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| "She, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance" (Wikimedia) |
Note: "Founding father" Benjamin Franklin was in may ways "larger than life." His legend is enhanced by his constant writing and publication--often in promotion of his own virtues.
Get Ready: Do you know any good stories about the "first meeting" between a future husband and wife?
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| Anne Frank's passport photo, taken two months before she and her family went into hiding.(Wikipedia) |
Note: A young girl's diary brings home the horrors of World War II in a way that few other books have.
Get Ready: Do you keep a diary (or have you ever)? Do you think it could be helpful to future historians?
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| Feynman in 1984 (Wikipedia) |
Note: Richard Feynman was a larger-than-life character as well as an absolutely brilliant physicist. His technique for problem-solving is worth memorizing.
Get Ready: How do you go about reasoning through a problem? Do you have any special techniques?
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| Thoreau's cabin, from the book's first edition (Wikipedia) |
Note: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately," Thoreau wrote. Meet this foundational American philosopher and hear his thoughts.
Get Ready: If you could, would you like to live alone in the woods for a year (or two) and try to be self-sufficient? Why or why not?
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| Blackbeard (Wikipedia) |
Note: The pirate Edward Teach, known as "Blackbeard," is remarkably famous considering that his career spanned only two years!
Get Ready: What do you know about pirates and pirate lore?
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| Emily Dickinson at 16 or 17 (Wikipedia) |
Note: She wrote the words, "I'm nobody"--but this just isn't true of shy, retiring Emily Dickinson, one of America's greatest poets.
Get Ready: Emily Dickinson says it would be "dreary to be somebody." Do you dream of "being Somebody"? What would you like to be known for?
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| Edison and Tesla: antagonists in the "War of the Currents" (Wikipedia: Edison, Tesla) |
Note: Thomas Edison was a titan of invention, but part of his success was due more to his business skill and temperament than to genius. Find out how he used this edge to beat out Nikola Tesla.
Get Ready: What makes someone a "genius"? is it just "being smart," or is it more?
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| The Hatfield clan, 1897 (Wikipedia) |
Note: A few violent skirmishes between two rural families has become a model "feud" in this oft-told historical tale.
Get Ready: Is there anything that someone might do to you that was so bad that, generations later, your descendants are still killing each other for it?
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| The King gets scolded (Gutenberg) |
Note: "Uneasy lies the head..." The burdens of kingship can distract one from a simple task like baking, as King Alfred found out when he was on the run from the Vikings.
Get Ready: What sorts of things does a good king or other government leader have to worry about?
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| Alexander Fleming, a discover of penicillin (Wikipedia) |
Note: Imagine a world without antibiotics! These simple drugs have saved countless lives by preventing infection.
Get Ready: Have you ever needed an antibiotic? For what? If not, imagine some problems that you might need antibiotics for.
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| Charles Darwin (Wikipedia) |
Note: Sometimes science advances by invention, other times by discovery. In this latter category falls the story of a recently-graduated naturalist who set out from England in 1831 on a five-year voyage along both coasts of South America and onward around the globe.
Get Ready: Where do you think life came from? Was it the result of natural causes; an act of God; or some other source?
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| Sir Isaac Newton (Wikipedia) |
Note: With this lesson we'll begin discussing stories from science, literature, art, music, history, philosophy--almost every field of human endeavor and experience, even folk tales. We'll start by examining a well-known story from science.
Get Ready: What do you know about Sir Isaac Newton? Do you know any stories about him?
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| Galileo Galilei (Wikipedia) |
Note: Though the theory wasn't his, by championing the idea of the sun-centered solar system, Galileo advanced science and changed the way we see ourselves in the cosmos.
Get Ready: The earth goes around the sun, and not vice versa. Does it really matter? Does it change anything to know this? How?
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| Ernest Hemingway (Wikipedia) |
Note: The wimpy, bespectacled writer hunched over his keyboard was transformed by Ernest Hemingway into the robust, manly man we picture writers to be today.
Get Ready: Do you prefer books where the heroes are men or women of action , or do you like the more introspective kind?
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| Aaron Copland (Wikipedia) |
Note: Born in humble circumstances in an immigrant community, Aaron Copland became the most American of composers. Follow his path to success.
Get Ready: Which do you prefer, "serious" music or pop music? Or is there a proper time for each?
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| Linus Pauling (Wikipedia) |
Note: One Nobel prize is amazing, but TWO?! And in entirely different fields: chemistry and peace activism. Come meet this amazing man.
Get Ready: Which do you think is a greater achievement: discovering knowledge that leads to cures for major diseases, or using your influence to bring about a more peaceful world? Why?
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| Edouard Manet (Wikipedia) |
Note: Edouard Manet was a painter ahead of his time, the forerunner to the tradition-smashing movement known as "Impressionism."
Get Ready: Do you prefer paintings to look more realistic, like photographs, or should they be more impressionistic?
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| Victor Hugo (Wikipedia) |
Note: From miserable Jean Valjean to the pathetic hunchback Quasimodo, Victor Hugo peopled his beloved Paris with anti-heroes we still love and admire today.
Get Ready: Is it possible for the setting of a book--in Hugo's case, the city of Paris--to become as important as any of the characters? Try to think of some examples.
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| Louis Pasteur (Wikipedia) |
Note: If your milk isn't "Pasteurized," you'd probably be better off not drinking it! Learn about the French scientist who lent his name to the process.
Get Ready: Do you think much about germs--bacteria and viruses and the like? How important are they?
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| John Milton (Wikipedia) |
Note: John Milton was a genius with languages, which earned him the reputation of being second only to Shakespeare as an English poet. Let's look at his career in literature and civil service.
Get Ready: Can you ever imagine Satan (the Devil) as a sympathetic figure? Why or why not?
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