Category: Travel

8 Comments

Writer’s Retreat

  By

I’m mostly off the grid this week in my own version of a writer’s retreat in my home town. So far it’s been incredibly productive – my new book is taking shape.

I did find these stocks used by town officials to punish distracted writers.

But I’ve also found inspiration in the local wilds.

And found sustenance in the local food houses.

And checked out my old haunts. And I mean really old haunts.

Okay, it’s back to work Finished a chapter yesterday so scoping out the next tonight. Gotta keep the momentum moving forward.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below.

[Daily Post]

2 Comments

Science Traveling – Why the Devastating Earthquake in Nepal is Not Unexpected

  By ,

By now everyone has heard about the devastating earthquake that has left at least 3,700 people dead. At least 18 died when an avalanche buried the base camp of Mt. Everest. Rescue attempts are ongoing. For those who want to help, you can go here for links to vetted charities. The American Red Cross is also spearheading efforts to assist.

While the destruction and loss of life, and the much needed assistance to survivors, brings with it a sense of shock, the occurrence of earthquakes in Nepal and other regions near the Himalayan Mountains is not unexpected. In fact, earthquake experts gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal only a week ago to discuss the high likelihood of huge earthquakes. Little did they know one would occur so soon after they met.

The reason for high earthquake risk in the region has to do with why science traveling can be of such interest. Some of you may have heard about “plate tectonics,” or the movement of large “plates” of surface rock around the earth. The Himalayan Mountains are plate tectonics at work on a huge scale. In fact, they are still growing.

Roughly 150 million years ago, what has become the Indian subcontinent broke away from Antarctica. As it moved north it left behind what is now Madagascar. About 35 million years ago it smacked into Asia and as it continues to push it helps create the Himalayan Mountains. The tallest, Mt. Everest at 29,035 feet (8850 meters), is still getting taller by as much as 2+ inches (6+ cm) a year.

Mt. Everest

Why so tall? Because the Indian subcontinent was moving at breakneck speed. Racing along at 30 feet per year, it moved twice as fast as the slippage along the San Andreas fault. Usually once continents bang into each other the movement slows considerably, but India has kept moving at about 15 feet per year even after being blocked by Asia, hence the continued rapid growth of Mt. Everest and the rest of the Himalayas. The land has to go somewhere; in Nepal and environs, that somewhere is up.

All of this constant movement and pressure results in earthquakes since the movement tends to get stuck, then suddenly release and move great distances, then get stuck again. The current earthquake near Kathmandu registered 7.8 on the standard scale, but other big quakes have occurred nearby over the years, most notably a 6.9 quake in 2011 near Sikkim, India (along Nepal’s eastern border) and a massive 8.2 quake in 1934 in the same region.

Nepal earthquake map

As science columnist Andrew Revkin notes, experts have been expecting another huge earthquake. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when and where. The devastation caused by this quake is largely due to the shallowness of the epicenter (9.3 miles) and proximity to the capitol Kathmandu (50 miles). Lack of earthquake-resistant building standards and enforcement of any standards that do exist also contribute to the destruction.

If you can help, please do. Links to vetted assistance organizations can be found here, and the Red Cross is always on the job.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

[Daily Post]

7 Comments

Skeleton Road – Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

  By

Many people have probably enjoyed wildlife drive of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Yesterday I discovered a desolate part of the refuge that will forever be imprinted on my mind as “Skeleton Road.”

While wildlife drive is the main visitor area, the refuge actually covers a much larger expanse, much of which is rarely visited. Rather than turn onto Key Wallace Drive off the road from Cambridge, Maryland, we chose to continue driving south along Rte 335 in an effort to reach the southern borders of the refuge. A few twists and turns and then suddenly an unmarked road beckons a bit of daring. In retrospect, perhaps we should have turned around when we saw the skeletons.

Skeleton Road near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

A half dozen or so vultures gathered on the road ahead, hesitatingly flying off at the last second as our car approached. Soon we were in the midst of a slew of skeletons and fur, splayed on both sides of the road as if a sirocco (or a blender) had been turned on a passing herd. Most of the bones had been picked clean, though several rib cages and lower limbs stood nearly intact. Most of the remains were clearly deer, but there were other animal parts as well. Why here? I never did figure out an answer.

Skeleton Road near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Traveling further along it became evident that the houses, for lack of a better word, were also largely skeletal. Abandoned, or in need of being abandoned, the houses likely were the home of squatters – some human, some animal. Some were clearly inhabited, though one wonders how the crumbling infrastructures and naturally skylighted roofs held up to the occasional thunderstorm. Banjo riffs from Deliverance involuntarily sprang to mind. Eventually the paved road became a dirt road, deeply potholed and muddy from many long cold winters, and then, abruptly, and perhaps appropriately, dead ended.

Surprisingly the vultures hadn’t returned to the scene of destruction by the time we returned; perhaps they knew we would be back, retracing our path back to the land of the living.

Luckily, when we did eventually get back to the main visitor area of the refuge, we were able to marvel at the majesty of several bald eagles soaring overhead and resting on hillocks in the shallow edges of the central body of the apt-named Blackwater. Along the drive we saw this Great Blue Heron, hunkering down in protection from the icy wind.

Hunkering Great Blue Heron

The trip also took us to the old National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory (now a cooperative unit with the state of Maryland) in Oxford, and a wine-tasting on St. Michaels. A wonderful day experiencing nature – and Skeleton Road.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below.

 

[Daily Post]

2 Comments

Rounding Up the Writing Life

  By ,

Finally getting a chance to write on Science Traveler for the first time since Monday’s update on the Scandinavia trip plans. That trip is for the end of May, but before that a lot is happening. Much of it is writing. And the rest of it is doing interesting things worth writing about.

Current warsCurrent writing projects are headlined by my forthcoming book on Thomas Edison. The publishers of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity asked that do a similar treatment of Tesla’s biggest rival. I’m working on the early chapters and finding that Edison, like Tesla, was an interesting personality, though in a few ways almost the opposite of each other. Surprisingly, Edison wasn’t as great a businessman as most people think. The irony is that while others often got credit for the contributions of Tesla, Edison often got credit for the contributions of others. Publication is scheduled for 2016 but I’ll post more on this here as the writing progresses.

My concurrent e-book writing project is called Lincoln and Tesla: Connected by Fate. There are a surprising number of connections between Nikola Tesla and our 16th President, and this book takes a look at all of them. Stay tuned for more info and expected publication on Amazon this summer. Here’s a preview.

Other writing includes a forthcoming piece called And the War Ends I wrote for the Smithsonian Civil War Studies website. This will be the third article for them and covers the end of the war and Lincoln’s assassination. This week has also seen a “microfiction” experiment called Executing One Final Joke on Hot White Snow and How the Media Enable Climate Denial and Misinform the Public on The Dake Page. Oh, and there is the Lincoln and Science book proposal.

I also have tons of events on my calendar that will keep me busy for a while (as if writing two books and a proposal for a third wasn’t enough to do).

  • March 21: Lincoln Institute full day symposium in Ford’s Theatre
  • March 22: Wine-tasting and bald eagle viewing on the eastern shore
  • April 9: Tesla Spirit Awards in Philadelphia
  • April 11: Lincoln Group book discussion
  • April 14-15: Ford’s Theatre events related to Lincoln assassination
  • April 21: Lincoln Group dinner meeting
  • April 24: CPRC-SETAC Annual Spring meeting
  • May 16: Lincoln Group Legacy of Lincoln full day symposium

And that’s just for starters.

Somewhere within this time frame I should be receiving my first advance payment for the Edison book and my spring royalties for the Tesla book. The Tesla Wizard book is back in Barnes and Noble stores and selling fast while the Tesla and Renewable Energy e-book is available on Amazon. On top of that, yesterday I shipped a second case of 24 books to the Tesla Science Foundation for them to give as gifts to teachers who have worked so hard to get Nikola Tesla incorporated into school curricula.

It’s a good life.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

4 Comments

Scandal in Scandinavia

  By

Next stop on the Science Traveler tour is Scandinavia with its Mermaids, Vikings, and Erotica Museums. Okay, apparently the last one is now closed so I guess we’ll have to find something else to see in Copenhagen.

Scandinavia map

And Copenhagen is indeed the first stop. Some of the details remain to be arranged, but the plan is to fly into Copenhagen and out of Oslo, with stops in Stockholm and Bergen and day trips as we can squeeze them in. The trip is still a couple of months off so plenty of time to twiddle with the particulars. One thing for certain, we’ll be traveling within the three countries by train with a Scandinavia pass, good for all trains between the major and minor cities.

Little Mermaid Copenhagen

“Copenhagen – the little mermaid statue – 2013” by Avda-berlin – Own work

 

Copenhagen (Denmark), of course, is known for its waterfront and the Little Mermaid statue based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale. From what I’ve heard, the Little Mermaid is about as impressive as the Manneken-Pis in Brussels, which is to say, not. Luckily there are other features of Copenhagen like the Stroget pedestrian street, the “alternative lifestyle” area of Christiania, the Amalienborg Palace, Tivoli, and museums.

Stockholm

Stockholm panorama

 

 

After a day side trip to Roskilde, home of Viking ships, the plan is to train to Stockholm (Sweden) and the first of two possible aquariums for the trip. Here there are more museums, the Drottningholm Palace, Gamla Stan (the old town), canals, and various other local attractions on the fourteen islands that make up the city. So what do you think – should we book a tour of the ABBA museum or not?

Oslo Opera House

Oslo Opera House

Oslo (Norway) is the next stop, again by taking the train from Stockholm across Sweden to the Norwegian capital. Oslo gives us the usual royal palace and Viking ship museum, but also the fabulous artwork in the Vigeland Sculpture Park and the ancient Akershus Fortress. There is even a Kon Tiki Museum so I can check out the famous raft by Thor Heyerdahl I read about during my marine biology days. For the writer in me I’ll check out the haunts of Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbo.

Norwegian Fjord

The highlight of highlights on the trip is likely to be Norway in a Nutshell, which is the cute tour name for a convoluted excursion from Oslo to Bergen and back. Starting out by train, we stop halfway and change to the Flam railway that climbs into the mountains of central Norway before dropping us off at the end of the massive Sognefjord, where a ferry scoots through the narrow waterways. Eventually we board a bus to climb the steep roadway back to catch the train again, then on to Bergen on the western coast. A night in the small town and an aquarium before heading back to Oslo for the flights back home.

More still to be done before the trip, plus a few shorter jaunts before then (and another one soon after), so tons of planning to do in the next few weeks. Oh, and somewhere in there I need to write the Edison book I’ve been contracted to write.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

No comments

Climate Collusion, Lincoln Language, Selma Sadness, Edison Elation – Catching Up On the Blogs

  By , , ,

Write! Write! Write! That’s the mantra, and the last couple of weeks have certainly demonstrated how to do it. Well, except for the writing most important at the moment – Thomas Edison. Otherwise there was big news on collusion by climate deniers, Abraham Lincoln’s commencement address (of sorts), sadness over the Selma 50th anniversary, and much more.

Abraham LincolnHere on Science Traveler the focus was on Abraham Lincoln, with several events commemorating his 2nd Inauguration and one of the finest speeches ever delivered. A Busy Week for Abraham Lincoln sums up the biggest events, and His Greatest Speech looks specifically at the “With malice toward none; with charity for all” elocution that is one of his best. Additional background on the events can be read here.

DSC_0099That wasn’t all Science Traveler was about. I also posted a photo retrospective of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, one of the most haunting, and powerful, memorials I’ve ever seen. To balance the heaviness of that piece, check out the lighter side of things by exploring how two events in my writing world – Tesla and Edison – helped Barnes and Noble stock skyrocket in one day!

selma-dogsOn Hot White Snow I took a look at how we’ve moved Forward to the Past on the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment and the 50th anniversary on the fateful march on Selma that led to the Voting Rights Act. How far we’ve regressed on our previous gains is saddening – and should be maddening – to us all. Also on HWS I tried my hand at microfiction, the art of writing a story in 100 words or less, with a piece I called The Case of the Hated Haberdasher.

Climate Skeptic Graphic Paint2The Dake Page posted a series of climate change-related pieces since the last update. Part 4 of the series on peer-review examined how some people have tried to get around peer-review using the internet, with sometimes nefarious results. You can read Parts 1 though 3 by following the links in Part 4. The most recent post takes a look at collusion among climate deniers, where lobbyists, “skeptic” scientists, and media have worked together to intentionally misrepresent the science and misinform the public. The collusion became evident as climate deniers try to block release of the new documentary based on the Oreskes and Conway book, Merchants of Doubt. Here’s the trailer for the movie:

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

 

8 Comments

Holocaust Memorial, Miami Beach

  By

While science traveling in Florida I had the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach. In vivid contrast to the nearby bikini beach, this memorial brings to life  unfathomable death. The contrast continues as what first appears to be a simple sculpture becomes on closer inspection a spectacularly complex look at the lives destroyed during the interminable years from 1933 to 1945 (which also happens to be the street numbers of Meridian Avenue where the memorial has stood since 1990).

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

A single forearm reaches for the sky, surrounded by a wall, on what appears to be a peaceful island in a pond of water lilies. The initial reaction one gets is a combination of wonder at the four-story high harm and solemn calm at the relatively idyllic setting. And then one begins to focus more closely.

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

Climbing the arm are figures. Agonizing figures. Part of a tattooed number becomes visible, and one starts to become uncomfortable with the realization of what is happening…what had happened.

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

One wall around the back lists names of people who are no more, whose millions of lives were taken as an act of genocide. The list continues inside.

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

Yes, inside; visitors can take a short tunnel deep inside the wall. The tunnel signposts the various concentration camps – Bergen Belsen, Birkenau, Dachau, Buchenwald, Auschwicz and more. Once inside you see what is hidden from the initial view. The figures on the arm continue all the way to the Jerusalem stone foundation floor. The pain in their bodies and faces is almost unbearable, as one’s mind cannot grasp how anyone could survive the anquish, the despair, the unimaginable physical toll…or how anyone could inflict this agony upon others.

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

Walking among the figures, it’s difficult to hold back ones emotions. The old…

DSC_0099

…the women…

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

…and the young.

Holocaust Memorial, Miami

It’s a powerful monument that saps the energy from you as the magnitude of what it depicts settles into your comprehension. The memorial was anguishing for the community as well. Seen by some as misplaced so near the fun and sun of Miami’s South Beach, detractors called the sculpture “grotesque” and a “brutal intrusion on the cityscape.” And no wonder. Even today the Holocaust remains a difficult topic…a difficult memory that many would prefer not to think about. The sculptor, Kenneth Treister, described the process of creating the memorial:

“Imagine you’re in a concentration camp in Poland surrounded by the Nazis, no communication with the outside world and you’re suffering and you’re a martyr, you’re giving up your life. Each one probably died thinking that no one would ever care, no one would ever know, no one would ever remember.”

And remember we must, says Treister.

“Six million moments of death cannot be understood…

But we must all try.”

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below.

 

[Daily Post]

12 Comments

Ernest Hemingway was a Crazy Cat Lady – A Writer’s Life

  By , ,

The key lime pie was a bit too sweet at the Six Toed Cat cafe on Whitehead Street, but the Cuban-inspired sandwich was perfect. We had stopped to get a very late lunch after driving to Key West from Key Largo in search of Ernest Hemingway. Little did we know the name of the cafe, next door to the Hemingway house, reflected the little known fact that Hemingway, considered one of America’s greatest writers, was a crazy cat lady.

Six toed catsNot literally, of course, but as the guide informed us during our tour, Hemingway let dozens of feral cats roam his grounds freely. Many of them had six toes, a condition called polydactyly for you scientist-types out there. I recalled from my marine biology days that sailors thought polydactyl cats were good luck, or at the very least were better at catching rats. In any case, Hemingway was given a six toed cat by a ship’s captain and well, cats breed. There are currently 40-50 cats on the Hemingway property, which the guides regularly trot out for photo-ops.

The two-story Spanish colonial house had been built in 1851 by wealthy marine architect and salvage wrecker Asa Tift, but a battle between heirs left the house boarded up and vacant for the 40 years before Hemingway and his second wife Pauline bought it in 1931. After Hemingway ran off with Martha (who eventually become his third wife), Pauline decided to spend $20,000 of his money replacing Hemingway’s prized boxing ring with a built-in pool. He was not amused.

Hemingway's writing studio

Not surprisingly, the most fascinating part of the house was his writer’s studio. Accessed by a catwalk over a gallery connecting his second-floor bedroom with an old carriage house, Hemingway had a large comfortable room where he consistently wrote from 6 am to Noon every day. I envied his discipline (not my strongest point) and his studio, though I have to admit I’m very happy to have computer keys to tickle and not his old (now rusty) manual typewriter.

Hemingway's typewriter

Hemingway wrote about 70 percent of his body of work in the nine years he lived in the “crazy cat lady” home on Key West. For those who don’t know, he moved to Cuba for many years, escaping when Fidel Castro’s revolution changed his world. He lived an exciting, some would say crazy, life, and when he wasn’t out deep sea fishing, crashing planes in Africa, or running with the bulls in Pamplona, he was winning a Nobel Prize for Literature. Tragically, for some reason he chose the slow-paced land of Idaho for his later years, where he tried to deal with alcohol abuse, a growing paranoia, and bouts of depression by getting electroconvulsive therapy at the Mayo Clinic. While a common treatment at the time, the therapy destroyed his memory and ability to write, leading Hemingway to deal with the ensuing boredom by excitingly ending his life with a double-barreled shotgun.

Notwithstanding his sad ending and the unlikelihood that I’ll ever live such an interesting life as he, Hemingway remains an icon of American writing. I envy his tight prose; his simple narratives accessible to all readers mirror what I would like to accomplish in my own writing. Where Hemingway brought his adventurous life to the masses, I seek to do the same with the science traveling life.

I’ll have more on the Florida trip, including stops in Miami Beach, the Everglades, Biscayne Bay, Key Largo, Key West, and the remote beauty and history of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is an avid traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page. Share with your friends using the buttons below

 

[Daily Post]

No comments

Fan Photos and Fun

  By , , , ,

Time flies. Take a little science traveling trip and suddenly the month is three-quarters done. But not so done that you can’t participate in my new Fan Photos and Fun page!

Yes, a page focused on you! All of you have helped spread the word to more than 30,000 (and growing) new readers, so I owe all this success to everyone who has supported my efforts to bring science to the masses. Check out the new page – Fan Photos and Fun.

Dr. Pablo Vigliano, Universidad Nacional del Comahue-Bariloche

Dr. Pablo Vigliano, Universidad Nacional del Comahue-Bariloche

If you want to participate, feel free to send photos of you holding my book, or post it up on my Facebook author’s page. [Be sure to “Like” the page for updates and more fun stuff] If you send a photo I’ll put it up on the Fan Photos and Fun page. Let’s see how many different countries and US states we can represent.

Meanwhile, January so far has seen a visit to Miami Beach, as well as the Everglades, Key West, and the Dry Tortugas. I’ll have more on this science traveling shortly. If you missed it, also check out Tesla Takes Manhattan and a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tesla bust, New Yorker Hotel

Tesla bust, TSF photo

Not to be outdone, Hot White Snow saw essays on My Life as a Remote Control, My Greatest Difficulty on Being a Writer, and Reading is Fundamental.

The Dake Page took several looks at how 2014 became the hottest year ever recorded and how climate deniers desperately sought to deny that fact. Also examined was why 2015 is a critical year for man-made climate change action.

But this is just the beginning. On the day after I returned from my alligator hunting I received a nice little bit of news from my literary agent. I’m waiting on something official but it looks like I’ll be even busier than expected this year, and with something totally unexpected. Stay tuned for more soon!

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

No comments

A little bit of Miami Beach

  By

A quick few scenes from Miami Beach while I’m on the road. On South Beach there were plenty of bodies in the surf (more on those later), plus this classic car.

Some Art Deco buildings…

A powerful Holocaust Memorial (more on this later too)…

And a Freedom Tower.

More after I can get to a computer.