In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies,“No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”

    The city planners decided to build an underground drainage(排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.

    An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.

    This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire bulidings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?

    That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews(螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stayed open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.

    Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.

    Gus Wenner runs Rollingstone.com; his father gave him the job. But Jann Wenner, the magazine's co­founder and publisher, was quick to assure critics of the appointment process that his son is terribly talented and had to prove himself before being given the post. Apparently Gus worked his way up from more junior positions with the company, and demonstrated, according to his father, the “drive and discipline and charm, and all the things that show leadership.” Gus Wenner is 22 years old.

    He is certainly not the only kid out of college, or even out of high school, working at daddy's firm. Family contacts are a common way of finding both temporary internships and longtime careers. Opportunities for the children of top 1 percent are not the same as they are for the 99 percent.

    This is hardly a shock, but it is precisely the type of inequality that reveals the hard­ to­ define promise of the “Just Do It” version of the American dream and deepens our cynicism(愤世嫉俗) about how people get ahead. As a consequence, it weakens support for public policies that could address the lack of upward mobility among children born at the bottom, who ought to be given priority. A strong tie between adult outcomes and family background annoys Americans. When an organization conducted a nationally representative survey asking about the meaning of “the American dream”， some typical answers included: “Being free to say or do what you want” and “Being free to accomplish almost anything you want with hard work.” but also “Being able to succeed regardless of the economic circumctances in which you were born.”

    This is exactly the reason that “the American dream” is not only a defining metaphor for the country, but also why Americans have long been willing to tolerate a good deal more economic inequality than citizens of many other rich countries. A belief in the possibility of upward mobility not only morally justifies inequality as the expression of talents and energies, but also extends a promise to those with lower incomes. After all, why would you be a strong advocate for reducing inequality if you believe that you, or eventually your children, were likely to climb the income ladder?

    Hard work and perseverance(毅力) will always be ingredients for success, but higher inequality has made having successful parents, if not essential, certainly a central part of the recipe.

    The belief that talent is something you are born with, and that opportunities are open to anyone with ambition and energy, also has a dangerous consequence. When the public policy is focused on the difficult situation of the poor, this belief can help the concept resurface that the poor are “undeserving” and are the authors of their own situation. Yet we actually know a good deal about why children of the poor have a higher chance of being stuck on poverty as adults.

    The recipes for breaking this intergenerational trap are clear: a nurturing(培养) environment in the early years combined with accessible and high­quality health care and education promote the capacities of young children, heighten the development of their skills as they grow older, and eventually raise their chances of upward mobility.

    Talent is nurtured and developed, and even genes are expressed differently depending upon environmental influences.

    The 1 percent are the goal for these upper­middle­class families, who after all have also experienced significant growth in their relative standing. The graduate and other higher degrees that they hold, for which they put in considerable effort, have put them on the upside of the wave of globalization and technical change that has transformed the American job market.

    An age of higher inequality gives them both more resources to promote the capacities of their children, and more encouragement to make these investments since their children now have all the more to gain.

    For them, an American dream based on effort and talent still lives, and as a result they are less likely, with their considerable cultural and political influence, to support the reshaping of American public policy to meet its most pressing need: the future of those at the bottom.

    I live in the center of the city and there is a largeparking lot full of parking spots nearby. Rain is a rare occurrence in LA,so cars easilycollect pollutants and dust. Together with my friends,I decided it shouldbe a kind gesture to surprise the owners with a car wash.So we bought carwashing supplies and brought out all the bath towels we could find.With all the suppliesin hand, wewere able to convince another roommate to help out as well and we beganwatering down the cars.

    Every once in a while, someone would come by and asked usseemingly stupid men, "Who told you to wash the cars?" or, even better, "who paid you to wash their cars?" Weexplained we just wanted to do something kind. But our response was often me with aneven more confused look.

    As the afternoon went on, some other friends that came byunderstood our goal of the spontaneous event and started helping out with someof the duties. Firstone friend then two, and by the time we had cleaned the entire lot,we had an entire carwashing crew with independent individually assigned tasks and duties.

    I wasn't cleaning cars to be able to afford a new phone.I was cleaning carssimply because I wanted to offer the car owners kindness.There was noequipment to weigh our value created. We couldn't measure our success indollars earned over the time spent washing cars when we could have been earningtwice as much at work.

    I now realize, first hand, that there is a special energy createdwhen you choose to think bigger than yourself and act in service of others andmaybe, likeme, you'llfind it's actually the greatest gift you' you'll ever get.

    Putting a dinosaur skeleton(骨架)together is not easy. The skeletons are usually very incomplete. Many dinosaur fossils(化石) are discovered badly damaged. Bones are often found crashed (压碎) or bent by the great weight of the dirt and rock above. Sometimes parts from different creatures are mixed together. This just adds to the confusion.

    Unfortunately, some scientists have not been careful enough in their descriptions of dinosaurs. They have told grand stories of how dinosaurs looked and behaved. All of these descriptions are based on guesswork – the imaginations of people who have never seen a living dinosaur. Some scientists have made complete pictures of dinosaurs based on just a single bone or tooth or leg. Such pictures are based on many guesses and very little facts. The scientists' ideas often turn out to be wrong when more facts are discovered.

    Dinosaur fossils are not found with labels attached showing what the animals looked like. That is why no pictures of dinosaurs are exactly right. Every dinosaur painting is sure to contain at least some wrong information. No artist in the twentieth century ever saw the living, breathing animals -- complete with skin, flesh, and color.

    For instance, imagine never having seen or heard of a peacock. One day you find the jumbled bones of it buffed in the ground. You try to put the bones together to form a skeleton. And then you try to draw a picture of what the animal looked like when it Was alive. But bones cannot tell the whole story. Even if you are a very good artist, it would be a miracle if you drew a tree picture of a peacock just from the bones and your imagination.

Special Programs

    Career Stories

    What do you want to be when growing up? Hear first-hand from four Science Centre staff on the different career paths they have taken. Our real-life role models share their experiences and demonstrate that pathways to success, while unique to everyone, are based on the development of 21st century competencies and a commitment to lifelong learning.

    Duration: 60 minutes

    Time: 10:30-11:30

    Dates: May 13 & 27, 2018 Price: $15 per student

    Climate Change

    Understand the complex connections between human activity, greenhouse gases, heat transfer and climate change. Investigate past climate data, see ocean acidification in action and compare Canada to the world. Use a physical climate model to test whether you can stabilize the Earth's climate.

    Duration: 45 minutes

    Times: 10--10:45, 11-11:45, 12-12:45, 1-1:45 and 2-2:45

    Date: June 18, 23 &24, 2018 Price: $10 per student

    Characteristics of Electricity

    Witness the power of electricity with shocking demonstrations. From Galvani to Tesla, rediscover the practical applications of current, circuits and resistance. Understand how electric energy is generated, and be a part of a human electric circuit. Get energized with a spark-tacular static electric discharge (静电释放)！

    Duration: 55 minutes

    Time: 11-11:55

    Date: July 24, 2018 Price: $10 per student

    Mental Health: The Science of Anxiety

Your heart is racing, your mouth is dry and your stomach is in knots! Don't worry, everyone feels anxious sometimes. Explore what's really going on in our brains when we experience anxiety, how it affects our bodies and why stress can sometimes be a good thing. This presentation explains how our brains and bodies react to stress, while introducing students to evidence-based approaches. Mental health applies to everyone—-we can all take steps to enjoy life and deal with the challenges you face each day!

    Duration: 45 minutes

    Time: 11-11:45

    Dates: August7, 8, 9, 10&11, 2018 Price: $10 per student

A good story. That's what influences our choice to buy a book the most. Right? Some of the biggest-selling novels of all time just so happened to be attached to major publishers. Indeed, any reading lover will be familiar with the countless publishing houses that have brought brilliant works to the market. So in theory, perhaps a publisher does matter. 

Every time you read a book that you enjoy, you likely look at the publisher attached to it. That name is a signal that they will produce other content that fits with that same style. It makes a lot of sense to continue to purchase texts from a company that is telling the kinds of stories that you enjoy the most. Consumer habits are thus based on trust that a publisher will be consistent in the books they deliver and that investing time in them is more reliable than an untested source.

The strength of the author themselves can also play into that. After all, well-liked authors are often signed to a book deal with a select few publishers, strengthening the brand further. 

Of course, a publisher would be nothing without its logo, which is a major call-to-arms for all fans of the brand. The top publishers in the world instantly recognizable imagery, which catch the attention while summing up the name of a brand in an instant. That thus builds our association with a given name. The fun penguin shape of Penguin Random House is so iconic, for example, that it could not be confused with any other publishing business.

There might be a place for those indie (独立经营的) book companies, with occasional stories breaking through and forcing people to take notice. In truth that's far less common than you expect. Expert Cassandra Davis, however, provides a hopeful insight. "Indie bookshops are more likely to stock an indie publisher's books, especially if the author is local to the bookshop." She says. Therefore, supporting local bookshops is a vital way to keep the indie industry alive and change these trends.