Washington DC Vacation: What to see?

Scott Dorsey wrote:

The Spy Museum is extremely commercial. Lots of flashy crap and not all
that much substance. But it is still worth going to, if only to see the
Great Seal with the passive listening device inside.



Oh, that great thing! The Soviet's gift to our new Moscow embassy.

Pat

The Albert Einstein Memorial at the National Academy of Sciences: 2100 C
Street between 21st and 22nd Streets, NW. The Academy is near the State
Department (C Street side) and the National Mall/Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(Constitution Avenue side). Very impressive and inspiring sculpture. From
the NAS website:

The memorial to Albert Einstein, situated in an elm and holly grove in the
southwest corner of the Academy grounds, was unveiled at the Academy's
annual meeting, April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of the great
scientist's birth. Einstein is depicted seated on a three-step bench of
Mount Airy (North Carolina) white granite. The bronze figure, weighing
approximately 4 tons, is 12 feet in height. Three caissons, totaling 135
tons, sunk in bedrock to a depth of 23 to 25 feet, support the monument.

Albert Einstein Memorial

In its left hand, the figure holds a paper with mathematical equations
summarizing three of Einstein's most important scientific contributions:
the photoelectric effect, the theory of general relativity, and the
equivalence of energy and matter. Three quotations from Einstein are
engraved on the bench where the figure is seated:

As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a
country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens
before the law prevail.

Joy and amazement of the beauty and grandeur of this world of which
man can just form a faint notion. . .

The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not
conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.

The star map at the statue's base--a 28-foot field of emerald pearl
granite from Larvik, Norway, is embedded with more than 2,700 metal studs
representing the planets, sun, moon, stars, and other celestial objects
accurately positioned by astronomers from the U.S. Naval Observatory as
they were on the dedication date.

The sculptor, Robert Berks, known for his portrait busts (John F. Kennedy
at Washington's Kennedy Center), based the work on a bust of Einstein he
sculpted from life in 1953. Landscape architect James A. Van Sweden
designed the monument landscaping. Einstein was elected a foreign
associate of the Academy in 1922 and became a member in 1942, two years
after he became a naturalized citizen.
--------------------------------
David Takemoto-Weerts
JPL Solar System Ambassador
Davis, CA

David Takemoto-Weerts wrote:

The Albert Einstein Memorial at the National Academy of Sciences



How could I have forgotten that one? Although Einstein himself would
have no doubt been appalled at its construction, it's one of the most
beautiful memorials ever done.
Although it still would have been fun to design it so that it would
stick its tongue out momentarily at random times:
http://www.physlink.com/estore/cart/.../344_large.jpg :-)

Pat

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 12:51:07 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:



How could I have forgotten that one? Although Einstein himself would
have no doubt been appalled at its construction, it's one of the most
beautiful memorials ever done.
Although it still would have been fun to design it so that it would
stick its tongue out momentarily at random times:
http://www.physlink.com/estore/cart/.../344_large.jpg :-)

Pat

That would be a great picture for the front of an "I Corrected Henry"
t-shirt.

8-P

Rusty

On 2005-02-19, Pat Flannery wrote:

"And above were costly stones, ..." - 1 Kings 7:10

Yeah, the Moon rock would qualify as a "pearl of great price" by any
standards.

One of the little sidenotes I've been half-expecting to crop up in a sf
novel for ages (but have yet to find) is a set of archaeologists who
have patiently cracked open a sealed vault, deep underground, carefully
maintained for centuries despite the fact that what's in it has long
since been lost - but they do know it belonged to the old government
here, that it was valuable enough for someone to have been emphatic
about preserving it, keeping the ventilation and the power running.

So, they break in - because with all this care it might be a
particularly important archive, or valuable items, or perhaps biological
specimens... and find a sterile atmosphere, and rocks. Lots, and lots,
and lots of little dirty lumps of rocks. Not even very interesting
rocks, either; the odd basalt, some mongrel lumps of breccia... and
pretty much worthless. So, they shake their heads and leave, turning the
lights out behind them, and file a report explaining that
late-twentieth-century Texans had strange priorities.

--
-Andrew Gray

Kevin Willoughby wrote:
It looks like I'll be visiting Washington DC for spring vacation.

In addition to the obvious (National Air and Space Museum,
Udvar-Hazy Center), what else should a space cadet visit?

For science and science fiction related events that are mostly in
or near Washington DC, please see http://www.wsfa.org/calendar.htm
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

"Andrew Gray" wrote in message
. ..
lights out behind them, and file a report explaining that
late-twentieth-century Texans had strange priorities.

Well, that's a given. ;-)



--
-Andrew Gray

Keith F. Lynch wrote:


For science and science fiction related events that are mostly in
or near Washington DC, please see http://www.wsfa.org/calendar.htm



"Science fiction related events:
Feb. 26th.
There will be a discussion of Asimov's three laws of robotics at the
Galaxy bookstore at 10 AM.
The documentary '2001- The Future That Wasn't' will be presented at the
National Air & Space Museum at 11 AM.
NASA will present its plan for completing the International Space
Station to the Congressional Space Subcommittee at 1 PM." ;-)

Pat

On 2005-02-21, Greg D. Moore (Strider) wrote:

"Andrew Gray" wrote in message
. ..
lights out behind them, and file a report explaining that
late-twentieth-century Texans had strange priorities.

Well, that's a given. ;-)

Yeah, but you *really* don't want to see the report they turned in after
turning up a brochure for one of the more rural agricultural colleges...

--
-Andrew Gray

Kevin Willoughby wrote:

It looks like I'll be visiting Washington DC for spring vacation.

In addition to the obvious (National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy
Center), what else should a space cadet visit?
--
Kevin Willoughby lid


I recommend visiting the bookshop in the NASA HQ building; the building
(at 300 E Street, I think) is about 10 minutes walk from the south entrance
of the NASM. It's worthwhile if you want to stock up on you NASA SP's. Plus,
you can get coffee mugs and mission patches in nearby gift shop for a lot less
than they charge in the NASM. :-)

The bookshop was on the left as you go in, before you pass through the
building's security gate so it was accessable to the public. However,
this is 5 year old information. I've no idea if that's changed post 9/11.

--
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Michael Morton | Everything is linear if plotted on
School of Computer Sciences | log-log with a fat magic marker.
University of East Anglia, Norwich | http://www2.cmp.uea.ac.uk/~mtm/work2/
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