On the road of science

You have arrived at your holiday destination. After the first few days of pottering about you realise that the lazy lifestyle should come to an end and be replaced by some serious sightseeing. Beautiful gardens, magnificent mansions and exotic fauna and flora are all very well for the general vacationer, but the scientist needs something a touch more mentally challenging. And this is where America's Scientific Treasures: A Travel Companion comes in. Do not leave for the US without it.

The Cohens (an impressive marriage between a history major and a chemistry education major) have wandered far and wide throughout the 48 contiguous states, visiting the homes of historically famous scientists, peering at points of technological and natural interest, and tramping around museums, zoos, national parks, planetaria and arboreta. They have divided their selected sites of scientific interest into nine major geographical regions, typical examples being New England, Mississippi Valley, Great Plains, West Coast and so on. Each site is then provided with a one to two-page description, which is not only clear, concise and informative but also includes such vital information as the days and hours of opening, the phone number and the directions for getting there by car.

On our recent holiday trip to Florida, the Hughes family spent a wonderful and most rewarding day at the Kennedy Space Center, but, not having the Cohens' guide, we missed the nearby Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. So this chain of barrier islands, "located at the interface of temperate and tropical ecozones", will have to wait for our return. And, after five tiring but surprisingly enjoyable days at Walt Disney's attractions near Orlando, we decided to drive straight past Busch Gardens (the guide tells you to leave route I-5 at exit 33, Busch Boulevard, and follow the signs). So we missed the "walk-through free-flight aviary and Eagle Canyon, an exhibit with bald and golden eagles". But, much worse, we overlooked the educational benefit of the "300-acre entertainment centre offering thrill rides, live entertainment, games, shops, restaurants and a zoo", because we did not "ask at the administrative offices for a copy of The Physics Teacher's Guide , a 39-page pamphlet filled with classroom physics problems related to the thrill rides".

My next conference is in New York state. Thanks to the Cohens, when in Rome (NY 13440) I plan to enjoy the Erie Canal Village, and not only wander past the "tavern, church meeting house, blacksmith's shop, weaving and spinning house and train station, that have been moved here from communities within a 50-mile radius", but also spend a happy hour being pulled along a mile-and-a-half stretch of the canal by a horse-drawn packet boat.

The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, "a living museum in a pleasant, parklike setting" that is "filled with original and re-created aircraft, land vehicles and other memorabilia" sounds great fun; so does the George Eastman House and International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester. But here we hit a snag. Even though these three New York state attractions are on adjacent pages in the guidebook, no indication is given as to whether they are physically close to each other or separated by those typical American interstate journeys that take the best part of a day's drive. A small map of each of the nine regions, with large symbols indicating the locations of the attractions would have been very handy for this reviewer, whose knowledge of US geography is somewhat sketchy.

What I liked especially was the way this book encouraged you to deviate from the well-trodden path. I had no idea that one could take a free tour around the University of Missouri's research reactor, or that Buffalo Bill's silver inlaid saddle was on show at the estate of the co-founder of the Phillips Petroleum Company (at Woolaroc, Bartlesville, Oklahoma), or that I could still gaze at the first (and unsuccessful) casting of the 200-inch mirror disc for the Hale Mount Palomar Telescope in the Corning Glass Center (Corning, New York state). I sometimes wondered what such places as the Cranberry World Visitors' Center (Plymouth, Massachusetts) and the American Saddle Horse Museum (Lexington, Kentucky) had to do with science; but all in all America's Scientific Treasures is an essential addition to the American tourist's guidebook collection. I have had many happy hours planning places I intend to visit, and agonising about opportunities I have missed in the past. Reading this book makes me want to visit the US more often.

David W. Hughes is reader in astronomy, University of Sheffield.