Science Awareness

The posted coordinates are for the nearest parking (small strip mall), NOT THE CACHE.

Please notice the signs preventing pedestrian crossing in middle of street

We came across this survey recently: 1304 Adults were asked which role model most influenced the youth of today.

31% picked an entertainer, 19% picked an athlete, 0% picked a scientist

90% of the adults could not even name a living scientist. (Stephen Hawking was the one scientist people could name. It was theorized that he is known mainly from his couple of appearances as a character on The Simpsons.)

Here's our small effort to try and improve these results.

Match these living scientists with their achievement to find the location of the cache.

A. Sally Ride	(8) Computer Scientist, specialized in human interface devices, credited with developing the computer mouse
B. Stephanie Kwolek	(6) Astro-Physicist, specialized in study of free electron lasers
C. Thomas Cech	(5) Astro-Physicist, specialized in the orbital rotation of galaxies and the study of dark matter
D. Tim Berners-Lee	(3) Bio-chemist, won Nobel Prize for study of RNA
E. Vera Cooper Rubin	(0) Chemist, specialized in polymer science which led to development of Kevlar and bullet proof vests
F. Doug Englebart	(2) Computer Scientist, created the foundation for the internet and browsers which allowed the Internet to grow into the tool it is today

                                       Cache is located at:
                                                   N    33 40.ABC
                                                   W 117 51.DEF

The cache is a small container, log only, bring your own pen. No bush searching required. However, you do have to replace the cache in the exact spot you found it.
There will be a scientist name by each log entry. To do your part in increasing Science Awareness, please add a small fact about your scientist in your log entry.

Where better to hide a science cache than near the corner of Michelson and Von Karman. Two decorated scientists with ties to California and Orange County. Albert Michelson, Nobel Prize winner, conducted a famous “speed of light” experiment in what is now Irvine. Theodore Von Karman was a pioneer in fluid dynamics and the leader in the development of the swept-back wing. Von Karman was one of the founding members of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

$3 for FTF       $2 for STF

5/23/2008 by Wild Coin Cacher
Very neat cache. There are enough scientists to fill thousands of pages of author citations in science citations index! But, if I were to choose one it would be Florence Bascom. Florence Bascom collected many "firsts" in her geological career: she was the first woman to receive a Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins University (sitting behind a screen so the male students wouldn't know she was there), the first woman geologist hired by the USGS, the first woman to present a scientific paper at the Geological Society of Washington, and the first woman officer of the Geological Society of America.
TFTC SL

[This entry was edited by Wild Coin Cacher on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 10:59:13 AM.]

5/23/2008 by Cacheflyer
We were hopping the weather would be better today, but no luck. It didn't stop us on our caching around Huntington Beach/Irvine trip.

My scientist choice would be Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. He played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft including several that were honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy. Johnson acquired a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers of the 20th century. Some of the aircraft he designed or contributed to were the P-38 Lightning, Constellation, F-80 Shooting Star, F-104 Starfighter, U-2 and the SR-71.
TFTC SL

[This entry was edited by Cacheflyer on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 10:52:43 AM.]

5/20/2008 by mike2find
Thanks to the internet solving this was easy. Cache blended in well.
Gregor Mendel, was an Augustinian priest and scientist. He was known as the "father of modern genetics" for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants.

5/15/2008 by Peasinapod
Great idea for a puzzle. I solved it quickly and made the find. I left a geocoin. My guy was Euclid.
Euclid (Greek: ????e?d?? — Eukleides), fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria and the "Father of Geometry", was a Greek mathematician of the Hellenistic period who was active in Alexandria, almost certainly during the reign of Ptolemy I (323 BC–283 BC). His Elements is the most successful textbook in the history of mathematics. In it, the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry are deduced from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, and rigor.

5/14/2008 by BeckTrex
I was down in the area to clean up some of the caches that the rest of the Orange Lunchtime Cachers Association (OCLA) had already found. I’m the 1st OCLA member to find this cache, but the rest of them are on their own. I liked this fun and informative puzzle. I even got to learn about Hans Bethe. Hans was a physicist that had to leave Germany when the Nazis came to power. He was a key scientist in the Manhattan Project and later helped develop the Hydrogen bomb. Among his many other accomplishments is the Nobel Prize which he won "for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars".

5/11/2008 by Gryffindor3
Took a little while to solve the puzzle and went out with JJG10101 and the mother of G3 to find some caches on Mother's Day. GZ was deserted and found it as we approached.

Max Theodor Felix von Laue (October 9, 1879 – April 24, 1960) was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. He was strongly opposed to National Socialism. In addition to his scientific endeavors with contributions in optics, crystallography, quantum theory, superconductivity, and the theory of relativity, he had a number of administrative positions which advanced and guided German scientific research and development during four decades. He was instrumental in re-establishing and organizing German science after World War II.

Thanks for an easy cache on Mother's Day!

5/11/2008 by JJG10101
Very fun puzzle. Quick to solve, but with a neat twist. GZ was essentially deserted on a Sunday afternoon. As for my scientist (#7 on the list)...

Gustav Kirchhoff, a German physicist born in 1824, helped to formulate our understanding of electrical circuits. His circuit laws are considered a fundamental part of electrical engineering. He also discovered (along with Robert Bunsen) the elements caesium and rubidium in 1861. I wonder if Bunsen had developed his "burner" by then. ;-) TFTC!

5/6/2008 by Pacholik
Cool Idea for a puzzle.
#3 Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German interdisciplinary scientist and meteorologist, who became famous for his theory of [bold]continental drift[/bold]

Wegener had early training in astronomy (Ph.D., University of Berlin, 1904). He became very interested in the new discipline of meteorology (he married the daughter of famous meteorologist and climatologist Wladimir Köppen) and as a record-holding balloonist himself, pioneered the use of weather balloons to track air masses. His lectures became a standard textbook in meteorology, The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere. Wegener was part of several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation, when the existence of a jet stream itself was highly controversial.

5/6/2008 by bajatym
Solved this one this morning, made a run out here tonight, cool idea for a Puzzle cache, nice to learn something along with getting another smiley.

I signed next to Stephen Hawking, He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. His key scientific works to date have included providing, with Roger Penrose, theorems regarding singularities in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes should emit radiation, which is today known as Hawking radiation, or sometimes as Bekenstein-Hawking radiation.

Thanks for a fun and easy puzzle
I'm no Scientist, but I'm good at Google! Approve

5/6/2008 by Smoochersmom
Thanks right off the bat for a puzzle cache I could do!

My scientist, Anton von Leeuwenhoek, a dutch pioneer microscopist who was among the 1st to recognize cells in animals & who gave the 1st accurate description of microbes, spermatozoa and blood corpuscles. 1632-1723

Side note: I want to throw in an additional scientist, Ivan Getting who envisioned the Globel Positioning System and worked to make it a reality! Thanks to Ivan and friends, I have a great hobby! (Some might say, obsession!)

Thanks also 4 the Britney relief! BigSmile