Shaun Hardy, librarian at Carnegie Science, gave a lecture titled “From Outpost to Icon: A Century of Science at Broad Branch Road” on Thursday, 24 September 2015, in the Greenewalt Lecture Hall as part of Carnegie’s Neighborhood Lecture Series.
How did a leafy tract on the rural fringe of Washington a century ago become home to a world-class think tank for scientific research? It was an evening of history and science as Hardy recounted the fascinating story of the Broad Branch Road campus – from its inception in 1914 as a “mission control center” for magnetic survey expeditions and sailing ships that crisscrossed the globe to its present role as an interdisciplinary research center for the Earth and planetary sciences.
Using historic photos from Carnegie’s archives he explored the atom-smashers, radio telescopes, and other cutting-edge facilities erected “on the hill” over the past 100 years. He also highlighted some of the most significant breakthroughs by DTM and Geophysical Laboratory scientists, including the discovery of dark matter in the universe and top-secret research that helped shorten World War II
