© Image used with permission from
Nov 1999 American Heritage magazine.

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ... (more)

Atomic Bomb: I have always fancied that the end of the world will be when some enormous boiler, heated to three thousand millions of atmospheric pressure, shall explode and blow up the globe. ... They [the Americans] are great boilermakers. — Jules Verne (1863). ... (more)

Weekly, from September 1942 to July 1945, Charles F. Kettering (who invented the first automobile self-starter) gave five-minute intermission talks about Science and Invention during the radio broadcasts of the General Motors Symphony of the Air. These radio talks are a fascinating legacy from the mind of a prolific inventor. ... (more)

Henning Brand's “Philosopher's Stone”: There once lived in the Middle Ages in the German town of Hamburg a merchant by the name of Hennig Brand. We do not know how inventive he was in his trade operations, but can assert confidently that he had only a very crude idea of chemistry...
One fine evening the former merchant had a streak of luck. A substance, white as snow, settled at the bottom of his retort. It burned quickly, forming thick asphyxiating fumes. And the strangest thing was that it glowed in the dark. The cold light it gave off was so bright that Brand could read his ancient alchemical treatises by it (for him these treatises had now taken the place of business letters and receipts). ... (more)

Introduction: The history of the search for perpetual motion does not afford a single instance of ascertained success; all that wears any appearance of probability remains secret, and like other secrets, can not be defended in any satisfactory way against the opinions of the skeptical, who have in their favor, in this instance, an appeal to learned authorities against the principle of all such machines, and the total want of operativeness in all known practical results. Published statements afford sorry examples of talents and ingenuity strangely misapplied. Some, but very few, are slightly redeemed from contempt by a glimpse of novelty. Of genius all are deficient, and the reproductions of known fallacies show a remarkable ignorance of first principles on one side and of the most ordinary sources of information on the other. ... (more)

In the margin of most pages, there is a multiple-choice quiz. Each page has a question served randomly from the database. Although there are some easy questions, others are designed to be challenging — to make you think. If you pick the right answer, congratulations. Three times in a row you can be very proud. Some questions should leave you feeling you found out something you hadn't thought about very much before. Enjoy! ... (more)

Sign up for the email newsletter, and you will receive a daily dose of the science events and people for that day. Each newsletter may include a description and link to a feature article, some quotations from the scientists born or died on the day, and some quiz questions. Some days the scientist names or events are very familiar, and the questions are easier. Other days, the questions should raise your interest in knowning about the lesser known scientists. The answers are online if you are impatient, or they also come in the next day's newsletter. ... (more)

You can print out a calendar page for each month of the year which has a thumbnail picture of a scientist on each day. Usually it will be on the person's birth day, though some are on the date of death. Occasionally, an event is featured in the picture. ... (more)