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A register of people involved in the development of science, technology, engineering and medicine in Australia, including references to their archival materials and bibliographic resources
A register of people involved in the development of science, technology, engineering and medicine in Australia, including references to their archival materials and bibliographic resources
The Office of Human Radiation Experiments, established in March 1994, leads the Department of Energy's efforts to tell the agency's Cold War story of radiation research using human subjects. We have undertaken an intensive effort to identify and catalog relevant historical documents from DOE's 3.2 million cubic feet of records scattered across the country. Internet access to these resources is a key part of making DOE more open and responsive to the American public.
The Human Radiation Experiments website is part of a government effort to provide greater access to information regarding the scope and purpose of experiments conducted by the government, often with out consent of the participants. This site holds 30 oral histories, more than 400 short experiment descriptions, primary documents, reports, and guides to collections. The site also offers photographs, short videos, and links. Although the site does contain vast amounts of material, one section of the site has been taken offline due to post-September 11 security concerns. These materials will be made available again after they have been screened for sensitive documents.
Although the `Great Debate' is important to different people for different reasons, it is a clear example of humanity once again striving to find its place within the cosmic order. In the debate, Shapley and Curtis truly argued over the ``Scale of the Universe," as the debate's title suggests. Curtis argued that the Universe is composed of many galaxies like our own, which had been identified by astronomers of his time as ``spiral nebulae". Shapley argued that these ``spiral nebulae" were just nearby gas clouds, and that the Universe was composed of only one big Galaxy. In Shapley's model, our Sun was far from the center of this Great Universe/Galaxy. In contrast, Curtis placed our Sun near the center of our relatively small Galaxy. Although the fine points of the debate were more numerous and more complicated, each scientist disagreed with the other on these crucial points.
The science.ca website combines rich narrative biography with clear graphic explanation to describe Canada's greatest scientists and their achievements. The site is visited by thousands of students from across Canada every day, often as part of their provincial school curriculum.
The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Department of Defense, declassified a series of historical films on the nuclear weapons program. They were converted to videotape format to help preserve the films and to facilitate the declassification and release process. These films document the history of the development of nuclear weapons, starting with the first bomb tested at Trinity Site in southeastern New Mexico in July 1945. This is the first time the films have ever been edited for declassification and public release. (Portions of some of these films were previously released.)
This fascinating site includes clips from more than 70 recently declassified nuclear weapons test films from the Department of Energy and Department of Defense archives. The films, originally recorded for public information, training, and data analysis purposes, document the history and development of nuclear weapons from the first bomb tested at Trinity Site in Southeast New Mexico in 1945 through the early 1970s. The site offers a series of short sample clips for each film and copies of the full-length films can be ordered through the site. Each film is accompanied by a 500-750-word description and contextualization of its contents. The films are listed in numerical groups, making the site somewhat complicated to navigate, though a keyword search engine and table of contents are available. This site is ideal for those studying the history of the American nuclear weapons program and weapons technology.
The online version of the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress comprises a selection of 4,695 items (totaling about 51,500 images). This presentation contains correspondence, scientific notebooks, journals, blueprints, articles, and photographs documenting Bell's invention of the telephone and his involvement in the first telephone company, his family life, his interest in the education of the deaf, and his aeronautical and other scientific research. Dates span from 1862 to 1939, but the bulk of the materials are from 1865 to 1920. Included among Bell's papers are pages from his experimental notebook from March 10, 1876, describing the first successful experiment with the telephone, during which he spoke through the instrument to his assistant the famous words, "Mr. Watson--Come here--I want to see you." Bell's various roles in life as teacher, inventor, celebrity, and family man are covered extensively in his papers. The digitization of this selection of the Bell Family Papers is made possible through the generous support of the AT&T Foundation.
This site offers nearly 5,000 facsimile items from the large collection of Alexander Graham Bell Family papers. Materials include scientific notebooks, blueprints, articles and speeches written by Bell, seven photographs, more than 3,000 letters to and from Bell and members of his family, and even a few poems Bell wrote as a child. Bell's correspondence includes over 100 letters between Bell and Helen Keller or between Bell and others discussing Keller. The collection may be searched by subject, name, keyword, or series. There are over 100 series of material from aviation to radium to the telephone. Each series includes from one to 60 documents of between one and 300 pages each. The site provides a guide to the material, but no introductory or biographical essay. The site will best serve researchers who already know something about Bell, rather than those just beginning their research.
A complete history of computing would include a multitude of diverse devices such as the ancient Chinese abacus, the Jacquard loom (1805) and Charles Babbage's ``analytical engine'' (1834). It would also include discussion of mechanical, analog and digital computing architectures.
Nineteen ninety-one saw both the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of a major Air Force Laboratory at Griffiss Air Force Base, the Rome Air Development Center (RADC), and the first anniversary of the redesignation of RADC as Rome Laboratory. The year was eventful in many other ways as well. Rome Lab technologies played a vital part in the stunning coalition victory in the Persian Gulf. The most profound restructuring of the organization in its history was accomplished smoothly and ahead of schedule, as Rome Lab received formal designation as the Air Force "superlab" for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I). The continuing collapse of Soviet Communism, and the resulting retrenchment in the United States defense establishment, presented Rome Lab, and, indeed, the entire Science and Technology community, with radically new challenges and significantly decreased resources.
The Air Force Research Laboratory has developed a history site about Information Systems Science and Technology. The site includes an introductory essay about the history of this project, detailed chronology, original documents, a glossary of terms, and some images of the Rome Air Development Center. The Signal Corps Laboratories originally located at Fort Monmouth were critical to the development of radio sets like the Walkie-Talkie and radars and radar technology that proved crucial during the Second World War. Later, the laboratories were involved in the development of air defense systems like the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line as well as High Frequency (HF)and troposcatter radios. In 1960 Rome Laboratory helped usher in the beginnings of satellite communications in a series of tests involving the Echo I passive communications satellite.
Lunar Exploration Timeline
Explore large structures and what it takes to build them with BUILDING BIG™, a five-part PBS television series and Web site from WGBH Boston. Here are the main features of the site:
Bridges, Domes, Skyscrapers, Dams, and Tunnels.
This web site accompanied the five part PBS series "Building Big" and features articles about and images of Bridges, Domes, Skyscrapers, Dams, and Tunnels. Interactive "labs" help to illustrate engineering improvements that have made these structures less vulnerable to forces of every kind. Notable engineering feats and failures including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the Hagia Sophia, the Petronis Towers and the Chunnel. Though the site is primarily aimed at a non-academic audience, researchers will find useful information here. It is also accompanied by an educators guide though it does not have a search engine which would be a useful tool for a site of this size.