Joining the Fray: Kindle or iPad?

What will Apple’s latest device do to the ebook industry? Who knows, but everyone in tech-land is speculating. After surfing the flotsam and jetsom on the web I found two Athenaeum worthy items.

First, there is this tongue in cheek entry from Fine Books Blog called Don’t be a Bauble-head (by Steve Alburty). This puts the hype in perspective. The second post is this very practical comparison of specifications for various ebook readers, including the iPad. Based on the specs, I think the Kindle wins. It’s all about that eInk.

Charles Darwin’s Theory Today

Are you familiar with TED? Their byline is Ideas Worth Spreading and it is a place for fascinating recorded speeches. I went there looking for Darwin and here is what I found: Elaine Morgan says we evolved from aquatic apes. It is a long video (17 min.) but in the spirit of discovery, Darwin would be proud.

Where is the Poe Toaster?

Every year since 1949 someone has gone to EAP’s grave on January 19th, Poe’s Birthday, with roses and cognac, that is until yesterday. The Baltimore Sun has not one but two articles on the no show.  Nevermore?  Say it isn’t so.

I Love Book Arts

Thanks to the Book Patrol folks for another piece of book art called Patience, which if you watch the video you will need, but I think it is worth it. The artist is Randi Parkhurst.

GALApagos: A Celebration of Exploration!

Our annual fundraising event this year will be a gala evening highlighting the unique pleasures of the Athenaeum: our special collections, our signature programming, and our spectacularly beautiful building. From it’s inception, the Athenaeum collected accounts of the newest discoveries in travel and exploration. Fittingly, Charles Darwin’s most important notebook dates from 1838, the year the Athenaeum opened on Benefit Street.

This year’s gala features the performance of an original work that interweaves period music with Darwin’s accounts of his groundbreaking travels, produced by the Aurea Ensemble especially for this event; an exhibit from our 19th century collections on the discoveries of Darwin and his contemporaries, plus photographs of the Galapagos taken by our member Jim Scott.

Join us Friday evening, February 5th, at 7 pm.

Creation: the Movie

Now for a popular culture reference of Charles Darwin: on January 22nd the movie based on On The Origin of Species will be in theaters. Take a look:

Best Books of 2009-Lists

These days it seems there are lists everywhere about everything; but here at the Athenaeum we are all about the books. Rebecca Rego Barry at the Fine Books Blog has gathered links to best book lists that include many East Coast favorites: New York Times, New Yorker, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. She includes her personal favorites “9 for 2009″ and most of them are on our new book shelf.

The lists I would like to recommend are those at NPR. Their book lists are on…you name it!

Expression of Emotions by Charles Darwin

The University of Glasgow, Special Collections Department posts a book of the month page based on a book in their collection. Recently they did The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).

They make this material very accessible.  Well done.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is one of the great scientists of the 19th century and since the  Athenaeum’s Gala celebrates his explorations, I thought I’d add a few posts on things Darwin from around the web. First, an academic resource hosted by the American Museum of Natural History called DARBASE which is a union catalog of Darwin manuscripts and documents available online. The interface took a few moments to figure out but if you persevere the results are well worth it.