Scientific American magazine slideshow celebrates 165 years of scientific progress

Scientific American magazine was founded in 1845.  To mark this 165th anniversary, the magazines editors have created this slideshow showing scientific progress as documented through the pages of this publication.

Inventors of Summit County Collection

 The Inventors of Summit County Collection is a new resource featured in the Summit Memory project, an online scrapbook capturing the history of Summit County, Ohio. This new resource is part of an ongoing project to document patents issued  since 1839, when the first patent was issued to a Summit County resident. This information will be of interest to anyone with an interest in genealogy, local history or local innovation. It is searchable by both the inventor and title of the patent. It is interesting to see the variety of things invented right here in our own back yard!  Browse this exciting collection at www.summitmemory.org

Math help on the web

Need a good web site to answer a math question? Try Wolfram Alpha http://www.wolframalpha.com/  Enter any math formula or calculation and this web site will give you a complete answer, in some cases it will even show you the steps it took to answer the question. Take a look at the video explaining the depth of knowledge this site covers: http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

Perhaps you want to know something about an eyeglass prescription, for example OD 1.5 cyl 0.5 x 49. Type in the prescription and you will not only find out what that means, but you will see a Snellen chart showing you what a person with this prescription sees. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=OD+1.5+cyl+0.5+x+49

Need a calendar for the year 2010? Type 2010 AD in the search box and you can get a calendar as well as information for Jewish, Islamic, and the Chinese lunar calendars as well. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2010+ad

Want to know what a C major 7th chord looks and sounds like? Type in your chord and you will get the music notation for the chord, what it looks like on a piano keyboard, the names of the notes, and Wolfram Alpha will even play the sound for you. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=C+major+7th+chord

Be sure to check out Wolfram Alpha, the computational knowledge engine, for your next question.

How Does He Do It?

How, indeed, does Santa make his annual visit to the home of every good little child?  Great minds have pondered this riddle for centuries, and now, a website which claims to be the official Santa Claus website, will try to explain it.  But, as we all know, science can’t explain everything.  Some things are just magic.

You can follow Santa on his magical journey Thursday at the NORAD Santa Tracker site.  Most of the year, NORAD, the bi-national US-Canadian military organization responsible for the defense of the US and Canada, is busy with other matters.  But, once a year, NORAD turns it high-tech system of radar, satellites,  fighter jets, and yes, SantaCams over to track the most famous guy ever to dress head-to-toe red fur.

Vehicle Repair

Need to do some work on your car or truck?  Check out our large selection of repair manuals.  We have Chilton’s, Haynes, Motor, and Mitchell as well as Clymer for motorcycle repair.  Don’t see what you want?  Use Mitchell On Demand available on all library computers.