1990s

American Astronomical Society's First Hundred Years (1999-2001), at Chicago, IL; Notre Dame, IN; Madison, WI; Atlanta, GA; College Park, MD; New York, NY; Washington, DC: Cambridge, MA, Sunday, May 30, 1999

AAS centennial exhibit detail 1999

This exhibit commemorated the American Astronomical Society's centennial by describing the society's formation and growth; debates over the place of physics within astronomy; roles for women; ties between professional and amateur astronomers; the AAS in the context...

Physics Works! Exploring Nature, Saving Lives, Driving Technology (1999-2002), at Traveling to the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA; the Don Harrington Discovery Center, Amarillo, TX; and the Fernbank Museum, Atlanta, GA, Saturday, March 20, 1999

Physics Works! Quantum Corral

Inspired by the work of physicists who have received Nobel Prizes, but aimed at an adolescent audience, this playful and upbeat exhibition showed how much physics exerts a positive force in people’s lives. Filled with unique hands-on scientific activities, this exhibition...

To Advance & Diffuse the Knowledge of Physics: 100 Years of the American Physical Society (1999-2000), at Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; College Park, MD; Gaithersburg, MD; New York, NY; , Saturday, March 20, 1999

APS Centennial exhibition crowds 1999

This major traveling exhibition showcased archival documents, photos, and artifacts as it told the story of the history of 20th century physics, the American Physical Society, and the dynamic relationship of APS and its journals to American culture and politics.

The display...

Nobel Discoveries (1999), at Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, Saturday, March 20, 1999

Nobel Discoveries

A temporary exhibition featuring the work of over 175 physicists who have received Nobel Prizes. The exhibition was prepared with the support of the Laureates, the Nobel Foundation, the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the American Physical Society...

Under the Sun: An Outdoor Exhibition of Light (1998-1999), at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY, 1998; the Smithsonian Institution’s Enid A. Haupt Garden on the National Mall, Washington, DC, 1999, Sunday, June 21, 1998

A traveling exhibition that explored how designers, planners, architects, artists, and scientists harness solar energy in order to save, expand, and extend energy resources. Central to the exhibition was a solar-powered tensile pavilion that not only collected energy and provided shade, but also served as the gnomon of a magnificent sundial marked on the lawn. Visitors could pace the hours and seasons, and walk through time as they explored this sundial. They were invited to compare solar time and clock time in another featured element: a sundial set in the midst of a...

The Universe in Your Hands: Early Tools of Astronomy (1995 and ongoing), at Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL, Tuesday, March 21, 1995

A new, permanent installation of artifacts from the History of Astronomy Collection intended to afford wide access to the scientific and cultural contexts of the artifacts. This interactive, hands-on exhibition explores the lives and knowledge of European and Islamic astronomers of the Middle Ages. Interpretive elements include evocative tableaux placing artifacts in historical settings; participatory stations offering the visitor an opportunity to use replica instruments; study bays affording in depth treatment of persons or concepts of special historical interest; video...

Seeing the Universe (1990-1999), at Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL, Tuesday, March 20, 1990

A permanent exhibit comparing astronomical observatories of the late 19th and late 20th centuries. Features a mock-up of the Dearborn Observatory, Chicago, ca. 1880, with its original refracting telescope (once the world's largest), side-by-side with a modern, working, observing station capable of operating the ARC telescope on Apache Point, New Mexico. With a hands-on telescope micrometer and interactive video.

A Revolution in Measurement (1989-1995), at Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL, Monday, March 20, 1989

Kobel surveyors pole

An exhibit on the development of the metric system, illustrating how the zeal for reform during the French Revolution extended beyond the political arena to the worlds of commerce and science. Topics included:

The social construction of weights and measures...

On Time (1999-2006), at National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

This permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution explored the social and technological impact of timekeeping on American life from the colonial period to the present day. Clocks and watches were viewed as mirrors and agents of cultural change. The exhibition examined the economic and social factors that gave clocks primacy over sundials; explored the conflicts between personal and public time; and investigated the colonization of time.

Schechner was a researcher assisting Smithsonian curator, Carlene Stephens.

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Sara J. Schechner

David P. Wheatland Curator

1990s

Exhibitions by Year