The transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that has been well documented throughout history. The most recent transit occurred in June of 2004, and the one before that took place more than 100 years earlier in 1882. This site from the South African Astronomical Observatory provides information and first-hand observations of the 1882 event from Wellington, South Africa. Just prior to the event, an observatory was erected at the Huguenot Seminary for girls, and some of the historical observations made from that site in 1882 are provided here for your perusal.

A unit designed to teach the history of aerodynamics, to develop some fundamental mathematical skills relating to the field of aviation, and to study the history of flight, including the first transatlantic flight, the Wright Brothers, and supersonic flight (old and new). Math criteria include the computation, concepts, and problem solving of velocity; acceleration, speed, distance traveled, and time. Includes 20 word problems.

NASA argues that new observations may upset theories about how solar explosions create and destroy antimatter. Users can view the many colorful animations and short movies obtained from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI).

This case study looks at how the scientific process really works, particularly in respect to evolutionary biology. Using the example of the discovery of the platypus, the lesson ties in easily with biology or zoology courses. The case study and teaching notes may be downloaded in PDF format. The site also includes a section for instructor feedback where general comments may be read and contributed.

This BBC Web site comes loaded with interactive multimedia features on evolution and the animal kingdom. Users can view 3-D images as well as video and audio clips of prehistoric creatures, play an interactive evolution game, and much more. The Web site also includes dozens of comprehensive, downloadable lessons plans and worksheets for students age 7-14 (click on Teachers to access these materials). The lesson plans encourage offline investigation and problem solving, but also provide links to relevant features within the Walking with Beasts Web site. The use of certain online features, with their engaging visuals and interactive design, should make these lesson plans especially appealing to students.

Located inside the National Air and Space Museum, the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery highlights the world of aviation in the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, flight technology rapidly advanced, aviation records were made and broken in quick succession, and African Americans gained increasing prominence in the field. Visitors to this site will get a preview of the materials contained in the museum through four sections: "Military Aviation", "Black Wings", "Civilian Aviation", and "Rocket Pioneers". In the "Black Wings" area, visitors will learn about pioneers like Bessie Coleman and then view an interactive feature on the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen. Moving on, the "Rocket Pioneers" section features the work of early innovators such as Robert Goddard, who created the world's first flying, liquid-fuel rocket.

Summary of events, expeditions and technology important in ocean exploration by Western cultures. Includes: observations of marine life by Aristotle and contemporaries of the Classical Era; greater detail of 19th century British naturalists and the accomplishments of the Challenger Expedition; the development of the first submersibles in the 20th century. A timeline provides notable events up to the discovery of deep sea hydrothermal vents in the 1970's.

This series of webpages is part of a course, called Astronomy 161: The Solar System, offered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Tennessee. This unit covers the sun-centered (heliocentric) solar system introduced by Copernicus; the observations of Tycho Brahe; the Kepler laws of planetary motion; the contributions of Galileo, including telescope observations and laws of dynamics; comparison of the laws of Aristotle with the laws of Galileo; and Newton\'s unification of astronomy and physics. Subsections explaining the contributions of Newton include: explanation of vector quantities used by Newton, such as velocity, acceleration and force; the Newtonian laws of motion, and universal law of gravitation; Newton\'s correction of Kepler\'s laws; conic sections and gravitational orbits; gravitational perturbations and the prediction of new planets. The section ends with a mention of Einstein and the theory of relativity.

This resource indentifies and describes various types of mechanical linkages often used in industrial manufacturing machines from a historical perspective. The material includes a number of illustrations and photographs, including demonstrations of historical equipment.

Affiliated with Duke University, the Forest History Society (FHS) "links the past to the future by identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on the history of interactions between people, forests, and their related resources..." Founded in 1946, FHS offers extensive resources for anyone interested in the history of forests. This website contains links to FHS archives, research and publications, U.S. Forest Service history, searchable databases, and more. The searchable databases include a sizeable bibliography "containing annotated descriptions of over 34,000 books, articles, and dissertations on topics in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history."

Three European organizations provide electronic access to the Codex 72, part of the Galilean Collection at the Biblioteca Nazionale Central in Florence, Italy. Codex 72 discusses "theorems on motion published in the Discorsi." The electronic version includes folios 33r through 194r, which contain drafts of Galileo's texts, drawings, and calculations and their translations. Material can be accessed via three routes, which are explained in How to Use the Electronic Representation of the Manuscript: a list of folio pages, Discorsi Propositions, and indices. The site also gives the history of the manuscript and includes bibliographies related to the manuscript, and a general bibliography. Although most of the manuscript is not translated from Latin and Italian into English, students and teachers of "the transition from Aristotelian to classical physics" are now able to view this historically significant, original manuscript.

Before the 17th century, people generally believed that Earth was at the center of the universe, a system originally developed by Ptolemy. Galileo, however, was not afraid to challenge existing beliefs when he published his work in support of the Sun-centered, or heliocentric, theory developed by Copernicus. This video segment describes the two opposing worldviews and Galileo's observation that Venus exhibited phases, like Earth's moon, certain evidence in support of the Copernican theory. The segment is five minutes six seconds in length. A background essay and discussion questions are included.

This resource guide on Galileo from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific provides a number of general books and articles, as well as websites and videos, for a variety of audiences (from children to adults). A list of references to Galileo in fictional work is also included.

This site, entitled Gyroscope, is offered by the Kenyon College Department of Physics. It describes the history of the gyroscope from its invention in 1852 by the French physicist Leon Foucault to other early variations. Large photographs of the pieces are given along with brief explanations. Visitors can also find a link to the gyroscopes predecessor, Bohnenberger's Apparatus, at the bottom of the page.

Created by the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, the site features virtual exhibits and tours of the IMSS museum. Some of their main exhibits include Galileo's notebooks and a whole section on Leonardo de Vinci. The page also features general information on the institute and museum, a guide to their library and archives and different exhibits and learning resources. A consistent news feed on the right hand margin keeps users up to date with happenings at the institute. Materials are presented in both English and Italian

In 1881, one Diedrich Wessels left Germany and came to America in order to seek a better life. Not an uncommon story for many immigrants from Europe at that most propitious moment, but his legacy certainly lives on in an interesting fashion. Upon his death, it was revealed that Wessels left a condition in his will that ˘ď‹ďĐa certain amount of land and capital should be set aside to establish the Wessels Living History Farm.˘ď‹ď His will was done, and today, this farm still stands in York, Nebraska as a testament to his life and to the importance of family farms. There are a couple of great features right off the bat on the site˘ď‹ď_s homepage, which contains a reading by Poet Laureate Ted Kooser and a film that documents a modern corn harvest. This is just the beginning, however, as the site also contains sections that also offer insights into the lives of farmers in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1930s. Each of these areas contains brief topical essays on elements of farming such as plowing and fertilizing, coupled with interviews with farmers about some of the technological changes that were underway in each decade. For those who would like a first-hand view of the farm, this is also covered on the site by a series of live web cams that look onto various parts of the grounds.

An integrated body of resource material for a high school general mathematics course. The integrating theme, twentieth-century America, provides the general area to be considered; five foci supply specific subtopics from which mathematical data to be used in class are drawn: Orientation, People, Science and Technology, Ecology, and Communications. The unit combines mathematics and history, and is planned to supplement basic skills lessons. Detailed lesson plans, activities, and charts are included.

The transit of Venus across the disk of the sun is a rare astronomical event that has transfixed astronomers for centuries. June 8, 2004 marked the last occurrence of this event. Due to its extreme rarity (occurring only twice a century) this past transit has been heavily documented and researched by scientists across the globe. This site from the Exploratorium contains educational webcasts and RealMedia streaming coverage of the event. The last instance of the transit of Venus in 1882 is also well documented on this site with an interview from Tony Misch of Lick Observatory and a Quicktime animation made with glass plate negatives. The site provides background information about the planet Venus and the importance of its transit across the sun, as well as information on how to view the event. Educators's will find the "Teacher's Guide" especially useful for lesson and activity plans revolving around Venus.

Exploring music, astronomy and cosmology, starting with the historical roots; the Pythagoreans in particular contributed profoundly to the development of Western Music by discovering two facts: first, that the sound caused by the string depends on the length of the string; second, that harmonious sounds are given off by strings whose lengths are related to each other as ratios of whole numbers. Pythagorean astronomy also thought that bodies moving through space produced sounds and were all harmonized (music of the spheres). In the 16th century, the revival of Greek culture paved the way for Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton to develop the laws of planetary motion.

New evidence contradicts a claim by a British team to have found 40,000-year-old human footprints in a Mexican quarry in July 2005. This radio broadcast reports on findings that the volcanic ash layer the footprints were found in is a million years old and the footprints may have been made by modern quarry workers. The broadcast also reports on a 20-foot trackway in Scotland created by a giant 6-legged water scorpion (hibbertopteroid) 330 million years ago. The clip is 2 minutes and 55 seconds in length.