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PAULS COHEN BRENDAH COHEN Trenton State College Trenton NJ
San Francisco. a citv of hills. seven of them majo;, is very compact. I t encompasses 46.6 square miles, extending from the Pacific Ocean on the west to the scenic San Francisco Bay on the east. With a very intcrnational oooulation that mves the city a & p e character~thereis a wide varietv of entertainment and food a v h a b l e . As William Saroyan put it: "If you're alive, you c a n t be bored in San Francisco." For those attending the spring 1992ACS meeting,\;itha few hours to spare, we have selected a few sights with a scientific flavor to recommend. Attractions in Golden Gate
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ous recreation and entertain- In 1915,the Palace of Fine Arts, in the Marina district, was designed with a facadeto imitate a Roman ment activities. For us, the high- ruin. This building now houses the Exploritorium. Photo by Paul S. Cohen. light is t h e California Acadthe park, contains a fine collection of flowering plants and e m y of Science. Founded in 1853 a s a "cabinet of speciexotic tropical trees. mens" it is now houses three museums: the N a t u r a l Hist o r y Museum, the Steinhardt Aquarium, and the MorIn the Heart of the City r i s o n Planetarium. The Academv's mission is to be a A visit to this fair city is not complete without a ride on biological reference library by preserving specimens, and the fabled cable car. Stop to see the 1887 cable control hub improving awareness i n the potential commercial and and learn how the system works a t the Cable C a r Mumedical possibilities found hidden in nature. The museum s e u m in Nob Hill, just a t the edge of Chinatown. does this through a variety of exhibit techniques including The Communications Museum, right near the shopcomputers, dioramas, and even a stand-on earthquake ping area, has some interesting old and new telephone simulation of the famed San Francisco earthquake 01'1906. eouioment on disolav. There are some interactive exhibits The academy, which also has live animals, ia involved in an and a n exhihit o n S ~ e kBaseball, p a game played hy the visextensive animal hreeding pmgram. uallv.imoaired. and invented bv Raloh Rock. a Pacific Tele. The S t y b r i n g Arboretum a n d Rotanical Gardens, phone employee. also found in the Golden Gate Park, wniidcrs itself to be an outdoor livine s " muscum ofolants. There are ~ l u n t from Near the Bay all over the world here, with the emphasis of the collection In 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts, in the Marina District, on Mediterranean climate species.The 1879 Conservawas designed with a facade to imitate a Roman ruin. That t o r y of Flowers building, which is in another section of building now houses the Exploritorium, a unique institution with the purpose of developing interactive exhibits demonstrating the principles of science and technology, About the Ruthom ond t h e Series... human perception and art. Founded in 1969, by the noted physicist and educator, Frank Oppenheimer, this museum Paul S. Cohen is a Professor of Chemistry at Trenton State i s a s much a laboratory as a n exhibition hall. The ExCollege, and Brenda H. Cohen is on the library staffat the ploritorium often designs exhibits for other museums and same institution. They currently edit and write the column 1. Finding Science Past and Present in The Journal of College so public responses to exhibits is always under study and Science Teaching, and are preparing a manuscript for In exhibits change often. 4 Search of Science Past and Present: A Science Lover's Tow Having one of the world's greatest harbors it is only fit; Book of the USA, to be published by the American Chemical ting that San Francisco have a Maritime National HisI Society Press in 1993. t o r i c Park. I t is situated right near Fisherman's Wharf. This series of articles will present a scientist's tourguide to The museum building has displays on the history of water the ACS convention cities in each issue containing the rneettransportation while the H y d e S t r e e t Pier has a flotilla ing program. The author's recommend only those sites they of historic ships dating from the late 19th century which have recently seen and know to be of interest to the scientifitell the story of commercial maritime history on the west cally inclined. coast.
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Volume 69 Number 3 March 1992
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Discoverincr...
SanFrnnciso
For those interested in the animal world, the San Francisco Zoo, near the pacific Ocean and south of Golden Gate park, emphasizes natural habitats with such exhibits as a Primate Discovery Center, Koala Crossing, Penguin Island and Gorilla World. I t is one of the few places that has a n Insect Zoo. The area surrounding San Francisco also offers many treats for the science lover. South San Francisco has one the world's largest hybridizers, flower growers and plant producers; the Rod McLellon Company Acres of Orchids. A one hour tour through the facility shows the laboratories, greenhouses, packing plants and nursery for those who want their orchids cared for until they bloom. It is at this company that the gardenia corsage was invented. Moving Out Just across the Bay, in the heart of Oakland is the Oakland Museum. This beautiful three-tiered structure was designed to bring together three existing museums and is dedicated to telling the "California Story" through natural science, culture and history, and art. It gives an excellent overview of the state and makes a fine starting point for those who plan to tour California before or aRer the meeting. On the lowest level is the Hall of California Ecology, depicting, in fine diorama detail, the eight biotic zones of California as seen before the arrival of man. The middle level contains the Cowell Hall of California History where the human element in California is followed from earliest man to 20th century inventions. Cultural and technical aspects are developed from early tools, medical
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and mining equipment, navigation equipment to the Macintosh computer and the movie industry. The upper level contains the Gallery of California Art with early photographs of Yosemite Park and a collection of paintings depicting California wildlife and scenery. murs are recommended as the philosophy of themuseum is not to interfere with the exhibit by including many descriptive signs. Docents are available. J u s t north of Oakland is Berkeley, the home of the Berkeley Campus of the University of California. On the campus is the Lawrence Hall of Science, a hands-on science museum with some 300 exhibits covering pre-history through the space age. It is a "living memorial to Ernest 0. Lawrence, University of California's first Nobel Laureate". The museum sits on a hilltop allowing an excellent view of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Luther Burbank lived in Santa Rosa from 1884 to his death in 1906. His home, the carriage house, and his Greenhouse contain exhibits related to his life and work, and are open to the public. The garden, under renovation, may be wmpleted before the meeting, and will contain a sampling of the 800 new varieties of plants he developed. It is a t this site that he carried out his experiments to develope 200 varieties of fruit, a large variety of vegetables, nuts and grains as well as hundreds of ornamental flowers. Santa Rosa is about an hour north of San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, is about an hour south of San Francisco. To reach the Lick Observatory of the University of California be prepared to drive eighteen
miles up a narrow, winding road with no services to 4,000 R above sea level. Here you can see the original 36411. reflector telescope of James Lick a s well as the 120-in. telescope. On display in the main building are a large variety of other telescopes and astronomical memorabilia. The view from the mountain top is spectacular, particularly the view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Two hours south of San Francisco is Monterey, first made famous by John Steinbeck in his book Cannery Row and now famous as the home of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Built by David Packard, a n inventor and one of the founders of the Hewlett Packard Company, on the site of the largest and last plant to close on Cannery Row, the aquarium has incorporated some of the original cannery structure into its design. Mr. Packard designed some ofthe equipment used by this facility. The centerpiece of the aquarium, the 28-ft high Kelp Forest tank, contains some of his innovations. The aquarium's emphasis is the study of local waters. Situated right on the water's edge the aquarium takes full advantage of its location for some exhibits. One of the most innovative uses of the shoreline is the O t t e r S t u d y a n d Rescue and Rehabilitation Program, where the public can watch these efforts both above and below the water line. The people of San Francisco are proud of their city, and rightly so. A rumor abounds that a fortune cookie was recently found which stated: "Paris is the San Francisco of Europe".
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San Francisco Convention and Visitors' Bureau, i 201 Third St., (415)974-6900,227-2603;FAX 2271 2602 California Academy of Science, Music Concourse in j I Golden Gate Park, (415)750-7145 Stybring Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, 9th Ave. and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park, (415)661-1316 Cable Car Museum, Washington and Mason Sts., (415)474-1887 1: Communications Museum, 140 New Montgomery St., 1 (415)542-0182 1: Exploritorium, Bay and Lyon Sts., (415)563-7337 Maritime National Historic Park, foot of Polk St., ' (415)556-2904 San Francisco Zoo, Sloat BlvdJGreat Hwy., (415E614844 Acres of Orchids, 1450 El Camino Real, South San Franmsa, (415)871-5655 Oakland Museum, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland, (415)273-3401 Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Dr., Berkeley, (415)642-5132 Luther BurbankHome, Santa Rosa and Sonoma Aves., Santa Rosa, (707)576-5115 Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, (406)274-5062 , Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, (408)648-4926
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