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The Year in Science Traveling – 2018

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Water Buffalo, Boracay, PhilippinesI was traveling. That’s my excuse for being a bit tardy on this wrap of the year in science traveling, 2018. And what a year of traveling it was, with 8 new countries visited, plus a lot of domestic travel. Click on the links for stories about some of the stops.

It was a bit of a slow start, with only one significant trip in the first 2-1/2 months. The end of January took me to Sanibel Island and Fort Myers, Florida to visit the Thomas Edison/Henry Ford Winter Estates, the Mote Marine Lab (in Sarasota), and explore nature on Sanibel. February and March kept me mostly local with tons of Lincoln-related events, including a weekend trip to Newport News for the annual Battle of Hampton Roads event (including touring the facility with none other than Abraham Lincoln).

In April it really got busy travel-wise, a condition that didn’t let up for the rest of the year. Early in the month I was scheduled to give a presentation in West Virginia, after which I was starting my Chasing Abraham Lincoln, Part 1 tour. At the last minute I had to scrap the whole trip and instead drive up to Massachusetts where my father had gone into the hospital. After my return, virtually every day was filled with some sort of event, plus a short trip to Fredericksburg for the annual CPRC meeting.

I finally was able to take my Chasing Abraham Lincoln, Part 1 trip in early May. This had originally been planned for March, then due to a huge snowstorm in my target area put off to April, which as mentioned above was again rescheduled at the last moment. The road trip took me down to Tennessee and Lincoln Memorial University, where I spent the day in the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum. For the next 8 days I wound my up through Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky, his boyhood home in Indiana (with a day spent researching in the Allen County Public Library Lincoln Collection), then up to Michigan to see the actual chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated.

Windstar CruisesThe end of June put me on a Windstar Cruise into the Baltic Sea. Windstar specializes in small yacht cruises so we got to know the other 200 passengers well during the 11-day cruise. Starting in Copenhagen, we stopped in Bornholm, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Finland, the Aland Islands, and finally into Stockholm. Windstar offers such great cruises that this was the first of two we took in 2018.

Part 2 of my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour took place in mid-July. Over 9 days I zigzagged my way around Illinois to see dozens of Lincoln statues, all 7 of the Lincoln-Douglas debate sites, and other key locations related to research for my next Lincoln book. I even got to see Lincoln and Douglas debate in person.

August took me back up to Massachusetts to visit my family. I made three trips up in 2018, and each time my father was in the hospital or rehab so I never saw him at home. On this one I also drove up to Maine to visit my brother who had become President/CEO of the Schoodic Institute, a non-profit associated with Acadia National Park. On my return I picked up my son for a week’s stay in the DC area.

Crater LakeThree days later we flew out to Oregon to begin a 10-day road trip in early September starting in Crater Lake, up the Oregon coast, through the Columbia River Gorge, into eastern Washington state, through Idaho and into Montana to spend a couple of days in Glacier National Park.

Okay, breathe. The rest of September and October was time to catch up at home and prepare for the next trips. No, we weren’t done by a long shot.

From mid-November until Christmas we didn’t stop. I drove up to Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum conference. A day later I was driving to Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday. Then few days after that we were again on a plane, this time flying to Hong Kong to board our second Windstar Cruise for the year. For 14 days we toured five different parts of the Philippines (Hundred Islands, Manila, Boracay, Coron, Palawan), two parts of Malaysia on the island of Borneo (Kota Kinabalu and Kuching), and the tiny country of Brunei (officially, “Nation of Brunei, The Abode of Peace”). After finishing the cruise in Singapore we spent a four days exploring the city that spawned the book and movie, Crazy Rich Asians.

I flew home from Singapore less than a week before Christmas while Ru flew on to Beijing to spend a few days with her family. When she returned on Christmas eve she was accompanied by her mother, who will spend the next three months visiting.

Clearly 2018 was a busy year. I estimate that I took between 10,000 and 15,000 photos in one year, and going through them is always a slow process. Regular readers of this page will have seen many of the trip posts I’ve done during the year and I’ll continue to write posts to catch up. How quickly that happens will depend on how much time my upcoming travel and writing allows.

So what about 2019? Trips are already booked for Costa Rica and Cuba and I am planning a Part 3 of Chasing Abraham Lincoln, proven necessary after I realized how much I missed on the previous two trips. I’ve had tentative plans to rent an apartment in Paris in the spring to do research for a forthcoming book, but so far haven’t done much to prepare for it. I’ll plan at least one family trip to New England with the likelihood it will end up being two or three trips. I’ll definitely be at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg. Where else I go is still rather fuzzy. Domestic options include a Southwest road trip, Chicago, Charleston, and various other Lincoln-related sites. International travel options currently on the radar include Iceland, Banff, Galapagos, and Antarctica/South America.

And somewhere in there I need to keep writing. I was able to write during sea days on both Windstar Cruises, but usually I’m so busy on travel that I can’t get much done on the road (other than writing about the current trip itself, which some day will be fodder for Bill Bryson-ish travel memoirs).

As Mark Twain wrote in Innocents Abroad:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Happy Science Traveling!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and 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!

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Abraham Lincoln Book Acquisitions for 2018

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Lincoln book towerMy Abraham Lincoln book collection continues to grow, quickly filling the new library space I created last year. I acquired 69 new Lincoln books in 2018. This compares to 59 in 2017, 43 in 2016, and 59 and 60 books obtained in 2015 and 2014, respectively. My big year was the 98 books in 2013.

The oldest book acquired was published in 1893, while the newest book was officially published in 2019 (released in December 2018). Of the 69 books, 10 were new books published in 2018 (plus the one 2019 official date). I was able to find books from a variety of places. In addition to the usual Amazon/Barnes and Noble, books came to me from various library books sales, used book stores (including Bob’s Bookstore in Charleston, IL), and at stops during my two big Chasing Abraham Lincoln road trips. I also picked up books at the annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA, plus won a couple of books in the Lincoln Group of DC and Civil War Round Table of DC raffles.

The list of books follows my signature block. Among them are some unique examples of Lincoln scholarship: Lincoln and the Irish by Niall O’Dowd; They Knew Lincoln by John Washington (originally published in 1942 and reprinted in 2018 with an introduction by Kate Masur); a set of five small booklets with new Introductions by preeminent Lincoln scholars; and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times. Look for my published review of Goodwin’s book in the next issue of Civil War Times magazine.

Several of the books are signed and inscribed to me by their authors. Both Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White inscribed my copy of their book, Our Little Monitor, during the annual Battle of Hampton Roads conference this year. I’m doubly honored because Anna says it was the very first book she has ever signed for a fan. During the Lincoln Forum I was happy to have conversations with and get my copies of their books inscribed by David Blight (Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom), Kate Masur (They Knew Lincoln), and Harold Holzer (Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French). French, of course, is the man who created the iconic statue of Lincoln that graces the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I’m sure I’ll continue to collect dozens of new (and new to me) Lincoln books in 2019. My new library shelves seem to be filling up rather quickly, so I may have to start planning where I’m going to put the overflow. Maybe I need to buy a bigger house.

I’m hard at work on my new Abraham Lincoln book, plus beginning the process of editing a compendium volume for the Lincoln Group of DC. If that wasn’t enough, on my most recent travel to Asia I started writing a historical science fiction novel featuring Lincoln and his science adviser, Joseph Henry. My previous Lincoln book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is into a second printing and available at Barnes and Noble stores nationwide.

Also, if you’re not already a member of the Lincoln Group of DC, please consider joining. In addition to the monthly dinner meetings with Lincoln scholar presentations, we have a monthly Lincoln book study group, periodic special events, tours, and more. And with a new year approaching, we’re planning to introduce even more to our members, including new activities for students and non-scholars. Take a look at our Lincoln Group of DC website and contact me or any of the other officers for more information.

Finally, a reminder that I’ve begun something I call the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project in which I plan to catalog the known books about Abraham Lincoln. I’ll include only actual books, not other documents and not pamphlets. As the website develops I’ll add a searchable database, book reviews, lists of books by topic (e.g., assassination, general biography, law career), and summary papers for those topics. The idea is to create a useful resource for both Lincoln researchers and the general public. Check out the blog and stay tuned.

See the 2017 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and 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!

Here is the 2018 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]

Abraham Lincoln: A Living Legacy: A Guide to Three Abraham Lincoln National Park Sites 2008
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: A Tribute of the Nations 2009
Lincoln: Legacy of the Great Emancipator (Intro by Edna Greene Medford) 2009
Lincoln and His Critics (Intro by Eric Foner) 2009
Lincoln as Self-Made Man (Intro by Catherine Clinton) 2009
Lincoln as American Redeemer (Intro by Harold Holzer) 2009
Lincoln as Literary Genius (Intro by Ted Widmer) 2009
Abrams, Dan and Fisher, David Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency 2018
Alter, Donald R. The Lincoln Legend and Other Programs 1956
Arnold, Isaac N. The Life of Abraham Lincoln 1893
Baker, C.T. Sand Creek Landing Greets the Lincolns: An Historical Sketch of Pioneer Days in This Community and County 1931
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom 2018
Burlingame, Michael Lincoln and the Civil War 2011
Burstein, Andrew Lincoln Dreamt He Died: The Midnight Visions of Remarkable Americans From Colonial Times to Freud 2013
Carwardine, Richard Lincoln’s Sense of Humor 2017
Carwardine, Richard and Sexton, Jay (Eds) The Global Lincoln 2011
Chapman, Ervin Latest Light on Abraham Lincoln and War-time Memories 1917
DeRose, Chris The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them 2014
Donald, David Herbert (ed) Inside Lincoln’s Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase 1954
Fornieri, Joseph R. The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln 2003
Fraysse, Olivier (translated by Sylvia Neely) Lincoln, Land, and Labor, 1809-60 1994
Freehling, William W. Becoming Lincoln 2018
Furtwangler, Albert Assassin on Stage: Brutus, Hamlet, and the Death of Lincoln 1991
Goodwin, Doris Kearns Leadership in Turbulent Times 2018
Gross, Ruth Belov True Stories About Abraham Lincoln 1973
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Ideas 2009
Guttridge, Leonard F. and Neff, Ray A. Dark Union: The Secret Web of Profiteers, Politicians, and Booth Conspirators That Led to Lincoln’s Death 2003
Hogan, Michael Abraham Lincoln and Mexico: A History of Courage, Intrigue, and Unlikely Friendships 2016
Holloway, Anna Gibson and White, Jonathan W. Our Little Monitor: Theh Greatest Invention of the Civil War 2018
Holmes, Fred L. Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way: The Log Book of a Pilgrim to the Lincoln Country 1930
Holzer, Harold Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French 2019
Jepsen, Thomas C. My Sisters Telegraphic: Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846-1950 2000
Johnson, David Alan The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-By-Day Account of His Personal, Political, and Military Challenges 2018
Kauffman, Michael W. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies 2004
Kauffman, Michael W. In the Footsteps of an Assassin: An Illustrated History and Guided Tour of the Lincoln Assassination and Escape Route of John Wilkes Booth 2012
King, C.J. Four Marys and a Jessie: The Story of the Lincoln Women 2005
Larson, Kate Clifford The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln 2008
Lehrman, Lewis E. Lincoln & Churchill: Statesmen at War 2018
Maihafer, Harry J. War of Words: Abraham Lincoln & The Civil War Press 2001
McGinnis, Ralph Y. and Smith, Calvin N. (Eds) Abraham Lincoln and the Western Territories 1994
McPherson, James M. (Ed) “We Cannot Escape History”: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth 1995
Morris, Roy Jr. The Long Pursuit: Abraham Lincoln’s Thirty-Year Struggle With Stephen Douglas For The Heart and Soul of America 2008
Nathan, Adele Gutman The First Transatlantic Cable 1959
Neely, Mark E. Jr. The Boundaries of American Political Culture in the Civil War Era 2005
Neely, Mark E. Jr. Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War 2017
Nicolay, Helen The Boys’ Life of Abraham Lincoln 1933
Niebuhr, Gustav Lincoln’s Bishop: A President A Priest, and the Fate of 300 Dakota Sioux Warriors 2014
North, Sterling Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House 1956
O’Dowd, Niall Lincoln and the Irish: The Untold Story of How the Irish Helped Abraham Lincoln Save the Union 2018
Ostendorf, Lloyd Abraham Lincoln: The Boy, The Man 1962
Pitch, Anthony S. They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance 2018
Pratt, Harry E. Concerning Mr. Lincoln: In Which Abraham Lincoln is Pictured as he Appeared to Letter Writers of his Time 1944
Puleo, Stephen The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War 2012
Randall, J.G. Lincoln and the South 1946
Ross, Ishbel The President’s Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln 1973
Segal, Charles M. (Editor, Compiler and Annotator) Conversations with Lincoln 1961
Simon, John Y., Holzer, Harold, and Vogel, Dawn (Eds) Lincoln Revisited 2007
Speed, Joshua Fry Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, And Notes on a Visit to California 2014
Starr, John W., Jr. Lincoln and the Railroads 1927
Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright Lincoln 1922
Striner, Richard Lincoln’s Way: How Six Great Presidents Created American Power 2012
Tackach, James Lincoln and the Natural Environment 2019
Tucker, Wilson The Lincoln Hunters 1958
Turner, Justin G. and Turner, Linda Levitt Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters 1987
Villard, Harold G. and Oswald Garrison Lincoln on the Eve of ’61: A Journalist’s Story by Henry Villard 1941
Washington, John E. with introduction by Kate Masur They Knew Lincoln 2018
Weaver, John D. Tad Lincoln: Mischief-Maker in the White House 1963
White, Ronald C. Jr. A. Lincoln: A Biography 2009
Abraham Lincoln 1958

 

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Nikola Tesla Has Died – Nikola Tesla Lives On!

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Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla passed away 75 years ago, on January 7, 1943.

As I noted in Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity:

Tesla died in a lonely two-room suite—Room 3327 on the thirty-third floor, appropriately divisible by three—at the Hotel New Yorker in midtown Manhattan, not far from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. This was just a few months before the Supreme Court upheld his original patent and gave Tesla credit for invention of the radio. Unfortunately for Tesla, this was long after Marconi had received a Nobel Prize in 1909 on technological ideas “borrowed” from Tesla. While he had become a naturalized American citizen over a half-century earlier, Tesla’s cremated remains now rest in a spherical “Tesla ball”–shaped urn at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.

I had the privilege of a private meeting with the Tesla museum director in Belgrade as they were reopening after a renovation in 2016. I’ve stayed in the room next to his at the New Yorker Hotel. I’ve watched Tesla come to off-Broadway.To be among the artifacts of the man is inspiring.

Tesla New Yorker

Tesla lives on in the 21st Century in the form of electric car companies, movies, computer simulations, videos, books, and television. His last laboratory, Wardenclyffe, is once again rising on Long Island to become a Tesla museum and science center (look for my brick!). More and more people are becoming aware of Tesla’s contributions to science and to modern America.

Nikola TeslaI’m happy to say that I’ve played a small role in bringing more recognition to the man. My book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, has just gone into its 8th printing, meaning the number of books in print approaches 100,000. It has also been translated into at least four foreign languages, with more on the horizon.

Because of my book and others, many who had never heard of Tesla, the man (or confused him with Tesla, the car company), have discovered the unique brilliance and personality of a man once held in the highest esteem but for too long forgotten.

Nikola Tesla died 75 years ago, but he lives on today. Share the knowledge.

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!

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2015

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Science TravelerSomehow I managed not to travel anywhere in February, June, and August. But for the other nine months I had at least one out-of-town trip. It was a very good year in Science Traveling. I’ve finished traveling for the year so it’s time for a quick recap.

January: Everglades, Key West, and the Dry Tortugas. Besides seeing the prison cells that held the Lincoln assassination conspirators I discovered that Ernest Hemingway was a crazy cat lady. I also discovered the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach.

March: A relatively local trip to the eastern shore of Maryland in which I unexpectedly came upon skeleton road at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. I also checked in to the marine biology lab I once worked in, plus a wine tasting in St. Michaels.

April: Another semi-local trip for the annual CPRC scientific conference, this one a full-day affair at the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD.

May: I started May in New England on a writer’s retreat in my old home town. I ended May in Scandinavia on a tour of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Bergen (with stops on the fjords). I even came across a few surprises.

July: The 4th of July brought me back to my home town for the holiday, then a road trip up to Quebec City and Montreal. On the way back the route took us on a quest for used book stores in western Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. One of the highlights was Montmorency Falls.

September: A busy fall began with a trip to New York City, where I got up close with the Statue of Liberty, saw the top of the world from the Empire State Building, the bottom of the world in the new World Trade Center Memorial and Museum, and some aircraft carriers/submarines/space shuttles.

October: Ah, Paris in the spring, er, the fall. For once the weather cooperated and the Eiffel Tower was amazing. In two short days we squeezed in a lot of venues, including Musee d’Orsay and the Pompidou Centre, then took the train through the Chunnel to London. Unfortunately I spent most of my time in the latter city hopping around on one foot.

November: The morning after returning from London I was on a plane to Salt Lake City for the annual SETAC meeting, where I picked up the award for Outstanding Regional Chapter Member. Ten days after my return I was in Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum conference. And then my parents visited me for 10 days. November was a very busy month.

December: December seems low-key given that the sole trip was a long weekend to New Orleans. Okay, technically that isn’t the last trip of the year as we likely will drive up to Amish country in Pennsylvania for the Christmas weekend, but that will actually feel like a nice break from a year of science traveling.

And it was, in fact, science traveling. Every trip had some connection to a book I’m researching or a future book in the plans. It’s amazing how much science (and Lincoln and Tesla and Edison) there is when you look for it. The July 4th trip, for example, included stops in two of Thomas Edison’s most iconic laboratories, and New Orleans has a plaque at Thomas Edison Place. Lincoln was everywhere (including New Orleans).

When I wasn’t science traveling I was writing a book, two books in fact. Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World is finished and will be in Barnes and Noble bookstores in 2016. I also published an e-book available on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. If that wasn’t enough to keep me busy I also have read 94 books this year (with two weeks to go), chaired a scientific committee, attended various local Abraham Lincoln dinners, lectures, and symposiums, and served as a Vice President in the Lincoln Group of DC.

Next year should be even busier!

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Science Traveling the Great Capitals of the World

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I’ve been lucky enough in recent years to travel to three dozen countries on four continents. Over the next several weeks I’ll be science traveling in a handful of the great capitals of the world.

I got started on this trek a week or so ago in New York City. Technically it isn’t a capital, but if you asked any non-American (and perhaps most Americans) to name our greatest city they most likely would name New York. On this occasion I spent some touristy time at the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial, and the aircraft carrier Intrepid (which also has the Space Shuttle Enterprise).

Statue of Liberty

But NYC is the beginning of my fall travels. Next up is a weekend in Paris, the capital of France:

The artist in Paris

Followed by a week in London, the capital of the UK:

London from the Eye

To be followed immediately by Salt Lake City (the capital of Utah) for the SETAC meeting, where I’ll pick up an award. And then on to Gettysburg to attend a conference and commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s famous address.

Gettysburg Tweet

Which reminds me that I skipped an event. On October 20th I’ll be the featured speaker for the Lincoln Group of DC. My topic is “Lincoln and Technology,” which allows me to blend my two favorite topics. Sign up now on the Lincoln Group web page.

I’ll have more from the road as connections allow, and many stories after my return(s).

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Nikola Tesla the Pop Icon

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Nikola Tesla has largely been ignored in the history books, but he has had a resurgence  in pop culture. This point was driven home this weekend when I received the following “must-have” item from my cousin Sue:

Tesla Pot Belly

Pot belly isn’t alone in embracing Nikola Tesla as a pop icon. There are bobble heads:

Tesla bobblehead

Incredibly cool artisan chairs:

Nikola Tesla Chair by Scott Mulcahey

Chair by Scott Mulcahey, Photograph by Charles Mulcahey

And even Tesla as a science fiction superhero:

Superhero Tesla

Tesla has been in the movies too. He was played by none other than rock legend David Bowie in the film, The Prestige (also starring some other actors you may have heard of – Hugh Jackman [Wolverine], Christian Bale [Batman], Scarlett Johansson [Lucy], and Michael Caine [perhaps every movie ever made]). You can even help support another movies that has done so much to protect and restore Wardenclyffe – Fragments from Olympus: The Vision of Nikola Tesla and its companion, Tower to the People.

Nikola TeslaThere are many other pop icon examples of Nikola Tesla as well. And you can help collect them. Post photos of Tesla as pop icon on my Facebook author page, or leave them in comments here or on my Fan Photos and Fun page, and I’ll post them!

Tesla in pop culture is also covered in my book, and I’m happy to announce that the 7th printing of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is in Barnes and Noble stores this month. It’s companion, my e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time is available for direct download on Amazon.

For counterpoint, check out my book on Thomas Edison, in which I give Tesla his rightful due. Meanwhile, check out the latest from Tesla Takes Manhattan.

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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Fan Photos and Fun

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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.

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Martin Luther King Day – From Selma to Nobel

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Martin Luther KingOn this day we celebrate and honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. More importantly, we relive the struggle to break the institutionalized discrimination against a large percentage of our fellow Americans. As Lincoln once suggested in a different situation, it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Leading a non-violent revolution by example, King began a series of activities to engage the African-American minority population while also reaching out to key leaders of the white majority. As President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and laying the operational techniques of Ghandi over a Christian ideal, he led boycotts, protests, and marches. He was often beaten by mobs, jailed, and belittled, yet continued his campaign of non-violence and quiet, yet persistent, persuasion.

Eventually, some semblance of equality was gained with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In that same year, Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Unfortunately, the Civil Rights Act didn’t miraculously stop discrimination, and local authorities and white majority populations continued to use intimidation to block full rights of citizenship for the black minority, including the ability to register for the vote. In 1965, King led a march from Selma, Alabama to the capital, Montgomery. The march is the topic of a new movie called, appropriately enough, Selma. This led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. See the trailer for Selma below:

But bigots don’t give up easily, and King continued to receive threats on his life. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. A few weeks later, Robert F. Kennedy, another advocate for civil rights, was assassinated.

We’ve come a long way in the 50 years since then. An African-American has now been elected – and reelected – to the Presidency of the United States. And yet we get daily reminders that bigotry and racism, while perhaps more subtle, even insidious, have not gone away.

For those in the Washington, DC area, take some time to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial near the tidal basin. Here is a previous post about it.

For more on President Barack Obama’s connections with Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln, check out the articles here (scroll down for more). Join him and others for a day of service to the community.

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

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Nikola Tesla has his own App for iPhone and Android

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David J. Kent - Tesla Days 2013One of the most amazing things about Nikola Tesla was that he was a man far ahead of his time. He pushed for renewable energy as early as 1895 at Niagara Falls. In 1898 he was demonstrating a remote controlled boat in Madison Square Garden. He patented a vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft in 1928.  He even predicted that in the future there would be “an inexpensive receiver, not bigger than a watch, [that] will enable [any telephone subscriber] to listen anywhere, on land or sea, to a speech delivered or music played in some other place, however distant.”

Now there is an app for that.

Today, Tesla’s “inexpensive receiver” is in virtually everyone’s pocket, whether it be an iPhone, an Android device, or one of the many other handheld mini-computers that allow us to listen to music, speeches, even to watch television programs. So befitting Tesla’s vision of the future, the Tesla Science Foundation has created an app that facilitates keeping up with the many Tesla-related activities.

TSF app logo

The app is interactive. In fact, holders are asked to help populate the app with photographs taken at Tesla events, as well as other Tesla photos and memes. Download the app, upload your photos!

Tesla app photo gallery

There are screens that contain, and will contain, information on Tesla’s life, his patents, even documents available.

Tesla informationThe main screen shows a rotation of the logo, the meetup group, event photos, and more. At the bottom of the screen there are a series of buttons (four are shown at a time, but swipe sideways to see the others appear). You can quickly tap into upcoming events, photos, background information, social media, and even submit your own photos and write on a fan wall.

TSF main screen

The Tesla Science Foundation has done a great service to everyone with an interest in Nikola Tesla by creating this app. And you can help too. Some of the features are not yet fully functional, and there is room to add many great photos, so users should feel free to submit their pictures and offer suggestions for future updates. The app screenshots I provide above come from the iPhone version via iTunes, but the app also is available for Android devices so the screens may differ slightly. All in all this app is a great way to help spread the word of Nikola Tesla.

I’ll end with a reminder that there is another app under development by Brian Yetzer. I talked about his augmented reality app in a previous article.

Finally, don’t forget to join us at the New Yorker Hotel on January 11, 2014. View the program (both the Conference and Spirit Awards) here. Don’t miss out.

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.

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.

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Mano Divina and the Divine Hand

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I’m at Tesla Days in Philadelphia. Last night was a reception with a variety of Tesla-related lectures, all of which were great. But the highlight of the evening was a performance by Mano Divina and his accompanying band, The Divine Hand.

Mano Divina

I’ll post more on Mano and the Tesla Days events when I have better computer access, but here’s a tickler from an earlier Tesla event (scroll down for the video).

Order Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity now!

I’ll continue to post periodically to my Facebook page during Tesla Days and will be back with a whole lot more after my trip.