Unless things really drop off the table, Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub will have its 2 millionth reader sometime this month, probably between the 14th and the 20th.
Update: No, that won’t happen. Such goofs come from posting when tired. We’ll click over 1.8 million readers, but not 2 million. What was I thinking?
Oh, I know what I was really thinking: The rest of the post is still good:
Gee. Thanks.
Leave a message when you drop by, would you?
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Veterans Day Poster, 2009, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Click on poster for link to high-quality version
Get ready to fly your flag on Veterans Day, November 11.
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6 Comments | 1776, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, veterans | Tagged: Fly your flag today, November 11, veterans, Veterans Day 2009 | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
KERA Television has a marvelous short film profile of Jack Kilby, who won the Nobel in physics for his invention of what we now call “the computer chip.”
Teachers should check out the film and use it — it’s a great little chapter of Texas history, science history, and U.S. history. It’s an outstanding explanation of a technological development that revolutionized so much of our dailylife, especially in the late 20th century. At 8 minutes and 37 seconds, the film is ideal for classroom use.
Alas! My technology won’t allow embedding the video here, and so far as I can tell it is only available in broadcast on KERA and at KERA’s website. So, go there and look at it! If you can download it for use, more power to you — and let us know in comments how you did it.
2009 marks the 50th anniversary of Kilby’s filing for a patent on an integrated circuit. He’s been honored by the Inventor’s Hall of Fame. Despite the stupendous value of his invention, Kilby’s name is far from a household name even in North Dallas, home of Texas Instruments. Robert Noyce, who came up with almost exactly the same idea at almost exactly the same moment, is similarly ignored.
Shouldn’t today’s high school students know about Kilby and Noyce? Not a class period goes by that I don’t use a device powered by Kilby’s invention; nor does one pass that I don’t have to admonish at least one student for misuse of such a device, such as an iPod, MP3 player, or cell phone. It’s difficult to think of someone whose invention has greater influence on the life of these kids, hour by hour — but Kilby and his invention don’t get their due in any text I’ve seen.
It’s a great film — original and clever animation, good interviews, and it features Kilby’s charming daughter, and the great journalist and historian of technology T. R. Reid. Don’t you agree that it’s much better than most of the history stuff we have to show?
Texas history standards require kids to pay brief homage to inventors in the 20th century. Kilby is not named in the standards, however, and so he and his invention are ignored as subjects of history study. You ought to fix that in your classroom, teachers.
(Kilby was born and grew up in Great Bend, Kansas — Kansas teachers may want to take note. According to the KERA film, Kilby was a Boy Scout, making it at least to First Class.)
TI company video on Kilby featuring interviews from the 1990s, prior to his 2000 Nobel Physics Prize
Additional Resources
TI company video on the 2008 50th anniversary of the chip
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2 Comments | A Good Story, Biography, History, History of Science, History video sources, Science, Technology, Technology in the classroom, Television, Texas, Texas history, Video and film | Tagged: Computer Chip, History, Jack Kilby, Nobel Prize in Physics, Science, Science History, Technology, Texas, Texas history, Texas Instruments | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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