Importance of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, a city of around four million inhabitants with a harbor on the Atlantic Ocean. It was settled in 1630 and had a significant Puritan influence in its early history. There are many colleges and universities in it and in its proximity (especially in Cambridge and Somerville), including Boston University, MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Boston College, Brandeis, Bentley, Northeastern, as well as many others. Montgomery spends a lot of her time in Boston while writing this book, since she is so often visiting the octopuses. Many of the researchers she speaks to and works with throughout the book were probably drawn to this intellectual center.