Browse Exhibits (4 total)
Illustrations from "Conversations on Natural Philosophy"
The book "Conversations on Natural Philosophy in which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained and Adapted to the Comprehension of Young Pupils" demonstrates the typical classroom approach to physics diagrams, with figures showing physical properties. These similarities end with the text, where the approach is more familiar, using a conversational approach to teach the concepts and answer questions the reader would have.
Illustrations from "First Lessons on Natural Philosophy for Children"
Collection of images relating to the way Mary Swift teaches children physics topics in her book. The book was published in 1851, and therefore showcases both early physics writing and topics as well as how people thought to describe it to kids.
Illustrations from "Stories of Starland"
A selection of images from Mary Proctor's Stories of Starland.
Mary Proctor was an astronomer and author born in Dublin, Ireland. She immigrated to America in 1882 and wrote numerous articles and books about astronomy. She has a crater on the moon named after her.
Stories of Starland was published in 1898 and was written with kids in mind. It teaches children about astronomy and includes information on the planets and constellations. The illustrations included in this collection portray the various concepts Proctor intended to convey to children. Many of these concepts are things that children often have trouble comprehending such as the scale of planets and the sun. The purpose of this exhibit is to showcase how these illustrations were used to broaden the minds of children.
Illustrations from "The Boy's Book of Inventions"
This contains a series of images from "The Boys Book of Inventions." This book goes through more advanced concepts and is worded and formatted like a textbook. The images in this book serve as an assistant to the reader in order for them to comprehend difficult concepts. Without the images, it is very difficult to understand the ideas/inventions/technologies that are present in this book.