New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Inventive book ‘The Alchemy of Us’
New Haven resident and author Ainissa Ramirez has a new bestseller in the April release “The Alchemy of Us” (MIT Press), which explores the impact of technology on culture.
The book, subtitled “How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another,” looks at eight inventions — clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware and silicon chips — to show how little-known inventors and their inventions shaped the human experience.
I wrote ‘The Alchemy of Us’ because I wanted to find a way for readers to feel more connected to science and history,” Ramirez said in an email exchange. “In my book, readers will find out about quirky and little-known inventors who made the simple gadgets in their home. Plus, from these great stories, readers will gain a deeper connection to the stuff around them as well as have cool things to share at parties.”
Ramirez was born in New York and raised in Jersey City, N.J. She attended Brown University for her undergraduate degree in materials science, and earned her Ph.D. at Stanford. She worked at Bell Labs in Jersey as a research scientist and then was an associate professor at Yale before starting the career of writing books and public speaking.
⏩ The Bushnell in Hartford on Thursday announced a couple of huge COVID-19 losses of business this fall — the cancellation of “Wicked” in September and postponement of “Hadestown” in October.
In a statement, official Paul Marte wrote, “Because of concerns that we will not be able to gather in large numbers by the end of the summer, the national tour of WICKED will not play
its scheduled dates in Hartford this September. The tour’s long-range schedule will not allow it to return to Connecticut this year or next, so unfortunately we must cancel our planned run.” The Oct. 20-25 dates for “Hadestown” will be postponed to a later date, likely in 2021.
See Bushnell.org for refund information.
⏩ The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is running a songwriting contest, inviting folks to submit a song about celebrating the heroism of front-line workers during COVID-19, social justice issues even more apparent during pandemic or what you would like to see change when the pandemic is over.
Songs can be any genre (pop, jazz, classical, etc.), have lyrics or be instrumental. Or just you singing or playing an instrument.
Send completed songs/ compositions to NHSO Education Director Caitlin Daly-Gonzales at Education@NewHavenSymphony.org by 5 p.m. June 20, says the NHSO.
The winning song will be orchestrated by awardwinning composer Bert Dovo and the new work will be performed by the New Haven Symphony at its first concert next season. ⏩ The pandemic-year, socially distanced International Festival of Arts & Ideas continues during the first week of June with three-plus events you can access from home.
“Constitution Cafe: The Role of Government During a Pandemic” will take place Wednesday, June 3, at 5 p.m. at artidea.org; “Democracy, Pandemic, and How We Move Forward” (with ex-Connecticut Secretary of the State Miles Rapoport moderating a conversation with political commentator and author Heather McGhee, political activist and CEO of Voto Latino María Teresa Kumar, and political scholar Archon Fung) will be Thursday at 7 p.m.; and “Democracy, Refugees, and Asylum” with historian Quan Tran and sociologist Jasmina Besirevic-Regan will be Friday, June 5, at 5 p.m.
In addition, Arts on Call — a popular live setup where you can pay for a private performance by an artist — has been extended to June 14, say officials, and there’s a Virtual Cooking Class with Sanctuary Kitchen on Saturday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. (register and pay $25 by June 3 at artidea.org).
⏩ Contestant Matthew Stoner from Killingworth will appear on “Let’s Make a Deal” Friday, June 5, at 10 a.m. as a featured “Trader” in an attempt to avoid “Zonks” and win a selection of prizes, the Wayne Brady-hosted show said recently.