O'Reilly logo

Stay ahead with the world's most comprehensive technology and business learning platform.

With Safari, you learn the way you learn best. Get unlimited access to videos, live online training, learning paths, books, tutorials, and more.

Start Free Trial

No credit card required

The Geek Atlas

The Geek Atlas

by John Graham-Cumming
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Release Date: May 2009
ISBN: 9780596802257
View table of contents
Start reading

Book Description

The history of science is all around us, if you know where to look. With this unique traveler's guide, you'll learn about 128 destinations around the world where discoveries in science, mathematics, or technology occurred or is happening now. Travel to Munich to see the world's largest science museum, watch Foucault's pendulum swinging in Paris, ponder a descendant of Newton's apple tree at Trinity College, Cambridge, and more. Each site in The Geek Atlas focuses on discoveries or inventions, and includes information about the people and the science behind them. Full of interesting photos and illustrations, the book is organized geographically by country (by state within the U.S.), complete with latitudes and longitudes for GPS devices. Destinations include:

  • Bletchley Park in the UK, where the Enigma code was broken

  • The Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, England

  • The Horn Antenna in New Jersey, where the Big Bang theory was confirmed

  • The National Cryptologic Museum in Fort Meade, Maryland

  • The Trinity Test Site in New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was exploded

  • The Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California

You won't find tedious, third-rate museums, or a tacky plaque stuck to a wall stating that "Professor X slept here." Every site in this book has real scientific, mathematical, or technological interest -- places guaranteed to make every geek's heart pound a little faster. Plan a trip with The Geek Atlas and make your own discoveries along the way.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Australia
    1. Parkes Radio Telescope, Parkes, Australia
  3. Austria
    1. Zentralfriedhof, Vienna, Austria
  4. Belgium
    1. Atomium, Brussels, Belgium
  5. Canada
    1. Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada
  6. Czech Republic
    1. Mendel Museum of Genetics, Brno, Czech Republic
  7. Ecuador
    1. Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
  8. France
    1. Airbus, Toulouse, France
    2. The Arago Medallions, Paris, France
    3. Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France
    4. Château du Clos Lucé, Amboise, France
    5. Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
    6. The Jacquard Museum, Roubaix, France
    7. Le Panthéon, Paris, France
    8. Millau Viaduct, Millau, France
    9. Musée Curie, Paris, France
    10. Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget, France
    11. Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France
    12. The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
  9. Germany
    1. Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
    2. Peenemünde Historical Technical Information Center, Peenemünde, Germany
    3. Röntgen Museum, Remscheid, Germany
    4. Stadtfriedhof, Göttingen, Germany
    5. The Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany
  10. India
    1. Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India
  11. Ireland
    1. Broom Bridge, Dublin, Ireland
  12. Italy
    1. Tempio Voltiano, Como, Italy
  13. Japan
    1. Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Kobe, Japan
    2. Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan
  14. Netherlands
    1. The Escher Museum, The Hague, Netherlands
  15. Serbia
    1. Tesla Museum, Belgrade, Serbia
  16. Spain
    1. Solúcar PS10 Power Station, Sanlúcar la Mayor, Spain
  17. Switzerland
    1. CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
    2. Historisches Museum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  18. Taiwan
    1. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan
  19. UK
    1. 14 India Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
    2. Air Defence Radar Museum, RAF Neatishead, England
    3. Albury Church, Albury, England
    4. Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, London, England
    5. Anderton Boat Lift, Northwich, England
    6. Bletchley Park, Bletchley, England
    7. British Airways Flight Training, Hounslow, England
    8. Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London, England
    9. Down House, Downe, England
    10. Edward Jenner Museum, Berkeley, England
    11. Elsecar Heritage Centre, Elsecar, England
    12. Farnborough Air Sciences Museum, Farnborough, England
    13. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England
    14. Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station, Goonhilly, England
    15. Greenwich, London, England
    16. Hovercraft Museum, Lee-on-the-Solent, England
    17. Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, England
    18. Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker, Kelvedon Hatch, England
    19. Kempton Park Waterworks, Kempton Park, England
    20. Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, England
    21. Manchester Science Walk, Manchester, England
    22. Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, England
    23. Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland
    24. National Museum of Computing, Bletchley, England
    25. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
    26. National Railway Museum, York, England
    27. Natural History Museum, London, England
    28. Poldhu, Cornwall, England
    29. Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, Porthcurno, England
    30. Royal College of Surgeons Hunterian Museum, London, England
    31. Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey, England
    32. Sackville Street Gardens, Manchester, England
    33. Sound Mirrors, Dungeness, England
    34. SS Great Britain, Bristol, England
    35. The Apple Tree, Trinity College, Cambridge, England
    36. The Brunel Museum, London, England
    37. The Eagle Pub, Cambridge, England
    38. The Falkirk Wheel, Falkirk, Scotland
    39. The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland
    40. The Iron Bridge, Ironbridge, England
    41. The Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, England
    42. The Science Museum, Swindon, England
    43. The Science Museum, London, England
    44. Thinktank, Birmingham, England
    45. Westminster Abbey, London, England
  20. Ukraine
    1. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine
  21. U.S.
    1. Alaska
      1. Aurora Borealis, Fairbanks, AK
      2. Trans-Alaska Pipeline Visitor Center, Fox, AK
    2. Arizona
      1. Titan Missile Museum, Sahuarita, AZ
    3. California
      1. 391 San Antonio Road, Mountain View, CA
      2. 844 E. Charleston Road, Palo Alto, CA
      3. The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
      4. Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, Fort Irwin, CA
      5. Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA
      6. 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA
      7. The HP Garage, Palo Alto, CA
    4. Connecticut
      1. U.S. Navy Submarine Force Museum, Groton, CT
    5. District of Columbia
      1. National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC
      2. National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
    6. Florida
      1. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL
    7. Hawaii
      1. Kalaupapa National Historic Park, Molokai, HI
    8. Idaho
      1. Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1, Arco, ID
    9. Illinois
      1. Fermilab, Batavia, IL
    10. Massachusetts
      1. MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA
    11. Maryland
      1. Gaithersburg International Latitude Observatory, Gaithersburg, MD
      2. National Electronics Museum, Linthicum, MD
      3. National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, MD
    12. Michigan
      1. The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI
    13. Missouri
      1. Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO
    14. New Jersey
      1. Horn Antenna, Holmdel, NJ
      2. Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ
    15. New Mexico
      1. Trinity Test Site, White Sands Missile Range, NM
      2. Very Large Array, Socorro, NM
      3. White Sands Missile Range Museum, White Sands Missile Range, NM
    16. Nevada
      1. Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, NV
      2. Nevada Test Site, NV
      3. Zero G, LasVegas, NV
    17. New York
      1. Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, NY
      2. John M. Mossman Lock Collection, New York, NY
      3. Sagan Planet Walk, Ithaca, NY
    18. Ohio
      1. Early Television Museum, Hillard, OH
      2. NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
    19. Oregon
      1. Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, McMinnville, OR
    20. Pennsylvania
      1. Joseph Priestley House, Northumberland, PA
    21. Puerto Rico
      1. Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
    22. Tennessee
      1. X-10 Graphite Reactor, Oak Ridge, TN
    23. Virginia
      1. Kryptos Sculpture, Langley, VA
      2. Shot Tower Historical State Park, Austinville, VA
    24. Washington
      1. American Museum of Radio and Electricity, Bellingham, WA
      2. Grand Coulee Dam, Coulee Dam, WA
    25. West Virginia
      1. Reber Radio Telescope, Green Bank, WV
      2. The Greenbrier, WhiteSulphur Springs, WV
  22. Miscellaneous
    1. Magicicada Brood X, East Coast, U.S.
    2. Magnetic North Pole