- $220,000
The Wider Scope: A Survey of Early Telescopes and Images, and their Scientific and Cultural Contexts
Recipient: Bolt, Marvin Paul (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: Expansion of an electronic research database on the history of the telescope to include literary and art-historical materials as well as examples from Asian collections.
Description: The United Nations' declaration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 to mark Galileo's use of the telescope signifies the extraordinary impact of the telescope on the sciences and the humanities. The observations it enabled transformed our cosmology and raised awkward questions about our place in the universe. As well as informing astronomy, theology, and philosophy, it inspired the literary and visual arts, and impacted military and maritime practices by changing the conduct of war and the practice of navigation. Telescopes were also objets d'art, intended to be looked at as much as looked through, to be displayed as a symbol of knowledge, patronage, and status. Through collaborations with museums and scholars around the world, we will create a census of surviving telescopes and telescope images made prior to 1750, photograph and catalog them, determine their optical and physical properties, and disseminate this information via a database on a museum website.
Grant: 196524 / RZ-51106-09, Category: History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Division: Research Programs, Program: Collaborative Research, Year Awarded: 2009 - $44,810
Widening the Scope of Knowledge
Recipient: Bolt, Marvin Paul (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: Creation of an electronic database which would provide technical measurements of the 17th- and 18th-century telescopes to be examined in this project. Articles stemming from the project research would also be submitted to history of science journals.
Description: In portraying the telescope's significant roles in astronomy, navigation, surveying, and military history, standard chronicles focus on the technical details of its optical evolution. We believe that these accounts ignore key contextual elements impacting the telescope's development, and thus misrepresent its history. Our proposal contains two components to correct this history and to address its attendant historiography. First, we propose to make technical measurements, calculations, and images of 17th and 18th century telescope optical components that will enable us to provide experimental data about their optical quality. Second, we propose to view the heavens through as many historic telescopes as possible in order to gauge directly the astronomical viewing quality of these artifacts. By providing a more informed history of the optical evolution of telescopes, including evidence that the technical limitations of early telescopes are less problematic than is usually claimed, we can demonstrate the importance of social and contextual influences on the development of telescopes and on its resulting histories.
Grant: 170771 / RZ-50206-04, Category: History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Division: Research Programs, Program: Collaborative Research, Year Awarded: 2004 - $250,000
Bringing the Heavens to Earth: Cultural Astronomies Around the World
Recipient: Bolt, Marvin Paul (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: Implementation of a permanent exhibition and programs on the differing cultural perceptions and interpretations of celestial events and objects around the world, both in the past and the present.
Grant: 156351 / GM-26254-01, Category: Humanities, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 2001 - $40,498
Revolution in the Sky
Recipient: Stephenson, Bruce (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: Planning for a major exhibition, website, and educational and public programming on the impact of astronomical discoveries on society and culture from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Grant: 156345 / GM-26236-01, Category: History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 2001 - $40,561
Bringing the Heavens to Earth: Cultural Astronomies Around the World
Recipient: Pitluga, Phyllis B (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: To support planning for a permanent exhibition and catalog on astronomical practices, architecture, and knowledge from various world cultures, past and present.
Grant: 156294 / GM-26092-00, Category: Humanities, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 2000 - $250,000
Permanent Exhibition of the History of Astronomy Collection
Recipient: Knappenberger, Paul H (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: To support a long-term exhibition of astronomical and scientific instruments.
Grant: 155783 / GM-24454-91, Category: History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 1991 - $30,000
History of Astronomy Collection
Recipient: Sweitzer, James S (Chicago, IL 60605 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Goal: To plan a permanent exhibition interpreting the Planetarium's collection of historical scientific instruments by illuminating the social, political, economic, and philosophical aspects of the development of science.
Grant: 134404 / GM-23034-86, Category: Anthropology, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 1986 - $76,167
A Catalogue of the History of Astronomy Collection of The Adler Planetarium
Recipient: Genuth, Sara S (Chicago, IL 60605-0000 USA) in affiliation with Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago, IL 60605 USA)
Goal: To support the research and preparation of a catalogue interpreting the per- manent collection of approximately 1100 scientific instruments dating from 1131to 1984 in the Adler Planetarium.
Grant: 155326 / GM-22282-84, Category: History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Division: Public Programs, Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in, Year Awarded: 1984 - Endowment for the humanities grants to institution Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum; items 1-8 of 8 with a total funding of $952,036.