Year of Science 2009: E. Alison Kay (1929-2008)

January 21, 2009-February 28, 2009
Location: Science & Technology Department

2009 is an important year in the science community. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, whose work, Origin of Species, was published 150 years ago and became the foundation for all biological research that followed. It was 400 years ago this year, in 1609, that Galileo Galilei demonstrated the first telescope. Also in 1609 Johannes Kepler published his first two laws of planetary motion, which are still used today to describe the paths of the planets in our solar system.

As former U.S. Representative John Porter noted in an AAAS Policy Forum held in 2008: "scientists are, by every measure, the most respected people in America. But if the public and policymakers never hear your voices, never see scientists, never are exposed to science, never understand its methods, the chances of its being high on the list of national priorities will be very low."

These are just some of the reasons why the UH Manoa Library, in conjunction with the Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science, is celebrating 2009 as the Year of Science. To highlight science and recognize scientific innovation, past and present, Hamilton Library's Science and Technology department has organized three exhibits in which celebrate the Year of Science and the scientists who describe our reality:

A celebration of the life and work of noted malacologist, Alison Kay, a scientist and teacher at UH Manoa whose committed engagement to her scholarly and public communities stands as a model of the citizen scientist.