Columbus's Great Experiment

哥伦布的伟大实验

• 批准号: 9053778
• 负责人: Cary Sneider
• 金额: $ 40.93万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-09-15 至 1992-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9053778&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Columbus; Great; Experiment

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.

劳伦斯科学馆建议开展一项重大的公共教育计划，包括一个巡回展览、两个天文馆计划、一个戏剧和一个为学校准备的题为“哥伦布的伟大实验”的工具包。哥伦布强调科学和技术，他的第一次航行被描绘成一次实验，旨在验证这样一种假设(基于可疑的证据)，即向西航行比向东绕过非洲之角是更实际的到达印度群岛的方式。与许多科学实验一样，结果与实验者的想法大相径庭：哥伦布没有找到通往印度群岛的海上路线，而是极大地扩大了对我们星球的了解，并刺激了科学和技术的发展。这些事件发生在对现代科学的发展至关重要的社会和文化背景下，并导致世界人口和生态的深远变化，这种变化至今仍在继续。国家人文基金会最近为这些展品的开发提供了一笔赠款。目前的提案要求NSF与NEH一起完成和扩大该项目，提供资金：a)其他博物馆将建造的另外三个展览的组成部分，从而将公众观众扩大到1900万参观者；b)两个参与式天文馆项目；c)一部关于哥伦布航行的科学方面的戏剧；以及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年哥伦布日前后达到顶峰，我们预计这些材料将足够有趣、信息量大、娱乐性强，可以在未来许多年里使用。