Lunch Hour

Started the "Science in American Life" exhibit at American History today. Pretty good, and thankfully not too indepth. The 1920-1940 room - the last one I saw - ended with a quote by a scientist-turned-politician from the 80's, saying that science has become so complex that most 'civilians' just tune it out, and thus the scientific establishment needs to do a better job communicating their work to the populace. He's right: I almost skipped the exhibit.

Some interesting things...
> The first scientific laboratory was founded at Johns Hopkins in 1876. How does the first lab end up with the name "Laboratory C"?
> Coal is life. You can eat it, take paint off with it, blow it (and everything around it) up, or develop photographs with it, all depending on how many nitrates and such you attach to it. Scary.
> William Jennings Bryan, the greatest American statesman never to be president, was the prosecuting attorney in the Scopes Monkey Trial, famous for lines such as "I am more interested in the Rock of Ages than in the age of rocks", was called by his opponent (Clarence Darrow) as a witness for the defense.