WHAT: Relax and de-stress with a doggie from Therapy Dogs International!
WHEN: May 5th, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
WHERE: Post Learning Commons
WHO: You! All are invited!
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Campus Coffee Hour — April 24th
WHAT: Campus Coffee Hour sponsored by Academic Affairs, Post Learning Commons and Drexel Library and the Learning Resource Center
The Coffee Hour is an opportunity to network and socialize in an informal setting. Refreshments are served.
WHEN: April 24th 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
WHERE: Post Learning Commons, 2nd Floor Lounge
All are invited! Hope to see you there!
Robert Repino ’00 — Reading and Book Signing
WHAT: Robert Repino ’00 will read from his book, Morte. From the publisher: The “war with no name” has begun, with human extinction as its goal. The instigator of this war is the Colony, a race of intelligent ants who, for thousands of years, have been silently building an army that would forever eradicate the destructive, oppressive humans.
WHEN: April 21st 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
WHERE: PLC, Wachterhauser Seminar Room
WHO: All are invited. Hope to see you there!
Bring your lunch. Cookies and drinks will be provided.
Pavia, Italy — City of Knowledge
Pavia, Italy — City of Knowledge
Currently on Exhibit
Post Learning Commons 3rd Floor
Curated by the Civic Museums of Pavia and presented in partnership with the municipality of Pavia and the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia, this exhibit presents photographs of Pavia from the 19th to the 21st century by six Italian photographers, Fiorenzo Cantalupi, Guglielmo Chiolini, Antonio Manidi, Giuseppe Nazzari , Pierino Sacchi, and Ettore Valli.
Founded by the Romans on the left bank of the Ticino River, Pavia was a center of art and culture for centuries. Several times capital city during the Middle Ages (8th – 13th century), Pavia preserves many historical and material traces of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, including the massive walls that encircle it, splendid churches with richly sculpted façades (San Michele, San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro), and the lofty towers that overlook the palazzi and populate the city skyline. The Visconti family took control of the city in the mid-1300s and built an elegant and richly decorated castle, the characteristic Covered Bridge over the Ticino, the majestic cathedral (designed in part by Leonardo da Vinci) and the Certosa, a masterpiece of Renaissance art. The origins of the university—one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe– also date to that period (1361). World renowned literati and scientists taught here in the 18th and 19th centuries, from the physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery, to the poet Ugo Foscolo, the naturalist Lazzaro Splallanzani and the neurologist Camillo Golgi. For the beauty of its monuments and the wealth of its educational tradition, Pavia is known as the “City of Knowledge”.
Finals Week Events in the Library
The Library is offering some stress busters for students during finals week this spring. Here is the list of options:
- Study Room Raffle
April 13th – 24th
**Winner announced April 27th**
Students may enter the raffle by:
Checking out or renewing a book, DVD, or piece of technology,
asking about our databases, research guides, catalog, ILL, or other Library resources. Students may enter as often as they want between April 13th and April 24th. The one lucky student will win the use of one group study room for 24 hours during finals week. - PAWS for a Study Break!
May 5th — 11 AM – 3 PM
Post Learning Commons - Feeling Stressed? Come for a Massage with a Registered Sports Massage Therapist
May 6th, 8th, and 9th — 8 PM to 10 PM
Post Learning Commons Atrium
- LEGOS in the Learning Commons
May 6th and 7th, 24 hours
Cafe in PLC - Coloring and Delicious Healthy Snacks
May 6th – 11th, 24 hours
Cafe in PLC - FREE Earbuds & Earplugs
May 6th – 12th
Library Service Desk
Web of Science Demo
Going through the promotion and tenure process?
Want to find out the impact of your 
research?
WHAT: A Web of Science representative will present information on using their databases to find citation counts and journal impact.
WHEN: April 16th, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
WHERE: Drexel Library 1st Floor Instruction Lab
Bring your lunch. Cookies and drinks will be provided.
Faculty Reading and Book Signing
WHO: Concha Alborg, Professor Emerita from SJU Modern Languages Department, will read from her latest work, Divorce after Death. A Widow’s Memoir. Books will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation.
WHEN: April 15th, 12:30 PM
WHERE: Post Learning Commons, Wachterhauser Seminar Room
WHO: All are invited. Please plan to join us for this engaging talk!
Light refreshments will be served.
Trinity: a Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb – It’s What We’re Reading
April 2015
A monthly offering from Drexel Library’s staff about the books we’ve read.
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb
Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Trinity is an excellent graphic novel detailing the history and the efforts that went into the development of the most destructive weapon in human history. As with most graphic novels, the illustrations complement the text and dialogue masterfully. The book is written with succinct conciseness getting to the point without the drawn-out, convoluted exposition a longer non-fiction work would labor over.
The book begins with a brief history of the discovery of polonium, radium, and their natural byproduct: radiation. It outlines the discovery of the structure of atoms, the potential to harness incredible energy—a concept not lost on writers like H. G. Wells—and the eventual race to be the first to produce and control this energy.
Trinity examines not only the efforts to build atomic weapons, but looks also at the ethical dilemma of those involved with the secret Manhattan Project, the use of the first atomic weapons, the aftermath of their use, and the ignorance of a world gone mad in a race to produce weapons so powerful that their use could result in the total annihilation of all life on Earth. Correlations are made between Zeus’ punishment of Prometheus for giving man the tool of fire before he was intelligent enough to use it and the development of nuclear power by man himself in a world still not yet intelligent enough to fully comprehend the consequences of possessing such devastating power.
Trinity is available in the Popular Reading section on the First Floor of the Post Learning Commons.