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Lincoln Log Podcast – Lincoln’s Approach to Science and Technology

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The Lincoln Log podcast is a program of the Abraham Lincoln Association based in Springfield, Illinois. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the podcast’s host, Joshua Claybourn, an attorney and historian focused primarily on Abraham Lincoln’s youth. In the podcast we looked at Lincoln’s approach to science and technology, which I discuss in depth in my book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America. The podcast is available both on YouTube video and audio-only via Apple Podcasts (click on the links or pictures below).

Here is the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8URZ5tjt6I&t=1s

Lincoln Log podcast

And here is the Apple Podcast version: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-kent-on-lincolns-approach-to-science-and/id1515931488?i=1000594407585

Lincoln Log podcast

 

Both run about 45 minutes.

In a far-ranging interview, Josh and I discussed Lincoln’s approach to promoting science and technology in everyday life and during the Civil War. We also talked about how Lincoln worked to institutionalize science and technology at the federal government level to help put the United States on a path toward continued development.

You can catch any or all of the interviews and presentations I’ve done for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. Just scroll through my Media page for events with President Lincoln’s Cottage, the Abraham Lincoln Looking for Lincoln program, my interview on The Pat Williams Show (founder of the Orlando Magic basketball team), the Our American Stories radio program, and much more.

Plus, check out upcoming events.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Our American Stories Podcast – How Lincoln Overcame Poverty and Gained an Education

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When Lincoln was asked on a questionnaire to describe his education he only wrote one word: defective. However, lack of formal education and growing up in poverty on the frontier didn’t stop him from becoming one of the premiere thinkers of his time. This is the theme of the Our American Stories podcast, now available to all both via their website and on Apple podcasts.

Here is the website version: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/podcast/history/the-fire-of-genius-how-lincoln-overcame-poverty-and-gained-an-education

Our American Stories

Or you can listen via Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-fire-of-genius-how-lincoln-overcame-poverty/id1172372010?i=1000594606705

Our American Stories

Both run about 30 minutes.

This was an interesting interview because I was able to focus on Lincoln, the man, rather than specifically talking about the book. Enjoy!

BTW, you can catch any or all of the interviews and presentations I’ve done for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. Just scroll through my Media page for events with President Lincoln’s Cottage, the Abraham Lincoln Looking for Lincoln program, my interview on The Pat Williams Show (founder of the Orlando Magic basketball team), the Lincoln Log Podcast of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and much much more.

Plus, check out upcoming events.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

 

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Unexpected Lincoln – Concord, Massachusetts

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Lincoln in Concord MAIt seems Abraham Lincoln is everywhere. Our continuing “unexpected Lincoln” series takes us to Concord, Massachusetts, home of Henry David Thoreau and just steps away from “the shot heard round the world.” I stopped in Concord on a recent road trip to see a special Lincoln Memorial Centennial exhibit at Concord Museum. Not only was Lincoln there, but it turns out Concord was a hotbed of abolitionist fever – and famous thinkers so thick you couldn’t help running into one in the 1840s-50s.

The museum was sponsoring an exhibit called “The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated.” A collaboration by Daniel Chester French’s studio at Chesterwood and the Norman Rockwell Museum in western Massachusetts (which hosted the original installation throughout the summer of 2022); the exhibit is only in Concord until February 26, 2023. As the title suggests, it focused on illustrations, sculpture, archival materials, and ephemera as it traced the Lincoln Memorial’s role as a symbolic site for some of the nation’s most important events and movements. Many of the pieces are political cartoons, often showing how the famed Lincoln statue reacted to key historical events. Included are Bill Mauldin’s depiction of Lincoln crying upon hearing of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, John Darkow’s Lincoln giving a thumbs up to the newly elected President Barack Obama, and Matt Davies’s Lincoln and his chair flipped over backwards in disbelief after the 2016 election results.

Other artwork includes both pen and ink and watercolor depictions of watershed events at the Lincoln Memorial featuring Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, and the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial itself in 1922. There is also the original oil on canvas painting by Norman Rockwell called “Lincoln for the Defense,” a rare full-length painting of him (and rarer still – in a white suit). Rockwell’s print of Mathew Brady photograph is included, as is a watercolor painting by Anthony Benedetto, better known to most of us as singer Tony Bennett.

I was fascinated by one additional item on display – the account book kept by Daniel Chester French, a detailed record keeper, who recorded his contract payments for the Lincoln Memorial statue ($45,000 increased to $88,400), along with records of payments to the Piccirilli Brothers for marble carving and other work.

Beyond the Lincoln Memorial Illustrated exhibit, the Concord Museum also gave insights into the intellectual community of Concord, which included not only Emerson and Thoreau, but Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. More recently, Doris Kearns Goodwin joined the party. Concord has another claim to fame. While the writers were writing, the women of the town were organizing the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society. Founded in 1837, the Society was hugely influential in New England, hosting abolitionist speakers such as John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass. Many Concord residents provided housing for fugitive slaves and helped them to continue their travels on the underground railroad. Despite growing up only an hour north of Concord, this is something I hadn’t known before my visit.

 

A bonus – Daniel Chester French not only designed the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, he created the Minuteman statue that sits just of North Bridge. Emerson’s childhood home overlooks the statue and the park. You can almost hear that mighty shot ring out as you soak in American history bridging the beginning of the nation and Lincoln’s saving of the nation.

All photos by David J. Kent

[NOTE: This article originally appeared at Lincolnian.org]

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Smithsonian Castle Was On Fire!

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1865 Smithsonian fireOne scientific institution that Lincoln had protected and advanced during the war took a major hit on the frigid winter’s afternoon of January 24, 1865. Joseph Henry sat in his third-floor office in the Smithsonian Castle, alternatively updating his notebook and staring out the great rose window squeezed between the two front towers. Stirring, he noticed a sooty burning odor. Likewise, his daughter Mary was reading in the library until she noticed the room darkening, a thick cloud of smoke obscuring the view. The Castle was on fire!

Rushing to save whatever they could, father and daughter managed to grab a few books, some papers, and a bit of clothing. Others arrived to help pull out furniture items. Flames poured out the tower windows and scorched the ornamental stonework. Mary described it as “a beautiful friend tasting to the utmost the pleasure of destruction.” Her poetical observation was interrupted as the flames reached the top of the tower, where Henry’s papers were kept, destroying a historical and scientific record that had taken a lifetime to build.

Investigations showed that the fire was accidental, a result of negligence. Men renovating the building had vented a stove exhaust pipe into an air chamber inside the wall rather than to an external vent. After smoldering for days, the heated wood had finally erupted into flames. Destroyed was the apparatus room, the picture gallery, the regents’ room, and the lecture hall. Among the treasures lost were all James Smithson’s personal effects, including the manuscripts, meteorites, and minerals that had seeded the new institution. Also lost were an extensive collection of scientific instruments and nearly a hundred thousand letters and reports documenting the founding of the institution and a decade of scientific research from all over the world. All of James Smithson’s unpublished scientific research was lost forever. It would take twelve years and $125,000 to repair the building and correct faulty construction. Indirectly lost was James Melville Gillis, chief astronomer and director of the Naval Observatory, who succumbed to exhaustion during the building evacuation and suffered a fatal stroke two weeks later. Saved was Smithson’s small personal collection of books. Only 115 volumes and never bound in leather covers, they at least provide some surviving connection to the man who made the Smithsonian possible.

Two days after the fire, Henry shambled to the White House. Lincoln “expressed much sympathy” and ordered the War Department to raise a temporary roof over the scorched portions of the Castle. Montgomery Meigs, a longtime friend of Henry and one of Lincoln’s favorite engineers, pulled together the needed materials and carpenters to build a roof designed by architect Edward Clark. Henry would spend the next several months organizing renovations, taking time out to attend Lincoln’s second inaugural on March 4. At his side was Mary Henry, who made a passing reference to seeing the famous actor John Wilkes Booth in the balcony above them.

Lincoln’s lifelong enthusiasm for science and technology, combined with his belief that the federal government should help the populace better their condition, made him an amenable partner of congressional efforts to institutionalize science. Once suspicious of scientists because of their overall elitism and the preponderance of con men, the national attitude toward science had begun to change. No longer the sole realm of a wealthy elite, technological advances were more and more affecting the masses, in part due to a refocusing on practical science rather than less publicly relatable theoretical research.

[Excerpted from Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America, available at all bookseller outlets]

NOTE: Not only is January 24th the anniversary of the fire, but there is significant current news regarding the Smithsonian Castle. The Castle will close on February 1, 2023, for renovations that are expected to take five years to complete.

[Check out my Media page for upcoming events and videos/audio of previous presentations and podcasts]

[Colorized photo of Smithsonian fire from Smithsonian Institution Archives. Full info here]

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Thomas Lincoln Dies, But Teaches Abraham Farming Science

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Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas Lincoln, died on January 17, 1851, at the ripe old age of 73. Abraham opted not to travel to see his father in his waning days, in part because they were no longer close, but also because Lincoln’s third son, Willie, had been born about a month before and his wife, Mary, was exhibiting significant post=partum sickness. I visited the Lincoln homestead and gravesite near Lerna, Illinois, a few years ago in order to learn more about Thomas and wrote about it here. While they may have had a difficult relationship, Thomas actually had taught Lincoln about farming science as he grew up.

It all started in Kentucky, where Lincoln was born and lived until he was seven. Their final year in the bluegrass state was beset with a climatic phenomenon referred to as “the year without a summer.” I discuss it in more detail in my book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, but it has to do with summer freezes and a volcano eruption half a world away. Taking the hint, the family moved to Indiana, where Lincoln later recalled that the family “settled in an unbroken forest” and that “the clearing away of surplus wood was the great task at hand.” Thomas took Abe into the forest and schooled him to recognize the types of trees. The exact species varied by local geography and climate, but one visitor described southern Indiana as “covered with heavy timber—comprising oaks, beeches, ash, three kinds of nut trees.” He also noted the presence of “gum trees, hackberry, sycamore, persimmons, wild cherries, apples and plums, also wild grape vines of enormous diameter and heights,” plus “a large number of maple and sugar trees . . . and a kind of poplar.” Other observers mentioned the presence of hickory, black walnut, locust, dogwood, cherry, sassafras, and elm. A variety of oak trees were present, including white, black, and Jack oak. The undergrowth was densely packed with spice wood, various briers, grape vines, sumac bushes, and dry brush, a diversity that is largely lost today.

Abe quickly learned the relevant ecology. Hickory, walnut, and white oak have taproot systems where large roots descend straight down deep into the earth. Red oak, locust, sycamore, and many pines have heart root systems characterized by many primary roots that may be visible on the surface and spread out below, with numerous secondary roots extending downward in search of water. Maples, hackberry, poplar, ash, gum, and dogwood have a flat root, one that spreads out in a shallow fan around the tree. Each of these required a different strategy for removal, with big hardwoods like oak or ash particularly difficult to remove. Abe became so knowledgeable that during his presidency he settled a dispute between visitors at the Soldiers’ Home. “I know all about trees in right of being a backwoodsman,” he said. “I’ll show you the difference between spruce, pine, and cedar, and this shred of green, which is neither one nor the other, but a kind of illegitimate cypress.” He had learned his lessons well.

Thomas also taught Lincoln the basics of agronomy (crop science), hydrology (the science of water movement), forest ecology (the variety and uses of trees), and even some civil engineering (building a log cabin that wouldn’t leak or flood). Then there was dealing with ever-present disease and weather. While their move from Kentucky to Indiana was in part encouraged by “the year without a summer,” their first year in Illinois was “the winter of deep snow,” which killed much of their livestock and nearly froze Lincoln himself to death.

Overall, Lincoln began his education in the sciences by learning from his father Thomas, who had learned it from his family history of farming. Lincoln learned well, even though he was eager to explore intellectual growth to escape the farming life. Later, Lincoln would read many scientific and mathematical books on his own, gaining an understanding of basic science and an appreciation for the role of technological advancement in helping all men – even frontier farmers – better their condition and gain an equal chance in the race of life.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Fire of Genius and elsewhere]

I’ve been doing a lot of presentations on the topics found in the book, many of which were recorded on video and audio podcasts. Check out my Media page for upcoming events (and to see videos/audio links to previous events). 

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Join Me for Two Special Abraham Lincoln Presentations This Week (Plus a Bonus)

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This will be a busy week, with two special Abraham Lincoln presentations coming up on Wednesday and Thursday. Both will be virtual, so take a look at the info and links below and join me! 
Wednesday, January 11, 8 pm EST/7 pm CST: I will give a special presentation on Wednesday as part of the Looking for Lincoln conversations program based in Springfield, Illinois. The topic is “How Abraham Lincoln Institutionalized Science and Technology in the Federal Government,” which builds mainly off of one chapter in my recent book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America. This virtual program is free to all on January 8th beginning at 8 pm EST/7 pm CST. A Q&A will be open to all virtual attendees. See it live on the Looking for Lincoln Facebook or YouTube pages.
 
Watch live on YouTube: https://youtu.be/y48_SKeRfqM
Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/523737299725293
 
 
Thursday, January 12, 6:30-7:30 pm EST: President Lincoln’s Cottage presents a series of Scholar Sessions. The virtual program will feature a conversation between the Cottage’s President/CEO Michael Atwood Mason and Lincoln Group president David J. Kent. They will discuss a wide range of topics including Lincoln’s commitment to modernizing American and other aspects of Lincoln’s life. Following their conversation, the event will be opened up to all virtual attendees for a Q&A period. Lincoln Cottage members can participate for free; there is a $10 fee for non-members.
 
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scholar-sessions-david-j-kent-tickets-486902527567
 
And the bonus!
 
Tuesday, January 17, 6:00 pm EST: The Lincoln Group of DC holds its monthly Zoom meeting featuring Diana Schaub discussing her book, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved a Nation. Dr. Schaub is a professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland and a member of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. The Lincoln Group’s study forum analyzed her book in the spring of 2021, so we can safely say that this presentation is not to be missed. This is a free virtual event.
 
More details and to register: https://www.lincolnian.org/event-details/lincolns-greatest-speeches-6-pm-zoom-only
 
With Lincoln’s birthday, the 160th anniversary of the final Emancipation Proclamation, major Civil War events, and the 160th anniversary of the assassination all coming up soon, I’ll be incredibly busy over the next few months. Check out my Media page for upcoming events (and to see videos/audio links to previous events). 

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Year in a Traveler’s Life – 2022

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David and the Lion - TanzaniaSome followers will recall that my annual travel roundup has been called “The Year in Science Traveling” since its inception many years ago. I’ve decided to change it to “The Year in a Traveler’s Life” from this point forward to reflect my broader traveling experiences. Given my writing history, which I’ll capture shortly in my “writer’s life” annual post, much of my travel includes Lincoln-themed locations. That said, I still do a lot of science traveling and this year was no exception. In fact, it was almost a normal travel year after two-plus years of COVID travel restrictions. In 2022 I made my first overseas trips since I went to Cuba in May of 2019. It was nice to see more of the world again.

The travel year didn’t start well. We had planned a small ship cruise beginning and ending in Istanbul, Turkey. It would have taken us into the Black Sea with stops in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine (Odesa), Russia (Sochi), Georgia, and a few additional spots in Turkey (including Cappadocia). Although it was scheduled for September, by March it was clear that was not going to happen. Not surprisingly, the cruise was cancelled soon after Russia invaded Ukraine and our attention switched to focusing on supporting a Ukrainian friend with whom we had traveled previously. With the Black Sea off the table, we looked for alternatives and found a quick booking for a tour of Iceland, a place that has been on my bucket list for many years. Iceland was a wonderful experience as we circled the island, stopping at a seemingly infinite number of spectacular waterfalls. We also saw volcanoes, luckily all dormant at the moment. Not long after getting home there was a volcano spewing ash and lava not far from the airport we had traveled from. While there I saw the Eyjafjallajökull volcano that had disrupted air travel for weeks in 2010 while I was living in Brussels. Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice, and this trip certainly proved that catchphrase true. A truly amazing experience, including hiking behind a large waterfall (and getting drenched) and seeing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that passes through the island.

Meanwhile, around the time of our Iceland trip we committed to a photo safari in Tanzania, which we took in late November into early December. This was our first time in Africa, our sixth continent (still working on getting to Antarctica). The trip came about through a friend we’ve traveled with two times before. I had met her in 2013 when my first Tesla book was coming out (we were both involved with the Tesla Science Foundation and her mother is from Serbia, like Tesla). Since then, we’ve joined her and her travel organization, EuroCircle, on two trips. The first took us to Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia, one of the highlights of which was meeting the Prince and Princess of Serbia in the Royal Palace. The second was to Australia and New Zealand. This time we flew for over 13 hours to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, then another 2.5 hours to Arusha, Tanzania. After a night in a small hotel outside the city, we spent the following week in the bush, living in different tented lodges each night (including the one where giraffes and wildebeests snorted and roamed outside our tent all night). We saw thousands of animals – elephants, lions, wildebeest, buffalo, zebras, antelopes, cheetahs, leopards, and tons of bird species – as we wandered through three national parks (Tarangire, Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro) and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, plus the rift valley. We even did some sunrise ballooning over the Serengeti. I’ll have more stories and photos as I get the time to sort through them.

Besides the two overseas trips, we made two road trips up to New England. The first in June was to celebrate my mother’s milestone birthday, while the second was actually my first time in many years visiting family for Christmas. I’ve taken to adding side trips to these visits. Last year I tacked on a mini-vacation on Long Island on the trip up and this year’s June visit included a one-night stop in Hartford, CT to see an Abraham Lincoln tribute river walk complete with sculptures of various styles. For the Christmas trip, because of traffic and some tentative weather forecasts, there was no overnight stop but on the way, I steered the car into Concord, MA. I had started reading a book called The People of Concord just before the drive and wanted to learn more about the vibrant writer community there in the 1800s. I also wanted to stop at the Concord Museum because the Lincoln Memorial Centennial special exhibit that I had missed earlier in the year when it was in western Massachusetts was resident in Concord only until February. The exhibit and the Museum were both fabulous and well worth the stop. A brief side trip on the way back involved Henry Wilson, a Senator during the Civil War that played major roles in at least two Lincoln achievements (later he was Ulysses S. Grant’s second vice president).

There was one more short travel event in November. I attended the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA, where I gave some presentations and accepted the prestigious Wendy Allen Award on behalf of the Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am currently president.

Overall, it was a good travel year despite the challenges (not mention being busy with my book release, which I’ll talk more about in my annual writer’s life post).

So, what’s up for 2023?

Fingers crossed that we don’t get a resurgence of COVID or some other pandemic-related restrictions. But assuming a year at least as available as this one, 2023 should be a good travel year. We’re already booked on a Windstar small ship cruise in April from Lisbon to Barcelona with many stops along the way, including Casablanca, Morocco. That will give us a second country in Africa and a far different experience than Tanzania. Earlier in the April I’ll be doing a road trip to New England that will combine my previously planned “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” stops plus some more related to a possible new writing project. November will have the annual Lincoln Forum. Beyond that, the travel schedule is still in flux. There are a couple of big overseas options I’m considering for late in the year, but I would like to get some sort of travel – either overseas or road trip – in during the summer. I’ll also plan on road tripping to see family at least twice more in the year, plus some shorter day-tripping to see key locations less far afield. And of course, there are all those plans that the “COVID era” put on the back burner, so we’ll have to see what fits into my schedule. Stay tuned!

[Photo credit: Ru Sun (See the lion outside the window?)]

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Tanzania and Fire of Genius for the Holidays

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The end of November and beginning of December has been a whirlwind of traveling and Fire of Genius activities. I went to Tanzania, and now suddenly it’s time to order your signed copy of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius for the holidays.

One word I heard a lot in Tanzania was “Awesome!” Our small group visited several of Tanzania’s National Parks including Tarangire, Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area. There were all the big animals you expect to see on a photo safari, visits with three different indigenous peoples (including a morning hunt with the Hadzabe), and some of the most incredible vistas on the planet. There was even an unforgettable sunrise balloon ride over the Serengeti. I’m still digging out, but I’ll have more details and photos shortly. Here’s a taste:

Because of the trip, the timeline has jumped from Thanksgiving to the beginning of the December holidays. Which means time is getting short to buy copies of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. You can order or pick up at all the usual booksellers – Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, and ideally, your local independent bookstore. [If they don’t have it, ask them to order it] I also have first edition copies you can order direct from me if you want a signed book. I’ll even inscribe it the way you want, either for you or to whomever you plan to gift it to for Hanukkah or Christmas or the holiday (or birthday) of your choice. Want more information on the book? Check out the videos and podcasts on my Media page. More events are being added daily.

Order here for signed copies. Want a copy sooner – check out Barnes and Noble or your local independent bookstore.

The reception for the book has been wonderful, with many people reaching out to say how much they liked it and its unique view of Abraham Lincoln. In fact, one person in my Tanzania group said they had started reading it just before heading on the trip! As always, if you like the book, please leave a rating/review on Amazon, Goodreads, and similar places.

The holidays are coming quickly, and this time of year is notorious for heavy traffic by the usual shipping companies, so ORDER NOW to ensure you receive the book in time, either for yourself or as a gift for your loved ones.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Lincoln: The Fire of Genius on C-SPAN

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C-SPAN was present at my official book launch held on September 13, 2022, in conjunction with the Lincoln Group of DC dinner meeting. C-SPAN finally premiered the program on November 19, 2022, the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Appropriately enough, I was in Gettysburg all week attending the Lincoln Forum. It turned out to be an eventful week, including accepting an award.

The C-SPAN recording is now available for everyone to watch for free.

Fire of Genius on C-SPAN

You can click on the photo above or the link below to go to the video.

Fire of Genius on C-SPAN

I’ve been doing quite a few interviews and podcasts lately, some of which are already online while others should be shortly.

Listen to me on the Civil War Center’s podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-civil-war-center-podcast/id1620393643?i=1000585125550

Watch the interview with Daniel Weinberg at the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imIn8goWjBQ&t=1s

A live presentation I gave at Fort Myer for the Civil War Round Table of DC should be posted here shortly: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA6lRYb3u2qCsCwEe3xukHg

I was also interviewed for a nationally syndicated radio program called Our American Stories to be aired at some point in December. I’ll have more details on that when available.

You can check out more upcoming and past events on my Media page.

And if you missed it, you can watch the full C-SPAN video of the Lincoln Memorial Centennial celebration from May 22, 2022, which I emceed.

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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An Award, A Breakout, and A Feature at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg

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November 19, 2022 marked the 159th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. As is traditional, a commemoration is held on that date, along with a remembrance of “these honored dead.” The three days leading up to the event is also the annual Lincoln Forum, one of the premier Abraham Lincoln conferences in the nation. This year was special because I accepted an award, ran out breakout session, and in addition to a short presentation, was featured in the Lincoln Forum Bulletin. If that wasn’t enough, my book launch presentation from September also premiered on C-SPAN, appropriately enough on the morning of the Gettysburg remembrance.

Wendy Allen Award 2022 Let’s start with the award. As president of the Lincoln Group of DC, I was honored to accept the prestigious Wendy Allen Award given to the group by the Lincoln Forum. The annual award is given “to a Lincoln or Civil War institution or organization that has achieved widespread recognition for bringing learning, scholarship, and enlightenment to a wide public. The award comes in the form of a framed color print of an original Lincoln painting by acclaimed Gettysburg-based artist Wendy Allen, who generously makes her work available for the honorees.”

The Lincoln Group of DC was honored for its 87 years (and counting) contribution to Abraham Lincoln scholarship and public education. I was happy to acknowledge that long history and our most recent presidents going back a dozen years: John O’Brien, the late John Elliff, Karen Needles, and the late Buzz Carnahan, as well as at least a couple more former presidents present in the room. As one might expect from a group based in Washington, D.C., our membership has included congressmen and other key figures in government. But the group itself goes way beyond the district. Our members are located nationwide and have had far-reaching influences. Among our many accomplishments is the official naming of the old post office room in the U.S. Capitol the Lincoln Room,” complete with a bipartisan resolution, a sign, and a ceremony. We also organized in collaboration with the National Park Service and with co-sponsorship by the Lincoln Forum, the Lincoln Memorial Centennial commemoration in May 2022 (watch the C-SPAN recording of the event here). The group has done much, much more over the years. Membership is open to everyone interested in Abraham Lincoln, with local dinner meetings and monthly Zoom presentations. Our website is Lincolnian.org.

In addition to accepting the award on behalf of the Lincoln Group, I was kept busy with several personal and professional events during the three-day Forum. I participated in the book signing for my new book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, along with other Forum presenters. I found myself seated in between two of the great Lincoln scholars of all time: Frank Williams, the past chairman of the Forum, and Harold Holzer, the current chairman of the Forum. Also at my table was prolific Lincoln and Civil War author Jonathan W. White (vice chairman of the Forum), and Forum presenters/authors John Rhodehamel and Michael Green.

Lincoln Forum Lincoln Memorial articleI also led a breakout session about my book. About thirty people gathered to discuss Lincoln’s interests in science and technology. Joining me was Ed Steers. Like me, Ed had a full career as a scientist (he was at the National Institutes of Health) before turning to Lincoln scholarship. He is a renowned expert on Lincoln’s assassination as well as his early life and ancestry. Questions from the participants led us into discussions not only about my book, but also the broader issues of how scientific and historical research are similar and dissimilar, a topic I wrote about back in June in a post called “The Science of History.”

Like the scientific conferences I used to attend (SETAC was going on in Pittsburgh when I was in Gettysburg, with my book raising money for students in their silent auction), much of the benefit of in-person conferences like the Lincoln Forum is the chatting with other researchers about history in the hallways. This year led to some interesting new ideas for future research, plus a couple of invitations to present about my book in the spring. On Thursday night, immediately after accepting the award, I gave a brief recap of the Lincoln Memorial Centennial program we organized in May.

And that wasn’t everything that happened last week. I’ll have more on recorded presentations in the next post.

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.