Science and Invention (American Historic Places)

A study of historic places--what happened at a particular site and how the lives of the people there were affected--has emerged as a great way to approach history, to "relive" the experience and open up the immense diversity of American culture. Every community and region is rich in such places--places that highlight real stories about real people and events. All of the sites in this book can be visited today, making the book a guidebook for the traveler or a fascinating reading book for the armchair traveler. SCIENCE AND INVENTION brings the development of science and technology in America to life through the study of related historical places. Offering a rich and detailed tour through the homes and laboratories of important scientists, this volume visits and explores: chemist Joseph Priestly's home and laboratory, in Northumberland, Pa; the home of pioneer surgeon Ephraim McDowell, in Danville, KY; Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, an iron-making community of the 1830's, in Elverson, PA; Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, a "waterway" that climbed mountains in Cresson, PA; George Washington Carver's birthplace in Diamond, MO; Lick Observatory, mountaintop astronomy's first home, in San Jose, CA; Thomas Edison's original laboratory, in Dearborn, MI; the home and gardens of horticulturist Luther Burbank, in Santa Rosa, CA; Wright Brothers National Monument at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, NC; biologist & environmentalist Rachel Carson's homestead in Springdale, PA; and the US Space and Rocket Center, birthplace of the Saturn Moon rockets, in Huntsville, AL.