Re: April 28, 1958
Today’s reference date is not exact. This blog is based on
my experiences over several years. I chose April 28, because that’s today’s date.
Why I selected 1958 is part of the focus of this blog.
The
USSR’s Sputnik launch was the catalyst for changing science education in The USA. I actually understated the impact of that event.
Prior to this date, my family had two sets of
“encyclopedias.” One had a kind of reddish binding and looked very academic—I
have no recollection of EVER using that set for reference. The other set was
from a grocery store as a give away for certain dollar amounts of food
purchased. It was colorful.
The pictures from that set ended up in just about
every report my sister and I did in elementary school. However, neither of those sets of
encyclopedias was enough to help us catch and pass the Communists.
So, in 1958, we bought The World Book Encyclopedia from a
traveling salesman. My mom had the set until the gave it to one her grandson's when she moved to an elder care facility in 2095—complete with useless maps
containing countries that no longer exist—and about fifteen “yearbooks” to keep
us updated on crucial events.
My sister and I—and my parents’ grandchildren—used those
World Books all the way through school.
In addition to encyclopedia set, my parents had what were
probably books of the month on a wide range of topics. Some classic fiction
pieces like Babar the Elephant and lots of Dr. Seuss were there.
But what I remember most are the books on dinosaurs, famous
archeological expeditions, and the solar system. These are the volumes that
fueled my love of science. More on that in a future blog.
I used to sit and read about Howard Carter and King Tut’s
tomb—and become Carter as he moved
through the various passages and rooms.
Back when the Brontosaur was an accepted name and all
dinosaurs were “cold-blooded and very stupid,” I imagined their size and was
astounded. When the San Diego Wild Animal Park (now Safari Park) presented at a temporary exhibit of dinosaurs in the 1980’s, my astonishment increased by a factor of ten.
The park set up the exhibit on a spiraling trail up a
small hill. They did an excellent job of landscaping, so you really
couldn’t see any of the animatronic dinos until you were almost on them.
However, the absolutely most spectacular reveal was at the top of the hill.
The closer you got to the top of the spiral trail, the
louder the roars of some dinosaur became. As you made the final turn of the
trail as it opened into a clearing, you were staring up, and I mean UP, into the
massive open mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The head of the beast was as big as a car. The teeth looked
like railroad spikes. The roar was enough to knock you backward.
As I drove my family home that evening, I thought back on
the book about dinosaurs. The next day I pulled it from the shelf where my mom
still kept the volumes that didn't degrade over time. I sat on the davenport
and turned the pages.
The black and white drawings on the thick paper sheets that
filled the covers of that book were no match for the animatronic creatures I’d
seen the day before. But, it didn’t matter.
For about twenty minutes, I was Howard Carter, John Glenn,
and a prehistoric reptile all wrapped into one.
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