Sunday, July 5, 2020

The Hamiltonian System

A Hamiltonian System is a dynamical system governed by Hamilton's equations. In physics, this dynamic system describes the evolution of a physical system such as a planetary system or an electron in an electromagnetic field.

Now you might ask: Why is Hamiltonian better than Lagrangian? 

Ah! Well, Lagrange Mechanics gives you nice unified equations of motion. Where Hamiltonian mechanics gives nice phase-space unified solutions for the equations of motion. And of course, also gives you the possibility to get an associated operator, and a coordinate-independent symplectic-geometrical interpretation. 

Wait, what?

What does ANY OF THIS have to do with HAMILTON? 

You know, the thing I just watched last night on Disney + from my living room?

While on vacation from performing in his hit Broadway show In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda read a copy of the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. After finishing just a few chapters, Miranda began to envision the life of Hamilton as "a musical" and he researched whether a stage musical of Hamilton's life had already been created. 

Miranda therefore began a project titled The Hamilton Mixtape

The rest as they say - pun intended - is history. 

Hamilton's off-Broadway engagement at The Public Theater was sold out, and when the musical opened on Broadway, it had a multimillion-dollar advance in ticket sales, reportedly taking in $30 million before its official opening. By September 2015, the show was sold out for most of its Broadway engagement. Hamilton set a Broadway box office record for the most money grossed in a single week in New York City in late November 2016, when it grossed $3.3 million for an eight-performance week - the first show to break $3 million in eight performances. 

On February 3, 2020 it was revealed that Walt Disney Studios had purchased the distribution rights for $75 million with an original theatrical release date on October 15, 2021. 

Miranda later announced on May 21, 2020 that in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry and the performing arts, which shut down the Broadway, West End, and touring productions, the film was released early on Disney + on July 3, 2020 in time for Fourth of July weekend. 

Critics say "Hamilton" is a great musical. That kinda goes without saying at this point, but such a well-known property could have been met with a relative "shrug" in its filmed version. As of this blog, Hamilton on Disney + has received a perfect critic score of 100, and 100% "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.  

And BECAUSE of the recent hype of Hamilton, millions of people have signed up for BRAND NEW Disney + accounts for $6.99 a month or $69.99 for a year. 

[ Also: Never bet against The Mouse. ]

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
There is a very good chance that by the time you read this blog, you have seen Hamilton on Disney + since we KNOW that you are on the Internet. And, more and more people will be talking about it on social media. I enjoyed Hamilton in my living room this holiday weekend. I run the NYDLA.org where "DL" has morphed from Distance Learning to DIGITAL Learning to just DIGITAL LIVING

There is no better example of Digital Living than a Broadway Play in your living room. 

We all owe our deepest gratitude to Hamilton - to Sir William Rowan Hamilton. For it weren't for the Irish mathematician and his study of geometrical optics, classical mechanics, adaption of dynamic methods in optical systems, and his theories such as electromagnetism - NONE OF US would be enjoying "the other Hamilton" on Disney + as there would be no Disney + 

And there would be no such thing as the Internet, either. 
There would be no Disney + no Netflix, no Facebook, no Google. 
And most importantly: there would be no Sunday Blog from yours truly. 

Yep. As history shows us: Who Tells Your Story is important. 

But this is also true: it's not always who has the best story, it's who tells your story the best. 

I'm looking at you Disney +


Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805 - 1865)

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story









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