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.
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