All events are open to the community.
If indicated, please RSVP by contacting the Friends Coordinator at (626) 395-6411 or as indicated in the event information.

Friday, 3 December 2010

THE FRIENDS OF CALTECH LIBRARIES
present guest speaker and author
DAVID GOODSTEIN, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Caltech

"ON SCIENTIFIC FACT AND FRAUD"

Scientific research is iterative and the path to truth traverses a complex landscape of human endeavor. Join us for entertaining yet instructive stories that tease apart fraud from misconduct from simply poor science.

By Reservation Only. $25 per person for The Friends and Guests. Some student passes are available, please call for more details.

Please RSVP by calling the Friends Coordinator at (626) 395-6411.

Saturday, 10 April 2010

8:00 a.m. (rain cancels)

THE FRIENDS OF CALTECH LIBRARIES
present
A GUIDED HIKE TO LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN

Albert Michelson, America's first Nobel Laureate, made many measurements of the speed of light.  His most accurate and final measurement was made in the San Gabriel Mountains, using mirrors on the summit of Mount Wilson and Lookout Mountain.  Wayne Steinmetz, a member of the FOCAL Board, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Pomona College and a US Forest Service volunteer, will conduct a hike to the summit of Lookout Mountain on Saturday, 10 April.  The route will follow an unmaintained trail and will cover a pristine canyon, rugged sections of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, and the historic summit.  We might see Nelson bighorn sheep.  Hikers considering the 10-mile hike should regard it as strenuous.

LOGISTICS (those diabolical details)
WHEN: Saturday, 10 April 2010 at 8:00 a.m.(rain cancels)

Please sign on via Email to wsteinmetz@pomona.edu .  A head count will be helpful.
WHERE:  The hike will begin in the parking lot by the Community Church in Baldy Village.  If you are coming from Pasadena or Los Angeles, take the Towne Avenue exit off of the 210.  Turn left and head north over the freeway to Baseline.  Turn right onto Baseline and head east to Mills Avenue.  Turn left onto Mills and proceed north until Mills ends at a stop sign.  Turn right onto Baldy Road which first heads east and then turns north in the vicinity of San Antonio Dam.   Continue north on the Baldy Road until Baldy Village.  The Community Church is on the left (west) side of the road, after the fire station and before the USFS visitor center.
WHAT: Be prepared for a strenuous but memorable hike.  Wear good hiking boots and long pants (chaparral!).  Bring 2 Liters of water, a lunch, and the usual 10 essentials.  A hiking stick is recommended.  The hike leader will provide a map for the route.
WHY:  The trail is disappearing and the hike leader is moving away from Southern California.    This may be your last chance to see the route.

For more information, contact Wayne Steinmetz (wsteinmetz@pomona.edu  909-624-6981)
http://pages.pomona.edu/~wsteinmetz/ID1/Bear_Canyon_field_trip.htm provides a map.

Friday, March 12, 2010
7:00 pm
The Friends of Caltech Libraries and the Pasadena Public Library Collaboration Event

Speaker: Dr. Joann Stock, Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Caltech, and Alan Drew, author of Gardens of Water
Title: Earthquakes: the Human Story
Place: Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics - 1216 E. California Blvd.

Summary: The Friends of Caltech Libraries in collaboration with the Pasadena Public Library's 2010 program, One City, One Story, are delighted to present Dr. Joann Stock, Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Caltech, and Alan Drew, author of Gardens of Water, in conversation about the nature, aftermath, and human toll of the 1999 Marmara Quake. As an expert in plate tectonics and the San Andreas Fault, Dr. Stock will offer insights about similarities that the San Andreas Fault shares with the North Anatolian Fault, setting for Alan Drew's best-selling novel. Mr. Drew will describe his first-hand experience of the quake just days after he arrived for work in Istanbul, and how it became the background for the Kurdish, American, and Turkish characters in Gardens of Water.