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Two Must-See Abraham Lincoln Events

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There are two upcoming “must-see” events sponsored by the Lincoln Group of DC. Sign up now to reserve space.

September 15th: Dinner + Lecture featuring Michael A. Ross, University of Maryland

Michael RossOur monthly dinner and lecture meetings return on Sept. 15th with Michael Ross, who will speak about “Lincoln and Johnson: The Struggle to Re-unite a Nation.”

Location: Alfio’s Trattoria, 4515 Willard Ave., Chevy Chase, MD

Time: Dinner – 6:00 pm, Program – 7:00 pm

 

Professor Ross is the author of two award-winning books, Justice of Shattered Dreams: Samuel Freeman Miller and the Supreme Court During the Civil War Era (LSU, 2003), and The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era (Oxford UP, 2014).

Sign up on the Lincoln Group website

October 3rd: Annual Picnic and Bus Tour

Lincoln's Last StepsJoin us on a tour of “Lincoln’s Final Footsteps” as he visits General Grant at City Point and Petersburg. Among the stops are Grant’s headquarters, Appomattox Manor, Fort Wadsworth, and the Wallace House and Centre Hill Mansion in Petersburg. Tour led by registered master tour guide Craig Howell.

Location: Meet at King Street Metro Station in Alexandria, VA

Time: 8:30 am to 7:30 pm

More details and sign up on the Lincoln Group website

I will be attending both of these events and look forward to seeing both new and old faces. Check out the Lincoln Group of DC website for more details and other events.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Slogging Through the Smog in Beijing

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It’s no secret that Beijing has an air pollution problem. The city’s PM2.5 (a measure of particulates in the air) routinely exceed unsafe levels; and I don’t mean exceed by just a tad, exceed by 800% or more. About 4000 people per day die in China from air pollution. I saw – literally – this pollution on my most recent visit to Beijing.

The view from the apartment where I was staying, in the southern part of the city far from the touristy areas, gave me a good indication of what I was to experience.

Beijing smog

That isn’t fog; it’s smog, which smog permeated the air no matter where I went. Mid-afternoon on a “sunny” day, the huge portrait of Mao Zedong on the front wall of the Forbidden City was barely visible from Tian’anmen Square.

Beijing smog

I didn’t just happen to pick a bad day; this is routine. So routine that the government installed huge television screens, ostensibly as tourist marketing advertisements, but often filled with beautiful vistas of Chinese landscapes. They even show photos of the Forbidden City on those days where the entire facade is hidden.

Beijing smog

As I write this Beijing is preparing for its September 3rd remembrance of the end of World War II for China 70 years before. As with many big international events held in Beijing, including the 2008 Olympics and the 2014 APEC Summit, the Chinese government has ordered stopgap measures to make Beijing more palatable to foreign dignitaries. This means closing down much of the capital, shutting down factories, and banning odd/even tagged cars on alternate days. These result in temporary cleansing of the air – just long enough for the foreign press to get nice pictures. Once the grand show is over, the air clogs up again and residents don their dust masks in a feeble attempt at normalcy.

Science Traveler will cover more of the science of China in future posts. One area of interest is the impact of a growing middle class, and the consumption that goes with it, on energy demand. China has a coal and oil problem even worse than the United States, but it also has been building solar and wind capacity. Clearly they have to do something, not just for climate change considerations, but for the health of their own citizens.

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

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An Editorial Calendar for Writers (On Writing)

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Hemingway TypewriterTo be a writer you have to write…a lot. Much of your writing won’t see the light of day, but it’s critical to keep writing daily. That said, making time to write isn’t always easy. Sometimes your computer systems decide to make life difficult; other times “life” keeps you busy enough; and still other times you need to take a break from work and stimulate some Vitamin D production on the nearest tropical beach with an umbrella-based beverage.

But I digress. This post is about creating an editorial calendar. If you’re like me you have a million WIPs (works-in-progress) all running at once, so it’s critical to keep them moving and meet any requisite deadlines. My current projects, for example, include the manuscript for a book on Thomas Edison (submitted last week to the publisher), an e-book on connections between Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla (to be out on Amazon next week), a long article for the Lincolnian (an Abraham Lincoln newsletter), and my usual suite of blogs. Add to these at least two book proposals and tons of research time for future projects. Juggling so many balls in the air can be tiring.

An editorial calendar is what it sounds like – a calendar on which you schedule your writing commitments. You can combine it with your “to-do” and “event” calendars if you wish, but it’s important to keep track of everything you need to write and when it is due.

In addition to the ongoing book projects, I provide content for several blogs. My main author site has a blog called Science Traveler. This post is on my creative writing and memoir site Hot White Snow. I also contribute to The Dake Page (science communication), the Lincoln Group of DC Facebook pageand blog, and will shortly start my own Lincoln blog as part of my outreach for the new Lincoln book. I have to write for each of these. You may also have articles for magazines, editing sessions, and a variety of other writing assignments.

An editorial calendar can be as simple or complicated as you need it to be, though I suggest starting simple and expanding only when it’s obvious you have to….

[Read the rest on Hot White Snow]

The above is a partial of a full article on Hot White Snow, my creative writing blog. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

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

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

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Appreciating Ed Bearss – Civil War Historian

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Ed Bearss has been on this Earth for over 92 years, and last week was my first time ever seeing him. I know, I’m not proud of that fact. My only excuse is that my interests are focused on Abraham Lincoln and Ed focuses on the broader Civil War. But this past week I realized what I had been missing.

Ed was the featured speaker at the Bull Run Civil War Round Table (BRCWRT), a group that has been around since 1991 and based in the vicinity of the first major battle of the Civil War. I joined the meeting in part for the chance to hear Ed speak, and in part as a representative of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia (LGDC), of which I am Vice President for Outreach and Education.

Ed Bearss

Upon arrival I introduced myself to BRCWRT President Mark Trbovich and was able to chat with several other members, including official “Ace Photographer” Janet Greentree. The turnout was impressive, overflowing the Centerville Library meeting room. Mark told me that they routinely get 80-100 people at these monthly lectures, but with Ed Bearss speaking the room was clearly over its 122-seat capacity.

It was easy to see why. After all these years of leading Civil War tours around our nation’s capital, Ed can still belt out a lively, animated, and entertaining talk. His knowledge of the Civil War and its battles is unmatched, and he rattled off dates, Generals, Colonels, Divisions, Regiments, and locations like he was reading from a script – except he did his entire 1-hour talk with no notes, no PowerPoints. The sole prompt on the screen was a map of the region and he walked us around it one by one, following each skirmish, each General – North and South – through the last days of Robert E. Lee’s retreat from Petersburg and ultimate surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.

Ed Bearss and Gerry Connolly

Ed was impressive, and I’m so glad to finally have this chance to see him in person. It turns out it was a good night all around. Just prior to beginning his talk, Ed received a certificate from Congressman Gerry Connolly noting that he had entered a resolution to give Ed the Congressional Gold Medal, which is awarded to persons “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.”

Ed certainly deserves it. So far the bill has 107 co-sponsors and thousands of write-in supporters, including Ken Burns, whom Ed worked with in the production of Burns’s epic mini-series, The Civil War. I was proud to add my name to the list of supporters.

I’m looking forward to the next BRCWRT. Meanwhile, the Lincoln Group of DC is also gearing up for its monthly dinner meetings. On September 15th, Michael A. Ross will talk about “Lincoln and Johnson: The Struggle to Reunite the Nation.” On October 3rd we have our annual picnic and bus tour; this year we follow “Lincoln’s Final Footsteps” at City Point and Petersburg.” More information on both can be found on the Lincoln Group of DC website and Facebook page.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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

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Science Traveling Lisbon’s Oceanarium

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If you’re an aquarium nut like me, one of the places on your “must-see” list is the Oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal. Officially the Oceanário de Lisboa, it ranks as the largest indoor aquarium in Europe.

Lisbon Oceanarium

Like most big aquariums it has a huge central tank of roughly 1.3 million gallons filled with the usual blend of marine fish, sharks, and rays. It is also one of the few aquariums that includes an ocean sunfish (Mola mola), a notoriously difficult species to maintain out of its natural oceanic habitat.

Lisbon Oceanarium

What I liked about the main tank – and I’ve seen dozens of them – is that as you walk around the perimeter you have many large floor to ceiling windows to gaze through.

Lisbon Oceanarium

There are large areas where you can often see divers feeding the fish and maintaining the tank.

Lisbon Oceanarium

But also many alcoves where a diverse community of fish, anemones, and corals can get some “privacy,” i.e., some sense of normality in a life literally in a very large fish bowl.

Lisbon Oceanarium

Of course, there are many smaller tanks and exhibits for up-close-and-personal views of worldwide marine flora and fauna. As always I was drawn to the tropical frog exhibit.

Lisbon Oceanarium

With only a month to go before finishing my three-year sojourn in Brussels, I had made a special trip to Lisbon specifically to see this world-famous aquarium. I was not disappointed.

See more about my aquarium visits on the aquarium page.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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What President Obama’s Clean Power Act Does for Climate Change – It May Surprise You (from The Dake Page)

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On Monday, August 3, 2015, President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency released final rules designed to curtail coal-based power plant emissions. Called the Clean Power Plan, the goal is to reduced carbon emissions contributing to man-made climate change. The impact of this plan will surprise a lot of Americans.

The following video is only a little over 2 minutes and worth watching:

Reaction has been about what you might expect. The Republican candidates for president and their Republican colleagues in the House and Senate have falsely attacked the plan for the usual false reasons. The Democratic candidates and in Congress largely agree that the steps proposed are necessary to deal with the unequivocal science demonstrating humans are warming the climate system.

Media reporting of the Clean Power Act shows its critical importance. Time magazine says that the President is taking the lead on this “superwicked problem.”  CNN says the President “unveils major climate change proposal.” To the New York Times this is a “crucial step on climate change.” Other media outlets also note the unprecedented action by the White House and EPA.

Of course, there are also the denial lobbyists saturating the blogosphere with anti-Clean Power Act rhetoric. All provide opinions based on a single negative “report” produced by, you guessed it, one of the denial lobbyist organizations in their network. That’s a common tactic of lobbyists – create a biased report and then get all your friends to cite your biased report as “unbiased.”

Meanwhile, the response from the scientific community has generally been positive, as might be expected given that nearly every climate scientist agrees that 100+ years of published science unequivocally demonstrates a need to address man’s contribution to climate change. There are some, like outspoken climate scientist James Hansen, who feel the Plan is merely a drop in the bucket and won’t in itself create significant progress in dealing with our changing climate.

Hansen is probably right.

So let’s assume that the Clean Power Plan is insufficient to deal with climate change….

[Read the rest on The Dake Page]

The above is a partial cross-post of a full article on The Dake Page. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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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First Tesla…Now Edison is In!

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Tesla vs Edison cartoon First there was Nikola Tesla, and now there is Thomas Edison. Those who follow this page know that my book Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity was released by Fall River Press/Sterling Publishing in 2013. The book has been so successful (Thank you!) that Fall River Press asked me to write a similar book on Thomas Edison.

Today the manuscript for Edison! was officially submitted to my editor. Assuming he likes it, Edison! will be in Barnes and Noble stores sometime in the spring of 2016. With the Tesla book going into its 5th printing in October, you should be able to find them side-by-side in the not-too-distant future. [If the editor doesn’t like it, well, never mind.]

Want a preview of Edison!? Here is the chapter outline.

But wait, there’s more.

I’ve also have an e-book being published on Amazon in the next few weeks. Lincoln and Tesla – Connected by Fate delves into the incredible connections between these two great men. Lincoln and Tesla connected? Yes, in far more ways than you could ever have imagined. Check out the background at the link above and watch this space for the big launch coming shortly.

In the meantime, if you read Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity or my previous e-book, Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time, please take a moment to give it a rating and/or short review on Goodreads, BN.com, and Amazon. Providing ratings (and feedback if you have the time) helps spread the word to other Tesla fans around the world.

Here are the links:

Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity: Goodreads     BN.com     Amazon

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time  Goodreads     Amazon

Thank you all for your support. I’ll post updates on Edison! and Tesla as they happen.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. 

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

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Book Review – Lincoln’s Body: A Cultural History by Richard Wightman Fox

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Lincoln's BodyHistorian Richard Wightman Fox employs a unique concept in discussing Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln’s body. His body – the physical, the figurative, the aura, and the memory – is used to trace how he was perceived at the time and during several periods since then to the present day. In doing so, Fox has successfully provided a mirror into not only Abraham Lincoln, but ourselves.

The book is split into three main parts ostensibly covering three broad concepts and also three broad time periods. The Public Body (1840-1865) focuses mostly on how Lincoln’s physical attractiveness (or lack thereof) was used both to promote and dismiss him during his political lifetime. These chapters also discuss his initial martyrdom, impact of the lack of any “last words,” and bodily degradation during the funeral.

The second part, The Enshrined Body (1865-1909), examines the memorialization of Lincoln, the use of him as a symbol, and the “reinterpretation” of him such that he was either for or against political goals, including “black emancipation” and “white reunion.” This section gets us up to the centenary of his birth.

In the final part, The National Body (1909-2015), Fox looks at the various stages of development of what could best be termed the Lincoln “cult” and “anti-cult.” He looks at the development of two memorials that solidify the “cult” (Lincoln Memorial and Sandburg’s Lincoln), and also at Lincoln has been depicted on the screen. Most importantly, Fox does an excellent job looking at Lincoln’s role (and sometimes lack of role) in the Civil Rights era. His discussion of Martin Luther King is one of the best parts of the book. Finally, this part spends considerable time on the more recent cinematic (and Disney) treatments of Lincoln, with a clear appreciation of the Spielberg/Kushner/Day Lewis movie, “Lincoln.”

The writing is fluid and readable. The use of the “body” thread throughout the book is well done – enough to carry the theme without making it groan from its own weight. But the real value of the book is in how Fox reflects the body of Lincoln in all its senses back on our changing views of liberty, race, and democracy over the course of the 150 years since Lincoln’s body made that last long railroad trip back to Springfield.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Looking for Housing in Brussels (from Hot White Snow)

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Brussels flower carpetThud.

Yes, I actually heard a thud, just like you hear in the old movie reels. So loud it seemed to resonate in my ears, echoing off the walls of the attic room I was evaluating as a possible living space during my impending three-year secondment in Brussels.

On the floor was my guide, his hand to his forehead, his eyes glazed over in partial coherence; clearly concussed.

At my height I rarely worry about low-hanging beams, but he was near two meters easily. Clearly not paying attention he had marched confidently into the center beam of the room, solid and stalwart in its insistence of that space four inches down from the low ceiling. I had walked under it; he found it squarely.

It wasn’t a bad place, really. Tiny in retrospect, but quaint and old-fashioned in a European sort of way. A simple garret with a single window, though grand in size, overlooking one end of the converted attic. Nice enough, and I was considering it, until it took out the man who had been assigned to show me living arrangements. The decision to not take this apartment became clear just as my guide’s vision was doing the same. We would look some more.

In all we looked at a dozen apartments, some impressionably bad…others less obviously insufficient. At one point I decided on one apartment, only to find that it had been rented in the hours I had looked on indecisively. Even the final choice was indecisive. I had agreed to take an apartment in a new building half a block from the main road that led to my company’s office building. It was the only modern building we had seen, and I looked at two or three apartments there. On the second day of looking I asked to go back there and after deciding on an apartment on the fifth floor, had my guide negotiate the deal. An hour later I called him to renege, though just to take a different apartment, this one on the second floor, in the same building.

[Continue reading on Hot White Snow]

The above is a partial of a full article on Hot White Snow, my creative writing blog. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

I’ll have photos and stories from my most recent science traveling trips to Scandinavia and Quebec shortly.

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. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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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Science Traveling – Waterfalls (videos)

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I love waterfalls, and it seems that during my recent science traveling excursions to Norway, Canada, and Connecticut I saw a lot of waterfalls. So for this edition I thought I would show you some video of a few great falls. Be sure to turn on the volume for your monitor to hear the impressive roar of the water.

Kent Falls: Not surprisingly, these namesake falls are in Kent State Park in Kent, CT. This was a stop coming back from Quebec in early July.

Montmorency Falls: Just above Quebec City is a wonderful surprise. These falls are one and half times the height of Niagara. I wrote more about Montmorency in this previous post.

Kjosfossen Falls: Back in May when we traveled to three Scandinavian countries I saw some amazing waterfalls. This one jumps out at you when traveling the railway through the mountains towards the fjords in central Norway.

Naeroyfjord Falls: As part of the “Norway in a Nutshell” tour, which involves a train, another train, a boat, a bus, and another train as you make your way from Oslo to Bergen (plus another train from Bergen back to Oslo the next day), you spend a few hours in the fjords. There are literally hundreds of waterfalls, and that is not an overstatement. One of the most spectacular is this one as you first turn into Naeroyfjord.

I’ll have more details on these in the future. For now, turn up your sound, go full screen, and enjoy the waterfalls.

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 (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.

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