Mercer County Library Blog

You may remember my writing about the Bucks County Ale Trail in one of my earlier posts. Highlighted on the tee shirt I received from visiting a certain number of breweries on the trail was Tranquility Brewing Company in Warminster. That’s one I hadn’t visited, so I started planning a day trip. Tranquility Brewing is in a building called “The ‘Fuge”. Huh…that’s an odd name. I had to know more. This began a fascinating dive into history. Did you know that Warminster was a major site for aeronautics research? After reading a bit on the internet, I found that there is a museum there dedicated to the history of the Naval Air Development Center and the Johnsville Centrifuge (a-ha – that’s what the ‘Fuge is!). A visit to the museum (and brewery) was on the schedule! A little backtracking to explain my interest – I’ve read many books about the space program. I wouldn’t say I’m into “space”, but I like learning about the engineering and what the scientists and astronauts worked through to g...

It is easy to think of art and science as separate realms. Art is often associated with creativity. It taps into our emotions and allows us to look beyond the concrete world around us and into our imaginations. Science, by contrast, is commonly linked to logic. It seeks to understand the tangible world through structured methods, rules and observations. And yet, the two are far more connected than they may seem. Beautiful artistry exists in the natural world and is inspired by it. One striking example that comes to mind is the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci numbers are part of a sequence in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…). When visualized a certain way they create a spiral pattern that is often found in the natural world – seen in seashells, the arrangement of flower petals, and in works of art. If you’d like to learn more about the Fibonacci sequence, check out Do Plants Know Math?: Unwinding the Story of Plant Spirals, from...

What do you think of when you think of STEM? Homemade erupting volcanoes? Building with a modern-day erector set? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In recent years, STEM has become a very big focus in the library world. What STEM encompasses grows every year as technology expands. With your Mercer County Library System card, you are able to access a multitude of STEM-based online resources. One such resource is Fiero Code . If your child wants to learn more about coding, Fiero Code is a great choice. They offer self-paced courses that are labeled by skill level and there are games that make coding fun to learn for children. The challenges offered are good ways to practice and reinforce what was taught in the courses. In addition, Fiero Code lets its users design their own games, websites and other creative outlets. And it’s not only for kids – Fiero Code also offers courses for different careers. MCLS has a wide variety of STEM based materials availabl...

The end of the year is a good opportunity to reflect on the books we've read during 2024 and, perhaps, even books that changed our lives this year. While some may be pleasant or, even, disturbing reads, some may make you look at the world in new and different ways. For me, this came down to two books. A short list, to be certain. But, to me, a meaningful one. What's on your list? An Immense World by Ed Yong My wife has been reading Ed Yong since his early days as a blogger, straight through to his days at The Atlantic and beyond. In my first Ed Yong experience with the book Immense World , this pre-eminent science writer explores the topic of animal senses. Not the "what" do animals think, but the "how" they think and, likely, perceive the world based on their biology - be it echo-location of bats or the vast world that a dog experiences through its sense of smell. While not at all a book that is trying, in any way, to persuade someone to become a vegetar...

Bug boy. That’s what we’ve called James, my oldest son who is now 17, since he was little. He has always been fascinated by bugs of all kinds, and spiders have been a favorite of his. We’ve learned over the years that he’s a little unusual in this regard. There are a lot of people out there who really don’t like spiders! I get it – they have lots of little legs and lots of eyes and creep around and some can even bite you. But, James has helped me grow fond of them and I truly believe that the more people learn about these fascinating little creatures, the more they’ll grow to love them – or at least not freak out at the sight of them.   Thanks to James, there are four pet spiders in our home – a pink toed tarantula and 3 wolf spiders. Two of the wolf spiders he has raised from slings.  “Sling” or “spiderling” is what a baby spider is called.  Doesn’t that make them seem a little bit cuter already??  It turns out spiders are pretty easy pets.  They’re not messy a...

Science is all the rage. So much so that it has at times enraged and created division. And, yet, the scientific method and rational inquiry still enable some of the world’s greatest minds to learn more about life, the universe, and everything and then share what they’ve found out with the rest of us. The world of science books, written for a popular audience, is thriving and a change in one’s knowledge and understanding of what’s actually happening in nature can shift one’s perspective on the world and add to one’s appreciation of life. Science can be summed up with the sentence: “This is what we know right now based on the evidence we have found.” Both the cool – and sometimes confusing – thing is that what we know about many areas of nature and being human changes rapidly based on the extraordinary range of studies and experiments going on. It can be challenging to those who want absolute, concrete answers immediately and do not feel comfortable with the ambiguity of the unknown, or ...

Do you fondly remember the heyday of blogs? Do you still have a couple that you follow and read every word of? You are not alone! I love reading blogs—getting that sneak peek into a person’s life or learning something that a passionate person wants to teach me is always awesome. Below are bloggers who got off the internet (or stayed on) and published books so we could finally have a hard copy to read while offline. Even if you didn’t read their blogs, these are some great writers! They’ll teach you how to cook, craft, dress, and do complex math equations. Don’t believe me? Read on! Ree Drummond Starting with cooking, a lot of people know Ree Drummond from her blog, The Pioneer Woman . She told us about how she moved from the city to the country and shared with us a ton of yummy recipes she’d made for her family. She won Weblog of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011 at The Bloggies. Drummond published her first book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl in 20...