The story of the Panama Canal has it all: a unique cast of characters, the costly railroad, the tragedy of the French disaster, lethal diseases, sleazy politics, the United States carrying a “Big Stick,” the American triumph, and above all, fascinating engineering. This talk will give the whole story, amply illustrated with pictures and photographs.

Myles Standish, Ph.D. in astronomy from Yale, spent most of his career at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, providing accurate planetary positions to the spacecraft navigation team as well as to the world’s major almanac offices. He has spoken at professional meetings, astronomy departments, civic groups, and was a guest lecturer on the Queen Mary II. Asteroid “3420 Standish” was named in his honor.