威尼斯人娱乐场

The 威尼斯人娱乐场 and Smithsonian鈥檚 Lemelson Center Conclude 2006 Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Celebration
Press Release 路 Friday, October 20, 2006

Washington, DC

Biographer and Journalist Walter Isaacson Examines Franklin鈥檚 Legacy in Relationship Between Technology and Democracy in the United States

On Thursday, November 2, at 7 p.m., the 威尼斯人娱乐场 in partnership with the Smithsonian鈥檚 Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation celebrate the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin鈥檚 birth with a free program 鈥淚nventing America with Walter Isaacson,鈥� hosted by the Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein.  The program will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Building located on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW.

America鈥檚 founders were optimistic not only about politics but also about the contributions they expected science and technology to make to the success of the fledgling democracy. Join historian Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, and Professor Allen Weinstein as they discuss how Americans have wrestled with the interplay of technology and democracy from Franklin鈥檚 time until today. Isaacson will draw on both his knowledge of Franklin and his own experiences in journalism to explore how communications technologies have shaped the practice of democracy.

Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and of Kissinger: A Biography (1992) and is the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986). He is currently writing a biography of Albert Einstein due to be published in April 2007. He is a graduate of Harvard College and of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He began his career at the Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item

The 威尼斯人娱乐场 is fully accessible. If you need to request an accommodation (e.g., sign language interpreter) for a public program please e-mail public.program@nara.gov or call (202) 357-5000 at least two weeks prior to the event to ensure proper arrangements are secured.

Special Note: The Smithsonian鈥檚 Lemelson Center is part of the National Museum of American History and documents, interprets and disseminates information about invention and innovation. The program continues with a Lemelson Center conference November 3-4 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville with sessions devoted to technology and its relationship to democratic values, invention, political economy, and the practice of democracy.  The conference is free and open to the public.  More information about session topics, presenters and the Charlottesville conference location can be found at invention.smithsonian.org/events.

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For press information contact the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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