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I’ve Been Thinking – International Women’s Day

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International Women's DayI’m not prone to overthinking things. Okay, I am prone to overthinking things. Or am I? Yes, I am. I think. In any case, lately I’ve been ruminating over the role of women in society.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Women’s March on Washington. It turned out there were so many women in Washington that they filled the entire march route without actually having to march. Hundreds of other events were staged in unison at cities around the world. These women, and men, were protesting the inauguration of a vulgar misogynist con man. At the time I asked whether the pink hats could save us.

Tomorrow Today (March 8, 2017) is another day of protest billed as “A Day Without A Woman.” Women all over America (and perhaps the world) will choose not to work so they can join various walkouts, rallies, and marches. At least a few school systems have already announced the cancellation of school given the number of female teachers who have requested leave that day.

As I ruminate over the effectiveness of such activity, I recognize that there is a sort of privilege to those who have the option to not work that day. Many women – probably most women – don’t have that option, fearing loss of employment, harassment, and dysfunction. Mothers are likely to find it difficult “not to work” when their children need to get to and from school/sports/doctors/libraries/etc. As much as men may (or may not) try to fill in the gaps, the idea of surviving a day without the contributions of women seems impossible.

Which, I suppose, is the point. How many of us men (and children, and even other women) take the women in our lives for granted. Consider what would happen in the workplace without women. Most secretaries (professional assistants) remain women, as do support staff like accounting, human resources, and other traditionally female jobs. But many men might have missed the fact that women now also constitute a large, and growing, proportion of what had once been traditional male jobs – lawyers, scientists, CEOs, etc. During my career in the consulting sciences I recall clearly in the early days where the occasional woman among the men in regulatory meetings was a novelty. Now it is commonly the opposite.

To be honest, if all women chose not to work tomorrow, the world would come to a standstill. Perhaps again, that is the point. Perhaps we need this slap in the face to help us notice what should be obvious. Perhaps it’s also a good reminder to women of their power to affect change.

“A Day Without A Woman” coincides, intentionally, with International Women’s Day. In much of the world for over a century, International Women’s Day is “a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity.” This year’s theme is #BeBoldforChange.

Methinks this is a good idea.

Since I’m not a woman I understand that all I can do is acknowledge and support those women around me. I can ruminate, if you will, on my own place in society. I can be more cognizant of my own actions, my own biases, my own (unintended) sexism. I can be a better man. And that includes appreciating all the better women who surround me.

[Reposted from Hot White Snow]

David J. Kent is a 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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Lincoln Was a Typical Boy, and Atypical Man

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Abraham Lincoln has been revered as a typical rags-to-riches story – the young boy of meager means who rose to become our greatest president. In Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, I wrote:

Things were going so well that both Sarah and Abraham were allowed, at least briefly, to attend local schools. When not in school or laboring on the farm, Abraham was a typical boy who got into scrapes; corporal punishment from both father and mother was not uncommon. On one occasion he fell into Knob Creek and his playmate Austin Gollaher saved him from drowning. Rather than run home to be coddled in response to the trauma of his near-death escape, Abraham dried his clothes in the sun for fear his mother would give him “a good thrashing.” Later he was kicked in the head by a horse and “apparently killed for a time.”

Lincoln Graphic Story 2

Of course he wasn’t that typical. Unlike many of his companions at an early age, Lincoln always sought intellectual stimulation. His father would berate him, even beat him, for putting off work in the fields to stop and read whatever book he was able to borrow. Lincoln the young boy learned as much as he could, which positioned Lincoln the young man to become involved in local politics and Lincoln the adult man to become the nation’s leader.

He never gave up that love of life, even as he dealt with the conflict of Civil War. Much to other political leaders chagrin, Lincoln would read from a humorist’s writings – often the adventures of Petroleum V. Nasby – before sitting down to serious business with his cabinet. The guy who would hold up children so they could leave muddy footprints on the ceiling in New Salem was the same guy who dealt with the horrors of slavery and war.

Lincoln started off life as a typical frontier boy, and ended his life as a wholly unique man who shepherded us through our darkest hours.

More in Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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

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Was Thomas Edison Dim-Witted?

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Young Thomas EdisonIt was not easy for the young Thomas Edison to get an education. In the fall of 1854, Little Al (as he was then known) was enrolled in the school of Reverend G. B. Engle, a strict disciplinarian who taught by rote. The easily distracted Al didn’t do well under such conditions, and ran away. The reverend’s wife called Edison “addled” and “dreamy,” neither of which was intended as a compliment. Furious, Edison’s strong-willed mother pulled him from the school and home-schooled him with a rigorous regimen studying a variety of subjects, reading literature, and memorizing. Above all else, Edison was a voracious reader. With his mother’s guidance, he read Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Hume’s History of England, Sears’ History of the World, Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, and the Dictionary of Sciences.

Later, during a brief attendance at the Union School in Port Huron, Richard Green Parker’s A School Compendium of Natural and Experimental Philosophy fed his growing interest in science. Another favorite book was Carl Fresenius’ System of Instruction in Chemical Analyses. He tried to read Newton’s Principia, but later admitted he was stymied by the math, which was beyond his capability. With that exception, his excellent memory allowed him to retain virtually everything he read.

If ever there was a man who tore the heart out of books it is Edison, and what has been read by him is never forgotten if useful or worthy of submission to the test of experiment.

Early on Edison displayed a trait that would bode well for his chosen avocation: He questioned everything. Ironically, this led his father to wonder if he was a bit dim-witted. Little Al had to know everything, and he nearly drove his father to exhaustion with his incessant inquiries. One early biographer described young Edison as having “the inquisitiveness of a red squirrel.” He hung around shipbuilders and asked them question after question about building ships, steam power, sailing, and whatever else he could think of. To say he was a curious child would be an understatement.

Young Edison developed a profound interest in chemistry, building up a collection of some 200 bottles of chemicals in the family basement, duly labeled “Poison” to keep away prying eyes. Visits to local drug store proprietors, and his incessant inquisitiveness, made him knowledgeable about most chemicals. He began doing experiments from chemistry and physics books he got from the local library, and had “tested to his satisfaction many of the statements encountered in his scientific reading.” His experiments made him familiar with the workings of early electrical batteries and the production of current, knowledge that would come in handy in his life as an electrical wizard.

[Adapted from my book, Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World]

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

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John Quincy Adams Died in Lincoln’s Presence – A Book About Both

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John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States. What many people do not know is that after his presidency he was elected to the US House of Representatives, where he served for 18 more years. He died on February 23, 1848 on the House floor during Abraham Lincoln’s one term as a US Congressman. Lincoln served on Adams’s funeral committee.

Fred Kaplan is known for his biographies, Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer and John Quincy Adams, American Visionary, as well as biographies of Mark Twain, Gore Vidal, Henry James, and others. His most recent book is called Lincoln and the Abolitionists: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Civil War. I recently read Lincoln and the Abolitionists and provide the following review, also posted on Goodreads.

Lincoln and the Abolitionists: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Civil War by Fred Kaplan (Harpercollins, 2017, 357 pp)

As a Lincoln scholar, this was a tough book to read for a variety of reasons. Kaplan is obviously enamored of John Quincy Adams, the subject of one of his previous biographies. The book contrasts Adams’s attitudes and actions regarding slavery with Lincoln’s, finding Lincoln sorely lacking because he wasn’t an active abolitionist. The author also seems to channel Wendell Phillips, the northern abolitionist that mirrored the extremism of the southern pro-slavery firebrands. Phillips also happens to be one of Lincoln’s greatest critics, and at times it appears Kaplan is Phillips in his treatment of Lincoln.

Much of the first half of the book focuses on John Quincy Adams, while the latter half focuses on Abraham Lincoln. This is entirely appropriate as the two are found in two different eras of political strife, with Adams literally dying in the House chambers while Lincoln likely sat in the back of the same room as a single-term Congressman. Adams likely listened to Lincoln’s extended speechifying in the House during his “spot” resolution discussions, which attacked President Polk’s decision to invade Mexico. Adams would have agreed with Lincoln’s views, including the argument that the rationale for the Mexican War was to gain territory in which to expand slavery.

Kaplan’s writing almost deifies Adams’s contribution to the abolition debate, not the least of which included pressuring despite the “gag rule” that forbade even the discussion of how to end slavery. In contrast, Kaplan barely gives Lincoln credit for any contribution to the end of slavery. Kaplan paints Lincoln as “an anti-slavery moralist who believed in an exclusively white America” and Adams as “an antislavery activist who had no doubt the US would become a multiracial nation.” He threads this rather tenuous premise throughout the narrative, using it repeatedly to drive his opinion that Lincoln was a reluctant emancipator who did nothing until he was pushed to do so by others and by circumstances. He carries this premise and repeats it ad nauseam throughout the book. Lincoln is to blame, in Kaplan’s opinion, for the war, for slavery continuing, and for taking the chance that the South might come back into the Union after the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, thus potentially returning the Union to a pre-war status, i.e., with slavery intact.

There is certainly room for debate on the various issues discussed, but while Kaplan says in his preface that the book honors both Adams and Lincoln, he clearly honors one and holds back credit for the other. The perspective is worth reading, but should not be taken at face value; additional knowledge of events must also be brought in to make the discussion more fact-based.

Regarding fact, Kaplan makes many errors of fact, from minor (Lincoln’s first inaugural was on March 4, 1861, not March 6) to horrendous (he discusses for several pages that Tennessee had not left the Union [It did]). He also claims “Confederates had been driven out of Louisiana early in the war” which isn’t true; only part of Louisiana returned to Union hands. He discusses in depth how Lincoln actively replaced Hamlin with Johnson, which is overstating the case tremendously as Lincoln’s role was likely very limited. He states that Lincoln “called Hannibal Hamlin to Springfield” and told him he wanted him as a running mate, which isn’t true. Lincoln didn’t meet Hamlin until after the two of them had been separately nominated at the Republican convention in Chicago (where neither of them was present). Other errors are laced throughout the book.

Which is a bit confusing because otherwise the book is well researched and documented. Likely Kaplan had a greater understanding of Adams because of his previous biography, but he also wrote a The Biography of a Writer about Lincoln, so the errors are a mystery. The organization of the book also makes it a tough read. Kaplan hops around in time and space, not only from page to page but paragraph to paragraph. This makes it sometimes difficult to follow the thought processes. At one point, for example, he starts to talk about the Matson case, in which Lincoln co-counseled with noted racist (and family friend) Usher Linder on the side of a man trying to retain his slaves. But after a few lines indicating he would discuss it, he veers off on a tangent, then returns to it a few pages later, only to give a quick introduction and veer off again before finally coming back to the case several pages down the road.

So would I recommend the book? Yes, and no. I do think he provides some interesting perspectives and good background, especially about John Quincy Adams, Wendell Phillips, and a cast of lesser known characters important to the slavery discussion. But I would caution that prior to digging in, readers should have a broader understanding of Lincoln’s attitudes and roles, and be careful of significant errors of fact. As I know less about Adams I can’t determine if there are errors or premise conflicts in the sections dealing with him. But readers without a good understanding of Lincoln should be wary of taking the ideas presented in the book at face value. Those with knowledge might find that knowledge challenged, though not always correctly or persuasively.

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

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Abraham Lincoln Debates Stephen A. Douglas AND Frederick Douglass

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Last week was a busy week for Abraham Lincoln activities and the fun continues this week. I’m looking forward to Thursday, February 22nd at the National Archives for a once-in-a-lifetime meeting of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and Frederick Douglass. And if seeing these three men in person wasn’t enough, it’s a free event!

The Lincoln-Douglas(s) Debates: Known and Unknown

Date: Thursday, February 22, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: William G. McGowan Theater, Washington, DC

Join us for an unusual and lively performance featuring Abraham Lincoln (portrayed by George Buss) and political opponent Stephen A. Douglas (portrayed by Tim Connors) as they look back to their famous debates over slavery and equality in the 1858 U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois. Following the first debate, we will present the “Unknown Lincoln-Douglass,” an “imagining” of a debate between Lincoln (portrayed by George Buss) and Frederick Douglass (portrayed by Phil Darius Wallace). Though they met at the White House several times, Abraham Lincoln and African-American leader Frederick Douglass never publicly argued the crucial issues of slavery, freedom, and racial justice. This is the Lincoln-Douglass debate that never happened—using words from their actual correspondence and commentary. Historian Harold Holzer will moderate and bring Lincoln and Douglass face-to-face for an unprecedented confrontation.

More information and how to register in advance: http://www.lincolngroup.org/feb2018b.html

This event will only happen once. Do not miss it!

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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Nikola Tesla Believed Fossil Fuels Were “Barbarous”

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“It is quite evident, though, that this squandering cannot go on indefinitely, for geological investigations prove our fuel stores to be limited. So great has been the drain on them of late years that the specter of exhaustion is looming up threateningly in the distance…”
– Nikola Tesla

Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla believed that the thermo-dynamic process, i.e., the burning of fossil fuels, was “wasteful and barbarous.” In particular he singled out coal; at the time in greater use than natural gas and oil, which were slightly less dirty but rapidly extending in use. Despite these warnings from Tesla, we would all grow to become dependent, some would even say addicted, to these fossil fuels as taxpayer subsidies and government investment in national infrastructure would help make them cheap and accessible. Renewables like wind and solar, of course, did not enjoy government subsidies at that time, and were thus severely disadvantaged.

The mining of coal was especially problematic, Tesla noted, because despite some modern improvement, it still involved significant “dangers to the unfortunates who are condemned to toil deep in the bowels of the earth.” While oil and natural gas were somewhat safer in this regard, (drilling to depth avoided sending people underground), these sources still presented the problem of being finite. Tesla understood that fossil-based resources would eventually run out. And before that would happen, we would reach some level at which the costs of extraction would exceed the revenues that could be earned, making it economically unfeasible.

To this reality we can add the costs that are not accurately captured. Many of these additional costs have been “externalized,” i.e., shifted from the companies that are extracting fossil fuels onto the greater shoulders of society. This includes costs of pollution, particulates and aerosols released to the air, frequent oil spills, catastrophic ecological damage from mountaintop mining, and the rising costs of fossil fuel-related public health and safety concerns. Now that we fully understand the cause of man-made climate change, the trillions of dollars in costs associated with global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels can be added to the total. Even if we ignore these societal costs, the fossil fuel industry receives tremendous levels of taxpayer subsidy in order to artificially create an “economically feasible” industry. If these externalized costs were factored into an honest free market, the lack of economic viability of the continued use of fossil fuels for energy would become as clear now as it was to Tesla.

Another cost often ignored is national security. The Middle East, Russia, Venezuela, and other hotbeds of discord all represent globally important sources of fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas. As one Tesla researcher noted in an apt analogy given Tesla’s interest in pigeons, “if you put all the bird food in one place the birds fight each other for it; if you spread it out for all to eat there is no fighting.” The limited and clustered sources of fossil fuel resources certainly suggest a similar result.

While others at the turn of the twentieth century were busy exploiting coal, iron, aluminum, and drilling for oil, Tesla was already recognizing the limits of those endeavors. Rather than consume resources that were both dirty and finite, Tesla believed we needed to think about conservation. “Whatever our resources of primary energy may be in the future,” Tesla wrote, “we must, to be rational, obtain it without consumption of any material.” He believed that natural, renewable, sources of energy could “eliminate the need of coal, oil, gas or any other of the common fuels.”

[The above is adapted from my e-book, Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time, available for immediate download on Amazon]

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

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Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln (and Charles Darwin)

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February 12th is always a good day because it blends my two careers – Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day in 1809. Both changed the world in remarkable ways. So Happy Birthday to Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin.

Lincoln Memorial Wreath Laying

It will be a busy week.  For the third year in a row I’ll be laying the wreath at the foot of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial for the Lincoln Group of DC, joined by Wendy Swanson. If you’re in Washington DC Monday at noon, stop by the Lincoln Memorial. Here is video from last year’s wreath laying.

On Tuesday night I’ll be attending a joint meeting of the Lincoln Group of DC and the Civil War Round Table of DC. Our speaker, which I’m happy to say I arranged, is Sidney Blumenthal, famous politico and author of two great books on Abraham Lincoln (with two more volumes in the works).

Saturday will take me to Ford’s Theatre for the monthly Lincoln Group of DC Book Discussion Group. We’ll finish up our current book (James McPherson’s Lincoln and the Second American Revolution) and choose the next book to read. This is a great time to join us so check out the web page link. From that group I’ll join others in an intensive meeting in which we’ll inventory Lincoln-related items we’ll auction off in April.

George Buss Abraham LincolnIt doesn’t stop there. Next week (February 22nd, 7 pm) I’ll be at the National Archives for the Lincoln-Douglas-Douglass Debates. In this very special presentation we’ll have Lincoln interpreter George Buss recreating his famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas (portrayed by Tim Connors). After a short break, Lincoln will return to have a discussion with Frederick Douglass (portrayed by Phil Darius Wallace) using a script written by world famous Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. Harold will moderate the debates. This is a once in a lifetime event that cannot be missed. [And it’s free] Check out more info at the National Archives.

And that’s just the next two weeks following on recent events that included Part 1 of 3 as the featured book discussion on the Railsplitter podcast, a successful Ask Me Anything online Q&A, and C-SPAN coverage of my presentation on Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

It doesn’t stop there. I’m planning several Lincoln events for March, including joining the Board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, attending the annual ALI Symposium, taking a trip to Newport News to view the ironclad Monitor, starting the new book in our monthly book discussion group, touring the Gettysburg Battlefield, and then the beginning of the first segment of my “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” road trip. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln! And Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin!

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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Listen to Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America on the Railsplitter Podcast

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Lincoln: The Man Who Saved AmericaLincoln: The Man Who Saved America has enjoyed great success and will have a second edition in the spring. The book has been featured in several media outlets: the latest being the Railsplitter podcast.

The Railsplitter is a popular podcast in the Abraham Lincoln world. The three hosts post a weekly audio discussion on a variety of topics related to “learning about, and having fun with #16.” For the podcast posted on their website on February 8, 2018 they discussed Chapters 1 to 4 of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. You can listen to the podcast here (discussion of the book gets rolling at about the 10 minute mark):

Railsplitter podcast logo#36 Railsplitter Book Club: Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America Part 1

I was happy to hear that they had visited my own website and watched the C-SPAN video of my recent presentation to the Lincoln Group of DC. The hosts mentioned that the video helped them understand the intended audience for the book, and all agreed that the book did a great reaching out to them.

For those who haven’t seen the C-SPAN video, you can watch that here:

David J Kent on C-SPANAsk Me Anything!And in case you missed my recent #Ask Me Anything, you can read the questions and answers from that event as well.

The Railsplitter podcast on February 8th covered Chapters 1 through 4. They will have two more installments to cover Chapters 5 though 8 and then Chapters 9 and 10 and end material. Check out the Railsplitter podcast web page and twitter feed for more information and schedule. You can also follow my Facebook author page and Twitter feed for updates.

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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The Fascinating Mangrove Salt Marsh Snakes of Sanibel

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Among the many amazing animals I saw on a recent visit to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island (Fort Myers, Florida) was a beautifully red mangrove salt marsh snake. When I came across it, this one had grabbed a bewildered fish in its mouth and was working on turning it around to swallow.

Mangrove Marsh Snake

After a few minutes the snake did just that, gulping it down live. The gathering crowd was both fascinated and a little grossed out, though there seemed to be an even split between those rooting for the fish and the snake.

What is even more fascinating about the mangrove salt marsh snake – its scientific name is Nerodia clarkii compressicauda – is that while it lives in the roots of red mangroves in an estuarine environment, it doesn’t have any particular adaptations to living in sea water. Most aquatic snakes live in freshwater. There are fully marine sea snakes, but they live entirely in the ocean and are adapted to the salt water; in particular they have large organs designed specifically to excrete salt, which allows sea snakes to drink seawater.

Mangrove salt marsh snakes have no such organ so cannot drink seawater. Instead they get most of their fresh water intake from their food (like the poor fish above) and by drinking freshwater from temporary puddles that form in the sand or pockets of roots after rainstorms. Calling them aquatic is a bit of a misnomer: perhaps semi-aquatic is more accurate. But they also can be considered semi-arboreal in the sense that they spend much of their time on the proproots of red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle, which a particular favorite of mine because I had studied many years ago in Bermuda). Indeed, the one I saw was slithering around the shallows and over the prop roots with the fish in its mouth looking for a good place to eat. These snakes aren’t great swimmers so they hang out in shallow pools as the tide retreats and snap up trapped fish.

Another fascinating aspect of mangrove marsh snakes is their coloring. The one I saw was brilliant red but they can also appear as rather grayish with darker splotches and bands. Even odder, any given litter of mangrove marsh snakes could contain a mix of both colors; live-bearers, a litter could have up to 22 individuals. The gray phase allows them to hide in the leaf litter of mangrove trees while the red phase provides great camouflage for snakes resting on mangrove branches and prop roots.

The red phase I saw now rested after gorging down its meal, so I moved on to check out the rest of the mangrove trail. Along the way I saw another unique denison of the mangroves – a mangrove tree crab, most likely Aratus pisonii – clinging to a tree about 15 feet above the ground.

Mangrove Tree Crab

I saw a lot more both in the mangrove trail and the rest of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, but this snake having lunch was one of the most fascinating, and quite a thrill to capture on video.

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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Hitting all the careers!

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It seems I’ve done a little of everything, and now I’m hitting all the careers at once (except the building bug zappers one).

In my marine biology days I had heard about Mote Marine Lab but had never been there. I also got to see my 49th aquarium. Here is an Australian jellyfish that I didn’t see in Australia.

A tarpon like the ones I saw in Bermuda.

One of many gorgeous reef fish.

At Mote Marine Lab Aquarium.

I also got to see the Addison-Ford Estates and several of Edison’s movie projectors in honor of my book on Thomas Edison.

His botanical Lab where he looked for a domestic source of rubber in his 80s.

Very cool place.

Meanwhile, my Tesla book is back in Barnes and Noble stores with its 8th printing.

And my Lincoln book is coming out soon with a 2nd printing.

Lincoln always watches over me.

More shortly.

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

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

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