Linda Hall Library Opens Three New Online Exhibitions for Virtual Tours

"Flying Machines: A History of Early Aviation," "Ribbons Across the Land: Building the U.S. Interstate Highway System" and "Drawn from Nature: Art, Science, and the Study of Birds" can now be experienced online as Library expands digital public platform. Virtual visitors also can explore 15 previously digitized exhibitions that tap the Library's famed collections to showcase the history of science exploration and its influence on modern life.

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Linda Hall Library

Aug 12, 2020, 08:55 ET


KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Linda Hall Library — a world renowned independent research library dedicated to science, engineering and technology — announces the launch of three new online exhibitions. Virtual visitors around the globe can explore the history of science innovations that made high-speed travel possible in "Flying Machines: A History of Early Innovation" and "Ribbons Across the Land: Building the U.S. Interstate Highway System" and also discover how artists and scientists popularized the identification and cataloging of North American birds in "Drawn from Nature: Art, Science, and the Study of Birds."

"We have a long history of digitizing our most popular exhibitions to make them widely available to those who were unable to see them during their original installation at the Library — or for those who wish to revisit them," said Lisa Browar, president of the Linda Hall Library. "The appearance of these new online exhibitions are another virtual step toward our goal of bringing science to life in relevant, engaging ways, both for our Kansas City metropolitan community and for the scientifically curious around the world."

The Library contracted with Lifted Logic, a Kansas City web designer, to digitize the three new curated exhibitions that feature items from the Library's collection of rare books, photographs, manuscripts and artwork. Each exhibition includes source links to the Library's collections and are enriched with video presentations by the acknowledged experts who presented at the Library during the exhibitions' original runs.

Flying Machines: A History of Early Aviation — Explore human ingenuity in the pursuit of taking flight, from hot-air balloons and steerable airships to the Wright Brothers first successful flight at Kitty Hawk. Video presentations include:

  • "From Drones to Flying Cars: New Frontiers in Human-Technology Interaction" with Duke University Professor Missy Cummings

Ribbons Across the Land: Building the U.S. Interstate Highway System — Narrow and often unpaved roads in America were nearly impossible to navigate until President Eisenhower envisioned "broader ribbons across the land" and signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956, opening over 32,000 miles of Interstate highways with another 4,000 under construction within 15 years. Video presentations include:

  • "The Missouri Hyperloop" panel discussion led by Kansas City Star journalist Steve Kraske
  • "Rust Never Sleeps: Road Trip in Search of Solutions to America's Infrastructure Crisis" with author/journalist Dan McNichols

Drawn from Nature: Art, Science, and the Study of Birds — Artists, scientists and amateur bird watchers popularized the study of North American birds, leading to the founding of the National Audubon Society and the first edition of A Field Guide to the Birds (which sold out during the Great Depression). Video presentations include:

  • "The Evolution of Beauty" with Yale University professor of ornithology Richard Prum
  • "389 Bird Species on the Brink" with National Audubon Society climate scientist Dr. Brooke Bateman

The Library's online exhibitions can be conveniently enjoyed on a self-guided basis or used as valuable supplemental resources for educators, particularly for STEM curriculum in grades 6 through 12.

Popular exhibitions previously digitized by the Library for virtual visitors to explore include:

By the end of 2020, the Library will add more digital exhibitions including "Nature's Fury: The Science of Natural Disasters"; "Connecting the Dots: The Science of CSI"; and "Mapping the Moon: Lunar Cartography from Galileo to Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter."

ABOUT LINDA HALL LIBRARY
As a world renowned independent research library, the Linda Hall Library, located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, is dedicated to science, engineering and technology. Since 1946, the Library has taken pride in preserving scientific innovations of the past (the collection includes rare books from Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Marie Curie, among others) while offering enlightening onsite and livestream programs and events that demonstrate the intersection of science and modern life. To learn more, visit http://www.lindahall.org.

SOURCE Linda Hall Library

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