Author: zoequinn001

Lunar Landing!

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Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, from NASA at nasa.gov.

Today marks the anniversary of humankind’s first steps on the moon. On July 20, 1969, the world held its collective breath as Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface. Television had just gone global a few days earlier when COMSAT achieved world coverage via Intelsat on July 1. More than 500 million people witnessed Armstrong making history as he spoke these famous words: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” With advances in aerospace including Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies (www.spacex.com) and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (www.virgingalactic.com), the future is seemingly boundless. To what purposes should space exploration be dedicated? To read the original New York times report of the NASA’s success, please see:

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0720.html#article

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Golden Spike Driven Today

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The driving of the final spike, from Golden Spike National Historic Site, at nationalparks.org.

Today is the anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The last spike was driven into the ground on May 10, 1869, the news of which was telegraphed around the nation near simultaneously! It is a little known, but important, fact that telegraph lines were placed beneath the rail tracks, creating one of the first large communications networks. The United States previously held the world record in rail tracks, but now China is deemed the leader as that nation builds a rail network uniting major cities with high speed rail including maglev. When the United States Transcontinental Railroad opened for business, cross country travel formerly taking six months by covered wagon could now be accomplished in 10 days. Commerce increased rapidly; by 1880, $50 million in cargo traveled across the 1800 miles of rail. In the future, will the United States join Canada and Mexico in a vision of high speed rail, perhaps as a celebration of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)? Could the PanAmerican highway become the route of a new transportation corridor combining state-of-the-art rail, road, and bikeway?

To read the original New York Times report, please see:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0510.html#article

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Rock Czar

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St. Petersburg, from the Daily Mail, at dailymail.com

Historically, the price of admission to St. Petersburg was once a stone. When Czar (did you know that Czar is Russian for Caesar?) Peter the Great decided to build a new capital for Russia, he first used wood as the building material. But his goal was to fashion a city of lasting grandeur, and stone was preferred for endurance. Therefore, the Czar handed down two imperial decrees: first, he forbade building with stone anywhere in Russia except in St. Petersburg, so that all stonemasons had to come to the new city if they wished to work in their craft; second, he put out the whimsical but direct order that no one could enter the city unless the person brought a stone for admittance.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Boston: Building History

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Boston skyline, fron National Geographic, at nationalgeographic.com.

Do you enjoy reading through the many projects on the Building the World site? Would you like to create one of your own? Well you can! Building the World is looking for student submissions for Boston landmarks and systems for its Boston: Building History page. Students are asked to submit a brief history, an important document relating to the establishment of the structure or system, two discussion questions, resource list, and images to buildingtheworld@umb.edu. This is a great opportunity for students to become published. For more details please see the Boston: Building History page.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Cycling in France

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Cyclists along the Canal du Midi, from The Daily Mail, at dailymail.com.

Think of Paris and the image of a young man or woman riding a bicycle through the streets with a baguette in the front basket almost immediately comes to mind. Cycling is also associated with France through the famed Tour de France annual cycling race. It is no surprise then, that cycling is also a popular form of sight-seeing for French people and visitors. The Canal du Midi of the Canal des Deux Mers offers wonderful scenery to the cycling tourist, be it a casual ride along the banks, or a more intense trip from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. There are many guides available, from  Lonely Planet to personal blogs. Find one today and get pedalling!

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Holy Rivers

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Pilgrims in Allahabad wading into the Holy Waters of the Ganges, from PBS at pbs.org.

In India, as with many other nations and/or religions, water is considered valuable for more than its hydrating properties. In fact, three of India’s rivers are considered to be holy: the Yamuna, – which runs by the Taj Mahal – the Ganges, and the Saraswati. Every twelve years a 55-day celebration known as Kumbh Mela occurs where these three rivers meet in Allahabad. The most recent of these celebrations occurred February 2013. For more information on the festival and its participants, please visit: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171735743/in-the-waters-of-indias-holy-rivers-seeking-a-glimpse-of-immortality?sc=17&f=1001

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 

Charles Ives’ “The New River”

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London traffic, from The Guardian, at guardian.co.uk.

The American composer’s “The New River” is a song that in title might sound as if it were about England’s human-made waterway, but instead Ives talks about a different kind of river, one of noise. The song for voice and piano has these lyrics:

“Down the river comes a noise!

It is not the voice of rolling waters.

It’s only the sound of man,

phonographs and gasoline,

dancing halls and tambourine;

Killed is the blare of the hunting horn.

The River Gods are gone.

Fortunately, the New River in England continues to preserve its bucolic nature through walking paths designed to help the public admire the English countryside not too far from London. In fact, some would say that without the beauty of the walking paths and their healthy lifestyle, Britain could have been less attractive due to the river of noise. Consider London Monday morning traffic reports.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

London Bridge not the Only One Worth Noticing

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View of the Forth Rail Bridge under construction, photograph by Evelyn Carey, in the records of the British Railways Board, from nas.gov.uk.

The Thames is not the only river in Britain with bridges that amaze the observer in style and design. The Fourth Rail Bridge in Scotland is to be considered as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2015. For more information on the construction of the bridge and its application to UNESCO, please see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-18237211

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Charlemagne in WWII?

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If he weren’t so well known as a warrior and leader, Charlemagne’s would perhaps have been recognized by history for innovation in engineering. His troops may have been the first to invent the temporary bridge.  In 792 he commanded the design of a pontoon bridge suitable for crossing the Danube River. This method proved handy to an army on the move, and provided excellent security when the soldiers assembled the bridge, stormed across and then pulled it back over with them, not unlike the concept of a moat of a castle. Years later, the Bailey Bridge  — same concept – helped to win World War II.

A modern Bailey Bridge, from New Zealand Transport Agency, at nzta.gov.nz.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Hospitality in a Time of Rebuilding

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The Republican Palace in Baghdad’s Green Zone, one of the buildings hosting the 2013 conferences, by Jim Gordon.

Rebuilding a city after a disaster, be it natural or man made, is a task that requires the cooperation of government and civilian alike. There is often a great deal of pride involved in attempting to reach a former level of success and beauty. Baghdad is no exception. In the midst of reconstructing the city and government however, Baghdad is demonstrating that it is still a city worthy of international awe by hosting a number of 2013’s international conferences, including the Gulf Energy Forum and an Arab League conference on Palestine. Like with London and the 2012 Summer Olympics, the need to house the international players while presenting the city of Baghdad as a global leader has led to a great deal of improvement within the city.

For more informaiton on the city’s improvements and the conferences being held there, please see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20979039.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.