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Dibner Hall of the History of Science Opens Nov. 1, 2008

The Huntington opens a new permanent exhibition on Nov. 1, showcasing some of science’s greatest achievements, from Ptolemy to Copernicus, Newton to Einstein. The 2,800-square-foot Dibner Hall of the History of Science comes as a result of the marriage of The Huntington’s history of science materials with the Burndy Library, a 67,000-volume collection of rare books and manuscripts donated to The Huntington in 2006 by the Dibner family of Connecticut. Called “Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World,” the exhibition highlights four areas of exploration: astronomy, natural history, medicine, and light. A gallery on each focuses on the changing role of science over time, particularly the astonishing leaps in imagination made by scientists over the years and the importance of written works in communicating those ideas. Works in the exhibition represent centuries of thought, showing how knowledge has become more refined over time.

Press Release · Dibner Backgrounder · Gallery Design
Dibner HIstory of Science Program · History of Science Collections · Exhibition Highlights

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Calculator	A rotating astronomical calculator. From Petrus Apianus, Astronomicum caesareum (Caesar’s Astronomy), Ingolstadt, 1540. © The Huntington Library
Telescope	The reflecting telescope. From Isaac Newton, An Account of a New Kind of Telescope, Invented by Mr. Isaac Newton, London, 1672. © The Huntington Library
Stars	Thomas Wright’s vision of stars in large, spherical groupings. From Thomas Wright, An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe, London, 1750. © The Huntington Library
Leo	Zodiacal constellation Leo. From John Flamsteed, Atlas Celeste (Celestial Atlas), Paris, 1776. © The Huntington Library
Unicorn	Unicorn. From Edward Topsell, The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents, London, 1658. © The Huntington Library
Flea	Flea under magnification. From Robert Hooke, Micrographia, London, 1665. © The Huntington Library
Magnolia	Magnolia. From Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, London, 1741. © The Huntington Library
Tanager	Tanager, drawn and described by John Gould after Charles Darwin brought specimens back from the journey of the H.M.S. Beagle. From Charles Darwin and John Gould, The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, London, 1839–43. © The Huntington Library
Aloe	Aloe from an early herbal, a book describing plants and their uses. From Hieronymus Bock, Neu Kreuterbuch (New Plant Book), Strasburg, 1551. © The Huntington Library
Spine	The spine. From William Cheselden, Osteographia, or the Anatomy of the Bones, London, 1733. © The Huntington Library
Angel	The “flayed angel.” From Gautier D'Agoty and Joseph Guichard Duverny, Myologie complete (Comprehensive Study of the Muscles), Paris, 1746. © The Huntington Library
Twins	Twins. From George Spratt, Obstetric Tables, London, 1841. © The Huntington Library
Optics	A Latin copy of one of the earliest great books on optics. Ibn Al-Haytham, Kithab al-Manzir (Book of Optics), Basel, 1572. © The Huntington Library
Vision	Diagram of vision and the effect of parallax. From Rene Descartes, Tractatus de homine et de formatione foetus (On Man and the Formation of the Fetus), Amsterdam, 1677. © The Huntington Library
Spectra	Light spectra from stars. From Norman Lockyer, Studies in Spectrum Analysis, New York, 1878. © The Huntington Library
Triangles	Two color triangles. From Robert Ridgway, A Nomenclature of Color for Naturalists, New York, 1886. © The Huntington Library
Dan Lewis	Dan Lewis, Dibner Senior Curator, History of Science and Technology
Astronomy 1, 2	Astronomy 1 & 2 (gallery installation) Views of the Astronomy gallery © The Huntington Library
Volvelles	A series of rotating wheel charts called volvelles are included in Petrus Apianus’ Astronomicum caesareum (Caesar’s astronomy), published in 1540. The charts were used to perform astronomical calculations. © The Huntington Library
Medicine 1,2,3	Medicine 1, 2 & 3 (gallery installation) Views of the Medicine gallery. [Medicine 1: In a section devoted to the science of healing, a wall graphic depicts “Wound Man,” an enlargement of an engraving from a 16th-century German field manual on wound surgery. Medicine 3: Early texts and illustrations describing the skeletal and muscular structure of the human body.] © The Huntington Library
Bern Dibner	Bern Dibner Industrialist Bern Dibner (1897-1988), founder of the Burndy Library, which was acquired by The Huntington in 2006. Selections from both the Burndy and Huntington collections are featured in this new permanent installation.
Einstein to Hale	Letter from Albert Einstein to George Ellery Hale, 1913. © The Huntington Library