History: Hammurabi's Marriage Law

Mesopotamian Civilization, 3000-1200 B.C.E

In 1790 B.C.E, Hammurabi became the king of Babylonians. To establish unity among his kingdom, Hammurabi created a set of Laws under a single legal system. out of the 282 laws, 49 Dealt with marriage:

* Men were permitted to have two wives but women were only allowed one husband.

* If the wife was childless, her husband could pay her about a pound of gold for a divorce or take a second wife who would rank beneath the first wife.

* If a wife became incapacitated by disease, a husband could marry a second wife but had to support the first wife as long as she lived.

* A man who divorced his wife who had borne him children, had to support her until the children were raised, she then received part of his property so she could marry the man of her heart.

* A woman who ruined her house, neglected her husband and was judicially convicted could be divorced but would be forced to remain with her ex-husband as a servant even if he remarried.

* A woman whose husband left her received a divorce, but a woman who left husband was thrown into the river (and presumably drowned).

From the book, Making Europe Volume 1

Why Nexus?

I don't know why but I kept wondering all day about the "Google's Nexus" name. From the articles I've read, it turns out that the name "may" have came from a 1968 novel called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The author's daughter is actually thinking of suing Google for the name!! (mako sh'3l :p)

"On another note, Why can't Google make their mobile look more fancier ...it's boring"

Article One
Article Two

The Roman Marriage

 735-509 B.C.E

* Girls were permitted to marry at a young age (12+) while men waited until around 30.

* For a marriage to be legally valid, both parties have to be Roman citizens. you would lose your legal rights otherwise.

* The parents of the girl usually provided a dowry.

* The women were expected to be loyal, obedient, modest.and to bear children, as many as they can. Poor women were expected to have at least 10 children because of the high infant mortality.

* Either party in a marriage could obtain a divorce by declaring "I divorce you" 3 times!

* If the husband declared a divorce without a reason, he was required to return the entire dowry but if the wife was guilty of adultery, the husband could keep one-sixth of the dowry.

* After the divorce, the children went to the father and a divorced woman had no right to see them again.

* Children were taught at home. The girls were taught household economy and spinning wool to make the family clothes while the boys were taught law, history and were engaged in physical training to be prepared for the military.

From the book: Making Europe, Volume 1

How did the Romans name their daughters?

Shortly after birth, Roman infants received a first name. The first names of boys came from a standard list of 22 names such as Marcus or Gaius. Female children, on the other hand, were simply identified by sequence numbers. Thus the second daughter of a Marcus Julius would be Julia Secunda.!  (I'll be number 1, cool!!).

From the book: Making Europe Volume 1

Washing Hands Before Surgery: The Story

You may have assumed that washing hands before surgery is the most natural thing to do (I did) but it wasn't. The credit goes to the Austrian physician Ignaz Semmelwies.

In the 1840s, Semmelwies studied maternity clinics in Vienna, he noticed that clinic B had a mortality rate of only 4% while clinic A's rate was 10%. Both clinics were the same but Semmelweis noticed that patients were more likely to die when doctors treated them just after leaving the autopsy room. He found out that mortality rate dropped from 12% to 2% if doctors and nurses at the clinic washed their hands before seeing each patient!

Semmelweis found huge resistance, maybe because he didn't effectively know how to explain his point of view. Doctors didn't see why would they need to wash their hands that many times, they thought it was only a waste of their valuable time. Semmelweis was eventually forced to leave. After a nervous breakdown, he ended up in a mental hospital and died at the age of 47.


I read the story in the book: Super Crunchers By Ian Ayres.
The full story with all the details is available in Wikipedia.