to spend time with his friends, he had always professed that his Parkinson diagnosis would not define him but as the time moved on and following a fall, he was very much grateful to his wonderful friends Gillie and Colin who visited every other day and remained by his side as he sadly lost his battle last month.
We have lost a truly respected and loved man who gave so much to so many and lived a full life surrounded by people who cared for him, so we can be comforted in the knowledge that he has left us all with some treasured memories of time spent in his company.
Thank you, Richard
——————–
Reflection Music
How we love by Beth Neilson Chapman
We have shared some lovely memories and I have no doubt you will all have you own personal memories from times spent with Richard, we would now like to give you a little time to reflect on those while we listen to a lovely tune by Beth Neilson Chapman
——————
Poem
I would now like to share a poem chosen by Julie especially for today’s service and dedicated to Richard and his love of aviation –
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air ….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
——————-
Tributes
I would now like to invite Ken and Robin to share their tributes to their special friend while we hear in the background a popular song of Richard’s by The Hollies
——————
Farewell
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love…and then we return home.”
Richard, we have heard the impact that you had on so many people. Your character, humour and individuality that were so much a feature of your life will live on in our memories and create a beautiful legacy of love for your family and friends for much longer than the acute desolation we are feeling here today.
Richard it is with such sadness we say goodbye to you, but we thank you so much for every little gift you have contributed to this life.
But most of all we thank you for your love and for your friendship; your warmth and care, and for your kind and humble heart.
We thank you Richard for everything you were and all that you gave, and may you now forever rest in peace with the certain knowledge that you were, are, and will always be, dearly loved and terribly missed.
Farewell Richard Farewell
——————
“Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.”
——————–
Exit Music
Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow
By Fleetwood Mac
oooo
Now a selection of my photos.
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
The final photograph of Richard and me meeting the then Prince of Wales.
Background to the friendship.
(Previously published on LfD.)
I first met Richard Maugham when we were being treated to a private jet flight to the Hannover International Fair in 1982, some 43 years ago. We were both English and I was living in Tollesbury, Essex, near Colchester and Richard living near Ealing, West London.
The common thread was that all the passengers were major sellers of the Commodore ‘PET’.
Richard and I hit it off straight away. Richard was a fellow salesman. I was ex-IBM Office Products Division and Richard was ex-Olivetti.
Both of us also volunteered for the Prince’s Youth Business Trust, a charity headed by Prince of Wales, as he was then, helping young people start their own business.
My tribute to Richard who will always be missed.
The US decline in butterflies
The natural world is quite remarkable!
This article was published in The Conversation last Thursday, the 6th March, 2025.
Where we live in rural Southern Oregon is glorious and photos of our locale have been published before. However, I wanted to share this article with you all.
ooOOoo
Butterflies declined by 22% in just 2 decades across the US – there are ways you can help save them
Eliza Grames, Binghamton University, State University of New York
If the joy of seeing butterflies seems increasingly rare these days, it isn’t your imagination.
From 2000 to 2020, the number of butterflies fell by 22% across the continental United States. That’s 1 in 5 butterflies lost. The findings are from an analysis just published in the journal Science by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Powell Center Status of Butterflies of the United States Working Group, which I am involved in.
We found declines in just about every region of the continental U.S. and across almost all butterfly species.
Overall, nearly one-third of the 342 butterfly species we were able to study declined by more than half. Twenty-two species fell by more than 90%. Only nine actually increased in numbers.
Some species’ numbers are dropping faster than others. The West Coast lady, a fairly widespread species across the western U.S., dropped by 80% in 20 years. Given everything we know about its biology, it should be doing fine – it has a wide range and feeds on a variety of plants. Yet, its numbers are absolutely tanking across its range.
Why care about butterflies?
Butterflies are beautiful. They inspire people, from art to literature and poetry. They deserve to exist simply for the sake of existing. They are also important for ecosystem function.
Butterflies are pollinators, picking up pollen on their legs and bodies as they feed on nectar from one flower and carrying it to the next. In their caterpillar stage, they also play an important role as herbivores, keeping plant growth in check.
Butterflies can also serve as an indicator species that can warn of threats and trends in other insects. Because humans are fond of butterflies, it’s easy to get volunteers to participate in surveys to count them.
The annual North American Butterfly Association Fourth of July Count is an example and one we used in the analysis. The same kind of nationwide monitoring by amateur naturalists doesn’t exist for less charismatic insects such as walking sticks.
What’s causing butterflies to decline?
Butterfly populations can decline for a number of reasons. Habitat loss, insecticides, rising temperatures and drying landscapes can all harm these fragile insects.
A study published in 2024 found that a change in insecticide use was a major factor in driving butterfly declines in the Midwest over 17 years. The authors, many of whom were also part of the current study, noted that the drop coincided with a shift to using seeds with prophylactic insecticides, rather than only spraying crops after an infestation.
The Southwest saw the greatest drops in butterfly abundance of any region. As that region heats up and dries out, the changing climate may be driving some of the butterfly decline there. Butterflies have a high surface-to-volume ratio – they don’t hold much moisture – so they can easily become desiccated in dry conditions. Drought can also harm the plants that butterflies rely on.
Only the Pacific Northwest didn’t lose butterfly population on average. This trend was largely driven by an irruptive species, meaning one with extremely high abundance in some years – the California tortoiseshell. When this species was excluded from the analyses, trends in the Pacific Northwest were similar to other regions.
When we looked at each species by its historical range, we found something else interesting.
Many species suffered their highest losses at the southern ends of their ranges, while the northern losses generally weren’t as severe. While we could not link drivers to trends directly, the reason for this pattern might involve climate change, or greater exposure to agriculture with insecticides in southern areas, or it may be a combination of many stressors.
There is hope for populations to recover
Some butterfly species can have multiple generations per year, and depending on the environmental conditions, the number of generations can vary between years.
This gives me a bit of hope when it comes to butterfly conservation. Because they have such short generation times, even small conservation steps can make a big difference and we can see populations bounce back.
The Karner blue is an example. It’s a small, endangered butterfly that depends on oak savannas and pine barren ecosystems. These habitats are uncommon and require management, especially prescribed burning, to maintain. With restoration efforts, one Karner blue population in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in New York rebounded from a few hundred individuals in the early 1990s to thousands of butterflies.
Similar management and restoration efforts could help other rare and declining butterflies to recover.
What you can do to help butterflies recover
The magnitude and rate of biodiversity loss in the world right now can make one feel helpless. But while national and international efforts are needed to address the crisis, you can also take small actions that can have quick benefits, starting in your own backyard.
Butterflies love wildflowers, and planting native wildflowers can benefit many butterfly species. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has guides recommending which native species are best to plant in which parts of the country. Letting grass grow can help, even if it’s just a strip of grass and wildflowers a couple of feet wide at the back of the yard.
Supporting policies that benefit conservation can also help. In some states, insects aren’t considered wildlife, so state wildlife agencies have their hands tied when it comes to working on butterfly conservation. But those laws could be changed.
The federal Endangered Species Act can also help. The law mandates that the government maintain habitat for listed species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2024 recommended listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species. With the new study, we now have population trends for more than half of all U.S. butterfly species, including many that likely should be considered for listing.
With so many species needing help, it can be difficult to know where to start. But the new data can help concentrate conservation efforts on those species at the highest risk.
I believe this study should be a wake-up call about the need to better protect butterflies and other insects – “the little things that run the world.”
Eliza Grames, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ooOOoo
Thank you, Eliza, for promoting this article.
If only one person is inspired to make the changes Eliza recommends then republishing this article has been a success.
Why do we love dogs?
A fifteen-minute programme from the BBC.
I recently listened to this episode. It is part of a series on the BBC (Radio 4) that is entitled Why Do We Do That?
Hopefully you can also listen to the programme by using this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027v43
The information about this episode is published below.
Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do we love dogs? Dogs evolved from wolves but why did they choose us humans to be their best friends? They say dogs are a man’s best friend but all dogs, even chihuahuas are descended from wolves, the grey wolf, a majestic, fierce and incredibly dangerous species. How did this happen but more importantly, why did we start trusting wolves? And when did wolves turn into dogs? Dogs have been a part of our story for a long time. They are depicted in cave and rock art and dogs are a part of our story because of how useful they are. From the mundane everyday hunting and guarding to the epic stories of life saving dogs . But how did we get here? Oxford Professor Greger Lawson studies ancient dog DNA and thinks the evolution from wolves into dogs began when we both realised we could help each other.
Enjoy!
Learning from Dogs 
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
