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For anyone facing surgery, the possibility of pain looms large. Imagine back to a time when options for “anesthesia” were limited to alcohol or the danger of opium. When a Boston dentist demonstrated the “power of ether” back in 1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Jospeh Warren – a well-respected surgeon…
Read More »The autumnal equinox heralds the start of Fall which in 2012 begins here in the Northern Hemisphere today September 22 at 10:49 A.M. EDT. The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night.” The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the…
Read More »While walking through the grounds of the Whistler House Museum of Art yesterday on our way to the “Bernie & Bill” exhibit, the person I was with exclaimed “what a beautiful butterfly bush!” I’d probably heard of such a shrub before but the name never made much of an impression…
Read More »On April 29, 1962 President John F. Kennedy held a banquet honoring Nobel Laureates at the White House. Forty-nine Nobel Laureates, or their representatives attended. The guests included Pearl Buck, Rudolf Mossbauer, Mrs. Ernest Hemingway, Mrs. George Marshall and Dr. Linus Pauling.* It was on this occasion that Kennedy made his…
Read More »In yesterday’s New York Times Douglas Martin wrote of Lowell-born Roger Boisjoly who died a few weeks ago just before the anniversary of the 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Why link these two events? Remember the O-ring question? An O-ring seal in Challenger’s right solid rocket booster failed at liftoff – a situation that…
Read More »Young brides were given a copy of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook as a must-have staple to begin married life. Middle class housewives and “ladies of the house” used it religiously. Later, it became the basis of those science of home economics classes taught in public high schools. The Fannie Farmer…
Read More »Mass Moments reminds us today of the first use of the so-called “iron lung” developed by Harvard’s Dr. Philip Drinker. He was responding to a terrifying new disease that was causing sudden paralysis. Doctors called it poliomyelitis — or polio. First used on this day October 12, 1928 at Children’s Hospital…
Read More »Mr. Jobs’s legacy will be ‘the blending of technology and poetry. It’s not about design per se; it’s the poetic aspect of the entire enterprise.’ James B. Stewart today writes about Steve Jobs’s passion for great design in a long article in the Business Day section of the NYTimes. If…
Read More »Last month when Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple I wanted to write something about him and what he accomplished. I didn’t. Truthfully, I never felt confident enough that my meager writing ability could do Steve Jobs and his accomplishments justice. I feel the same today as I try…
Read More »Book Launch: From Critical Science to Solutions: The Best of Scientific Solutions Monday, September 26, 4:00 pm, at the Allen House, South Campus, UMass Lowell Richard Clapp edited the book, which is a selection of New Solutions articles published over the past two decades—articles by scholars and staff from UMass…
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