April 12: A Day in Space
By Lindsay Roseberry, Reference Department
April 12 is an important day in history, as least when it comes to space. There were 3 big space related events that all happened on the same day in different years. The brilliant astronomer Galileo Galilei was convicted of heresy by the Catholic Church for saying the solar system is heliocentric, a.k.a. the Earth revolved around the Sun. This meant that he was saying that the Earth was not the center of the universe, which was in direct contradiction to what the church believed. The second big event was sending a human into space. Yuri Gagarin was the first man (and human) ever to go into space. And finally, the first NASA space shuttle was launched into space on April 12.
GALILEO
Galileo Galilei
In 1616, Galileo was called in by the Inquisition, not really to question what he was studying with his telescope, but to give him a warning. They were probably restating that the Catholic Church believed that the earth was the center of the universe, and that to state otherwise would get him in trouble. He was allowed to continue to research, but not to publicly talk or publish about his heliocentric theory that was originated by Nicolaus Copernicus. However, in 1632, he published Dialogue on the Two World Systems, which compared the theory of earth-centric and heliocentric cosmological systems by three different scientists: one for an earth-centric cosmos, one for a heliocentric one and a third who was neutral. The side representing the sun-centered theory came out looking better and the Pope was not pleased. On April 12 in 1633, Galileo was called in by the Holy Office so that he could be questioned with the hope that he would admit his guilt of heresy, but he never did. He did confess that he was practicing his public speaking skills and perhaps went a little too far. In May, he was convicted of a strong suspicion of heresy, a lesser charge since he had made no confession. Luckily for him, being such a public figure made it harder for more aggressive questioning by the Inquisition, as did his age and health. Ultimately, his book was banned and he was sentenced to prison at home for the rest of his life. Galileo’s science outlasted the Inquisition and we now recognize him as a famous scientist who helped make the theory that the earth revolved around the sun a scientific fact.
First Human in Space
Yuri Gagarin
In 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first human to fly into space and orbit the earth aboard the Sputnik 1 (of course, less than a month later, the US sent up Alan Shepard). Gagarin was a good choice for the USSR, being a test pilot and an industrial engineer. The flight was eighty-nine minutes long, and reached an altitude of 187 miles. According to history, he only made one communication with the ground control in Russia, stating that the flight was proceeding normally and that he was well. He became an instant celebrity, just like Lindbergh was after he flew from New York to Paris. He was given honors and streets were named after him all over Russia. The designer of the rocket was sent by Russia to Germany to study the V2 rocket the Nazis were using. The United States captured the designer of the rocket, Wernher von Braun, but the Soviets captured paperwork and designs. And thus the Space Race began.
NASA Reaches Space
Space Shuttle Columbia
On April, 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia shot into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center. It was the first space shuttle in history. The space shuttle was different from a rocket in that it landed like a plane instead of on the water, and it was the first reusable spacecraft. It carried quite a few astronauts to space. In February 2003, the Columbia burned up during re-entry over Texas in February 2003. They found that a piece of foam insulation had broken off from one of the tanks and damaged the shuttle’s left wing. That became part of the safety check in all future flights. It made twenty-eight missions and was in space a little over 300 days. Space shuttle Atlantis was the last shuttle to fly, landing in 2011. For eight years, we have been ride sharing into space. New frontiers are on the horizon from NASA or private companies. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.
If you find this interesting, we’ll continue exploring the universe and space during our annual Summer Reading Program for Grown-Ups. Take a look at some of our special events this summer:
- An astronomy petting zoo on Thursday, May 23 – have you ever wanted to buy a telescope but didn’t know which one to get? Come to his program and narrow down your choices
- On Tuesday, May 28, learn how real astronomy has found 13 astrological symbols.
- On Saturday, June 15 we’ll be having a film festival of some of the best movies about space. Stay tuned for titles!
- On Saturday, July 20, we’ll be making a day of commemorating the 50th anniversary of NASA’s moon landing. Movies, refreshments, lectures and more!!
- On Tuesday, July 23, we’re offering a program about all the inventions NASA created for the space program that we use almost every day!
- On Monday, July 15, come hear about how people in history used the stars and constellations.
Sources:
- https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2488.html
- https://aerospace.org/story/brief-history-space-exploration
- https://www.space.com/18008-space-shuttle-columbia.html
- https://www.biography.com/people/galileo-9305220
- http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-truth-about-galileo-and-his-conflict-with-the-catholic-church
- http://solar-center.stanford.edu/galileo/
- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/galileo-is-convicted-of-heresy
- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space
- https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/why-yuri-gagarin-remains-first-man-space-even-though-he-did-not-land-inside-his
- https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html
A World without Satellites
By Lindsay Roseberry, Reference Department
As Richard Hollingham said, “without satellites, the world would be a very different place, [since] the infrastructure we all rely on has become increasingly dependent on space technology.” Satellites, of course, help us find directions on our smart phone, but they do so much more. They allow trans-oceanic communication; they keep track of weather; they give us warnings about tornadoes; they help our military track other military parties (and help other militaries track us); and they allow us to have television in remote areas with a satellite dish (dish network).
So what would happen if the satellites crashed or fell?? We could say goodbye to accurately predicting the weather, especially the storms and tornadoes. Trans-oceanic communication would be in trouble. AND we would no longer be able to us our cell phones for directions- we would have to rely on maps, and not the ones on the computer, such as Google maps—they rely on satellites as well. We’re talking giant paper fold out maps. People would have to come to the library to use old-fashioned atlases… (an aside: Did you know that our dependence on GPS (thank a satellite) is making us have more trouble figuring out where to go without them? There are reports that our brains are not retaining this information and that may yet have effects on us. )
So if anything ever happens to the satellites (or just to your phone), Travel and Leisure shares some tips about navigating with a paper map, and without the mostly reliable GPS:
- Check the orientation (look for the compass rose that denotes north – this way you will not get the map upside down
- Check the scale – is the scale an inch to a mile or to 50 miles? It truly will make a difference in the time needed to get to your destination
- Take a look at the legend—this is a key to what is shown on the map. Places like restaurants, bathrooms, toll roads, rivers and more can be shown, depending on the legend
- Know how to use a compass (assuming you brought a compass along with you)
- Check out the topographic maps, or sections. These would show you where woods, steams, mountains and hills are along your route. Sometimes even gas stations and camping grounds.
Richard Hollingham also provides a well-thought out possible future if satellites do fall from the sky in a scenario from the BBC. After listening to several speakers on the subject, BBC Future shared this timeline with the world. In the span of a day, severe disruptions would appear in our transpot, communications, power, and computer systems and governments would be struggling to cope. The public order would start to break down, and that was just day one. Hollingham gives credit to Orson Welles as he describes what would happen as a sequence of events.
But what could take out the satellites? Science fiction authors have explored this scenario endlessly, and so have the armed forces. Ignoring unlikely options such as alien invasions and time traveling egomaniacs, there are still several possible scenarios. Satellites could be deliberately knocked out by enemy nations, but most experts think this would be self-defeating, since this could also harm other nation’s satellites as well. A massive solar storm is always a possibility, which actually did happen in 1859 (the Carrington Event), but of course, we didn’t have anything in space then. Then, there is the Kessler Syndrome; this one you might know more about. This event was used in the movie Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. A missile strike, an asteroid, or something else strikes a satellite, then that satellite hits another one and so on until most if not all of the satellites are inoperable or destroyed. It could definitely happen. There is so much space junk up in space that this is completely plausible.
So what are the problems with space trash? Consider: while there are around 1,000 functional satellites in space, there are more than twice as many derelict and decommissioned satellites. Some 34,000 objects larger than ten centimeters (!!) have been observed by radar or telescope. For objects between one and ten centimeters, that number jumps up to over half a million. Debris less than one centimeter in size exist in the millions. Actually, Earth is surrounded by a huge cloud of space junk. Why is this a problem? Isn’t space huge?? So why would a loose screw or a fleck of paint floating around in space be so dangerous? Because debris can travel at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour. Even something as small and soft as a paint fleck can damage spacecraft or satellites when moving at such velocities. In fact, NASA has been forced to replace many space shuttle windows damaged by paint flecks. If a larger, ten-centimeter piece of space debris was to collide with something like the International Space Station, the damage would be potentially catastrophic. Another problem is that space debris hitting other space debris create more debris, which create more debris, etc.
Space Debris surrounding Earth
Astrophysicist and former NASA scientist Donald Kessler predicted this exact phenomenon in 1978. Shortly thereafter, a fellow astrophysicist, John Gabbard, coined the term Kessler Syndrome to describe this cascading effect. According to Donald Kessler, it is possible that the debris cloud will eventually grow so large as to prevent future operations within Earth’s orbit. That would translate into a future without weather forecasts, telecom, satellite-assisted navigation, or research satellites.
But what proactive measures can be taken to reduce debris in Earth’s orbit? Dr.Kessler has suggested that removing just five to ten inoperable satellites a year could halt the exponential growth of space debris. In recent years, a few plans have been suggested to proactively reduce space debris. For example, the Australian National University is developing a laser that can track, target, and destroy space debris. Likewise, the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) has partnered with a private company to develop a massive 700-meter long aluminum and steel net to sweep up space debris. Other plans call for solar sails and various types of capture mechanisms such as robotic arms and space sling shots. Whatever is planned in the short or long time will take detailed planning and will be a long-term project.
Photo by Frerk Meyer
If you find this interesting, we’ll continue exploring the universe and space during our annual Summer Reading Program for Grown-Ups. Take a look at some of our special events this summer:
- An astronomy petting zoo on Thursday, May 23 – have you ever wanted to buy a telescope but didn’t know which one to get? Come to his program and narrow down your choices
- On Saturday, June 15 we’ll be having a film festival of some of the best movies about space. Stay tuned for titles!
- On Saturday, July 6, we’ll be having a Cosmos marathon. Wondering whether it will be hosted by Carl Sagan or Neil DeGrasse Tyson? Make sure to sign up for our newsletter and check our website for more information.
- On Saturday, July 20, we’ll be making a day of commemorating the 50th anniversary of NASA’s moon landing. Movies, refreshments, lectures and more!!
- On Tuesday, July 23, we’re offering a program about all the inventions NASA created for the space program that we use almost every day!
- We will also have Dr. Billy Teets from Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory coming to talk and Dr. David Weintraub, a professor at Vanderbilt, will be talking about Life on Mars
Sources:
YOU’LL FLIP OVER FLIPSTER
By Sharon Reily, Reference Department
Do you have piles of expensive magazines stashed around your house? Do you sometimes find it inconvenient to visit the Library to access your favorite periodicals? Check out Flipster, the Williamson County Public Library’s new digital resource that gives you instant access to popular magazines on your computer, smart phone, or tablet. It’s as easy as flipping a page . . . there’s no clutter . . . and it’s FREE!
You can choose from 57 different magazines on a variety of subjects covering sports, business, entertainment, home and garden, men’s and women’s health, food and cooking, news and politics, and travel.
GETTING STARTED WITH FLIPSTER
On Your Computer:
Go to WCPL’s website (wcpltn.org) and click on the eLibrary box on the homepage.
Scroll down and click on the Flipster link on the left side of the screen.
In the top right corner of your screen, click Sign In.
Enter your library account number in the box and click Login.
You’re now signed in and you can start reading free digital magazines on your computer!
On Your Smart Phone or Tablet:
Download the Flipster app on your smart phone or tablet from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Open the app and click Get Started.
In the Find My Library box, click Allow to let Flipster search your location for nearby libraries that offer Flipster.
Then lick Log In next to Williamson County Public Library.
Enter your library card number and click Login.
You can now start reading digital magazines on your smart phone or tablet!
FINDING AND READING MAGAZINES
Once you’ve signed into Flipster, you can access magazines in several ways:
- Search for a specific magazine by title.
- Browse for magazines by subject.
- Scroll through all magazines by clicking the right arrow.
Simply click on the magazine cover to open it.
- Click All Issues to see other editions of the magazine.
- Click Pages to see thumbnail images of all the pages in the issue.
- Zoom in or out on a page by clicking the zoom buttons.
- Click the right arrow to advance to the next page or click the back arrow to go back a page.
That’s all there is to it! But if you’d like additional information on using Flipster, to go https://ebsco.libguides.com/flipster/flipsterapp, where you’ll find more detailed instructions, tips, FAQs, and video tutorials.
With Flipster, you can free space taken up by paper issues of magazines, save money on the cost of subscriptions, and read your favorite magazines whenever and wherever you’d like. Enjoy your digital magazines!
Beginning genealogy: Those (not so) pesky neighbors!
By Jason Gavin, Special Collections Librarian
You’ve started your family genealogy, and zipped right through the first few generations using census records on Ancestry.com. Great! Then the inevitable happens – you hit a brick wall. Great-great-Grandma or Grandpa seems to simply disappear off the face of the Earth! Now what? It’s time to take a closer look at the census records you’ve already used, and look at those nosy neighbors.
It’s always worth bearing in mind that census records were compiled by a (sometimes very) fallible human being walking door to door, knocking, and asking “who lives here?”. If you stay aware of this fact, you won’t make the mistake of assuming that because a name is spelled a particular way, in must not be Grandpa Stephen, because he spelled his name with a “v”. If the census taker heard “Gavin”, he might have written “Gavin” on the census. If, on the other hand, he heard “Caffin”, that’s what he’ll write (I’ve seen it happen!). And if the name was even slightly exotic, be it French, German, Italian, Swedish, etc. – forget about it! I am often tempted to believe that to be hired as a Federal census taker prior to 1900, applicants had to pass a grueling exam, where only the most hard-of-hearing, sloppiest penmanship, and poorest spellers passed. I can’t prove this, but I have my suspicions.
The other reason it’s worth remembering this door-to-door-knocking fact, is that it means all of the families listed above and below the family you’re researching were next door neighbors. This can be tremendously helpful! For one reason, youthful betrothed tended to marry the guy or girl next door, or a couple of houses down, or the next street over. If you can find great grandpa while he was single in the census records, you can very often find great grandma’s family on the next page or sometimes even living next door.
Another reason this is useful is because families during certain periods tended to move in groups. The Johnsons moved from North Carolina to Kentucky to Tennessee with the Smith family, for example. And along the way, sons might marry daughters. You never know how little clues like this might help you break through your brick wall. As an example, I found a house full of my ancestors in the 1880 census, along with a very elderly lady by a different last name of Hollingsworth. Continuing my line yielded a few more results, but I eventually hit the familiar brick wall. This was solved eventually not by researching my family name, but by tracing the Hollingsworths, and looking at their neighbors. And sure enough, I found a family of Hollingsworths living next door to some Gavins in 1850, which filled in the gap I was looking for and allowed me to plow headlong into the next brick wall on the Gavin line.
Paying attention to occupations and nationalities of neighbors can also lend some context to the history and kind of location your ancestors were in as well. Was everybody a farmer? This might indicate a poor rural location. Is there evidence for industry? Do you see blacksmiths or railroad workers clustered in the neighborhood? Were the majority of the neighbors German or Irish, or did they speak languages other than English? This might give a clue as to your ancestor’s nationality. What was the average age of people in the community? An extreme lack of elderly individuals might indicate the area was fairly newly established, whereas a uniform lack of young men of certain age might indicate heavy recruitment for a war.
Like so much in genealogy, the smallest, most overlooked clues can lead to big breakthroughs with a little patience and diligence.
Women in Space and Their Firsts
By Lindsay Roseberry, Reference Department
Valentina Tereshkova
This year marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s moon landing. As we start looking at the last fifty years of space exploration, we also want to celebrate the history of women in space as well. According to NASA, by 2017 a total of 59 different women, including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and foreign nationals, have flown in space. And seeing as history has recently provided us with a new first for women in space, let’s take a look at some of the previous ones. Granted, the history of women in space only reaches 50 years if we add in the accomplishments of the Soviet Union.
The first woman is space was a Russian. Valentina Tereshkova was the pilot of the Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963 and she was 26 at the time of her flight. She orbited the earth 48 times and manually brought the shop out of orbit. She had been a textile worker and loved skydiving, which definitely helped her since the capsule was propelled into space by an intercontinental ballistic missile. (!) And after returning to earth atmosphere, she ejected herself from the capsule and came down to earth using a parachute (her own parachute.) Wow!
Sally Ride
Sally Ride became the first woman (and pilot) for the United States to fly in space. She chose space over a professional tennis career and went to space during space shuttle Challenger’s inaugural mission in 1983. That’s a long time to wait for a woman to go to space! Thankfully, Sally Ride was up to the challenge.
In 1984, Svetlana Savistkaya, was the first female to perform a spacewalk. She spent almost 4 hours cutting and welding metals outside the Salyut 7 space station. She had a second record as well—this was her second mission, making her the first woman to go to space twice.
Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to go to space. She had completed her medical degree and applied to NASA in 1983 and was asked to join in 1987, after serving in the Peace Corps. She flew in 1992, working on bone cell research in space. She also holds 9 honorary doctorates!
Mae Jemison
Helen Patricia Sharman was the first woman to fly in space as a result of a newspaper ad for “Astronaut wanted – no experience necessary,” as well as the first British astronaut. The advertisement was for a private space programme called Project Juno, where a consortium was formed to raise money to pat the Soviet Union for a seat on a mission. She stayed a week at Russia’s space station Mir in 1991. She was also the first non-American, non-Soviet astronaut.
Chiaki Mukai, a physician, became the first Japanese woman to enter space as an astronaut with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. She had two trips, in 1994 and 1998, which made her the first Japanese woman to travel to space twice; she also helped support the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Eileen Collins, a New York native, was a pilot at Vance Air Force Base before being assigned to the US Air Force Academy. In 1990, she was selected by NASA to become an astronaut, and became the first female Shuttle Pilot in 1995 on a mission that involved a rendezvous between Discovery and the Russian space station Mir. She went on to become the first female commander of a US Spacecraft with Shuttle mission. She retired in 2006 after having completed four missions.
Chiaki Mukai
Anousheh Ansari is an Iranian-born American who had a background in aeronautical engineering and computer science. She was able to train as a backup for the first spaceflight mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which was headed up by a private company. In 2006, she was elevated to the prime crew, making her the first female space tourist. She hopes to inspire everyone – especially young people, women, and young girls all over the world, and in Middle Eastern countries that do not provide women with the same opportunities as men – to not give up their dreams and to pursue them.
Karen Nyberg’s second mission was on the 50th anniversary of Valentina Tereskova’s first mission (2013). Karen is considered the first American mother in space—(perhaps that might be mother of young children?) She is also training in deep-sea training and simulation exercise at the Aquarius underwater laboratory which hopes to prepare astronauts for missions to the moon and Mars.
Anousheh Ansari
Samantha Cristoforetti went to space in 2014 and returned to earth in 2015 and so is the most recent woman to have returned from space. She has a number of firsts, which is perfect for this list. She is she the first Italian woman to have entered space as a part of the Futura mission to ISS. She also holds the record for longest single space flight by a woman–199 days and 16 hours–and the record for the longest uninterrupted flight by a European astronaut.
And finally, for the first time in history, an all female crew will perform a spacewalk at the International Space Station. The crew will consist of astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch who will complete the walk on March 29, lead flight controller Jackie Kagey, and lead flight director Mary Lawrence.
P.S. – This year our Summer Reading Program theme is “A Universe of Stories” and we will be having programs about space, including movies and guest speakers and so much more. Stay Tuned!!!
Further Reading:
- Almost heaven: the story of women in space by Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles (629.45 KEV)
- Galaxy girls: 50 amazing stories of women in space by Libby Jackson (YA 629.450092 JAC)
- Hidden figures: the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race by Margot Lee Shetterly (510.9252 SHE)
- Rise of the rocket girls: the women who propelled us, from missiles to the moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt (269.4072 HOL)
- Rocket girl: the story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s first female rocket scientist by George D. Morgan (B MORGAN)
- The glass universe: how the ladies of the Harvard Observatory took the measure of the stars by Dava Sobel (522.1974 SOB)
- When we left Earth: the NASA missions (DVD 629.45 WHE)
- The Mercury 13: the untold story of thirteen American women and the dream of space flight by Martha Ackmann (629.45 ACK)
Sources:
- https://www.space.com/16143-women-space-firsts-gallery.html
- https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/science/space/article/2016/03/07/10-coolest-women-space
- http://www.spacetoday.org/History/SpaceWomen.html
- https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts
- https://www.space.com/21558-valentina-tereshkova-first-woman-space-infographic.html
- http://www.astronautix.com/s/sharman.html
- https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/nasa-astronauts-will-conduct-the-first-all-female-spacewalk-in-history.html
What Is Special Collections, Anyway?
By Cindy Schuchardt, Special Collections
If you’ve wandered the library looking for that next great read, you may have braved the stairs and checked out our non-fiction section, teen room, rotunda area, and computer learning lab. As you continued to explore the second floor, perhaps you saw the “Special Collections” signage, beckoning you to a mysterious room tucked back in the corner behind the printers. Special Collections? What is that… a place to donate to your favorite charitable organization? No.
The collections that we feature are books, periodicals and other specialized resources that relate to genealogy and local history. If you’ve wanted to research your ancestry or learn more about the history of Williamson County or Tennessee, then come in for a visit! Here’s a look at what Special Collections has to offer:
- Books and periodicals that take you on a journey from European Genealogy and History, to S. Genealogy & History, to Tennessee History & Periodicals. From there, materials explore various Tennessee counties, nearby states, and family biographies.
- The Local Authors Collection, consisting of books published by Williamson County residents, past and present.
A View Scan microfilm reader, which allows you to browse through local microfilm records: newspapers that date back to the early 1800s, court records, deeds, and marriage records.- The Epson Perfection Pro scanner, with plastic frame adapters that make it easy to capture crisp digital (and printable) images from 35mm slides, film strips, and variously sized photographs and negatives.
- A copy stand to help you take well-focused lighted images of publications and objects of all shapes and sizes.
- Our giant map case, located in the Williamson Room. This five-drawered beauty allows us to store most large maps flat, making them easier for you to find and read.
- An array of online materials, including free in-library use of Ancestry without a subscription and free in-library Affiliate Access to FamilySearch from your free personal account.
- The Thelma Battle Collection, which includes access to photographs, funeral programs and family files of African Americans in Williamson County from the 1800s through today,
- The Richard Carlton Fulcher database, which features excerpts of local court records that document persons of African descent in Williamson County from its founding in 1799 until the early 1900s.
- The Genealogy and Local History database, including newspaper birth announcements and indices to family files, Veterans information, local news and magazine articles, and the Edith Rucker Whitley Collection. The latter consists of more than 2,300 notebooks of genealogical research compiled by Mrs. Whitley during her lifetime, organized by surname
- A database of Williamson County obituaries compiled by library staff and volunteers.
Really, there is so much more than I can tell you about here. Are you a Civil War buff or perhaps an aficionado of historic homes? Do you want to dig deeper into your family tree but need some help getting started? Do you need to find an old court record or want to discover where a relative is buried? Perhaps we can help! It is important to note, however, that we are not professional genealogists. We don’t guarantee answers, but we do strive to deliver courteous, professional assistance to help you with your ancestry and local history research needs.
Surely there must be a catch? We only have some minor restrictions. To protect our materials, no food or beverages are allowed in Special Collections, and items here are not available for checkout. You may only access our materials during scheduled department hours: from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, with extended hours until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The department is closed on Sundays and on scheduled library holidays.
Now that you know what Special Collections is all about, why not plan a visit? We look forward to meeting you!
Art Begets Art: When Books Inspire Songs
By Chelsea Bennett, Reference Department
“To me, art begets art,” wrote Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue. “Painting feeds the eye just as poetry feeds the ear, which is to say that both feed the soul.” [1] If you’ve choreographed an impromptu dance routine while listening to a favorite song, for example, or illustrated a beloved poem in watercolor, then you’ll know what she meant.
Kate Bush
Sometimes those creative links span decades and genres. Who could have guessed that an “art pop” song based on the plot of a gothic tragi-romance would sweep the music charts in 13 countries and both hemispheres? But that’s exactly what happened when teenaged English artist Kate Bush released her first single, “Wuthering Heights,” in 1978. [2] That song – and its gloriously, theatrically, beautifully weird music video – has been running through my head for weeks, so I decided to find some more examples of popular music based on literature.
Countless acts, from Radiohead to Dead Kennedys to Stevie Wonder, have found inspiration in George Orwell’s 1984. David Bowie even aspired to produce a musical based on the dystopian novel. Orwell’s widow denied Bowie the rights, but some of the songs ended up on his Diamond Dogs album (“1984,” “Big Brother,” “We Are the Dead”). [3, 4, 5]
Still from “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” by Leonard Nimoy
Musicians mine Middle Earth – the setting for J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, among other stories – for ideas, as well. Led Zeppelin indulged their Hobbital tendencies in such classics as “Ramble On,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” and “The Battle of Evermore.” Rush, Genesis, and Nickel Creek are some other acts who’ve referenced Bilbo et al. Comedy nerdcore duo Lords of the Rhymes exists solely to rap about Sauron and such. The fantasy epics are a favorite of metalheads, too: Blind Guardian, Summoning, Battlelore, Isengard, and Rivendell lead the way in the “Tolkien metal” genre. (Yes, that’s a thing.) [6, 7, 8, 9] But may we never forget the gold standard when it comes to Tolkien-related songs: Leonard Nimoy’s “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.” (Trust me: that video is a lot to take in, but you have to watch it.)
Many of the literary songs I’ve come across are much more subtle about their inspirations. Some of them quite surprised me, in fact. Listen to a few tracks from this list and see if you can figure out the connections for yourself. Then, check the links at the end of this post to read more about their bookish origins. And if you’re interested in books that were inspired by famous songs, check out this blog post.
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Who knew ABBA were such fans of post-apocalyptic horror?
ABBA, “The Piper” (The Stand by Steven King)
- Alt-J, “Breezeblocks” (Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak)
- The Beatles, “Tomorrow Never Knows” (The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert)
- Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kwali), “Thieves in the Night” (The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison)
- Kate Bush, “Flower of the Mountain” (Ulysses by James Joyce)
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Red Right Hand” (Paradise Lost by John Milton)
- Chance the Rapper, “Same Drugs” (Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie)
- Devo, “Whip It” (Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon)
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Meat Loaf duets with American Idol Katherine McPhee on “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and it’s totally not weird or anything.
Celine Dion (but really Meat Loaf), “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)
- Manic Street Preachers, “Motorcycle Emptiness” (Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton)
- Neutral Milk Hotel, “In the Aeroplane over the Sea” (The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank)
- Katy Perry, “Firework” (On the Road by Jack Kerouac)
- REM, “Disturbance at the Heron House” (Animal Farm by George Orwell)
- The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” (Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov)
- The Roots, “Act Won (Things Fall Apart)” (Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe)
- The Strokes, “Soma” (Brave New World by Aldous Huxley)
- T’Pau, “China in Your Hand” (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)
- U2, “Shadows and Tall Trees” (Lord of the Flies by William Golding)
References and Further Reading:
- 1 – https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/susan_vreeland_726633
- 2 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights_(song)#Chart_performance
- 3- https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/10-songs-inspired-by-george-orwells-1984.html
- 4 – https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/may/20/10-songs-inspired-by-literature
- 5 – http://www.openculture.com/2016/04/david-bowie-dreamed-of-turning-george-orwells-1984-into-a-musical.html
- 6 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_inspired_by_J._R._R._Tolkien#Rock_music
- 7 – http://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-10-the-hobbit-lord-of-the-rings-songs/
- 8 – http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Bands
- 9 – http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tolkien_metal
- http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog/reading/2017/11/40-of-the-best-songs-inspired-by-books
- https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-best-songs-based-on-books/
- https://bookriot.com/2016/07/26/29-popular-songs-reference-classic-books/
- https://www.bustle.com/articles/71177-11-songs-inspired-by-books-that-will-mean-even-more-to-lit-lovers-once-they-catch-these
What’s all the HOOPLA?
By Sharon Reily, Reference Department
Would you like to download eBooks, eAudiobooks and comics, stream movies and TV shows, and listen to music through one source – for FREE? Welcome to Hoopla, the Library’s newest digital resource! You can enjoy Hoopla’s hundreds of thousands of titles on your computer, tablet, or smartphone! And guess what? On Hoopla there are NO WAIT LISTS and NO LATE FEES.
According to Hoopla’s website: “You can stream titles instantly through your desktop browser or the Hoopla mobile app. If you use our mobile app, you can also download titles to your device for offline playback later, where Wi-Fi may be unavailable. Titles are automatically returned and removed from your device at the end of the lending period. “
GET HOOPLA AND CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
Setting up a Hoopla account is simple. Download the Hoopla app on your smart phone or tablet from the App Store or Google Play. You can also create a Hoopla account on your computer on the Hoopla website (https://www.hoopladigital.com/).
Click Get Started Today and follow the onscreen prompts to sign up for your new account.
- If you’re on your computer, you’ll need to click Allow Location Access. On a smart phone or tablet, turn on Location Services in your Settings. This allows Hoopla to identify the location of your library.
- You’ll be asked for your email address and password. Make up a password (not your library card number).
- After reading Hoopla’s terms and agreements, click Agree.
- Once you’ve entered your email and new password, Location Services will search for libraries near you and display several. Choose Williamson County Public Library.
- You will then be prompted to enter your library card number and PIN. Your PIN will be the last four digits of your library card number, unless you have changed it in the last couple of months.
That’s it! You can start browsing for titles and begin streaming or downloading immediately. If you run into trouble setting up your account, call the Reference Desk at 615-595-1243 and Reference staff will be happy to help you. You can also check out some instructional videos from Hoopla Digital on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hoopladigital/videos. These videos demonstrate how to use Hoopla on a variety of devices, including your TV.
GET YOUR TITLES
On Your Computer:
If you’re using Hoopla on your computer, you’ll see the home page when you log in:
Click BROWSE to see lists of popular, recommended or featured titles by genre:
Or search by title, author, artist, or series.
Click BORROW to check out the title or click the HEART to add it to your favorites.
Click READ to begin your book.
On Your Smart Phone or Tablet
If you’re using the Hoopla app, when you log in you’ll see your “My Hoopla” page.
Click an icon at the bottom to browse through the genres or click the magnifying glass to search by title, author, artist, or series.
Click the question mark for “how to” instructions and tutorials, and as you browse through the different genres, you can add titles you’d like to borrow in the future to your Favorites list. Click the HEART to access your Favorites.
When the search results are displayed, click the cover of the title that you’d like to borrow.
Click BORROW and then click READ to begin your book.
A FEW RULES AND REGULATIONS
Borrowed Titles
You’re allowed to borrow 4 titles a month. But as a special bonus from WCPL, you can borrow 8 titles until the end of March 2019. So get started right away!
Lending Periods
- eAudiobooks and eBooks: 21 days
- Movies and TV shows: 3 days
- Comics: 21 days
- Music: 7 days
That’s really all there is to it! Enjoy!
Grab Your Library Card, and Glass Slippers and Come On a Cultural Journey!
By Stephanie Wycihowski, Youth Services Manager and Rebecca Tischler, Reference Department
It’s Elsa! It’s Moana! It’s Jasmine! What do they have in common? They’re Disney Princesses!
Growing up in American culture means that not only are we familiar with the Disney Princesses, we are inundated with them. And it all really started with the famous Cinderella; a mistreated girl forced into servitude by her evil step-family, who eventually finds love (and an escape) with a charming handsome prince. Cinderella was released after 2 years of production on February 15, 1950, a full 13 years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and after having been “in the works” since 1933. It was one of the few great commercial hits of that time period for Disney and was also nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Recording, Best Music Original Song for Bippidi-Bobbidi-Boo, and Best Music Scoring of a Musical Picture. Unfortunately, the movie lost in all three categories even though the music was innovative in their use of vocal multi-tracks. And while Snow White may hold the title of the First Princess, it wasn’t until Walt Disney saw the success of and money made from Cinderella that he became more interested in creating more Princess stories (Sleeping Beauty anyone?), partly because if it hadn’t been for Cinderella, Disney might have lost his company due to bankruptcy.
However, this innovative animated musical wasn’t as creative with it’s story since the princess was actually introduced centuries ago in foklore and oral stories, which is a trend continued today for most princesses. Cinderella was based on the fairy tale Cendrillon by Charles Perrault published in 1697, which was a retelling of the story Cenerentola by Giambattista Basile. Actually, Perrault’s version was unique because of the addition of new story elements, such as the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, and the glass slippers. These elements, incorporated into the Disney movie, are now ubiquitous to most of the Cinderella modern retellings and the glass slippers are basically synonymous with her name.
Who would have guessed French author Charles Perrault and Walt Disney would have created a vast and enduring love for Cinderella? Since 1950, an abundance of authors from around the world have been inspired over the generations to create their own retellings that share similarities to the original story, and culturally significant differences unique to their corners of the world. According to Mary Northrup, “most of the stories include an evil stepmother and stepsister(s), a dead mother, a dead or ineffective father, some sort of gathering such as a ball or festival, mutual attraction with a person of high status, a lost article, and a search that ends with success”.
Williamson County Public Library offers your families the opportunity to explore many of these unique Cinderella stories from around the world right here within our Youth Services Collection. Let’s us explore a sampling of some of these retellings from around the world.
Souci, San Robert. Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story. Illus. by Daniel San Souci. This tale features a girl who is overworked by her sisters and who wishes to meet the invisible warrior. Because of her goodness and inner vision she sees him and becomes his bride.
Adapted by Jewell Reinhart Coburn. Illus. by Connie McLennan. Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition. The emphasis in this story is on Domitila’s accomplishments as a cook and leather artist, skills enhanced by the love her mother taught her to include in every task she undertook. It is her dead mother’s spirit and the legacy of her training on which Domitila depends, not a fairy godmother. The rich young man who searches for her is at first enamored of Domitila’s cooking, but learns to appreciate and love her deeper qualities.
Louie, Ai-Ling. Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China. Illus. by Ed Young. Here the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, which is killed by her stepmother. Yeh-Shen saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after a fast exit, the king finds her and falls in love with her. This sad and beautiful story, with gentle illustrations, is retold from one of the oldest Cinderella stories.
Climo, Shirley. The Egyptian Cinderella. Illus. by Ruth Heller. In this version of Cinderella set in Egypt in the sixth century B.C., Rhodopes, a slave girl, eventually comes to be chosen by the Pharaoh to be his queen.
Climo, Shirley. The Korean Cinderella In this version of Cinderella set in ancient Korea, Pear Blossom, a stepchild, eventually comes to be chosen by the magistrate to be his wife.
Climo, Shirley. The Irish Cinderlad this version retells an age-old Irish tale that is an unusual twist on the popular Cinderella story. Just like his female counterpart, Becan has a mean stepmother and stepsisters. Unlike Cinderella, Becan has large feet and a magical bull for a fairy godmother. He defeats a sword-swinging giant, slays a fire-breathing dragon, and rescues a princess.
Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters Nyasha must put up with a nagging, bad-tempered sister. But when both girls are tested, Nyasha’s kindness wins her the prince. Breathtaking illustrations crown this intriguing story with a twist at the end.
Hickox, Rebecca. The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story. Illus. by Will Hillenbrand. Maha, who works hard for her stepmother and stepsister, receives a gown of silk and golden sandals from a magic fish to wear to a wedding. This lively story will have listeners enthralled. Illustrations give a real flavor of the Middle East, with a touch of humor. An author’s note includes comments on derivations of the Cinderella story and references to Middle Eastern versions of the tale
You may think you know the Cinderella story in America but, I encourage you to take this opportunity to use your library card and visit the Williamson County Public Library. Your Library card is your passport guide to a unique and culturally diverse journey through the eyes of these special characters on their own personal quests for love, acceptance, and happiness, within their own countries!
Sources:
John Grisham Read-a-Likes
By Lindsay Roseberry, Reference Department
We all know the feeling. You just finished a book you really liked and now you want to read a book just like it or at least comparable. I know from experience that I am always so happy when there is another book in the series, and I can read something that feels the same. But what do you do when the book is not part of a series?? How do you find something new to read??
Books Are Magic
Nancy Pearl (Big Library Guru)’s says that we like read-a-likes because we want a book just like the one we finished reading. We want to recreate the pleasure and thrill of reading, the page-turning, the headlong rush to the end. Perhaps it was the setting or what we learned. Sometimes we can’t put a finger on it, but we know we want that feeling again.
Pearl goes on to say that most fiction is made up of four parts: story, character, setting and language. She refers to these parts as doorways, and these doorways are larger or smaller, depending on the book and author. So, when the story is the biggest part, readers call these page-turners, because they can’t put the book down. When character is the biggest doorway, readers connect with the characters so much, they often feel like they’ve lost a good friend when they finish the book. When the setting is the largest doorway, readers comment on how they felt as if they were there. And most readers talk about how they savored the words when language is the largest doorway. Whatever it is, we want that experience again.
But let’s say you want to read more books similar to what John Grisham writes. What’s the next step? Libraries have many tricks when it comes to finding read-a-likes for our patrons. We do have in-house bookmarks for broad categories, like mystery, romance and science fiction for additional suggestions of authors. We also have a database called Books & Authors, which gives you similar titles and authors based on what book you have just finished.
Book Browse, a for profit book review site, has people who actually read the books and suggest what books are similar to what author’s works. Amazon may have an algorithm; Good Reads seems to rely on reviews and reviewers, but since they were acquired by Amazon, they might use the same algorithm. But when you search Google for Grisham read-a-likes there are many possibilities. Here are a few.
According to BookBub.com, here are some read-a-like authors:
- Scott Turow
- Lisa Scottoline
- Michael Connelly
- William Diehl
- William Landay
- Robert Dugoni
- Robert Bailey
- Adam Mitzner
- Greg, Iles
- John Lescroat,
- Phillip Margolin
- James Grippando
BookBrowse has these authors that they think write like John Grisham:
- David Baldacci
- Carnes
- John Berendt
- Robert Harris
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Phillip Margolin
- Steve Martini
- Kyle Mills
- Michael Palmer
In this list from Williamsburg Public Library (in Virginia), women writers are also listed:
- Scott Turow
- Lisa Scottoline
- Richard North Patterson
- Phillip Margolin
- Steve Martini
- Greg Iles
- Robert K. Tanenbaum
- Dudley W. Buffa
- John S. Martel
- Jay Brandon
- Kate Wilhelm
- Peri O’Shaugnessy
- Andrew Pyper
- William Diehl
- John T. Lescroart
- William Coughlin
- William Bernhardt
In case you are new to reading Grisham, here is a brief bio. He was born in Arkansas in 1955, and like so many boys growing up, he wanted to be a baseball player. He majored in accounting at Mississippi State and then went on to law school at Ole Miss. After graduating in 1981, he practiced law until he was elected to the state House of Representatives. He developed an interest in writing, taking three years to write his first novel – A Time to Kill, which was published in 1988. The Firm was his next book, which stayed on the “NYT Bestseller List” for over 40 weeks. He sold the film rights, his career took off and he’s never looked back. He generally writes a book a year but since he has written over 60 books, perhaps he published more often than once a year. He also has a teen series featuring Theodore Boone, kid lawyer.
In an informative article from New York Times, here is his list of do’s and don’ts for writing fiction.
- DO WRITE A PAGE EVERY DAY
That’s about 200 words, or 1,000 words a week. Do that for two years and you’ll have a novel that’s long enough.
Nothing will happen until you are producing at least one page per day.
- DON’T WRITE THE FIRST SCENE UNTIL YOU KNOW THE LAST
This necessitates the use of a dreaded device commonly called an outline. Virtually all writers hate that word. I have yet to meet one
who admits to using an outline.
Plotting takes careful planning. Writers waste years pursuing stories that eventually don’t work.
- DO WRITE YOUR ONE PAGE EACH DAY AT THE SAME PLACE AND TIME
Early morning, lunch break, on the train, late at night — it doesn’t matter. Find the extra hour, go to the same place, shut the door.
No exceptions, no excuses.
- DON’T WRITE A PROLOGUE
Prologues are usually gimmicks to hook the reader. Avoid them. Plan your story (see No. 2) and start with Chapter 1.
- DO USE QUOTATION MARKS WITH DIALOGUE
Please do this. It’s rather basic.
- DON’T — KEEP A THESAURUS WITHIN REACHING DISTANCE
There are three types of words: (1) words we know; (2) words we should know; (3) words nobody knows. Forget those in the third category
and use restraint with those in the second.
A common mistake by fledgling authors is using jaw-breaking vocabulary. It’s frustrating and phony.
- DO READ EACH SENTENCE AT LEAST THREE TIMES IN SEARCH OF WORDS TO CUT
Most writers use too many words, and why not? We have unlimited space and few constraints.
- DON’T — INTRODUCE 20 CHARACTERS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER
Another rookie mistake. Your readers are eager to get started. Don’t bombard them with a barrage of names from four generations of the same family. Five names are enough to get started.
Sources:
- https://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/adults/author-readalikes-john-grisham
- https://www.bookbub.com/blog/2016/10/24/books-to-read-if-you-love-john-grisham
- https://www.bookbrowse.com/blogs/editor/index.cfm/2012/6/14/BookBrowses-ReadAlikes-and-Nancy-Pearls-Rule-of-Four
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/books/review/john-grishams-tips-how-to-write-fiction.html?login=email&auth=login-email
