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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Library conservators have been carefully cleaning and restoring a small trove of papyrus writings from ancient Egypt. The writings are mostly decrees, contracts and other pragmatic records, but still offer a window into a world long gone by.
Posted in: African and Middle Eastern Division, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Manuscripts, Preservation and Conservation, Rare Book and Special Collections, Science
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Maria Sibylla Merian, a 17th-century natural scientist, artist and engraver, gained lasting fame for her pioneering scientific illustration techniques, enabling her to bring a soft, delicate touch to her brilliantly shaded work.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation, Researcher Stories, Science
Posted by: Neely Tucker
How well do you understand your dog? Probaly not quite as well as you think. Alexandra Horowitz is the author of "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know," which was No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in 2009. An updated version of the book has just been released and she'll be at the National Book Festival on Sept. 6 to discuss her work. We caught up with her for a few questions beforehand.
Posted in: National Book Festival, Science, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
We're talking today with David Baron, author of “The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America,” who will be at this year’s National Book Festival on Sept. 6. It’s about the public fascination between 1890-1910 with what looked to be the very real possibility of life of Mars. The main cultural artifact of this belief might be H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel, “The War of the Worlds,” which imagined hostile Martians invading Earth in spectacular fashion. But as Baron writes, most of the views were utopian, picturing Martians as a far advanced, heroic people.
Posted in: Gilded Age, Kluge Center, Library Work and Employees, National Book Festival, Researcher Stories, Science, Technology
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Jessica Fries-Gaither, an elementary school science teacher from Columbus, Ohio, is serving as an Albert Einstein distinguished educator fellow at the Library this year. We caught up with her to ask her about her work and some favorite projects.
Posted in: Education, Gazette, LCM, Library Work and Employees, My Job, Researcher Stories, Science
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Cheers to a list of favorite holiday drinks from long-ago mixology books in Library collections as curated by J.J. Harbster, head of the Science Reference Section. You can try the Baltimore Egg Nog from 1862, but we'll opt for the bourbon-based Frosted Cocktail of 1910.
Posted in: Christmas, Curators, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Science
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Kelsey Beeghly, a science curriculum and assessment coordinator from Orlando, Florida, was the Library’s 2023–24 Albert Einstein distinguished educator fellow. Here, she talks about some of her discoveries at the Library and suggestions for STEM teachers.
Posted in: Education, Gazette, Library Work and Employees, Preservation and Conservation, Researcher Stories, Science
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
New details about early European explorations along the North American east coast have been gleaned from a 16th-century portolan chart by the Library's Preservation and Research Testing Division. Using multispectral imaging and other techniques, Library staff has discovered multiple place names on the chart that could not be seen by the naked eye.
Posted in: Gazette, Library Work and Employees, Maps, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation, Science, Technology
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library has six letters that Albert Einstein wrote to Margarita Konenkova, a Russian national with whom he had a passionate, late-in-life affair while he was at Princeton. Einstein was a widower, Konekova was married to a famous Russian sculptor. The affair was not revealed until 1994. The letters, our staff experts write, mix Einstein’s humanity with his genius.
Posted in: Jewish American History, LCM, Manuscripts, Science