Join the Library of Congress Science Section on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time), for a virtual conversation with author, science communicator and past Kluge Chair in Science and Society, Ainissa Ramirez, about her new children’s picture book, “Spark: Jim West’s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone” (Candlewick Press, 2025).
This post gives a brief description of the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples, which destroyed several nearby cities. It goes on to focus on a four-volume work, one of first comprehensive studies of the site, which includes illustrated plates of sculptures and other artwork. This work also led to increased scholarship of and tourism to the area into the present day.
Washington D.C. has a limited but fascinating history of dinosaurs. The "Capitalsaurus" is a controversial dinosaur, which has been debated over for more than a century. But, why are there so few dinosaurs found in D.C. or on the East Coast generally?
The Library of Congress recently acquired Alessandro Piccolomini's 1566 edition of La Sfera del Mondo and De La Stelle Fisse, often regarded as the first printed star atlas. This work by Alessandro Piccolomini was the first to offer an entry into amateur astronomy for the non-scholar.
In the summer of 1860, three American scientists set out on an epic months-long journey into the Canadian north, where indigenous guides hauled them hundreds of miles up the Saskatchewan River to catch sight of a total solar eclipse.
