Small world, technology

TL;DR -- Again, the holiday issue in 2025 of The Economist has an article that is apropos to our research. This one has a focus on "El Segundo" which is a town known to us for several reasons. Anyone going into or out of LAX flies over the town. It was a technology town for WWII and before and somewhat after. For a time, it was derelict until efforts at the real side of technology came to town with a new motto: Bits to atoms. Or is it atoms to bits? In any case, we'll feature the location regularly for a while as we take the focus from that Valley up north which is so famous. 

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This is the fourth series.  So far, we have looked at science, literature, and economics. Two of these were motivated by the holiday issue of The Economist this year. This post picks up the thread of technology which has been our focus for a while which became more visible with the release of GenAI/LLM (or AI/ML) three years ago. So, we will pause the usual focus and move the looking glass at culture and technology which is imperative. 

Motivated, again, by this article: America’s fight back against China starts in Los Angeles—in flip-flops to be found in The Economist. 

El Segundo? Of California? Los Angeles area? Near LAX? Gosh, it's about time that we mention the place. As we have had lots of posts on DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles) where we find a neighborhood with the name of Bunker Hill West where the U.S. and its 250th have a long history. And, it is technology focus that got our interest shifted. 

Though, it could have been the SoCal beach culture that was the focus. We are talking about a place that is north of the more known beaches (say, those mentioned in song by the Beach Boys, Redondo Beach). Too, it's north of Long Beach. But south of the LaLa land up north starting with Venice up to Malibu. Lots of history to cover.  

The new kids on the block have an adage that is important to our discussion of technology: Bits to atoms. This is interesting as a good meaning deals with grounding the work of making digital twins with something real, in the world. Turning the concept around, atoms-to-bits is interesting too in the sense of how to come of with the digital twin (MRI, CT_Scan, ...) and knowing the essential differences that ensue in order to not get lost (which seems, many times, to be of concern with the present situations with AI/ML). 

Example: MRI

In other words, physics and mathematics come to fore and get attention. 

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Both of us have family history in the area, going back to before WWI. The technology focus will include firms in the El Segundo/Hawthorne area. Some say that the area is blue collar. The major industry were oil (Chevron) and aerospace (Douglas), and computers (Silicon Beach). As said, LAX is right there. But, Defense work was a prime contributor, too, over the years. 

In terms of culture, Hawthorne is named for cousin, Nathaniel, who is also important to New England's reach. That will be a topic of a future post. Prior to WWI, the area was agricultural. By the time of WWII, the technology focus grew abound. And, looking at such ought to give us pause with respect to recent manias, but that's an old topic still under discussion with respect to the future focus that we ought to take. 

Finally, stepping back to the time of New Spain and Mexico, this land was part of Rancho Sausal Redondo. Formed earlier by the new Mexican government, it was granted to the Avila family in 1837. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/17/2026

01/17/2026 -- Brought in the comment from WikiTree. Also, here is a record from the Pacific Coast Architecture Database on Rancho Sausal Redondo, Los Angeles County, CA (1837). 

Small world, economics

TL;DR -- For the 250th and the 400th, we are doing "small world" posts which will look at events on both sides of the English pond. Adam Smith, of Scotland, is almost as popular as Karl Marx. Smith was born 250 years ago and is considered the saint of a market economy; though, he wrote on ethics and morals, as well. The 2025 holiday issue of The Economist featured him in one of their articles.

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This is the third series. So far, we have looked at science and literature. This post picks up the thread of economics. This time, again, the holiday issue of The Economist of 2025 is the source. Here is a quote from an article on Adam Smith: 

Marx inspired socialist revolutions across the world; Smith inspired liberal ones, including the turn to free-market economics in America and Britain in the 1980s.

A famous metaphor is attributed to Smith, namely the "invisible hand", which has been used to describe market activity on the one hand and to depict "Divine Providence" on the other. The latter usage was prior to the former. 

... draft until this line disappears ... 

Remarks: Modified: 01/17/2026

01/17/2026 --

Small world, literature

TL;DR -- The Economist does a double issue each year right before the Holidays. This year, one of the extra articles dealt with Jane Austen. We saw that her birth was 250 years ago in December. We want to pay attention to the Old Country and thought to do it various ways. This is an example of one method. 

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The U.S. has a 250th this year which really started in the spring of last year with the Lexington/Concord conflict. We have posted on that theme for a few years. Now, we are approaching date of the Declaration of Independence and started a series, in the last post, based upon events in people's lives. We want to continue that theme. 

The Economist's Holiday double-issue had a piece on Jane Austen who was borrn in 1775. The article looked at her publications and compared the economic realities of her characters with a chart depicting a fictional annual income: How Jane Austen revealed the economic basis of society. Never having read anything of Jane, the article reminded me of the ties that were across the water which were somewhat severed by the split that followed the Revolution. That points to possible stories about families and histories of locations of interest to the New England colony. 

Too, I am reading (again, as I first went through the novel years ago) Irving Stone's "Those who love" which is a novel about Abigail and John Adams. Abigail was of Quincy heritage; we will look at her later. John was cousin of Samuel (of the beer) and a farm kid who got into Harvard. Later, he became a lawyer. And, we know him also as the 2nd President of the U.S. Stone's handling of characters and conversations does very well in protraying the times and ordeals experienced by those there. 

Ignoring that until later, we have had several posts on generations. For instance, we wrote earlier that the 5th generation did the Revolution with leadership being provided by the 4th. John and Abigail were of the 5th. And, their son, John Quincy Adams, is, like Jane, a member of the 6th generation. So, we can pay attention to this generation's existence over the beginning and early years of the U.S. 

By the way, the 8th generation was the core of the U.S. Civil War. We mention this as there are threads from the beginning (the 400th) by the entries during the colonial period to the major, internal conflict. 

Getting back to the 250th, the internet/web will allow publication of information from families and other sources that were never pulled together into something cohesive. Of course, technology now will be more of a hindrance and asset for several reasons. But, provenance as a keything will help and will definitely be necessary. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/10/2026

01/10/2026 --

 

Small world, science

TL;DR -- The U.S. is at its 250ths in 2026 with the festivities and lookbacks starting in 2025. That was the time of the Declaration of Independence. The conflicts started the prior year and continued until 1783 giving us now several years to use to study specifics. While, we might add, dancing around the mischief to be expected from wide-spread use of this AI/ML thingee. And also, looking at going-ons in France related to Independence and science. 

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We have been posting on the 250th for a few years with lots happening in 2025: Gardner's Beacon, Vol XV, No 2. This year, we see the thing that brings fireworks. What was that? Well, as we go along, we will pull forward associations with history and genealogy plus ties to science. 

We will introduce Rev. John Wise, inspiration for The Declaration of Independence. At the same time, we need to remind everyone of the extent of the conflicts. We will be addressing that mostly in the context of General Nathanael Greene and his Southern Campaign. 

All along, we have mentioned the 400ths and stressed the three major cultures: Spain; France; and the English. The first and last have been covered a lot. With the events of the 250th being followed by similar activity in France, we will be more regular in bringing in that cultural influence. 

Again, all of our activity will be influenced by history, genealogy (implying family, extended family, regions, and more), and science (starting with computational aspects which are now at the core of information and knowledge). 

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One thing that we can do is bring into focus the U.S. contributions over the years. Let's take thermodynamics which is a core subject, too. We have addressed several persons: Count Rumford; and Josiah Willard Gibbs. Both are kin. The former, as a Loyalist, made his name in Europe where he went when things got hot here. But, he sent back money to Harvard. We will look at that further. The latter is a descendant of Thomas Gardner and is known for his mathematical contributions. We will mention him more.

For example, there is someone to know: Lazare Carnot. He was a French Army officer with a cool head. In the heat of their revolution, he was there and influential: French Directory. This topic will be of interest later. Now, let's look at his son: Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot. His work in thermodynamics was only recognized posthumously. In this sense, he is like Galois who was  misunderstood during his time. Carnot probably needs more credit than we have seen; that is one of our goals - namely, research and report on this. 

In another venue, we are setting up a series of articles that will tie all of these notions together as we can use the time of the U.S. Revolution as the control and basis. Say, a classical view of substance. Then, we will come forward to the time of those in the boom era of Levi-Civita and Planck. Oh yes, do we need to mention Einstein? 

Too, we will bring in New Spain and the other major contributors to what became the U.S. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/10/2026

01/10/2026 --  Reminder: Jane Austen was born 250 years ago. Same generation as John Quincy Adams. 

 

Themes that persist

TL;DR -- The past few years have seen lots of changes. These will be handled in a more categorical manner with respect to our mission and the research that supports such. 

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In late 2024, we posted a summary of the situation: Restart, somewhat. One theme dealt with the 2023 impact of GenAI/LLM. Another dealt with research that found that Thomas and Margaret had the marjority of their children in Sherborne. After some analysis, the WikiTree profile for Thomas Gardner (Cape Ann, Salem) was split into two: Thomas (Cape Ann); Thomas (Salem). We know little of the first one. The second one is the progenitor of the Gardners who were the original focus of the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. We have expanded to cover Essex County, Massachusetts, New England and in some contexts, All things Gardner, with respect to the 400 years of the culture that celebrates its 250th this year. 

So, some reorganization of information will be forthcoming. On the other hand, there will be a broader scope which is expected to emerge in 2026, at least from a cursory sense. In any case, we will be paying more attention to Origins than we had before.

Also, the post "Renovation, plus" gives some perspective of the mix of themes and how they interrelate.  

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Update on 17 Jan 2026. See Sherborne.html. 

After the above was written, we went to review the past three years. In doing so, we took a closer look at the records of the births. It turns out that there is sufficient time for Thomas to have come over in the timeframe described by Dr. Frank. 

There are two years and
seven months between
the births of John and Samuel

At the WikiTree profile of Thomas, we left this comment and will be researching this further. Needless to say, we do not agree with the two-Thomas view. That is, the arguments given three years ago go too far given the less-than-stellar strength of the data from the records. 

This is the comment at WikiTree:

If we look at the births, John appeared in Dec of 1624. Samuel (our guy) was born Jul of 1627.

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In 2023, I got involved with the advent of GenAI/LLM on the scene for a bit which was distracting. But, I am back on this. Old notes, to be updated.

                      https://tgsoc.org/tech/2023/04/02/research-notes/

The following is preliminary (and conjecture, of course - based upon the short list of what we actually know), but the potential is what we are looking at, for the moment.

Given the lore, the 1624 crew would have left in the spring. The couple may not have known that she was in circumstances at that time. Too, there are ample references to a Thomas Gardner being here for a year or so.

Later, Thomas and Margaret slipped right into Salem when he came back. Their kids married kids of Conant and such.

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Thomas could have come with Margaret and the oldest boys. John may have been born here, and the Sherborne records updated when they returned. From the research of the Paine family. 

So, we have two scenarios: Thomas alone; Thomas and Margaret with the boys. The second makes sense in terms of what was written, WikiTree's response notwithstanding. The first one would require more research with respect to who took care of Margaret while Thomas was gone. 

Myself, I prefer the second and intend to argue that the Thomas Gardner Society will follow that line unless we find something that is more clear about another alternative. Too, we will update now all of the records (which is less of a job given the obvious likelihood changes with a closer look).  

Paine family's research

Remarks: Modified: 01/17/2026

01/17/2026 -- Brought in an image snip from the Sherborne records. Also, pointed to the Paine record.