Tag Archives: Wright Brothers

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Tricorder Blues

When I was a young girl sitting on the living room floor in front of our black and white television, I marvelled at Spock and his Tricorder… or Bones and his device. They were possibilities. I never imagined that in my lifetime, rudimentary Tricorders would be everyday tools. I write this on a ‘droid tablet, a “real” handheld device capable of analysing data, storing information and scanning.

June 2 would have been my maternal grandfather’s 130th birthday. Victoria was Queen. The Wright Brothers had not yet flown. Transcontinental trains in North America were new-fangled and the epitome of high speed transportation. A mere three generations after his birth, we’ve been to the moon, transplanted hearts, and nearly annihilated ourselves, twice!

Sadly, for all our advances, poverty, prejudice and fear continue to exist. There is no Tricorder yet capable of eradicating ignorance.

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Who is Douglas Mawson?

Vickers Plane 1912

Vickers Plane, by Frank Hurley

You may have heard that researchers on Cape Denison in Antarctica have found the remains of the first plane taken to the continent at the bottom of the planet. The airplane arrived in Antarctica a mere 8 years after the Wright Brothers first 12-second flight.

The man who brought the plane to Antarctica was Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958) . Not a household name in North America, but he is a national hero in Australia. One of the great explorers of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, Mawson’s exploits were equal to that of Scott, Shackleton or Amundsen.

The book he wrote about the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition can be downloaded as part of Project Gutenberg. It is a must read for anyone truly interested in Antarctic exploration and the Heroic Age in particular.