Infobytes Newsletter of the Friends of the West Caldwell Public Library

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Infobytes Newsletter of the Friends of the West Caldwell Public Library InfoBytes Newsletter of the Friends of the West Caldwell Public Library Volume 10, Issue 3 Fall 2008 R changed town centers, Grover Cleveland in several ways Cruise the British Virgin Islands and many other scenes along the road including old Tuesday, September 16 at 7:00 pm friends like the Morris Canal, the trolley and Caldwell Join us for a free viewing of “Bill Harmon’s Cruising Railway. Many of the scenes are presented in a "Then Guide to the British Virgin Islands” on Tuesday, Sep- and Now" format. tember 16 at 7:00 pm in the Community Room. Learn Phil Jaeger is a resident of Cedar Grove and has been a about the beautiful islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, frequent presenter of local history topics at our library. Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke through actual video foot- age, aerial photos, and coverage of cruising charts. This presentation is jointly sponsored by the Historical You’ll also learn navigation information including chan- Society of West Caldwell and the Friends of the West nel entrances and mooring buoys, reefs and shoal areas, Caldwell Public Library. The program is free and open anchorages, swimming and snorkeling locations, along to the public but advance registration is requested. For with secluded harbors and beaches that will enhance more information or to register, call (973) 226-5441. your cruising pleasure. This program is free and open to Refreshments will be served. the public, but advance registration is requested. For more information or to register, call (973) 226-5441. International Cooking Contest Thursday, October 16 at 7:00 pm Along Yesterday’s Bloomfield Avenue In honor of National Arts and Humanities Month, we Thursday, September 18 at 7:00 pm will present “Cultural Cuisine: An International Phil Jaeger will present a slide lecture program entitled Cooking Contest on “Along Yesterday’s Bloomfield Avenue” on Thursday, Thursday, October 16 from September 18 at 7:00 pm. 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Contestants will be invited to prepare ethnic dishes from China, Italy, Japan and Puerto Rico, the predominant ethnicities in the greater West Caldwell area. Mitchell Altholz, Ex- ecutive Chef of the acclaimed Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange, will serve as the judge for the International Cooking Contest. Prior to the cooking contest, three foreign language pro- This Caldwell postcard from the early 1900s shows an un- fessors will discuss the foods and customs of Italy, Ja- paved Bloomfield Avenue with a lone carriage at the right pan, and Puerto Rico. The speakers will be Dr. Vincenzo side of the road. At the left is the trolley terminal with a Bloomfield car waiting to make its 11-mile trip to Newark. Bollettino (Professor of Italian), Shigeru Osuka (Profes- The location today, just west of Central Avenue, is occu- sor of Japanese) and Tomas Miranda (Professor of Span- pied by a drive-through for a bank. Trolley service to ish). Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place Caldwell began in 1898 and ended in 1952. winners. This program was made possible by a grant "Along Yesterday's Bloomfield Avenue" starts in New- from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state ark and heads west through Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Montclair, Verona, Caldwell, West Caldwell, Fairfield This program is free and open to the public, but advance and ends in the Morris County section. It includes registration is requested. For more information or to Branch Brook Park, railroads, rivers, vanished or register, call (973) 226-5441. 1 well known. However, their development not only had a Music of Love Concert technological impact on New Jersey, but an environ- Sunday, November 2 at 3:00 pm mental impact as well. Soloists from New York City’s acclaimed Allegro Sing- George J. Hill is a retired surgeon who has authored ers will present “Music of Love: In Celebration of 150 three medical books and number of articles on medical Years of Puccini” on Sunday, November 2 at 3:00 pm and historical subjects. He is also the author of “Edison’s in the Community Room. Soprano Ruth Ann Cunning- Environment, Invention and Pollution in the Career of ham and Tenor Dante Fiore will perform famous arias Thomas Edison.” from some of Puccini’s beloved operas such as “La Bo- This presentation is jointly sponsored by the Historical Society of West Caldwell and the Friends of the West Caldwell Public Library. The program is free and open to the public but advance registration is requested. For more information or to register, call (973) 226-5441. Refreshments will be served. Singing for Victory: Songs of WWII Sunday, November 16 at 2:00 pm In honor of Veterans Day, Karen Luschar will present “Singing for Victory: Songs of WWII” on Sunday, November 16 at 2:00 pm in the Community Room. The heme,” “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Turandot,” and concert is a nostalgic mix of the fun and heartfelt songs “La Rondine.” They will be accompanied by pianist that kept our country knitted Inna Leytush and the program will be narrated by Dan together and ever hopeful Bellucci, who will provide background information during World War II. Inter- about Puccini and each opera. The Friends of the West woven with dialogue about Caldwell Public Library will sponsor this program and a the era, some of the wonder- reception will follow the concert. This program is free ful songs will include “Don’t and open to the public, but advance registration is re- Sit Under the Apple Tree,” quested. For more information or to register, call (973) “You’ll Never Know,” “I’ll 226-5441. Be Seeing You,” “It’s Been a Long, Long Time,” and “Kiss the Boys Goodbye.” She will It Began in Caldwell: Thomas Edison's be accompanied by Richard New Jersey Ancestors and the Impact of Danley on the piano. The This Great Inventor on New Jersey Friends of the West Caldwell Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 pm Public Library will sponsor this program and a reception will follow the concert. This program is free and open to Did you know that Thomas Edison’s great-grandfather the public, but advance registration is requested. For lived on Elm Road in Caldwell? He was a Tory and after more information or to register, call (973) 226-5441. the Revolutionary War was expelled to Nova Scotia. On Thursday, Caldwell Street Fair November 13 at 7:00 pm, Sunday, October 5 from noon to 5:00 pm George J. Hill, MD will The library will have a booth at the 2008 Rotary/ Ki- start with this early wanis Caldwell Street Fair on Sunday, October 5 from beginning and discuss noon-5:00 pm courtesy of the Friends of the Library. We Thomas Edison’s return will be selling gently used books for both adults and to New Jersey and his children in various genres including mysteries, biogra- subsequent development phies, fiction, picture books, etc. We will also be selling of Thomas A. Edison gently used DVDs, videos, CDs, and Books-on-tape. Laboratories. Please stop by our booth and purchase some of these Edison’s many inventions discounted items and receive a free giveaway. and accomplishments are 2 From the President Well summer is behind us, the kids are back in school and the West Caldwell Library and the Friends are plan- ning a busy fall of programs and events. On October 18th, the Friends are holding their 4th annual international dinner – “A Mediter- ranean Cruise.” This dinner has been a very successful event in previous years and we are expect- ing another great time this year. Our 4th Annual International Dinner . The Friends are also co-sponsoring two programs with the Historical “A Mediterranean Cruise” Society of West Caldwell: “Along Yesterday’s Bloomfield Avenue” presented by Friends of the West by Phil Jaeger and a program by Caldwell Public Library George Hill entitled “It Began in Caldwell: Thomas Edison’s NJ Ancestors and the Impact of this Great In- Saturday, October 18, 2008 ventor on NJ.” We are also sponsoring two musical pro- grams in November. Details of these programs are West Caldwell Public Library described elsewhere in this newsletter. 30 Clinton Road, West Caldwell The Annual Meeting of the Friends will be held on Thursday, November 6th. At that meeting, the 2009 6:00 pm Social Hour officers will be elected including the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary and Re- 7:00 pm Dinner cording Secretary. The 2008 treasurer’s report will be presented as well as a review of the events during the $45 per person year. Following the brief business meeting, John T. Delicious Mediterranean Buffet Kraft, archaeologist/educator and director of Lenape Lifeways, Inc., will speak about the Lenape Indians Beer, Wine & Soda in New Jersey. You will receive another mailing with the proposed slate of officers for 2009 and additional details about the speaker and his presentation. For information and reservations contact: Again, I want to thank all the Friends for their continu- Ron Day – 973-228-2289 ing volunteer efforts and financial support. Membership remains at an all-time high. Let’s continue to help make or sign up below: our library the best in the area! - Ron Day Mediterranean Cruise – October 18, 2008 Friends Executive Board Members - 2008 President Ron Day Name(s) ____________________________________ Vice President Audrey Ott Treasurer Lila Rubin Corresponding Secretary Alice Gibson Number in party ______ x $45.00 = ____________ Recording Secretary Laverne Nelson Member-at-Large Dorie Frey Make Checks Payable to the Friends of the West Member-at-Large Phil Hessinger Caldwell Public Library and send to 30 Clinton Member-at-Large Mary Lindgren Road, West Caldwell.
Recommended publications
  • The Early Years of the Acoustic Phonograph Its Developmental Origins and Fall from Favor 1877-1929
    THE EARLY YEARS OF THE ACOUSTIC PHONOGRAPH ITS DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS AND FALL FROM FAVOR 1877-1929 by CARL R. MC QUEARY A SENIOR THESIS IN HISTORICAL AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES Submitted to the General Studies Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of BACHELOR OF GENERAL STUDIES Approved Accepted Director of General Studies March, 1990 0^ Ac T 3> ^"^^ DEDICATION No. 2) This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my wife Laura, who has continued to love me even when I had phonograph parts scattered through­ out the house. Thanks also to my loving parents, who have always been there for me. The Early Years of the Acoustic Phonograph Its developmental origins and fall from favor 1877-1929 "Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snov^. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go." With the recitation of a child's nursery rhyme, thirty-year- old Thomas Alva Edison ushered in a bright new age--the age of recorded sound. Edison's successful reproduction and recording of the human voice was the end result of countless hours of work on his part and represented the culmination of mankind's attempts, over thousands of years, to capture and reproduce the sounds and rhythms of his own vocal utterances as well as those of his environment. Although the industry that Edison spawned continues to this day, the phonograph is much changed, and little resembles the simple acoustical marvel that Edison created.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Edison Vs Nikola Tesla THOMAS EDISON VS NIKOLA TESLA
    M C SCIENTIFIC RIVALRIES PHERSON AND SCANDALS In the early 1880s, only a few wealthy people had electric lighting in their homes. Everyone else had to use more dangerous lighting, such as gas lamps. Eager companies wanted to be the first to supply electricity to more Americans. The early providers would set the standards—and reap great profits. Inventor THOMAS EDISON already had a leading role in the industry: he had in- vented the fi rst reliable electrical lightbulb. By 1882 his Edison Electric Light Company was distributing electricity using a system called direct current, or DC. But an inventor named NIKOLA TESLA challenged Edison. Tesla believed that an alternating cur- CURRENTS THE OF rent—or AC—system would be better. With an AC system, one power station could deliver electricity across many miles, compared to only about one mile for DC. Each inventor had his backers. Business tycoon George Westinghouse put his money behind Tesla and built AC power stations. Meanwhile, Edison and his DC backers said that AC could easily electrocute people. Edison believed this risk would sway public opinion toward DC power. The battle over which system would become standard became known as the War of the Currents. This book tells the story of that war and the ways in which both kinds of electric power changed the world. READ ABOUT ALL OF THE OF THE SCIENTIFIC RIVALRIES AND SCANDALS BATTLE OF THE DINOSAUR BONES: Othniel Charles Marsh vs Edward Drinker Cope DECODING OUR DNA: Craig Venter vs the Human Genome Project CURRENTS THE RACE TO DISCOVER THE
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Edison Alexander Graham Bell
    The Inventing Game Cut out the images. Cut out the name of the inventor separately. Read out the text as a clue. Can people match the correct name and image? THOMAS EDISON Clue The first great invention developed by (don’t say the name) Thomas Edison was the tin foil phonograph. A prolific producer, Edison is also known for his work with light bulbs, electricity, film and audio devices, and much more. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL Clue In 1876, at the age of 29, (don’t say the name) Alexander Graham Bell invented his telephone. Among one of his first innovations after the telephone was the "photophone," a device that enabled sound to be transmitted on a beam of light. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER Clue (Don’t say the name) George Washington Carver was an agricultural chemist who invented 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds of more uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. His contributions chang ed the history of agriculture in the south. ELI WHITNEY Clue (Don’t say the name) Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794. The cotton gin is a machine that separates seeds, hulls, and other unwanted materials from cotton after it has been picked. JOHANNES GUTTENBERG Clue (don’t say the name) Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor best known for the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing machine that used movable type. JOHN LOGIE BAIRD Clue (don’t say the name) John Logie Baird is remembered as the inventor of mechanical television (an earlier version of television). Baird also patented inventions related to radar and fibre optics.
    [Show full text]
  • INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH by MICHAEL RIORDAN
    THE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH by MICHAEL RIORDAN ORE THAN A DECADE before J. J. Thomson discovered the elec- tron, Thomas Edison stumbled across a curious effect, patented Mit, and quickly forgot about it. Testing various carbon filaments for electric light bulbs in 1883, he noticed a tiny current trickling in a single di- rection across a partially evacuated tube into which he had inserted a metal plate. Two decades later, British entrepreneur John Ambrose Fleming applied this effect to invent the “oscillation valve,” or vacuum diode—a two-termi- nal device that converts alternating current into direct. In the early 1900s such rectifiers served as critical elements in radio receivers, converting radio waves into the direct current signals needed to drive earphones. In 1906 the American inventor Lee de Forest happened to insert another elec- trode into one of these valves. To his delight, he discovered he could influ- ence the current flowing through this contraption by changing the voltage on this third electrode. The first vacuum-tube amplifier, it served initially as an improved rectifier. De Forest promptly dubbed his triode the audion and ap- plied for a patent. Much of the rest of his life would be spent in forming a se- ries of shaky companies to exploit this invention—and in an endless series of legal disputes over the rights to its use. These pioneers of electronics understood only vaguely—if at all—that individual subatomic particles were streaming through their devices. For them, electricity was still the fluid (or fluids) that the classical electrodynamicists of the nineteenth century thought to be related to stresses and disturbances in the luminiferous æther.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Years of the Telephone
    ©2012 JSR The early years of the telephone The early years of the telephone John S. Reid Before Bell Ask who invented the telephone and most people who have an answer will reply Alexander Graham Bell, and probably clock it up as yet another invention by a Scotsman that was commercialised beyond our borders. Like many one line summaries, this is partly true but it credits to one person much more than he really deserves. Bell didn’t invent the word, he didn’t invent the concept, what ever the patent courts decreed, and actually didn’t invent most of the technology needed to turn the telephone into a business or household reality. He did, though, submit a crucial patent at just the right time in 1876, find backers to develop his concept, promoted his invention vigorously and pursued others through the courts to establish close to a monopoly business that made him and a good many others very well off. So, what is the fuller story of the early years of the telephone? In the 1820s, Charles Wheatstone who would later make a big name for himself as an inventor of telegraphy equipment invented a device he called a ‘telephone’ for transmitting music from one room to the next. It was not electrical but relied on conducting sound through a rod. In the same decade he also invented a device he called a ‘microphone’, for listening to faint sounds, but again it was not electrical. In succeeding decades quite a number of different devices by various inventors were given the name ‘telephone’.
    [Show full text]
  • Visions of Electric Media Electric of Visions
    TELEVISUAL CULTURE Roberts Visions of Electric Media Ivy Roberts Visions of Electric Media Television in the Victorian and Machine Ages Visions of Electric Media Televisual Culture Televisual culture encompasses and crosses all aspects of television – past, current and future – from its experiential dimensions to its aesthetic strategies, from its technological developments to its crossmedial extensions. The ‘televisual’ names a condition of transformation that is altering the coordinates through which we understand, theorize, intervene, and challenge contemporary media culture. Shifts in production practices, consumption circuits, technologies of distribution and access, and the aesthetic qualities of televisual texts foreground the dynamic place of television in the contemporary media landscape. They demand that we revisit concepts such as liveness, media event, audiences and broadcasting, but also that we theorize new concepts to meet the rapidly changing conditions of the televisual. The series aims at seriously analyzing both the contemporary specificity of the televisual and the challenges uncovered by new developments in technology and theory in an age in which digitization and convergence are redrawing the boundaries of media. Series editors Sudeep Dasgupta, Joke Hermes, Misha Kavka, Jaap Kooijman, Markus Stauff Visions of Electric Media Television in the Victorian and Machine Ages Ivy Roberts Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: ‘Professor Goaheadison’s Latest,’ Fun, 3 July 1889, 6. Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden
    [Show full text]
  • Genius Brands International's New Kid Genius Channel Launches on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand
    October 8, 2015 Genius Brands International's New Kid Genius Channel Launches on Comcast's Xfinity On Demand Children's Content With a Purpose Entertainment Programming Now Available in Over 21 Million U.S. Households via Video On Demand BEVERLY HILLS CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/08/15 -- Genius Brands International "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS), the global content and brand management company dedicated to providing entertaining and enriching 'content with a purpose' for toddlers to tweens, announced today that KID GENIUS, its new children's entertainment video on demand channel, is now available to approximately 21 million households across the U.S. through Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA)(NASDAQ: CMCSK) Xfinity On Demand platform. The free on-demand service rolls out with GBI's innovative, original animation series, including Thomas Edison's Secret Lab, Stan Lee's Mighty 7 and Secret Millionaires Club alongside award-winning Baby Genius content and classic children's series such as Where on Earth is Carmen Santiago and Dennis the Menace. For more information visit www.kidgeniustv.com. "KID GENIUS is a tremendous free resource for parents in the 21 million homes it reaches initially through Xfinity On Demand as it is an easily accessible, definitive source for quality children's content any time of day or night," explained GBI's SVP, Global Distribution Sales Andrew Berman. "We have sought out content that is complementary to GBI's content with a purpose mission to ensure that we are engaging as well as entertaining our young viewers and imparting valuable lessons delivered in fun, adventurous situations by endearing characters. We believe kids will want to watch these programs and parents can feel good about allowing their kids to enjoy them." The advertising-supported KID GENIUS on demand content includes original GBI series Secret Millionaires Club and Thomas Edison's Secret Lab.
    [Show full text]
  • Biographical Memoir of Thomas Alva Edison
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHICAL MKMOIRS BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OE THOMAS ALVA EDISON 1847-1931 BY ARTHUR E. KENNELLY PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1932 THOMAS ALVA EDISON Birth and Parentage Thomas Alva Edison, probably the greatest inventor that America has produced, was born at Milan, Ohio, on February nth, 1847. According to family records, the paternal ancestor of the Edisons landed in New Jersey, from Holland, about the year 1730. The family on Edison's mother's side, the Elliotts, was of Scotch-English origin and settled in New England prior to 1700. The Edisons were a vigorous, hardy stock. The in- ventor's great-grandfather, Thomas Edison, lived to be 104 years old, John Edison, his grandfather (1750-1852), to 102, and Samuel Edison, his father (1804-1896), to 92. They were all men of endurance and strong physique. Great-grandfather Thomas took an active part against the British Government in the Revolutionary War of 1775-1781 ; while grandfather John Edison, who was a young man of 25 when the war broke out, sided with the loyalists. When the great exodus occurred in 1783, and many thousands of loyalists embarked for Canada, John Edison was among them. Father Samuel Edison was born at Digby, Nova Scotia, in 1804. John finally settled at Vienna, Ontario, close to the northern shore of Lake Erie, and there he remained, as a Canadian citizen, to the end of his life. In 1828, Samuel Edison, the inventor's father, married Nancy Elliott (1810-1871), a school teacher at Vienna.
    [Show full text]
  • Handout 1 - How Records Work
    ! ! Handout 1 - How Records Work Thomas Edison’s phonograph, patented in 1877, launched the recording industry by facilitating, for the first time in human history, the capture and replay of sound. To record, the phonograph funneled sound through a large horn with a needle at its narrow end. The vibrations of this sound moved the needle which then cut grooves into the recording medium and in so doing captured those sound waves. To play the sound back this process was reversed, this time using a “needle” designed to follow the indentations rather than cut new ones. The needle revealed the sound that had been recorded. The image below shows a magnification of a phonograph needle in the groove of a record. Thomas Edison and his phonograph Credit: Library of Congress Early phonographs used no electricity for recording or playback. When electricity was introduced to the process in the 1920s, the recording horn and many of its inherent sonic limitations were replaced by the microphone. The flat disc--what we call a “record” today-- also replaced the cylinder during this period. At the time, however, most records were made of a compound of shellac. By the 1950s that changed, and nearly all records were made of vinyl. A phonograph needle in the groove of a record Credit: Ben Krasnow, Applied Science ! ! Throughout the first half of the 20th century manufacturers experimented with the diameter of records as well as the speed at which they spun. However, in the late 1940s a few key developments came. First, in 1948, Columbia Records introduced the “Long Player,” a 12-inch record that rotated at 33 ⅓ rpm.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Edison by Ryan Kohart Who Was Thomas Edison and What Did He Do?
    www.biography.com www.graphicscottage.com www.latimes.lablogs.com Thomas Edison www.history.com By Ryan Kohart Who was Thomas Edison and what did he do? Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11th, 1847 in Milan Ohio. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison; www.nps.gov www.slideshare.net Facts about Edison's inventions • In the 1800s Edison improve/invented the light bulb; www.edisonstechcenter.org • Also in the 1800s Edison invented the Phonograph; www.wikapedia.org • When Edison was alive he was the best inventor in the world; www.latimeblogs.latimes.com latimesblogs.latimes.com Here are some of the inventions Edison made. • Phonograph (1877) www.science.howstuffworks.com • Carbon microphone (1877-78) www.science.howstuffworks.com www.orbem.co.uk • The incandescent light bulb (1879) www.graphicscottage.blogspot.com www.science.howstuffworks.com • The Brocton break through (1883) Here is two of his 6 inventions www.science.howstuffworks.com • Nickel-iron Batteries(1901) www.science.howstuffworks.com The light bulb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn8uGDg_5fA • Edison made the first public demonstration of his descending light bulb on December 31st, 1931; www.edisonmuckers.com • It was made during the time he said “we will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles”; www.edisonmuckers.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbiCLHneyaA www.wnd.com The phonograph • Edison created many inventions but his favorite was the phonograph; www.americaslibrary.gov/ • In 1877 he created a machine with two needles, one needle for recording and one needle for playback.
    [Show full text]
  • Short Skirts, Telephonoscopes and Ancient Locomotives
    Junctions volume 2 issue 2 9 ! Short Skirts, Telephonoscopes and Ancient Locomotives Albert Robida’s Vision of the Twentieth Century Lotte Kremer ABSTRACT Albert Robida (1848-1926) was a French illustrator, caricaturist and novelist. In 1883 he wrote and illustrated Le Vingtième Siècle, a futuristic novel which gives us a look at twentieth-century life. This book is a science-fiction landmark, with its ambivalent attitude towards technology. In his development of such a detailed and coherent aesthetic of the future, Robida was the first true science fiction illustrator. Robida’s illustrations are an integral part of the novel and are thus worth analysing as a means of expression. I take a closer look at the illustrations, analysing their content and the way they interact with the text. I especially focus on the way they relate to Robida’s own historical context. First, the novel’s place in the science fiction genre is discussed, then its place in developments in illustration. Toward the end, the fashion, architecture, technology and general culture is taken into account. This provides the answers to the central question: how does Robida’s imagined future fit within his time? The novel acutely describes the mass effects of technological change. Robida creates a world akin to an anti-utopia. He conveys his ambivalence towards this progress and its repercussions through the fate of monuments, unthinking historicising fads and the effects of new technology on daily life. He creates a fleshed out world where his contemporary culture is mixed with a futuristic one. His illustrations contribute to this realistic world, which the reader explores from within.
    [Show full text]
  • Edison and Tesla: Innovation of the Electric Generator Read This Passage with Your Partner Or Small Group
    Name Date Edison and Tesla: Innovation of the Electric Generator Read this passage with your partner or small group. Use a highlighter or colored pen to mark vocabulary that you would like to explore further. You’ve heard of AC/DC, right? (We’re talking about electricity now, not the heavy metal band.) Both AC and DC describe types of current flow in a circuit. In direct current (DC), the current, or electric charge, only flows in one direction. Direct currents can’t travel very far. Think of the batteries in your flashlight; those run on DC. The electric charge in alternating current (AC), on the other hand, changes direction periodically. Because of that, it can travel long distances, like from a power plant to light the lamp beside your bed. Why are we talking about AC/DC currents? Because believe it or not there was a minor “war” (really a rivalry) 130 years ago about which type of current was better. This AC/DC war was fought between two inventors: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Who do you think won? Thomas Edison was known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park” because of the New Jersey town where he did some of his best-known work. He’s the one you may have heard most about. He was an inventor who developed many devices that greatly influenced life as we know it today, like the phonograph and the motion-picture camera. I’ll bet you’re thinking “don’t forget the light bulb!” But Thomas Edison didn’t actually invent the light bulb .
    [Show full text]