Galileo and Star Trek visit Philadelphia

The Franklin Institute is one of the nation’s premier science museums. I’ve always been charmed by its old wing—with charming and educational exhibits retained from many years ago.

The "Urban LM"

A unique lunar module

And, I’m a huge fan of what I call “the urban LM”, a full-size lunar module built by Grumman and donated to the Franklin Institute. This lunar module is, I believe, the only one displayed outdoors—and you are allowed to climb the steps! (or at least, that was my experience in the past.) This LM was probably used by Apollo astronauts for training.

Currently, there are two impressive temporary exhibits: one on Galileo, and the other about Star Trek. First: Galileo.

No-nonsense scientific instrument

Telescope leaves Florence after 400 years

Galileo famously discovered Jupiter’s moons (well, actually four of them) and—much to the chagrin of the Church—reported what he saw. While it is unclear which one of his two telescopes was used in this discovery, it may be the one on display right now at the Franklin Institute. In any case, this 1609 telescope is (for me) the star attraction (pun intended) of the exhibit.

The exhibit features a large number of early scientific instruments—many of them quite beautiful—and early scientific books. Galileo made more ornate telescopes for the Medicis, but his personal telescope was a no-nonsense brown tube.

Saturn: what ARE those blobs?

This exhibit is highly recommended. I particularly enjoyed the setup of telescopes which allow you to see the skies as Galileo saw them. In particular, seeing Saturn with  what appears as small blobs coming out of the larger center blob demonstrates why Galileo missed out on the particularly spectacular discovery of that planet’s rings.

I do think the exhibit does us a disservice by downplaying Galileo’s disagreements with the Church. That said, Galileo’s contribution is bigger than advancing astronomy, or challenging the Church’s view of the cosmos. He was a key (perhaps THE) key figure in the emergence of modern science. He replaced Aristotle’s armchair philosophy with first-hand research and experimentation.

Galileo experiment on the moon

On Apollo 15, astronaut Dave Scott performed a famous Galileo experiment on the moon…one that Galileo wasn’t himself able to perform. In the vacuum of the moon’s “atmosphere”, Scott dropped a feather and hammer—and the two objects of obviously different weights hit the ground at the same time.

Where no exhibit has gone before…

Although I enjoy Star Trek, I am not a huge fan. Even so, the Star Trek exhibit at the Franklin is fun…and amusing.

Although there is information discussing real-world space exploration, and the “possible” science in Star Trek, I seemed to be the only one in the place looking at them.

Some visitors look like part of the exhibit

Visitors—many dressed in Star Trek costumes and makeup—looked enthralled by the costumes, models, props and other movie materials. I think watching the visitors was as entertaining as the exhibit itself.

My favorite exhibit item: Ricardo Montalban’s chest-baring outfit as Khan. I remembered Montalban’s performance and laughed out loud!

Take it seriously, or as entertaining “camp”! In either case, it’s worth a visit. Star Trek will be showing through September 20. Galileo will be shown through September 7.  Visit the Franklin Institute website for details on Galileo and Star Trek.