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Episodes tagged "Science/Technology": 1 through 10 of 34

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  1. A Confederate Surgeon Establishes A Field-Hospital After the Battle of Franklin
    date November 30, 1864map WILLIAMSON, Tennesseetags Battle of Franklin, Science/Technology, Medicine/Health

    Large numbers of casualties and advanced weaponry made it necessary for surgeons to travel with military units during the Civil War.  While they could take surgeons along with them, they could not transport hospitals.  As a result, surgeons often had to improvise, turning abandoned buildings (when available) into makeshift hospitals or setting up field camps behind battle lines.  Deering J. Roberts,...

  2. Captain Sally Tompkins Defends Top Civil War Hospital
    date June 9, 1864map HENRICO, Virginiatags Medicine/Health, Health/Death, Science/Technology, Civil War, Women

    Filling a pressing need for medical services, Sally Tompkins established a hospital after the First Battle of Bull Run that became the best hospital during the Civil War.  Running the hospital was not always easy; Tompkins faced pressure from many people to close down the hospital.  In June of 1864, Dr. Carrington, an inspector of hospitals for the South, filed an order to have the Robertson Hospital...

  3. Uncommon Access and Consumerism
    date May 24, 1883map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Science/Technology, Economy

    The souvenir booklet distributed by merchandiser Frederick Loeser during the initial weeks of the opening of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge on May 24, 1883, represented an early example of direct marketing. The crush of pedestrian traffic that gathered on the bridge's promenade deck was anxious to experience what was described as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", and no doubt contained shoppers....

  4. Professor Frederick A. P. Barnard’s Resignation from the University of Mississippi
    date 1860 to 1864map LAFAYETTE, Mississippitags Education, Migration/Transportation, Science/Technology

    In the years preceding the Civil War, United States citizens, especially immigrants, moved to areas in the United States that supported their beliefs.  Possibly one of the most unnoted, yet influential migrations was that of college professors.  Frederick A. P. Barnard, originally educated at Yale to become a teacher, became interested in Mathematics and Astronomy, eventually becoming a professor...

  5. Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Walk on the Moon
    date July 16, 1969 to July 21, 1969map Harris, Texastags Science/Technology, Moon, Apollo 11

      On July 16, 1969, Americans Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins sat atop a Saturn V rocket and were blasted away from the surface of the Earth on a journey across 300,000 kilometers to land and walk on the Moon.  The choice of which astronaut would step on the lunar surface first came almost by chance- because Armstrong was the Commander of the flight, his seat was closer...

  6. Operation Crossroads:  Sailor Witnessed Atomic Bomb Test
    date July 1, 1946 to August 10, 1946map Camden, New Jerseytags Science/Technology, War

    At 0800 hours on July 1, 1946, the United States conducted the Able Test in Bikini Lagoon, the first of three scheduled atomic bomb tests that were part of Operation Crossroads.  Among those who witnessed the atomic bomb test was Joseph Patrick McShane Jr., a nineteen year old sailor from Oaklyn, New Jersey.  From the deck of a transport ship, McShane watched the blast, which was “I think about...

  7. Surgeon General Fights Prejudice to Provide the Facts on AIDS to the Public
    date January, 1984 to December, 1988map District of Columbia, District of Columbiatags Law, Science/Technology, Medicine/Health

    Timothy Murphy, author of AIDS, Morality, and Culture, recalled that in, “A 1988 report…some 8 to 60 percent of persons surveyed considered AIDS to be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behavior.”  Many of President Ronald Reagan’s closest advisors also felt the individuals who had contracted AIDS were deserving of the plague that was now cleansing the earth of the unfaithful.  Much of...

  8. A Scientific American: The Legacy of Rufus Porter, Inventor
    date August 28, 1845map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Science/Technology, invention, Journalism

    Rufus Porter was a man of many talents.  Born in 1792 in Massachusetts but moving to Maine when he was nine, Porter was apprenticed to a shoemaker by his family, but he was far too restless for that kind of life.  After leaving home he played the fiddle, traveled to Hawaii, taught dancing school, had 15 children by two wives and became one of the most accomplished mural painters of his day.  However,...

  9. Arctic Exploration:  Dangerous Adventure or Scientific Discovery?
    date May 13, 1873map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Diplomacy/International, Science/Technology

    Arctic exploration debates the larger question encompassing nineteenth century America:  do we play it safe, or take risks to gain knowledge?  Do we preserve what we have, or seek new things?  Arctic exploration is one debate that centers on these issues, and the 1873 New York Tribune article, “Arctic Exploration,” addresses these difficult questions.  The late nineteenth century saw the beginning...

  10. Slave Owner Uses Modern Medicine to Treat Malaria
    date September 21, 1846 to September 26, 1846map ORANGE, North Carolinatags Science/Technology, Medicine, Slavery

             In late September 1846 several slaves from the Fairntosh plantation in Durham, North Carolina fell sick with malaria. Their owner, planter Paul Cameron, tells his father Duncan how he provided medicine for his sick slaves as well as the traditional herbs and teas. “Since that time we have a great deal of chill and fever at the mill quarter in [unintelligible] I have made the best arrangements...

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