How the U.S. Census Drove Computing Technology
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Read about Herman Hollerith and his contribution to the Census.
Posted in: Business, Census and Statistics, Inventions
Category: Inventions
Happy 150th Anniversary to the Periodic Table
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
This post was written by Science Reference Specialist Nate Smith. This year marks the 150th anniversary of one of the most important breakthroughs in the field of chemistry: the Periodic Table of Elements. While there have been over 700 distinct iterations of the table (Scerri, 20), the first tables that explicitly showed periodicity were created …
Posted in: Chemistry, History of Science and Technology, Inventions, Science
Not “Frozen”: Researching the Frozen Dinner Industry
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
This post was written by our new reference librarian in Business Angel Vu. She will eventually become a blogger here at Inside Adams so look for more posts in the future. During winter, when we are surrounded by an abundance of delicious homemade goodies, the history of frozen dinners and the frozen food industry typically …
Posted in: Business, Inventions
Flights of Fantasy and Fact: Man-made Wings in Literature and History subject of Dec. 3 program
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s guest blog post is by science fiction and fantasy author Fran Wilde, who will be visiting the Library on Dec. 3 to talk about “Flights of Fantasy and Fact: Man-made Wings in Literature and History”. Wilde is also a technology consultant and former engineering and science writer. Her short fiction has appeared in publications …
Posted in: Aeronautics/Astronautics, Guest Blog Posts, Inventions, Lunchtime Lectures and Videos
Counting the Miles: Thomas Jefferson’s Quest for an Odometer
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s post is guest authored by Julie Miller, historian of early America in the Library’s Manuscript Division. Julie has written for Inside Adams before- see her post on “The President and the Parsnip: Thomas Jefferson’s Vegetable Market Chart (1801-1808).” Thomas Jefferson, who liked to count and measure everything, coveted an odometer. While in Paris as …
Posted in: Guest Blog Posts, Inventions, Presidents
The Typewriter – “that almost sentient mechanism”
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Read about the history of the typewriter.
Posted in: Business, Inventions
Pedaling Through History: A Look at Cycling Collections Across the Library of Congress
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
The Library’s curators and specialists are gearing up and pounding the pedals for an exciting tour of the Library’s collections related to the history of cycling for visiting historians of the International Cycling History Conference. On Friday August 8, 2014 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. the Mumford Room, in the Library’s Madison Building, will be the hub …
Posted in: Inventions, Sports
Getting Around: Presidential Wheels
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s post is authored by Constance Carter, head of the science reference section. Connie has written for Inside Adams before- see her posts on Civil War Thanksgiving Foods, Food Thrift, the Chocolate Chip Cookie, LC Science Tracer Bullets, and her mentor Ruth S. Freitag. Knowing my interest in all things presidential, a colleague recently left a copy …
Posted in: Guest Blog Posts, Inventions, Presidents
300 Years of Imaginary Space Ships: 1630-1920
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
The following is a guest post from Trevor Owens, Special Curator for the Library of Congress Science Literacy Initiative and Digital Archivist in the Office of Strategic Initiatives. He is also the author of the Inside Adams post on Envisioning Earth from Space before We Went There. While humans didn’t build apparatus capable of traveling to the …
Posted in: Aeronautics/Astronautics, Astronomy/Mathematics, Guest Blog Posts, Inventions