A biochemist, avid cross-country skier, and former science budget analyst speaks on the joys of collecting, the lessons learned, and the importance of preserving material culture.

The Dominion Observatory's Earth Physics and Time Keeping Functions, part 4 by Randall Brooks Earth Physics The Dominion Observatory had another mandate — rather than looking up from the Observatory dome, some staff went to the basement to study gravity and seismic activity. The Observatory became part of a growing worldwide network of centres with seismographs to detect earthquakes and to combine the information to determine the location of the seismic activity. The Museum has a couple of early

The Dominion Observatory's Historic Telescope, part 2 Surveyor and astronomer, Otto Klotz (1852-1923) envisioned an observatory whose function in Canada mirrored that of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, but with a supporting role for surveyors. The result was the founding of the Dominion Observatory with William Frederick King (1854-1916), the Chief Astronomer, as its first Director. The Observatory’s primary function was to mark the primary longitude for Canada and the determination and

Foreword This Collection Profile was originally written in 2005 by Dr. Brooks to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Dominion Observatory . It will be released weekly as a four-part series of articles. The Observatory remains a notable landmark on the grounds of the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site of Canada , a short walk down the street from the Canada Agricultural and Food Museum in Ottawa. The 15-inch equatorial telescope remained the primary instrument there from 1905

You might be thinking we’re honouring those funny-looking, burrowing creatures — but National Mole Day is actually in honour of a different kind of mole. Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10 23 ), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Chemists and chemistry students around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and moles. For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams)