Image: The Saturn V rocket on the launchpad, ready to start the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA
50 years ago, on July 16, 1969, at 9:32 in the morning, the Apollo 11 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Saturn V rocket. This was going to be the culmination of decades of work, and on July 20th, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would walk on the moon, the first two people in human history to do it. This Saturday, July 20th, is the 50th anniversary of the landing! There is a wealth of interesting things out there about the moon landing and the Apollo missions as a whole, but here are a couple to get you up to speed. I’ve read and watched most of this by this point, so I can happily tell you it’s quality stuff.
First: NASA is running a lot of events (including live streams) in honor of the 50th anniversary. They have a whole schedule on their website, and I highly recommend taking a look!
Second: NASA has released some stunning photos in honor of the anniversary. Check ’em out, all for free! You won’t even need your Tufts Login!
Third: if you prefer to read (or need to keep your roving data costs down when off of WiFi), I’d recommend checking out Amy Shira Teitel’s Twitter account. She runs a very interesting YouTube channel called Vintage Space, and there are few laypeople quite as well steeped in space exploration history (particularly of NASA and its missions) as she is. Over on Twitter, however, she’s doing a live stream text and video of the full Apollo 11 mission, as it was happening. You can pretend you’re in 1969, but without the pesky interference of not having your smartphone!
Fourth: Books! If you want to honor this anniversary by digging into the moon missions and NASA a little bit more, Tufts has got you covered. For instance, Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journey is the autobiography by Michael Collins, the pilot of the Apollo 11 mission. While Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface, Collins orbited in the spacecraft, and is the man who got them there and back safely. Moon Shot: the Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon and Almost Heaven: the Story of Women in Space can also add some interesting context for you in space travel. If you want something a little more close to home (since we are a health sciences campus), there’s always Trailblazing Medicine: Sustaining Explorers During Interplanetary Missions. But if you’re going to be sitting on a beach and want something a bit more…fictional, you could to a whole lot worse than the very popular (and very funny) book The Martian by Andy Weir. These are only the tip of the rocket, of course. Poke around on JumboSearch and who knows what you’ll find! And don’t forget, if you want anything from one of the other Tufts Libraries, all you need to do is Request Book. You might not get it in time to read it this weekend, but there’s still plenty of 50th anniversary summer ahead of us.
Finally, I will leave you with this list of breakthroughs & advances. Space exploration is a dangerous game, and scientists need to stay one step ahead of nature if humans are to survive in such a hostile environment. Luckily, when they do, life down here on Earth can get a little better too – everything from LED lights and memory foam to better firefighting equipment and prosthetic limbs owes a bit of debt (or its existence entirely) to missions like Apollo 11.
So, for a few moments this Saturday, if you look around at the technology that powers your life, perhaps take a look upward, too, at the moon, and reflect for a moment on all the brave and brilliant people that made that event possible 50 years ago. What a wild ride it’s been.
Ad astra,
Tom
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photo-514998/
Working on a cover letter? Stumped about starting your personal statement? Finishing up your thesis? Never fear, Health Sciences Writing Consultants is here! We interrupt our usual summer hiatus to bring you three special Thursdays where our consultant will be available to advise you on your writing projects.
On 7/18, 7/25, and 8/1, there will be four appointments available between 11am and 2pm. For more information or to register for an appointment please visit the Health Sciences Writing Consultants LibGuide.
Regular sessions will resume in August–stay tuned!
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
As announced on June 21st, the Food4Thought Cafe will be closed until a new vendor is in place. But don’t despair! If you find yourself in need of a quick coffee or lunch, there are still a number of dining options you can access without having to go outside.
The following eateries are all in, or close to, the Atrium of Tufts Medical Center. To get there from Hirsh, just cross the 4th floor bridge that takes you to the 3rd floor of the Dental school and go through one of the doors on your left. Follow that hallway down until you reach the sunny, circular hub known as the Atrium.
On that floor (the 3rd floor), you’ll find Chop’d and Top’d, which offers breakfast items, a variety of sandwiches, and a build-your-own salad option.
If you take the stairs or the elevators down to the 1st floor, there are two options. The first is Au Bon Pain (open 24/7!) which offers a range of made-to-order sandwiches, breakfast items, soups, salads, sweets, and snacks. They also have a number of grab-and-go options. The second places is the Fresh Life Cafe, which has rotating menu of hot food options.
And, of course, there is a Dunkin Donuts on the first floor of the Proger wing.
You can find the opening hours of all these establishments on Tufts Medical Center’s Places to Eat page.
Bon appetit!
It’s July, so it’s time to welcome our new crop of Interns, Residents, and Fellows of Tufts Medical Center and our affiliated programs!
Doctor immunising a child, 1941 from the collections of the State Library of Queensland is in the Public Domain.
Remember, House Staff of TMC and affiliated hospitals have full access to the research collections of the Hirsh Health Sciences Library (for questions about access, visit this page. We are happy to assist you with all of your library research needs, including access to Point of Care Tools, access to Guidelines, access to ebooks, and much more! We can help you with your literature searches, and work with you on bigger research projects as well (just fill out this Consultation form and we’ll get right back to you).
We are available during Library Open Hours to help with all of your questions, no matter how big or how small. Feel free to call us at 617.636.6705, email us at hhsl@tufts.edu, or use our Chat feature to reach someone right away.
Welcome to Tufts, and we look forward to helping you navigate the next phase of your medical education!
Summer is here and everyone at HHSL is looking forward to the 4th of July! See our library hours for the holiday weekend. The weather forecast says it will be mostly sunny on the 4th and 5th, but scattered showers throughout the weekend, so keep that umbrella in your bag! Here are our suggestions for how to enjoy a happy and healthy holiday weekend:
Fireworks Over Boston by Mike Halsall is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
The quintessential Boston 4th of July celebration is the Boston Pops performance and fireworks show on the Esplanade. Visit the official event website for a rundown of the schedule and more event details.
By jimsideas CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr
For fun throughout the weekend, head down to Boston Harborfest. Dedicated to celebrating Boston’s harbor and history, it’s the largest 4th of July festival in the country and features tons of activities, some free and some paid. Here’s the full schedule. Don’t miss the fireworks over the Inner Harbor on Tuesday night!
USS Constitution fires a 21-gun salute toward Fort Independence during the ship’s July 4th underway (US Navy) / CC BY 2.0
Go check out the USS Constitution turnaround! Watch the USS Constitution take her annual voyage to Castle Island to fire a 21-gun salute. You can buy a ticket for the cruise or watch from the shore!
Newton Fireworks at at Halloran Sports and Rec Complex by Owen and Aki is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Don’t want to fight the crowds for Boston fireworks on the 2nd or the 4th? Here’s a list of all the fireworks displays planned for this summer in MA. Of particularly local note, Somerville will be having a display on Thursday 6/27 at 9:15pm and Newton and Waltham will also have fireworks displays on Thursday 7/4.
By Bertram Nudelbach CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr
Whatever you choose to do this weekend, we hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe Independence Day. And don’t forget to wear sunscreen!
Have a Happy 4th of July!
Photo credit: Tom Quinn
This year, for Independence Day, the Hirsh Library will be closed Thursday, July 4th – Sunday, July 7th. We’ll be open regular hours again starting Monday, July 8th.
If you’re going to be hanging around Boston for that weekend, you could definitely go check out the Boston Fireworks Spectacular!
Hope you have a fun (and safe) weekend!
The North Shore is the place to be for festivals running all summer long. From the Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach, to the Salem Maritime Festival, to Gloucester’s famous Greasy Pole Contest of the St. Peter’s Fiesta, if you need to get out of the bustling city head north and explore these historic New England towns along the coast. Transportation is simple and easy, plus the MBTA is now offering $10 rail weekends. You can get to about any of these festivals by taking the Newburyport/Rockport line on the Commuter Rail.
St. Peter’s Fiesta! June 26-30, 2019 ~ Gloucester, MA
National Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach July, 26-28, 2019 ~ Revere Beach, MA
Yankee Homecoming July 27-August 4, 2019 ~ Newburyport, MA
Salem Maritime Festival August 3-4, 2019 ~ Salem, MA
Festival by the Sea August 3, 2019 ~ Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA
39th Annual Gloucester Waterfront Festival August 17, 2019 ~ Gloucester, MA
Annual Rockport Jazz Festival August 4-11, 2019 ~ Rockport, MA
Best of the North Shore (BONS) Event August 20, 2019 ~ Ipswich, MA
Rockport Celtic Festival August 23-25, 2019 ~ Rockport, MA
RiverFest Seaside Music Festival August 24, 2019 ~ Gloucester, MA
Gloucester Schooner Festival August 30 – September 3, 2019 ~ Gloucester, MA
Peabody International Festival Artisan and Maker Street Fair September 8, 2019 ~ Peabody, MA
Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Andrea Kang, our newest Research & Instruction librarian!
Andrea is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan School of Information where she worked at various parts of the library, including the Digital Preservation Lab, the Asia Library, and the Health Sciences Library. Before that, she taught in South Korea and went to Smith College. She’s excited to return to Boston and join the Tufts community, where she will be the primary outreach liaison to the Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences.
Feel free to say hello if you see her around the library!
June 17, 2019 is the 244th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, an event we mark in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Bunker Hill Day. It falls just after Father’s Day this year, so instead of watching war reenactments on the History Channel, why not take Dad out to bone up on some local history?
- Celebrate the belated birthday of Bunker Hill Hero Joseph Warren today or any day (his birthday is June 11) with a trip to his namesake landmark the Warren Tavern, a fine establishment dating back to 1780 and frequented back in the day by Warren’s good friend, Paul Revere.
- Kick off the weekend early and celebrate a turning point in the Revolution by joining Mayor Marty Walsh at City Hall Plaza to witness the raising of the Bunker Hill Flag on June 14th at noon.
- Visit Charlestown on Saturday June 15 for Bunker Hill Family Fun Day and a concert at the Monument. There will be music, art projects for kids, and much more. And it’s free! All Dads love free things!
- Visit the Bunker Hill Monument for the “Decisive Day” guided tour offered by the Boston National Historic Park, which departs daily every half hour.
- Head out to Quincy to the Adams National Historical Park on Monday June 17 for the special event “Bunker Hill to Penn’s Hill,” where you can learn about Abigail Adams and young John Quincy Adams, who watched the battle rage from ten miles away atop Penn’s Hill.
If you don’t have time to get out this weekend, here are the Top Ten Things You Should Know About Charlestown and the Battle of Bunker Hill according to our Head of Research & Instruction and Charlestown denizen, Becky Morin
1) The Battle of Bunker Hill was mostly fought on Breed’s Hill. That’s where the Monument is. Bunker Hill is actually taller and steeper, and is home to the lovely Saint Francis de Sales, a beautiful Roman Catholic church dedicated in 1862. If you don’t know which hill is which, we know you’re a tourist.
By Siddharth Mallya. CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
3) Charlestown is where Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride really kicked off. He was ferried in a rowboat from Boston, landing near the Charlestown Battery, where he picked up a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin, a lifelong Charlestown resident.
4) There is debate as to why the Colonial forces fortified Breed’s Hill instead of Bunker Hill, although many think it is because Breed’s Hill is closer to Boston. The British had planned the siege to capture Bunker Hill, as they wanted to dig in fortifications on the area’s highest points.
5) It took the British three attempts to capture Breed’s Hill, even though their numbers were far greater than the Colonial forces.
6) Charlestown burned after the Battle, the first of two major fires to strike the community.
7) Proud Charlestown residents still fly the Bunker Hill Battle Flag.
By DevinCook at English Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons
9) The Bunker Hill Monument (which you now know is on Breed’s Hill) is 221 feet tall and was completed in 1842.
10) Beloved French hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette, is said to be buried beneath a sprinkling of soil from Bunker Hill, procured by his son.
Want More?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-true-story-of-the-battle-of-bunker-hill-36721984/
http://charlestownhistoricalsociety.org/history/historic-timeline/
https://www.masshist.org/revolution/bunkerhill.php
https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun17.html
Our FREE BOOKS book-truck will be waiting for you down by the circulation desk on the 4th floor today–so don’t forget to swing by, and hopefully there will be a book or two or three that you’ll want to give a good home.
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Writing Consultant Summer Hours! There are three Thursdays where our consultant will be available to advise you on your writing projects. https://t.co/nueBBJVkLl
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