Marco Polo, Vaseline & Body Heat

Hello!

If you heard yesterday’s program (January 9) in the Business section I mentioned that Marco Polo died on January 9, 1324. Many people consider him to be the single most influential figure in the globalization of world trade. Before his death, they say that he was asked to retract the “fables” he told in his famous book “Il Milione” (“The Million” or “The Travels of Marco Polo”). Marco Polo responded by saying that he barely told half of what he had actually seen!

Trade. Comercio
To retract. Retractar
Fable. Fábula

Also on this day, in 1837 Robert Augustus Chesebrough was born in London to American parents. He was managing a chemical refining business in Brooklyn, New York when he heard about an oil discovery in Titusville, Pennsylvania. He visited the site and became fascinated by “rod wax.” This substance was a residue that accumulated on the rods of oil pumps and had no practical use. Or did it? Workers there said the stuff could heal cuts and burns. Mr. Chesebrough used himself as a guinea pig, inflicting cuts and burns on his body so he could test the ointment. Sure enough, he had discovered Vaseline! He took the name from the German “wasser” (water) and the Greek “elaion” (olive oil).

Rod. Vástago
Residue. Residuo
To heal. Curar
Guinea pig. Conejillo de Indias
Ointment. Pomada, ungüento
Sure enough. As one might have expected; certainly

In the News segment, I discussed how a Swedish company, Jernhusen AB, is planning to harness body heat generated by thousands of people as they run to catch trains at Stockholm’s main train station. They plan to use this body heat for heating a nearby office building. Somebody came up with this bizarre idea at a meeting last summer. Why not? More than 250,000 people pass through the train station every day. It’s simple: all you need are a few pumps and pipes.

To harness. Aprovechar (energía) (As a noun “harness” is “arnés”)
To come up with. Proponer (idea, solución)
Pump. Bomba (de agua, petróleo). To pump es “bombear”
Pipe. Aquí no quiere decir “pipa”, sino “tubo” o “cañería”

Published by: Drew Crosby