the.com/illumination
the moment darkness loses an argument it didn't know it was having
means The act of lighting something up, or the flash of sudden understanding that makes a once-murky idea clear.
from From Latin illuminare, 'to light up, throw light on' — built from in- ('upon') and lumen ('light'), the same lumen that glows in luminous and luminary. It arrived in English through Old French in the late Middle Ages, first carrying its literal sense of physical light, then expanding to the mental kind. The decorated, gold-leafed pictures in medieval manuscripts were called illuminations too — the page itself made to shine.
- medieval art
- hand-painted manuscript pages used real gold leaf
- unit
- measured in lux, named from Latin for light
- the brain
- neurons literally fire faster in brighter rooms
- candlepower
- one candle was once the legal light standard
- double meaning
- both glowing lamps and sudden understanding share the word
the book of kells — irish monastery manuscript, 8th century, 340 pages of ornate decorated letters and biblical text
lindisfarne gospels — english monastery manuscript, early 8th century, 259 pages with intricate celtic knotwork initials