Iowa-Related Resources

A look at the life of one of America's most unique sculptors The Butter Cow Lady Legendary folk artist Norma "Duffy" Lyon. widely known for her cow sculptures (among others) made from actual dairy butter.

This annotated selection of his letters and other writings reveals the forces that shaped his creative genius--including the influence of persistent racism. His letters also show us Carver's deep love for his fellow man, whether manifested in his efforts to treat polio victims in the 1930s or in his emotionally charged friendships that lasted a lifetime.

Biography of Glenn Miller.

Weaving together cultural and military history, Glenn Miller Declassified tells the story of the musical legend Miller and his military career as commanding officer of the Army Air Force Band during World War II. On December 15, 1944, Maj. Alton Glenn Miller, commanding officer of the Army Air Force Band (Special), boarded a plane in England bound for France with Lt. Col. Norman Francis Baessell. Somewhere over the English Channel the plane vanished. No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found.

The Man Who Fed the World provides a loving and respectful portrait of one of America's greatest heroes. Nobel Peace Prize recipient for averting hunger and famine, Dr. Norman Borlang is credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives from starvation-more than any other person in history.

John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics at Iowa State University, after a frustrating day performing tedious mathematical calculations in his lab, hit on the idea that the binary number system and electronic switches, com­bined with an array of capacitors on a moving drum to serve as memory, could yield a computing machine that would make his life and the lives of other similarly burdened scientists easier. Then he went back and built the machine.

This book strips away the myths surrounding the famed scientist George Washington Carver and portrays him as a brilliant, creative man who nonetheless possessed very human peculiarities and frailties. It highlights Carver's major achievements, including his championing of crop rotation and the hundreds of products he created from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other plants native to the South. In addition to Carver the scientist, students will meet Carver the man, who, for example, loved art and painted throughout his life.