Columbus's Great Experiment

劳伦斯科学馆提议发展一项主要的公共教育计划，包括巡回展览、两个天文馆计划、一出戏剧和一套名为“哥伦布的伟大实验”的学校工具包。强调科学和技术，哥伦布的第一次航行被描绘成一个实验，旨在验证一个假设（基于可疑的证据），即向西航行是到达印度群岛的更实际的方式，而不是向东航行绕过非洲之角。正如许多科学实验一样，结果与实验者的想法大不相同：哥伦布并没有找到通往印度群岛的海上航线，而是极大地扩展了我们对地球的认识，促进了科学技术的发展。这些事件发生在对现代科学发展至关重要的社会和文化背景下，并导致了世界人口和生态的深远变化，这种变化一直持续到今天。美国国家人文基金会最近为这些展览的发展提供了一笔赠款。目前的提案要求NSF与NEH一起完成并扩大该项目，通过资助：a)由其他博物馆建造的另外三个展览副本的组成部分，从而将公众观众扩大到1900万人次；B)两个参与式天文馆项目；c)一部关于哥伦布航海的科学方面的戏剧；d)学校工具包，使教师能够向无法在科学中心观看展览的学生展示展览中体现的最重要的思想。人们对这些节目的兴趣将在1992年哥伦布日左右达到顶峰，我们预计这些材料将足够有趣，信息量大，娱乐性强，可以在未来的许多年里使用。

The Lawrence Hall of Science proposes to develop a major public education program, including a traveling exhibition, two planetarium programs, a play, and a kit for schools entitled "Columbus' Great Experiment." Emphasizing science and technology, Columbus' first voyage is portrayed as an experiment aimed at testing the hypothesis (based on doubtful evidence) that sailing to the west was a more practical way of reaching the Indies than by sailing east around the Horn of Africa. As with many scientific experiments, the results were quite different from what the experimenter had in mind: instead of finding a sea route to the Indies, Columbus vastly expanded knowledge about our planet and spurred developments in science and technology. These events occurred within a social and cultural context that were critical to the development of modern science, and resulted in far-reaching changes in the population and ecology of the world which continue today. The National Endowment for the Humanities has recently awarded a grant for the development of the exhibits. The present proposal requests that NSF join with NEH to complete and expand the project, by funding: a) components of three additional copies of the exhibition to be constructed by other museums, thus expanding the public audience to 19 million visitors; b) two participatory planetarium programs; c) a play about the scientific aspects of Columbus' voyage; and d) school kits that will enable teachers to present the most important ideas embodied in the exhibition to students who are unable to view the exhibition at a science center. Interest in these programs will peak around Columbus Day, 1992, we anticipate that the materials will be sufficiently interesting, informative, and entertaining to be used for many years to come.