Plenty of Nothing

Charles Darwin

Statue of Charles Darwin in Shrewsbury, where he went to school. Source.

Mathematical Greenock

William Spence, mathematician, was born in Greenock in 1777, and was a confrere of John Galt. He wrote on logarithmic transcendents. Source.

Morton host Hamilton Academical in a match postponed from March 24th due to the Accies' appearance in the Challenge Cup final. Morton are sixth with 44 points, Hamilton ninth with 29.  So far this season these sides are even, with a win, a draw and a loss each. Morton scored five goals on Hamilton on October 8th, but were shut out January 14th.

Morton need 1 point to be completely immune from relegation. Looking upward they are 6 points out of the last promotion playoff spot. They need 8 points to equal their 2016-17 points total. They have not won a game since February 25th.

Hamilton won the Challenge Cup on March 26th. They have now taken that cup three times, which is three more times than Morton.

Hamilton escaped tenth place Saturday. By my count they have spent 17 weeks at the bottom of the division this year. Has any club won the Challenge Cup and then been relegated at the end of that season? Yes, Ross County in 2006-07. Old Airdrieonians topped that when they won the 2001-02 cup and then went out of business.

This is a Plenty of Nothing Consolation Cup Round One match.

[Morton win 2 - 0. Goals by Gillespie and King.]

Other rearranged fixtures:

Dundee (1st) [3 - 1] Raith Rovers (7th)

Inverness CT (5th) [2 - 0] Arbroath (8th)

2023 Concacaf Champions League, QF, second leg:

Los Angeles FC [3 - 0] Vancouver Whitecaps

[Whitecaps are out.]

Auchinleck Talbot's cup games 2022-23:

2022/8/27      Auchinleck Talbot 7 - 0 Coldstream    SCup PR

2022/9/10      Auchinleck Talbot 5 - 0 Craigmark Burtonians    SChCup R2

2022/9/16      Syngenta 2 - 4 Auchinleck Talbot    SCup R1

2022/9/24      Rossvale 2 - 4 Auchinleck Talbot    SJCup R2

2022/10/22    Bo'ness United 1 - 1 Auchinleck Talbot (Talbot won on PK)    SCup R2

2022/10/29    Auchinleck Talbot 3 - 1 Darvel    SJCup R3

2022/11/12    Auchinleck Talbot 4 - 1 Muirkirk Juniors    WoSLCup R1

2022/11/19    Auchinleck Talbot 3 - 0 Neilston    SChCup R3

2022/11/26    Raith Rovers 3 - 0 Auchinleck Talbot    SCup R4

2022/12/3      Cumnock Juniors 0 - 0 Auchinleck Talbot (Cumnock won on PK)    SJCup R4

2023/1/7        Auchinleck Talbot 1 - 0 Johnstone Burgh    WoSLCup R2

2023/2/4        Auchinleck Talbot 7 - 0 Broxburn    SChCup R4

2023/2/25      Auchinleck Talbot 0 - 0 Glenafton (Talbot won on PK)    WoSLCup R3

2023/3/4        Auchinleck Talbot 1 - 0 East Kilbride    SChCup R5

2023/3/18      Auchinleck Talbot 3 - 1 Gartcairn    WoSLCup QF

2023/4/1        Caledonian Braves 2 - 1 Auchinleck Talbot    SChCup QF

2023/4/8        Auchinleck Talbot 1 - 1 Kilwinning Rangers  (Talbot won on PK)   WoSLCup SF

2013/4/28      Auchinleck Talbot vs Clydebank    WoSFL final

Due to all these cup games Auchinleck have a dozen league fixtures to fulfil by May 13th.

Seasons of Galston FC:

1891-92    18    12      1      5    47      33    +14    21    3rd, AL

1892-93    22      6      6    10    62      75     -13    18    9th, AL

1893-94    16    11      1      4    74      41    +33    23    3rd, AL

1894-95    10      5      0      5    39      31      +8    10    3rd, AL

1895-96

1896-97    10      3      1      6    24      27       -3      7    6th, AC

1896-97    10      5      2      3    32      21    +11    12    3rd, NACup

1897-98    10      7      0      3    26      25      +1    14    3rd, NACup    won NACup

1898-99    11      9      0      2    51      23    +28    18    2nd, NACup

1899-00    13      5      0      8    34      39       -5    12    5th, NACup

1900-01    10      3      0      7    19      22       -3      6    7th, NACup

1901-02      5      2      1      2    12      11      +1      5    3rd, NACup

1901-02      8      5      1      2    25      11    +14    11    2nd, AL        

1902-03      4?                                                              NAC            won NACup, won ACup

1903-04      5      4      0      1    17        4    +13      8    1st, NACup     won ACup

1903-04      8      7      0      1    21        8    +13    14    1st, AR

1904-05    19      8      1    10    28      29      +1    17    5th, SC

1905-06    20      4      4    12    33      37       -4    12    11th, SC

1906-07    18    10      5      3    51      27    +24    25    1st, SC

1906-07                                                                        NAC            won NACup

1907-08    15    12      0      3    55      14    +41    24    1st, SC        won ACup, won AQCup

1907-08                                                                        NAC

1908-09    17    11      1      5    42      20    +22    23    1st, SC        won AQCup

1908-09      6      2      2      2      5        8       -3      6    3rd, AL

1909-10    17      7      4      6    29      18    +11    18    3rd, SU

1909-10      4      2      0      2      6        5      +1      4    3rd, AL

1910-11    15      8      1      6    28      16    +12    17    4th, SU

1910-11      4      1      0      3      5        9       -4      2    3rd, AL

1911-12

1912-13                                                                                            won ACup, won AQCup

1913-14                                                                                            won ACup

1914-15

1915-16

1916-17

1917-18

1918-19

1919-20    16      8      3      5    33      16    +17    19    8th, WoSL

1920-21    21      8      8      5    36      27      +9    24    3rd, WoSL

1921-22    19      4      2    13    28      41     -13    10    9th, WoSL

1922-23    19      8      6      5    35      22    +13    22    5th, WoSL

1923-24    30    11      3    16    53      70     -17    25    13th, SFL3

1924-25    30    10      6    14    39      70     -31    26    11th, SFL3        won ACup, won AQCup

1925-26    15      4      4      7    38      46       -8    12    16th, SFL3

1926-27

1927-28

1928-29    (West of Scotland Amateur Football League)

1929-30

1930-31

1931-32

1932-33    26      7      2    17    48      76     -28    16    12th, SA

1932-33    11      5      2      4    28      25      +3    12     3rd, SAS West

1933-34    33      9      4    20    60    133     -73    22    15th, SA

1934-35    29    13      6    10    64      74     -10    32     6th, SA

1935-36    30      7      3    20    47    109     -62    17    16th, SA

1936-37    33      7      4    22    61    145     -84    18    18th, SA

1937-38    38      8      8    22    58    109     -51    24    18th, SA

1938-39

1939-40

AC = Ayrshire Combination; ACup = Ayrshire Cup; AL = Ayrshire League; AQCup = Ayrshire Qualifying Cup; AR = Ayrshire - Renfrewshire League; NACup = North Ayrshire Cup; SA = Scottish Alliance; SAS West = Scottish Alliance Shield, western group; SC = Scottish Combination; SFL3 = Scottish Football League Third Division; SU = Scottish Union; WoSL = West of Scotland League

(Source: SFHA)

Albert Einstein in Glasgow

Albert Einstein received an honourary degree from the University of Glasgow on this date in 1933. Source.

Androides, c. 1800

This is a handbill for an exhibition of automatons put on in London about the year 1800. Go here for a voomable version.

Giants of Biomedical Sciences

These ten heads belong to Banting, Best, Bigelow, Connell, Menten, Mustard, Peters, Salter, Siminovitch, and Tsui, not necssarily in that order, all giants of biomedical sciences. Source.

On the Equilibrium of Elastic Solids

Statue of James Clerk Maxwell, electrical engineer, and his wee dug, on George Street, Edinburgh.

It's the semi-finals of the League Cup. Today: Hibs [2 - 1] St Johnstone. Tomorrow: Ross County [3 - 1] Celtic. Celtic have won the cup 15 times, Hibs 3, St Johnstone and Ross County 0. Hibs and St Johnstone last met in league play in 2013-14, when they were both in the Premiership. They played to a win, a lose, and a draw. Celtic and Ross County have played twice so far this season, Celtic winning both times. Ross County and Celtic are the only clubs left with a shot at the Scottish treble. [No treble for Celtic.]

Owing to Hibernian's cup commitment, Morton's regularly scheduled league match against them is postponed. [But elsewhere Rangers beat Falkirk and St Mirren beat Alloa, meaning that Rangers evade automatic relegation, and Alloa cannot win the Championship.]

The SPFL or Cove Rangers -- Which Is Greater? SPFL clubs have played a total of 18 games against Cove Rangers of the Highland League, and have taken 13 wins, against 4 wins for Cove Rangers, and one draw. The SPFL is greater. Clubs beaten by Cove Rangers: Cowdenbeath, Peterhead, Annan, and Montrose.

Bottom-place teams of the SPFL:

East Stirlingshire (L2) -- 19 pts

Brechin City (L1) -- 16 pts

Dundee United (Pr) -- 13 pts

Alloa Athletic (Ch) -- 11 pts

Each of these clubs is worrying about relegation, but East Stirlingshire face a day of reckoning. The pyramid playoffs were introduced more or less to drop East Stirlingshire into the Lowland League. League Two is very tight though, and the Shire have time to climb the table. Plus, if they end up facing Brora Rangers, Brora may throw the game.

Wednesday was the first preliminary round of the 2016 AFC Champions League, so summer is now officially on. There was only one match in this round: Mohun Bagan of the Hero I-League 3 - 1 Tampines Rovers of Singapore's S-League.

Yoker versus Largs Thistle [is postponed.]

Difference Engine

Charles Babbage's Difference Engine was never built in his century, but two of them have been constructed in recent years and are housed at the Science Museum in London and the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. They're hand cranked! (Via Laughing Squid.)

Fossil Buttercup

Science.

Albert Street Fossil

This rare fossil of an armour-plated worm was dug out of an Albert Street construction site in 1997, discovered among the rubble at a dump-site in Nepean, and just recently identified as a plumulitid machaeridian, a relative of modern leeches and earthworms that existed between 480 and 250 million years ago. But where is James Sherwood, the guy who found it?

Tesla!

It's Nikola Tesla's 153rd birthday.  In that century and a half he has gone from genius to kook to genius again. Electrical engineers are just beginning to get their heads around his concept of wireless energy transmission.  The upshot being that you may soon be able to power your laptop without plugging it in. He is presently thought of so highly by the corporate world that Google has posted this special birthday logo today, and a car company has taken his name.  

And of course there's Beaton's comic.  Tesla!