Science, Books, and Random Thoughts

 A large part of my job at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science involves performing various programs for our guests and talking to them, answering any questions they may have. Here are some interesting tidbits that frequently come up: 1. The winds on the planet Mars can travel upwards of 100 mph. However, the atmosphere is so thin, even winds of that speed can only pick up very fine dust particles, more like smoke than dust here on Earth. As great as the movie The Martian was, the ability of Martian winds to blow hard enough to tip over a spaceship or rip up antennae or large rocks just cannot happen. Learn more here:  Martian dust storms 2. There is only one reported account of a meteorite hitting a person. This was the Sylacauga meteorite, sometimes called the Hodges meteorite after the woman it struck, in November of 1954. It struck a woman in Alabama who did survive the encounter. Read more about it here:. Sylacauga Meteorite   We do have on display at our museum a...

 As I mentioned in my first post, I am a retired science teacher (35 years mostly at the middle school level) and part-time educator performer at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. However, I am also a published author of five science fiction novels and two short stories. This was a very unexpected turn in my life as a retiree, but one that proved to be a ton of fun. I began this journey on a whim and learned that I enjoyed the process of learning how to write an actual book. There were many stumbles along the way including what I thought was my first complete story getting ripped apart, rearranged, and in need of many additions I had never anticipated. My first editor told me that I had the bones of a good story, but much to learn about how to write for an audience. The final result, after several revisions, became my first novel, Hegira: book one of The Brin Archives. I had not expected this first book to become a success, much less a series, but After finding a publisher w...

 Hello and welcome to my first blog. I am Jim Cronin, grandfather, author, retired science teacher, and part-time educator/performer at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS). In this blog, I will try to provide you with some interesting and fun science, information about my books and my life as an author, as well as random thoughts on a variety of topics. I promise to stay away from politics. You can find that in abundance elsewhere. It is my plan to update this blog weekly, if possible. Sometimes life gets in the way, but that is my current goal. We will see how it works out. If you feel moved to comment on any of my posts with your own thoughts I welcome that. All I ask is that you keep everything civil and positive. I would like this to remain a relaxing and fun place for everyone to visit. Thanks for your help with this. To start, I would like to ask how you spend your downtime either at work or at home. This is how we occupy ourselves at DMNS: