History

Featured exhibit items for history.

Exhibit Items

	Map of the Moon Hevelius, Johann (1647) Accurate depiction of the topography of the Moon was accomplished by mid-century in this lunar atlas by Hevelius. It set a new standard for precision that remained unmatched for a century.
	An Astronomical Catechism Whitwell, Catherine (1818) This dialogue between a mother and her daughter offers a delightful introduction to the night sky. It contains 23 engraved plates drawn by Whitwell herself, including four hand-colored folding plates.
	On the New Star in the Foot of the Serpent Handler Kepler, Johann (1606) Kepler’s star map shows the constellations of Ophiuchus (the Serpent Handler), Sagittarius and Scorpius. The Milky Way runs diagonally down from the left, and the “ecliptic,” or annual path of the Sun, runs horizontally through Sagittarius and Scorpius.
1	The Nuremberg Chronicle Schedel, Hartmann (1493) In the most lavishly illustrated book of the 1400’s, solid spheres ceaselessly turn, carrying the planets and filling the universe between the outermost heaven and the central Earth.
1	The City of God Augustine, (1489) The frontispiece shows Augustine in his study. Augustine taught that the language of Scripture was accommodated to the understanding of ordinary readers and therefore not well-suited to teach the theories of natural science.
4	Monuments of China Kircher, Athanasius (1667) Back in Rome, Kircher collected all the information he could gather from Jesuits in China, publishing this massive encyclopedia on China, Tibet, India, Korea and Japan. It contains two notable early maps, numerous portraits, and an introduction to Sanskrit and Chinese characters.
4	Geneva Bible , (1560) The Geneva Bible was the first lay study Bible, written in the vernacular, portable, affordable, and designed with cross-references and explanatory notes for self-study. It was the Bible of Shakespeare, of the Puritans, of settlers in the colonies of New England, and of Scotland.
7	The Dutch Embassy to the Grand Tartar Chamum Sungteium, Modern Emperor of China Nieuhof, Johann (1668) This travel narrative and encyclopedia presented the most up-to-date information about China based on Jesuit sources and the knowledge of commercial traders.
8	A Geometrical Reconstruction of On Conic Sections by Aristaeus Viviani, Vincenzo (1701) In this work, Viviani reconstructed an ancient study of conic sections by Aristaeus the Elder (4th century B.C.E.). Viviani became Galileo’s student and assistant in 1639.
16	The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended Newton, Isaac (1728) Newton believed that Solomon’s Temple encoded his inverse square law for universal gravitation. To Newton, his grandest achievement was merely a rediscovery of the treasures of ancient wisdom.