The Australian Museum and Museums Australia (NSW) invite you to a
     talk by Proff. Martin Harwit (ex-Director of the Smithsonian's Air
     and Space Museum) titled 'HOW CAN MUSEUMS BEST EXHIBIT SUBJECTS OF
     GENUINE PUBLIC INTEREST?' on Thursday 15 April at 11am -12noon at the
     Australian Museum in the Theatette. Proff Harwit is visiting
     Australia through CSIRO, and we are glad to be able to host a talk by
     him here at the Museum.

     Admission is free, but please RSVP your attendance to Natalie Murphy
     [log in to unmask] or 93206263 (as seats are limited).
     Please enter via the main College St entrance and go to the
     Theatrette near the right of entrance. Please be seated by 10.55am.

     Can you please pass this on to other museum people who may be
     interested in attending. For further inquiries, please contact
     Carolyn MacLulich ([log in to unmask] or 93206160)


     HOW CAN MUSEUMS BEST EXHIBIT SUBJECTS OF GENUINE PUBLIC INTEREST?

     In 1995 a planned exhibition of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that
     had dropped history's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, was cancelled
     before ever opening at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space
     Museum. In recent years, special interest groups have repeatedly
     attacked or cancelled other projects at public institutions in many
     countries. A tradition of public history and education that dates back
     to the foundation of democratic states is being severely challenged.
     If our national institutions are to continue to serve the public they
     will need to regain the right to provide reliable, dispassionate
     information for our citizens.

     ___________________________________________


     MARTIN HARWIT's BIO.

     Citizenship: U.S.
     Born: Prague, Czechoslovakia,
     Education: Ph.D., Physics - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
     Professional Data:
     1987-1995 Director, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian
     Institution, Washington,DC
     1962-1987 Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University (Department Chair
     1971-1976).
     1985-1987 Co-Founder and Co-Director of Program in the History and
     Philosophy of Science and Technology, Cornell University
     1987 - Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, Cornell University.
     1979 - External Member, Max Planck Society, Institute for Radio
     Astronomy, Bonn,  Federal Republic of Germany.

     Books:

     1. "Astrophysical Concepts," Martin Harwit. John Wiley & Sons (1973).
     (Translated into Chinese in the PRC). CONCEPTS publishers (1982);
     second edition, Springer-Verlag (1988); third edition (spring 1998).

     2. "Hadamard Transform Optics," Martin Harwit and Neil J. A. Sloane,
     Academic Press (1979).

     3. "Cosmic Discovery: The Search, Scope and Heritage of Astronomy,"
     Martin Harwit, Basic Books (1981), MIT Press (1984). (Translated into
     French and published by Masson in France, and into German and
     published by Pieper Verlag in Germany).

     4. "Treasures of the National Air and Space Museum," Martin Harwit and
     Staff of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution,
     Abbeville Press, New York, 1995.

     5. "An Exhibit Denied -- Lobbying the History of Enola Gay,"
     Copernicus / Springer-Verlag, 1996; Japanese translation by Misuzu
     Shobo, Tokyo, August 1997.

     Films:

     1. BLUE PLANET, with IMAX, Lockheed, and National Air and Space Museum
     staff and consultants.

     2. DESTINY IN SPACE, with IMAX, Lockheed, and National Air and Space
     Museum staff and cosultants.

     3. COSMIC VOYAGE, with Motorola, National Science Foundation, Cosmic
     Voyage Inc., IMAX Corporation, and National Air and Space Museum staff
     and consultants. (Nominated for an Academy award, 1997)

     Journal and Magazine Articles and Patents:

     300 scientific, historical, educational, and popular articles; four
     patents.