Masland Library Blog

Today, Wednesday 29, Philadelphia Biblical University held its annual boat raise. After creating their own devices for crossing the water – as I can I hardly deem them boats – a few brave individuals ventured across the pond. Unfortunately, a number of the boats failed to perform adequately enough to support their crew across the water. Thus, they subsequently sunk bellow the murky (to say the least) water. If, as I, you were reminded of the scene in the film Cast Away in which Tom Hanks’ character flees from his island prison on his self-constructed raft, and wish to watch this awesome film, it is available at the front desk of the PBU library along with many other classic titles.

Although the boat race was very funny, the individuals manning the sunken vessels could have easily prevented the occurrence if they would have simply spent some time investigating the physical properties of flotation on the databases available through the library. Listed on the PBU database web-page are numerous databases that relate not only to science but a multitude of other topics including everything from food to politics. For example, Victor L. Streeter, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan, wrote an article that explains how buoyancy works on the Access Science database from McGraw-Hill. If, however, you are looking for a more in-depth study of buoyancy to drastically increase the success of your own personal homemade boat, the Article First database offers large number of articles that pertain to the different highly complex aspects of buoyancy. Next time you are attempting to design a homemade boat, or even writing a research paper for a class, check out the databases available on the PBU Masland Library website.

~Matt Ostrow