On The Fly

This episode is  for anyone trying to find their footing in a new place—whether it’s a new city, a new job, or a new country. The light in Florence, Italy, has a way of making everything feel like a Renaissance painting—the golden hue on the stone, the steady rhythm of the Arno River, and the feeling that you are walking through a history much larger than yourself. I was there to give a presentation to a class of Gemology students (April 2008). I was prepared to discuss color grading and refractive indices, but not to be outed as a language tutor . Feeling very much like a guest in a storied land, a hand shot up enthusiastically. "You’re the guy on the podcasts," the young woman said, her eyes bright with recognition. "You’re the one teaching us English." I laughed nervously. If you know my flat Midwestern accent, you know the irony here. I am hardly an Oxford professor. But later, as I wandered the cobblestone streets beneath the shadow of the Duomo, the humor fade...

“What about this American, this amateur art collector, a Mr. Leyland, I believe, who contacted Monsieur Rossi? Should we not contact him as well?” was my question to Peridot as we left the outdoor cafe, headed for our rendezvous.  “My hunch is,” said Peridot, “tonight's dinner will enlighten our situation enormously.” I simply could not imagine how crystal clear all the events that brought us to Florence would soon become. With the Arno River on our left, our early evening stroll took us past the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. We then turned north and followed the narrow cobblestones to a central roundabout with the Column of Justice ( La statue de la justice ) in its center. As our destination approached, I caught Peridot's glance. He appeared to recognize a man sitting at a small table, just outside the cafe, curiously looking at his phone. Peridot walked directly over to the man, cleared his throat to get his attention, and held out his hand. “Well, Mr. Davies, how have you been. ...

We were still working on our lead in Florence, pursuing that elusive Ceylon Sapphire taken from the Paris boutique. However, Peridot wanted some time away from the case. He always reminded me that the science of deduction includes time to allow the subconscious to process the facts. It was no accident we would visit the famous telescope; Peridot's agenda for our trip was becoming quite clear. Florence was a treasure trove of history just waiting to be explored. "This telescope, my boy, is over 400 years old," said my friend Alister Peridot. We stood over a glass enclosure at the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy. "It is the very instrument that Galileo Galilei used to discover the moons of Jupiter. Thus changing the accepted view of the cosmos.” The telescope was about three feet long and consisted of a central tube with separate housings at either end for the objective and the eyepiece. The tube was formed by joining strips of wood. It was covered with brown leat...

"I have a book here," said my friend Alister Peridot as we relaxed by the evening fire, "which I think, Adamas, that we simply must pursue." Peridot paused to take a sip of his wine. We had made our way to Peridot’s study at his Los Angeles home and were seated in the leather chairs in front of the cozy fireplace. "When you say pursue - what exactly do you mean monsieur ?” I asked. “Recently, I have been fascinated by the birth of the Renaissance. Many identify that period with Leonardo da Vinci; however, this small book has convinced me that another genius 100 years before da Vinci had already made staggering contributions to mathematics, architecture, and pure reason. Listen  to this." “On August 19, 1418, a competition was announced in Florence, where the city’s magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, had been under construction for more than a century:" " Whoever desires to make any model or design for the vaulting o...