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| 1933 Century of Progress Exposition Documents |
Science Puts On a Popular Show at the Fair and Thus Wins Attention of Crowds
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By Malcolm McDowell.
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Source: Chicago Daily News, 20 June 1933, pg. 6.
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Crowds and more crowds, milling through the aisles of the Hall of Science, are constant sources of pleasurable amusement to the scientific staff of the world's fair.
The men who for months worked long hours every day to devise and arrange the exhibits in chemistry, physics, mathematics and other branches of science expressed the hope that exposition visitors would be interested in the demonstrating models and setups. They frankly admit now they did not expect so many persons at the same time to jam the passageways in front of so many displays.
Old-time showmen could give the scientific men the reason for the astonishingly large number of persons who flock through the Hall of Science. It is that the makers of the exhibits had a sense of showmanship—they have put on a popular show, a dynamic presentation of the principles and processes of the basic and applied sciences which has never been seen in any previous exposition.
Chemical Exhibit Problems.
There are some branches of science which lend themselves readily to the spectacular—physics for one. But chemistry does not—the preparation of chemical exhibits presents problems which are not so easily solved. Ingenuity, some daring, and an eagerness to get away from the traditional dry-as-dust presentation of technical exhibits have resulted in a group display in the chemical section of the Hall of Science which tells a good story, understandable to the average layman, and made the more interesting by movement, color and illumination.
Much of the innovations which are popularizing the chemical exhibit is due to young men in Dr. Henry Crew's science division of the Century of Progress exposition—Dr. Irving Muskat and Dr. Glen H. Morey, both chemists of high standing and wide reputation. They point to the "periodic" table of the chemical elements as the central feature of the whole showing. In fact, they assert it is the central feature of the whole exposition, because in the field of chemistry all sciences and industries find their common meeting ground.
Periodic Table 30 Feet High.
The periodic table is a model about thirty feet high. It commands one end of the great hall of the building and the spectator viewing the presentation quickly learns that ninety-three chemical elements comprise all that is known on the earth. A ten-foot revolving globe atop the base indicates the location of the more common elements and the base, itself, contains a sample of each of the ninety-three elements.
The material for this exhibit has been assembled from all parts of the world. In many instances very rare and beautiful specimens have been obtained. The model is one of the big shots of the fair.
Robot and His Lecture.
One of the most popular of the showings in the Hall of Science tells the final story of the chemistry of food and nutrition. The display is unique. A robot, ten feet in height, gives a twenty-minute lecture on food chemistry and nutrition and an inside story at that. He operates demonstrations, points to several static or motionless exhibits to illustrate his lecture and then he demonstrates the process of human digestion on himself.
A moving-picture projector behind the mechanical gentleman illustrates the description of digestion as the technocratic lecturer exposes his "innards" to the open-eyed crowd jammed in the little lecture hall.
The robot describes the constituents of food; he—or it—shows the function of each and how they are broken down or digested in the body to simpler products which can then be assimilated by the body tissues. He, or it, also describes the "hormones," or chemical messengers in the human body.
What is wanted is a good name for this robot, a fit appellation, something which will stand up and hold on—a snappy nickname might not be amiss.
[End of news article]
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Page compiled: 14 January 2006
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