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David J. Kent, Writer is now “The Traveling Scientist”

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The Traveling ScientistI have a new name! Well, technically my name hasn’t changed, but this web site now has an actual title instead of just my name:

The Traveling Scientist

It captures at least two of my primary passions – science and travel. I’ve been a working scientist for about 30 years and have now traveled to almost 30 countries (with hopefully at least 30 more to go). Of course, there is also my passion for Abraham Lincoln, so if you want to really stretch the metaphor you can say that I’ve traveled a long way in gaining knowledge about Lincoln.  Or even that if you travel a long way from Lincoln’s place of birth in Kentucky to England you would find Charles Darwin being born on the very same day – February 12, 1809.  And Charles Darwin is certainly someone who traveled as a scientist.

Okay, I said it was a stretch.  [Spoiler alert – check back later for a WIP on Lincoln and science that is not so much of a stretch]

Now back to the new title.  Those who frequent this site know that I write about a few sometimes overlapping topics – science (currently Nikola Tesla), travel, and Abraham Lincoln.  As it continues to develop I’ll be setting up a schedule of when I’ll post on each topic so those with specific interests in one area more than another will know when to check back.

Better yet, subscribe to the site on the top right of the home page and you’ll get a gentle reminder when new content has been added.

Oh, one more thing. I’ve changed my Twitter account to reflect the new name. Now it reads as “Traveling Scientist” – Scientist by day, writer by night, Abraham Lincoln aficionado always.

I hope you like the new name, and the new look that will be coming soon.  Feel free to leave me a comment with likes/dislikes, ideas for topics to discuss, and just general thoughts.

Back soon.

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Nikola Tesla and the Ugly Aunts

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Nikola TeslaAs my book on Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity  continues to grow in volume and excitement I’ve had a chance to explore Tesla’s early life and family.  He adored his mother’s intellectual abilities, at one point declaring that she was “an inventor of the first order.”  And as might be expected from the son of a clergyman, his feelings for his father were a mixture of admiration, awe, and fear.  But overall, Tesla had an immense respect and esteem for his family.

Tesla’s memories of other relatives are not so admiring.  In fact, he tells a story of his two aunts that is downright irreverent. These two aunts were, well, not exactly the local beauty queens.  They were old, at least in young Nikola’s eyes, and quite wrinkled in their faces.  One of them had “two teeth protruding like the tusks of an elephant.”  That vision must have been ghastly enough, but she had a habit of burying these tusks in Tesla’s cheek every time she kissed him.  Which in traditional Serbian culture is a lot.  Certainly too often for Nikola’s liking.  Being quite affectionate and adoring of their young nephew the aunts kissed and hugged to their heart’s content.  To Tesla this was a fate worse than death.  “Nothing could scare me more,” Tesla later said, “than the prospect of being hugged by these as affectionate as unattractive relatives.”

One day an occasion arrived that likely brought Tesla’s family more than a modicum of embarrassment.  Tesla’s mother Duka was carrying Tesla in her arms, and perhaps not anticipating the lack of political correctness of the young lad, unfortunately decided to ask Tesla which of the two aunts he thought was prettier.  Already the diligent observer that would later became the famous inventor, Tesla studied the faces of the two aunts intently.  After careful thought he pointed to one of them and proudly declared, “This here is not as ugly as the other.”

While we don’t know their reactions, we can assume young Nikola was not so warmly hugged after that.

David J. Kent is 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!

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Cinco de Mayo – What to do in Cancun and Chichen Itza

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Hola! Feliz Cinco de Mayo!  Wondering what to do on Mexico’s traditional day of celebration?  Well, head on down to Cancun on the Yucatán peninsula.  And don’t forget to take a day trip to Chichen Itza.  Just make sure you do it before the end of 2012 (it’s Mayan, you know).

5 Things to do in Cancun

1. Relax at an all-inclusive resort hotel on the beach.  Once you arrive everything is already included – all meals, all drinks, all goofy pool games, and all 15 or so miles of the beach along the hotel zone.

Cancun Chichen Itza

2. Be Active at the various hotels, marinas, and yes, even a sinkhole.  Take a smiling parasail ride, or if you’re really daring, dive into one of the many Yucatan sinkholes.

Cancun parasailing

Yucatan sinkhole cinco de mayo

3. Shop in Cancun, or work your way down to the Mayan Riviera.  Or head inland to check out the Mayan artwork.

cancun maya cinco de mayo

Mayan art cinco de mayo

4. Visit Chichen Itza.  If Cancun is like being in Miami (English and dollars are more prevalent than Spanish and pesos), then Chichen Itza is like going back in time.  This center of Mayan civilization is a marvel to see.

Chichen Itza Maya cinco de mayo

5. Watch the sunrise.  Come on, it’s the beach.  Of course you’re going to watch the sunrise.

Cancun sunrise

I’ll have much more on Cancun and Chichen Itza in the future (this was just to whet your appetite).  I’ll have some videos and many more photos and ideas for what to do. But before then, let’s take a quick look at…

What not to do in Cancun

Note the cell phone, an iPad, and even a laptop at his feet. Okay, Mr. Workaholic.  Step away from the electronic devices and put on some sun block.

What not to do in Cancun

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!

 

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Nikola Tesla – A Life Lived and Died

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Nikola TeslaAs the Nikola Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity book slowly springs to life (and sometimes to a life of its own), it became necessary to put together a rolling timeline of major events from birth to death.  Tesla’s life, of course, is interwoven with other key players in the development of alternating current, radio, wireless transmission, remote control guided weapons, and a few other exciting inventions to be named later.  As the timeline develops I’ll add some of the peculiar oddities that Tesla engaged in, as well as non-inventor folks like Mark Twain and Robert Underwood Johnson, but for now the following hints at some of the key scientific events.

1856    Born

1861    Brother killed

1862    Family moves to Gospic

1870s   Cholera

1875    Enters Graz for electrical engineering

1878    Leaves Graz w/o degree; breaks off relations with family

1881    Employed as assistant engineer in Marburg for 1 year; has nervous breakdown

1880    Attends University in Prague for summer term; father dies so leaves University

1880-1881   Moves to Budapest to work for Puskas in a telegraph company

1882    Moves to Paris to work for Continental Edison with Batchelor; conceived of induction motor and rotating magnetic fields patents

1884    Arrives in US w/letter of introduction from Batchelor to Edison

1885    Quits Edison feeling like cheated by him

1885    Digs ditches; works on polyphase system design; gets first patent

1886    Forms Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing company

1887    Constructed initial AC induction motor; began investigating what would later be called x-rays

1888    Demonstrates to IEEE; develops principles for Tesla coil; begins work with G. Westinghouse

1891    Early demonstration of wireless energy transmission

1891    Becomes naturalized American citizen

1891    Invents Tesla coil

1893    First wireless transmission; Columbian Exhibition (Chicago)

1895    Lab burns down

1896    Electrical generation from Niagara Falls using his AC system

1898    Moves into Waldorf-Astoria hotel

1899    Moves to Colorado Springs

1900    Returns to NYC

1901    Signs contract with J.P. Morgan; construction on Wardenclyffe begins

1906    Invents bladeless turbine

1917    Wardenclyffe demolished; awarded Edison Medal

1931    On cover of Time magazine for seventy-fifth birthday

1943    Dies on January 8 in Hotel New Yorker; government seizes estate

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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Nikola Tesla is Born, Danilo Tesla is Killed – Who is Nikola Tesla?

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As my book on Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity slowly took shape, the question was begged – Who is Nikola Tesla? Of course, you’ll have to buy the book to find out all the interesting history of the man, but here’s a teaser to get you started. Nikola begins his life, and his brother loses his life.

Born in the small village of Smiljan in what was then the Austrian Empire but now is part of present day Croatia, Tesla was born “precisely at midnight” as July 9th rolled into July 10th in 1856. This led to some uncertainty as to what date his birthday should be celebrated, but in practice his birthdays rarely were celebrated much at all, at least until his later years when he was world famous.  Then his birthdays became celebrated affairs complete with press coverage. But that was much later.  For now the young Nikola lived the rather mundane life of the son of a Serbian Orthodox priest.

The fourth of five children, Nikola became the only male heir after the rather mysterious death of his older brother, Danilo. As Tesla later tells it, Danilo met his end at the hands, or rather the hoofs, of the family horse. The horse itself had actually been a favorite of the Tesla family as it had supposedly “saved my father’s life under remarkable circumstances.” A “magnificent” Arabian breed, Telsa relates the story:

“My father had been called one winter night to perform an urgent duty and while crossing the mountains, infested by wolves, the horse became frightened and ran away, throwing him violently to the ground. It arrived home bleeding and exhausted, but after the alarm was sounded immediately dashed off again, returning to the spot, and before the searching party were far on the way they were met by my father, who had recovered consciousness and remounted, not realizing he had been lying in the snow for several hours.”

And so his father was saved by the horse. Brother Danilo was not so lucky. Again according to Tesla, “this horse was responsible for my brother’s injuries from which he died.” Worse yet, young Nikola “witnessed the tragic scene” and the “visual impression of it has lost none of its force” over the 50+ years that had elapsed.

Others suggest that Nikola may not have been such an innocent bystander.

[More about Nikola Tesla]

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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The Painted Buddy Bears of Stuttgart

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With all the stress going on in the world right now it seems like a good time for a change of pace.  How about we look at some painted bears? United Buddy Bears, to be exact.  A great number of these bears came together a few years ago in Stuttgart, Germany, and I was lucky enough to come across them.  I gave you a glimpse of one of them a few days ago in “There’s a story to every picture.”

The “United Buddy Bears” are focused on the idea of “The Art of Tolerance.”  For a limited time only the city of Stuttgart put on display bears from around the world.  Each participating country was given a blank bear to paint any way they wanted.  Then about 150 of them were placed around the fountain near the old palace (in the Schlossplatz).  Each country tried to capture the essence – or sometimes the mystery – of their nation in how they painted the bears.

Let’s start off with an easy one.

Buddy Bears Stuttgart

Okay, the “Statue of Liberty bear” from the United States was pretty easy to guess.  But how about this one:

Too easy?  How about another easy one:

Okay, waaaay too easy, right?  Let’s try one that might take a little more thinking.  Look closely at the markings and the bit of a metaphor thrown in as a subtle point.

Now, how about a little scuba diving? This one may not be so easy to figure out, especially for North Americans.

One more because I found this one totally fascinating:

That’s enough for now.  Feel free to guess which country each one represents in the comments.** (See below for answers. No cheating.)

David J. Kent is an avid 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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**Answers
1. United States
2. Cuba
3. China
4. Croatia
5. Panama
6. El Salvador

 

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Dublin, Ireland…Molly Malone…and a Man in a Donkey Head

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Top o’ the mornin’ to ya. By now everyone should have recovered from St. Paddy’s day.  Even President Obama downed a Guinness with his ancestral Irish cousin in Washington DC.  The “effects” of celebrating old St. Patrick should have worn off by now (right?) and we’re all gearing up for going back to work in the morning.

Which gets me to the man in the donkey head.  In Dublin.  As in Ireland.

Whilst in Dublin I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone as she wheeled her wheel-barrow, through streets broad and narrow, crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh.”* At first she seemed sweet, saccharine even, as she stood there nicely bronzed in the sun selling shellfish by the seashore.  We exchanged glances, smiles, and embarrassments before I moved on to check out the city.  My hotel was nearby so the next day I couldn’t resist her allure and was drawn to check out her massive cockles.  Only to find that she was being guarded by a man acting like an ass.

Or perhaps it was a donkey.  Needless to say it was a rather unexpected event to see a man wearing a donkey head sitting by my dear Molly.  Reading the Leopardstown Post racing news.  Seriously, who would have expected to see that?  Everyone knows that donkeys don’t like horse racing.

But here he was for all to see.  The man with the donkey head didn’t speak (I suppose donkeys rarely do), nor did he perform anything other than simply sit there for the entire time we stood by to watch and to snap photos.  Many others took photos as well and for a donkey-headed man he seemed quite patient to allow all of us to get our fill.

From here we moved on to explore Dublin.  But I’ll always remember Molly Malone.  And the man in the donkey head.

* From the song that inspired the legend that inspired the statue on Grafton Street, Dublin.

[Note that the Molly Malone statue has been moved from its original location on Grafton Street to a spot in front of St. Andrew’s Church.]

David J. Kent is the author of 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. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

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One Year After the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami – My Japan Travel

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One year ago Japan experienced a horrendous earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale.  Beyond the immediate structural damage from the quake and the reduction of tourist travel to Japan, parts of the country were devastated by a massive tsunami.  In addition to the heart-wrenching videos of the massive waves destroying towns, the tsunami took out cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, thus setting in motion three nuclear reactor meltdowns that forced the continued evacuation of a 12-mile area around the plant.  Today Japan remembers the earthquake, the tsunami, and the 19,000 people who lost their lives.

At the same time, Japan is encouraging people to come back to visit.  Most of the country is more or less back to normal.  I visited Japan recently and found it to have the same quaint charm for which it is known, and vibrant in both its old traditions and new modernity.

Today I’ll highlight the tradition. As I toured the temples and the old gardens I was struck by the contrasts.  While there were many young women wearing very short skirts and stockings, there were also quite a few women of the same age wearing traditional kimonos.  Near the Kiyomizudera Temple in old Kyoto I encountered the following couple.

At first I thought they were simply actors dressed up to encourage tourists at the temple.  Then I realized that there were many dressed traditionally who were tourists themselves.

That’s not to say that there weren’t people in traditional garb placed conveniently for tourist photos.  After all, Japan wants travel dollars (and rubles, rupees and renminbis), and geishas are one of the things that tourists come to see. So wandering the narrow lane of Chawan-saka we encountered these two geishas.

And in homage to our hosts, a fellow traveler shows her appreciation.

There is much more to Japan of course and I’ll explore more aspects of my visit in future posts.  So while Japan continues its recovery from the earthquake and tsunami of a year ago I bid you a temporary Sayonara.

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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Pap of Glen Coe – the Bonny of Loch Leven

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Aye, the highlands of Scotland.  You read about them, fancy yourself galloping across them with William Wallace, and perhaps spoil a good walk near them (i.e., play a round of golf in the Mark Twain sense).  For me, I admired them up close.

To be honest, I can’t imagine a good walk spoiled in the highlands. On a summer day in 2005 I hopped into my Vauxhall Corsa, remembered to drive on the left, and headed north from where I was living in Edinburgh, Scotland. The drive itself was amazing, in part because the day started off a wee bit foggy – actually almost completely immersed in clouds – but blossomed at the most opportune moment.

And that moment was the Pap.

The Pap of Glen Coe is the mountain you see above to the left.  It gets its name from the conical shape resembling a female breast (apparently the Scottish winters were quite dreary and imaginations were active). The Pap sits in the valley created by Glen Coe above the point where River Coe enters Loch Leven.  Nearby is the intriguing Bidean nam Bian mountain ridges, including the famous Three Sisters of Glen Coe.

To say that these views were awe-inspiring is to engage in severe understatement. The glen has a distinctive U-shape, the result of glacial action during a past ice age.  The area is what is left of an ancient supervolcano, long since gone extinct but imposing nonetheless.

I lingered in the Glen, admired the Pap, marveled at the mossy grass that seemed greener than naturally possible.  My mind hiked high into the mountains, though my feet stayed closer to the narrow road.  I took hundreds of photos that day, most of which are unfortunately lost due to the vagaries of my computer hard drive.  But the memories remain with me as if it was yesterday.

Until next time, my bonny lass. Until next time.

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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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About Me

David J Kent Lincoln Memorial centennialMy name is David J. Kent. I am an Abraham Lincoln historian, a former career scientist, and a global traveler. Here is me in a nutshell:

      • Author of 7 books on Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, and Thomas Edison
      • Author of chapters in 3 additional books
      • Over 200 articles in popular and scholarly magazines, journals, and newspapers
      • Over 200 presentations to a variety of interest groups
      • Editor of over 20 scholarly papers and dissertations
      • Contributed over 1,500 posts for a variety of blogs
      • Written hundreds of technical scientific reports
      • Recipient of around 50 awards and recognitions in both my scientific and Lincoln historian careers
      • World traveler to nearly 90 countries and territories (with more on the way)

Also:

  • Past President for the Lincoln Group of DC and previously for 4 scientific organizations
  • Currently on the Advisory Boards of three Abraham Lincoln organizations
  • Current Lincolniana Editor for the Lincoln Herald
  • Chairmanships for more than a dozen conferences and committees
  • Dozens of appearances on C-SPAN, local and national broadcasts, podcasts, radio, and other virtual and in-person media

I was the primary organizer and served as Master of Ceremonies for the Lincoln Memorial Centennial program in 2022. I also was the keynote speaker and presented the Gettysburg Address at the 2024 Lincoln Birthday Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. I have spoken at the dedications of other memorials and somber events.

 

My newest book is Lincoln, The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America. You can purchase it at any bookseller nationwide, as well as in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Signed copies can be ordered here. Here are two of the many advance praises for the book:

This is the first in-depth study of Abraham Lincoln’s interest in technology and science and how that interest impacted his life and his Presidency. As Kent demonstrates, Lincoln was a catalyst for some of that transformation wrought by science and technology.

Fire of Genius

– Marc Rothenberg, Ph.D., Editor, The Papers of Joseph Henry, and past Historian, National Academy of Sciences 

 

David J. Kent, a man of science and of history, has skillfully combined his knowledge of both to write a masterful treatise on Lincoln’s scientific mind.

– Edward Steers, Jr., Ph.D., author of Blood on the Moon and Getting Right With Lincoln.

 

I also have two other books on Abraham Lincoln – Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. Check them out here.

I’ve also written books about famous scientists – Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World, plus an e-book: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of His Time.

 

 

[Photo of David J. Kent at Lincoln Memorial Centennial courtesy of Bruce Guthrie]

 

Fire of Genius

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

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

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

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

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