Category: Travel

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Science Traveler and Science Traveling

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Candied hawthorns in Olympic Park, Beijing

Candied hawthorns at Olympic Park, Beijing

I call this site Science Traveler. And I’m currently out science traveling. So, what is science traveling? I’m glad you asked. Though the answer isn’t as clear cut as it might seem.

I’ve been a scientist for many years, and as a result have done a little bit of travel. Emphasis on “little” and “bit.” Besides the many wonderful days spent in luxurious locales such as oil refineries, sewage treatment plants, and mud bogs, I regularly attended scientific conferences in cities around the United States and Canada. A delightfully drenched week in Vancouver spent entirely inside a convention center epitomizes the excitement of that annual opportunity. For the last 15 years, however, travel has became a lot more interesting.

I’ve been lucky enough to live overseas on three different occasions, in St. George’s, Bermuda; Edinburgh, Scotland; and most recently, Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been to Asia several times, tootled around a good part of Europe, and currently am trekking through a couple of countries south of the equator. Now that I’m writing books and freelancing full time, my travels will become more frequent and more adventurous. They will also become story lines. And those story lines will usually contain some science angle.

Science traveler. Like asking whether Galileo actually did drop balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and if he did, was someone at the bottom to catch them? Like, how is it that I could carry on a conversation with an elderly (and slightly inebriated) Japanese gentleman when neither one of us spoke the others language? Like, how many Argentinian students does it take to get a visiting scientist to wade into a stream alongside an electroshock fisherman?

Of course, science traveling can also mean simply appreciating the ephemeral beauty of a sinking sunset over a Mexican beach, the astonishing talent of a renaissance artist in the Vatican, or the portentous river of water sluicing down a melting glacier in Chile. It might also include crawling through caves in Tennessee after overlooking one of the Civil War’s most infamous battle sites, admiring the orchids of Tenerife, or visiting the latest in a long list of aquariums.

Science traveling most definitely includes photographs. Thousands of photographs. And with each photo comes a story…or many stories. Science traveler will tell those stories.

So while I’m out science traveling I’ll post some photos, some stories, and hopefully some scientific insights that will bring the world closer to everyone.

David J. Kent is an avid traveler and the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina

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Argentina has come a long way since the days of Eva Peron (aka, Evita), though in which direction is perhaps up for debate. The silverless country whose name is derived from the Latin word for silver is an enigma. And I’m headed there.

This trip is long overdue. In fact, an Argentinian friend from college has been inviting me to visit for the last, well, ahem, um, a long time. I was all set to go several years ago but then my (now former) company sent me to Brussels for three years. I know, it was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it. In any case, I’m finally going to Argentina.

I’ll have a lot more information after the trip, but the basic plan is to fly to Buenos Aires, then two days later fly to Bariloche. A small city of about 100,000, Bariloche sits comfortably between beautiful Nahuel Huapi Lake and the Andes mountains.

Argentina regions

From there we’ll head south on the eastern side of the Andes, stopping in some of the most pristine and beautiful parts of Patagonia (the pinkish part in the map above). There will be plenty of stops for hiking, kayaking, and, depending on my friend’s patience, maybe I’ll even learn to fly fish. At this point it looks like the southern terminus will be just below Argentina’s Glaciers National Park, though there is still a slight chance of making it to Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia. Then back to Bariloche where I will likely join in some field sampling fun (the hazards of having a host who is a fisheries biologist and university professor).

Not much chance of me learning how to tango. But, who knows.

It’s summer down there so I expect Buenos Aires to top out in the mid 90s F. Bariloche will be more like 60 F. I’m not even going to guess the temperature by the time we reach the glaciers (which is roughly the equivalent of southern Canada in reverse latitude). During the trip I’ll write as much as I can. There may even be another book in the works by the time I return.

I have another week before I leave, so don’t count me gone yet. Much more before that happens.

More travel related posts here.

David J. Kent is an avid traveler and the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Oh What a Year (aka, Tesla Rules!)

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David J. Kent, Science TravelerIt seems like January 2013 was a blink away, but somehow an entire year has passed and that blink away is now January 2014. But oh what a year it was. A year of transitions, a year of excitement, and even a year with some major anxieties. But it is a year I will always remember – the year of Tesla.

Tesla – The Wizard of 2013!

The obvious hallmark was the release of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Nine months after it had been accepted by the publisher the book finally hit the stores in July 2013. Prominently displayed on shelves at Barnes and Noble entrances, many stores quickly sold out and reordered. Even after the warehouse was empty the books continued to sell, limited only by people’s ability to locate them. By the end of the year we had sold out almost the entire (large) first printing. Even better, a second printing of double the initial run is due out July 2014.

[Off-] Broadway Bound!

The success of Tesla has had another benefit – all the great people I’ve met. Besides Nikola, Sherry, Sam and many others with the Tesla Science Foundation, there are the great folks at Tesla Ambassadors and other Facebook groups. I even got to meet Mr. William H. Terbo, the only living relative of Nikola Tesla. Mr. Terbo is the grand-nephew and actually met Tesla himself when he was ten years old. Another highlight of the year was being invited to speak to the cast of the off-Broadway play, TESLA, then attending opening night of the wildly successful show. Sanja Bestic as director and Sheri Graubert as writer worked so well as a team that they have another show coming out this spring – Jackie and Marilyn. I can’t wait.

Even the bad things worked out!

Of course, there were some downer parts of the year too. Most notably my father’s aneurysm surgery in February turned out to be more dramatic than expected. I’m happy to say that after having several aorta re-plumbed, a series of strokes and seizures, four days of coma, no movement on one side for a few more days, and months of rehab, Dad is doing very well. Meanwhile, the toxicity of my own work environment finally led to the decision to leave my long-standing scientific career and become a full-time writer. Notwithstanding the sudden lack of income, it was a great decision. It’s even been good for my health – after putting on weight in the spring I’ve dropped 10 pounds and live a much healthier lifestyle.

Science Traveler alert!

Along the way I managed to squeeze in a little bit of travel, including several trips to my home town for family events, four times to New York City for writing/Tesla events, a road trip to Tennessee, and even a quick weekend in Jamaica. Travel will get more emphasis in 2014, starting with a trip to NYC in January and to Argentina in February. Summer may bring me to the west coast and/or Moscow and/or Iceland and/or a country to be named later. I’ll be posting much more on travel (and aquariums) this coming year as Science Traveler starts catching up to its moniker.

150 Years of Abraham Lincoln!

Not to be forgotten is Abraham Lincoln. As a member of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia I’ve had the privilege of joining monthly dinners with some of the most knowledgeable Lincolnophiles in the area. And since each dinner has a guest speaker, I’ve met Lincoln scholars such Douglas L. Wilson, Walter Stahr, and many others. [Eric Foner will receive the Lincoln Award from us in January 2014] One of my most cherished activities of this past year has been the monthly Lincoln Group book club. We’ve been reading the version of Herndon’s Lincoln edited by the aforementioned Doug Wilson and his colleague Rodney O. Davis. Having the combined expertise and insights of the dozen or so group members – all Lincoln scholars – is priceless.

My Presidency Ends!

With all this going on I somehow managed to perform my duties as President of the Chesapeake-Potomac Regional Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. This was my second go-around as President (the first was in 2001), and I’ve loved every minute of my involvement. As I hand over the Presidency to this year’s VP, Brad Pratt, I’ll remain as a Contributing Editor to the CPRC newsletter and an active Past-President.

Reading is Fundamental!

And then there were the books. As has been my norm in recent years I’ve finished reading about 60 books this year. Because of research for my next book, at least a dozen were Abraham Lincoln-related. But there were also many on Nikola Tesla, some great memoirs, and the trade of writing/publishing. I even read a half dozen fiction books (a rarity for me). Better yet, I was able to read some great books by authors I know personally, most notably Thomas Waite, R.C. (Chuck) Larlham, and Sam Hawksworth. Check them out.

All in all, 2013 was a very good year. I’m looking forward to an even better 2014, where I’ll meet more great people, do more great travel, and write more great books (and yes, I’ll shortly have more info on my Tesla book due out in the spring).

See you all again soon…and Happy New Year!!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Tesla and Lincoln’s 2014 Schedule is Starting to Take Shape

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David J. KentSo 2013 was an incredible year, and 2014 is already looking like it will be even more incredible. Later this month I’ll take a look back on all that has happened this past year. Meanwhile, my event schedule for 2014 is starting to take shape. Here are just a few of the events already on the calendar for the first six to eight months:

January

4th – Eric Foner dinner: The noted Abraham Lincoln historian will receive the Lincoln Award from the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia. We’ll have a special dinner at the historic Willard Hotel in Washington DC. Foner’s many books on Abraham Lincoln include The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, which won several major awards including the Pulitzer, Lincoln, and Bancroft Prizes.

11th – Tesla Memorial Conference: For the second year in a row I will be attending the annual Nikola Tesla conference sponsored by the Tesla Science Foundation and the New Yorker Hotel. More details to come but see here for recaps of the 2013 conference.

18th – Lincoln Group Book Club: Monthly meeting to discuss Herndon’s Lincoln, Ford’s Theater Educational Center.

February

2 weeks mid-month – Travel to Argentina. I’m still coordinating arrangements with a long-time Argentinian friend of mine, but it looks like a couple of weeks of hiking, fishing, kayaking, glacier hopping, etc. along the eastern ridge of the Andes in Patagonia and eventually all the way down to Ushuaia in the Tierra del Fuego region.

March

End of month – Have completed Lincoln book proposal in my agent’s hands (if not earlier)

April

24th – 26th – Attend American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conference in New York City.

27th – 28th – Attend Chesapeake-Potomac Regional Chapter (CPRC) conference in Maryland. [as Past-President]

May

End of month – Planned release of Nikola Tesla and Renewable Energy e-book. More details soon!

June

haew narok waterfall 3? – What is this…nothing on my calendar yet for June? I’ll need to do something about that soon.

July

1st – Release of second printing of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity by Sterling Publishing.

7th – Brown bag lecture at the Ipswich Museum in Ipswich, MA. In addition to being the featured speaker I’ll have books available for sale and signing.

8th – 10th – Annual Tesla Days in Philadelphia. A multi-day series of events celebrating the birthday of Nikola Tesla. Check here for information on the 2013 event.

July – September

In addition to the events listed above, and with the second printing (of double the initial print run) due in Barnes and Noble stores in July, I will likely be doing a series of speaking events. Stay tuned for more information, and check back frequently to my Tesla Events and Speaking Engagements page for updates. Perhaps a west coast swing? Perhaps Serbia? I’m open to ideas.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Preview of Tennessee Road Trip

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I’m currently in the middle of a road trip sandwich. Off to the big apple today (perhaps a pastrami on rye at Katz’s Deli) and not long returned from a trip down the road to Tennessee and environs (where I had pulled pork on a bun). I’ll come back with some details and more photos later, but for now here’s a quick preview of the Tennessee road trip that included two National Parks, two Aquariums, two sets of caves, two days at SETAC, and too many times in and out of Tennessee.

Conceptually, the trip was planned as a multi-day drive down through the Shenandoah’s, the Blue Ridge, and into the Great Smoky Mountains. The first part started off with good weather, but by the time we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway the meaning of “Great Smoky” came clearly into view. By which I mean to say that there was no “clearly”…and no “view.”

Backing up a bit we first stopped at the Natural Bridge just north of Roanoke, Virginia. The Bridge is a rather cool natural rock archway that most people drive over without ever noticing the valley below. Since this is a preview I’ll give you the long view for now. In a later post I’ll revisit to talk about the surveyor – some guy named George Washington – leaving his initials in the rock face.

Natural Bridge Long View

As I mentioned, the Smoky Mountains gave us a good example of why they are called the Great Smoky Mountains. I did get a chance to hike the Appalachian Trail for the third or fourth time. Granted it was a very small part of the Trail, but the Trail nonetheless.

Appalachian Trail Great Smoky Mountains

A night in Gatlinburg proved more interesting than expected. The fact that there is an aquarium in the mountains of Tennessee is odd enough, but the fact that it was a Ripley’s aquarium gives a hint of what you can expect in the town. The aquarium turned out to be wonderful, but it looked like Ripley’s (of Believe it or Not! fame) had turned the main street into a bizarre entertainment strip. We’ll come back to that later.

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies - Gatlinburg TN

Let’s see, Tennessee borders on Kentucky, right? So the natural next step was to drive all the way through the state to Cave City, KY for the world famous Mammoth Caves. At 390 miles of tunnels (and still counting), Mammoth is the longest cave system in the world.

Mammoth Caves network of tunnels

Back to Tennessee. After all, the impetus for the trip was to attend the annual SETAC meeting in Nashville. I spent most of the three days there chatting with other attendees; even sold nearly a dozen books. Alas, that time went fast and we were off to Huntsville, Alabama, home to a large Apollo-era space center.

Saturn V rocket - Huntsville AL

Seeing a Saturn V rocket next to the highway brought me back to the old days when I kept a scrapbook of the Apollo missions. But even more thought-provoking is the realization that the rocket is 363 feet tall, 33 feet in diameter, and has 3 stages – all numbers divisible by 3. Nikola Tesla would have loved it!

Back to Tennessee. And yes, about this time we saw yet another sign welcoming us back to the Volunteer state as the road trip took us from VA to TN to NC to TN to KY to TN to AL to TN to VA. Since I had been in Memphis years ago I think I now have Tennessee fully covered. In any case, this leg took us to Chattanooga for, you guessed it, yet another major aquarium. But here we also did some Civil War-era sightseeing. First, up the cliffs to the top of Lookout Mountain, center of a famous Civil War battle.

Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga TN

Then back down about half way to Ruby Falls, a 145-foot tall waterfall that is completely underground. Not only do you take an elevator down nearly 300 feet, but as you walk the half mile through the caves the mountain rises above you so that the Falls are nearly 1200 feet below the surface. For now, here’s the above-ground to whet your appetite.

Ruby Falls, Chattanooga TN

That’s enough for now. I’ll do future posts on the major stops and include some of the amazing photos. You won’t want to miss the Ruby Falls photo! [Or the interesting solar power angle]

Hey, is that Ashanti at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting? Cool.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Halloween in Ipswich – David Ortiz and the Scariest Pole Competition You’ll Ever See

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Happy Halloween everyone! You really have to love this time of year. When else can you express your inner weirdness and have people applaud you for your creativity rather than run away from you as if you had lost your mind?

On a recent trip to my home town of Ipswich I came across the local pole-decorating contest. No dancers, just scary things. Truly scary things. Okay, sort of scary things. But you get the idea.

There were pole monsters.

Ipswich pole monster

For movie trivia buffs, there were screaming women being attacked by birds (extra credit to anyone who can name the movie, director, and star).

The Birds

Some wolf bane? (or is that wolf baying?)

Baying wolf

Of course, some were still under construction.

Under construction

Two heads are better than one this time of year.

Two heads are better than one

The best way to escape the graveyard? Swinging on a wrecking ball, of course.

Skeleton wrecking ball

Wait, this is my better side. Yes, much better. We have a winner! Congratulations to the bony guy (or is it gal?). It won the competition.

Skeleton_Photo credit Dan Mac Alpine

And, of course, there were plenty of pumpkins.

Halloween pumpkins

But the scariest sight of all, especially if you were the Rays, the Tigers, or the Cardinals, was the vision of David Ortiz coming up to the plate. Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series and David Ortiz for taking home the trophy for Most Valuable Player. Go Sox. Boston Strong!

David Ortiz MVP_Photo credit Matt Slocum

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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A Little Bit of Mini-Europe

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For three years I lived and worked in the European Union capital of Brussels, Belgium. While there I traveled as much as my workload and finances would allow. But I can say that one day I saw all of Europe. Yes, in one day.

Technically it wasn’t all of Europe; it was more of a highlights tour. But in the shadow of the Atomium (that big bunch of silver balls that makes up this website’s background photo), there lies a small park called mini-Europe. Mini as in miniature landmarks representative of the major vistas and capitals of the continent (and the UK too). Here is what it looks like from high up in the Atomium.

Mini-Europe in Brussels

Since this is Brussels, they of course have the Grand Place…the big square that sits in the center of the city.  You can see the detail that went into these models.  Check out the gothic style city hall, decorated with 294 statues from the 19th century, which dominates one side of the square.  This particular display shows the carpet of flowers that graces the Grand Place only one weekend every two years. A grand site to see. (And as an added bonus, the famous manneken pis is just a short walk away).

Grand Place Brussels

Heading north gets you to the Castle of Olavinlinna, built in 1475 in Finland.  It used to form part of the frontier defenses against Russia.

Castle of Olavinlinna Finland

Some countries have only one or two landmarks (Luxembourg’s contribution is a single highway bridge).  France is well represented with several landmarks from around the country.  Here is the church of Sacre Coeur, which sits high atop Montmartre Hill in the northern part of Paris.  On a clear day you can see 50 km away.

Sacre Coeur Paris

Moving over to Italy, I’m sure everyone will recognize Pisa.  The Piazza del Duomo is pretty much the attraction in this northern coastal city.  The campanile (leaning tower) is 55 meters in height and has never been straight since its construction.  Behind it is a Romanesque Cathedral built to celebrate the victory of the Pisan fleet over Palermo. The model is made entirely of small marble blocks and weighs 800 kg. Consider that the next time you complain about doing a mere 1000-piece puzzle.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Last stop on today’s tour is Athens, Greece.  Situated on the highest point in the city is the Acropolis, which was built in the 5th century B.C. as a national sanctuary for the worship of the twelve Greek gods.

Acropolis Athens

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited all of the landmarks above, with the notable exception of the Olavinlinna Castle (though on more than one occasion I was in Finland’s capital, Helsinki). There are many more mini-landmarks in mini-Europe, so I’ll be coming back here periodically. In fact, I’ll be showing photos of the model along with my own photos taken during visits to the real places. I have to admit, after seeing the models it’s is very cool to see the leaning tower, the Acropolis, Sacre Coeur and more up close and personal.

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.

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Some days are sunsets…other days are sunrises

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Some days are sunsets…

Sunset - A Time for Change

More details to come.

[Daily Post]

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.

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