Before talking a bit about the slight differences in today's comic, I want to direct everybody's attention to our brand new feature: Good Reads. I read a bit of history, and for the most part the field is cluttered with self-important academics desperately scraping at the surfaces of their subjects with whatever tool they've stolen from comp lit or sociology that week. However, every once in a while, a really good one comes around that makes history live and breathe again, and it's those books (along with a few that happen to be the only books on the given subject) we present on this new page, complete with smug, knowing, brief reviews.

Now then, Welcome to the first episode of our Frederick Summer Special! For those worried about the fact that Frederick and Anne Boleyn are currently caught in a room of their enemies and Newton is about to get punched to death by his ally, fear not... The Saving of The Scientific Revolution will return in September, but until then we thought it would be amusing to take you back to Frederick's days just after the bestowing of the Chapeau. Each day a new historical guest star, a new bit of heroism collected for future use.

It was hard to pick who to use as the instantiation of Humility. I was sorely tempted to go with Lagrange, but you know what they say about too many mathematicians spoiling the webcomic... so we get Keller instead, who at least talked about humility a lot, and that's very much like actually being humble, right?

- Count Dolby von Luckner

Yes. Please enjoy our Fop Training episodes while I look for a house to live in. The main story and colors will return when I am no longer a vagrant.

But enough about my current hobo status!

Here is an interesting Frederick and Voltaire fact, sent to me by a friend, who found this on the wikipedia entry on rebus:

It is written that when Voltaire was the guest of Frederick the Great at Sanssouci Palace, they exchanged puzzle notes. Frederick sent over a page with two picture blocks on it: two hands below the letter "P", and then the number 100 below a picture of a handsaw, all followed by a question mark. Voltaire replied with: Ga!

Both messages were rebuses in the French language: deux mains sous Pé, cent sous scie? (= demain souper, Sanssouci?, "supper tomorrow, Sanssouci?"); reply: Gé grand, a petit (= j'ai grand appétit!, "I am very hungry!").

--Geoff