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Still have some vacation time to burn, but tired of reading bad novels on the beach? Try a book written especially for people who’d rather go to the planetarium than to Planet Hollywood. It’s called The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive, by John Graham-Cumming. Each venue’s writeup explains its relevant science and history.
For example, if you’re in Paris, stop by the Institut Pasteur and visit the museum commemorating the life and science of the man whose name is on your milk container.
The U.K. is teeming with sites of scientific interest, including the Eagle Pub in Cambridge where Watson and Crick modestly announced that they had found the secret to life. There’s the home and museum of physicist James Clerk Maxwell in Edinburgh. And there’s the British Airways Flight Training center, where visitors can operate the same training simulators that pilots use.
Here in the States, you can really get your geek on at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. Or get your bearings in Gaithersburg, Md., at the International Latitude Observatory. Walk proudly in these hallowed and historic places. Because the geek shall inherit the Earth.
—Cynthia Graber